Breaking Up With My Lumia

At the end of January Microsoft started rolling out the Windows Phone 7.8 update for devices that had previously been running Windows Phone 7.5. Windows Phone 7.8 is an update that gives you a Windows Phone 8-like homescreen, a slight rebranding to make the UI more similar to Windows Phone 8 and some other minor features. Once again, my Nokia Lumia 710 seems to be one of the last devices to be updated in the rollout.

Lumia - No SIM

I have a Nokia Lumia 710 which until not long ago was one of my main mobile devices. The frustration of not receiving the Windows Phone 7.8 update and my acquisition of an Intel powered Orange San Diego and a Google Nexus 4 made me stop using the Lumia 710. This is because as well as not having enough SIM cards to run all these smartphones simultaneously, I have fallen out of love with Windows Phone.

I really liked Windows Phone. This time last year I really had hope and expectation that Windows Phone on Nokia devices would be a success and satisfy my smartphone needs. I was so enamoured with the potential of the platform that I got a Nokia Lumia 710 which had Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango) running on it. One of the promises of Windows Phone on the Nokia Lumia line was that it would always get updates promptly, as the updates are pushed by Microsoft, so that there shouldn't be delays due to carriers and/or manufacturers. I was really enjoying using Microsoft's new mobile operating system, and the idea that there would be less of a fragmentation issue. (I had previously been scarred by my experience with an HTC Desire and slow updates to new Android versions)

Almost a year on I have fallen out of love with Windows Phone. When Windows Phone 8 was announced in 2012, it was also made abundantly clear that existing hardware running Windows Phone 7.5 would not be upgraded to Windows Phone 8. Details of the Windows Phone 7.8 update leaked and then were announced, but I still was disappointed by the no Windows Phone 8 issue.

Using the Nokia Lumia 710 on a daily basis, alongside at least one Nexus device (a Nexus S, then a Galaxy Nexus and now a Nexus 4), I had a few little things that kept on annoying me. First off using Gmail was overall a pretty good experience, apart from slightly slower updates than on my Android devices and that any time I replied to an email from the Lumia 710 I broke the conversation in web view for myself and everyone else. Secondly there is a lack of apps to satisfy many of my online needs. No Google Plus app, and having to fall back to a horrible web experience through Internet Explorer mobile was a real pain. No Instagram, painful Twitter experience, no Google Maps app and for a while no Google Maps through Internet Explorer mobile was annoying. The lack of an always on instant messaging client made things worse. One of the few reasons I stuck with the Nokia Lumia was that I always had an Android fallback device to do what I really wanted to do.

This time last year the user experience on the Nokia Lumia 710 was better than on most Android devices. The device and UI seemed more responsive and fluid. The Live Tiles UI was interesting and different as well as great for one hand use. Now, through Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and Android 4.1/4.2 (Jelly Bean) updates, lag on Android seems to be a thing of the past. The Android User experience is now superior and polished. The appeal of Windows Phone has faded.

It is sad, but on Saint Valentine's Day 2013 I'm officially breaking up with Windows Phone. I hope we can still be friends. I may make a booty call from time to time and pop my Micro SIM card into a Windows Phone to try it out or to review an app or service on it. My Nokia Lumia 710 may try and win me back if it ever updates to Windows Phone 7.8, if it succeeds I might blog about it through the Official Blogger App for Windows Phone (unlikely to ever be released).

I have to admit, I really am in love with Android.

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below.

My Nokia Lumia 710 Update Woes [Updated]

I've had a Nokia Lumia 710 for a few months now. I like the Windows Phone running Nokia a lot, and even my Android fanboy feelings don't stop me from telling people that the device is excellent value for money, and an easy to use device for non smartphone geeks. Sadly Nokia have dangled the Windows Phone 7.5 Tango update at me for months now, and I'm still waiting for the update to be available for my Lumia 710.

All is well with the device, I have had no hardware problems with it at all. I purchased non-original spare batteries for the Lumia 710 at a very reasonable price, and with my Galaxy Nexus it is currently always with me. I actually use the Lumia 710 as my main mp3 player. Zune, the desktop sync software for Windows Phone, allows me to manage my podcast subscriptions easily and quickly, as long as I remember to boot into Windows.

A few months ago I was excited by Nokia's announcement that the Windows Phone 7.5 Tango update would be soon available for the Lumia 710 and Lumia 800. Since then there was a long period of silence on the matter and then at the beginning of July Nokia started the update the rollout. The update was available on certain carriers in the UK, and marked as "Waiting for approval" on other ones. H3G (Three UK) were one of the carriers "Waiting for approval" and when I checked back this morning it was marked as "Update Available".

On both Zune and the handset itself no update is available for my Lumia 710. I'm still waiting.

This makes me think that the one of the most important "features" of Windows Phone is a bit shaky. Android Fragmentation is often used as an argument against using Android. The lack of update support and the delay of updates caused by device manufacturers, network providers and regional settings may not actually be a problem solely existing on the Android platform. I have a friend with a Dell Venue Pro, a discontinued Windows Phone made by a company who has given up on the smartphone market for now. He already has the Windows Phone 7.5 Tango update, while my shiny and relatively new Lumia doesn't. I'm peeved to say the least. Windows Phone updates are supposed to be rolled out almost all at the same time to everyone with a Windows Phone, avoiding a fragmentation of the market.

Not only the Windows Phone 7.5 Tango update is a fragmentation issue. Windows Phone 8 has already been announced by Microsoft. Existing Windows Phone devices will not be able to support the new smartphone OS. Instead, Windows Phone 7.8 will be rolled out to existing devices with a few cosmetic changes and not much else. I wonder how long it will take my Nokia Lumia 710 to get the update to 7.8. Probably ages.

Please Nokia, if you want to survive as a business and win back customers, if you want to shine again rather than just be another Windows Phone OEM get the updates rolling out quickly and smoothly. Windows Phone Fragmentation is the last thing you need.

So my suggestion is that bloggers, tech journalists, and smartphone geeks start speaking of the teacup elephant in the corner: Windows Phone Fragmentation. Seriously, it is unlikely it will ever happen. At the moment and for the foreseeable future the Windows Phone market share is tiny and hiccups like these will only hamper its growth.

[Update] Less than a week after this blog post I got the Tango update. You can read my impressions here.

Right, I'm getting back to playing with my shiny new Nexus 7. As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions below. I'll update this post as soon as I get the Windows Phone 7.5 Tango update on my Nokia Lumia 710.

Nokia Lumia 710 And Ubuntu: They Speak To Each Other!

I've had a Nokia Lumia 710 for a while now.  This week I discovered I can use my Lumia 710 and manage media and content on it through my Ubuntu Linux machines, and I'm a very happy chappy as a result.

The Nokia Lumia 710 is one of Nokia's first Windows Phone 7 devices, the product of the Finnish company's leap of faith from a "burning platform" onto a lilly pad in the middle of a stormy ocean. Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft's smartphone operating system which it pitches as a competitor to Google's Android OS and iOS (which is shipped on Apple devices).

From the beginning of my ownership of the Nokia Lumia 710 I encountered frustration with some of the basic management of Windows Phone 7. Adding and managing media could only be done (up to now) from a Windows or OS X machine running the Zune software. Zune performs similar functions to iTunes, just that it uses a simplistically shiny UI which fits in well on Windows 8, but looks out of place and unintuitive on Windows 7. I have been an avid Linux user for many moons now, and Microsoft Windows is an OS I only boot into rarely if there is some slightly more complicated in phone rooting/ROMming that requires running applications on Windows. Hence my frustration: I have to restart my computer into Windows (7 most of the time on my desktop, 8 on my laptop), wait for the slower startup (it's so much faster in Ubuntu or Lubuntu!), update the antivirus (not an issue on Ubuntu or Lubuntu!) and open up Zune.

Zune is "shiny". I like it. I like it in the same sort of way that I like Windows Phone 7's user interface, and in the same way in which I adore the WebOS user interface. It's all about the UI, its fluidity and how intuitive it is. That's probably why I like the Android 4.0.x UI too: Matias Duarte, formerly of Palm where he designed the WebOS UI, is now the Director of Android operating system User Experience at Google.

Shiny! Shinier with Rachel Stevens

At the beginning using the Zune software didn't work for me. Plugging the Nokia Lumia 710 into any USB port (either primary or secondary) was useless, it didn't show up in the device manager and Zune didn't know there was a Windows Phone 7 device connected to the computer. Only after I had reinstalled Windows 7 on my desktop did I manage to get the Lumia 710 and Zune to talk to each other. Finally I was able to synchronise music folders and podcasts with the device. This was a relief because I had been streaming podcasts over the interwebs through a browser, and this was severely affecting battery life. Once I had got used to the routine of synching the Lumia on a daily basis, things were fine.

When on holiday in Italy I was using my Nexus S as my main smartphone and the Lumia was relegated to being a wifi device when at home for Skype calls, mp3 player functions and playing a fantastic Xbox Live game called Flowers.

After having updated my Ubuntu and Lubuntu partitions on my laptop and desktop to the newest version of the distribution (12.04 Precise Pangolin), I stumbled across the fact that the Nokia Lumia 710 could be mounted as a media player. Once mounted, I could read and write the contents of the folders, manage photos, music and podcasts to the device. On Ubuntu, it even offered to manage the media player in Rythmbox, the media management application bundled with the pinky-orange Linux based OS.

Now that I don't have to boot into Windows so often I'm a happier Wobbles feeder. I can also reply to John C. Dvorak who was reiterating the fact that you HAVE to use Zune on TWiT last week: not any more! You can now live a Windows free life with your Windows Phone 7 smartphone. Until the next OS/firmware update that is... ;-)

As usual, feel free to leave comments and/or questions. I also started a thread on the MoDaCo forums about this so feel free to join the chatter about this there too.