VeeshanVault

For the one of two other people that are using Windows Phone here, the 8.1 preview that includes Cortana is now available to download.

It's a 1 way update, these are the final bits from Microsoft but doesn't include any manufacturer specific customizations (Nokia glance etc).

This may also void your warranty until the manufacturers release their version.

I've installed it on my Samsung Ativ S and it's working really well.

http://www.wpcentral.com/windows-phone-81-now-available

Isn't there a cost to sign up for Preview for Developer?

Nope. You can sign up as a dev for the AppStudio program for free at http://appstudio.windowsphone.com/. Just make sure to register with the same Microsoft ID as the primary account on your phone.

Ah gotcha, thanks! I was looking at wrong link. In the upgrade process now. It seems like a huge improvement over the bland 8.0.

If you want Cortana, change the region of your device to United States and reboot.

I haven't found a way to change the weather and distance defaults from her to metric but you can tell her to change that to celcius.

No issues so far. I like the android reminder slider. Cortana says she is wearing a phone and asks if I like it.

I decided to change my home screen to the new, 3 column layout to see what the impact would be.

I find that I'm using all 3 sizes of icons now and not just the small and square items to get more data on some of the live tiles.
I also find that it is very dense however so I'm not sure how much I like that.

Since my display is only 4.7", the small tiles are at the limit is what is easily touchable/readable. I wouldn't do this for any smaller phone. I could see how nice this would be on a phablet though.

For anyone interested, wife in the upper right tile, co-workers in the smaller one to the left. I've completely removed the Me Tile because Microsoft has removed Social Network notifications from it. Everything is now done by the applications and in the notification center.

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I haven't messed with the tiles yet. My "phone" is the ginormous Nokia 1520.

Animalor wrote:

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Totally serious question but why/how do people find that UI appealing? It makes me want to vomit everytime I see it. It just seems like so much wasted space. Give me standard rows of boring same-sized icons any day of the week please.

What here is wanted space compared to iOS or Android which are just grids of static icons. Stuff here moves and gives me fresh information and generally feels much more alive and organic.

Pass!

Official Uber app came out earlier this week and official Fitbit with Bluetooth LE syncing came out today.

Windows phones apparently not setting the world on fire:

Microsoft Corp. unveiled plans Wednesday to cut up to 7,800 jobs and write down the value of its Nokia purchase by more than 80%, the latest indications of the company's continuing struggles in the phone business.

In addition to the write-down, which will be booked in its recently ended fiscal fourth quarter, Microsoft said it also would take a restructuring charge of $750 million to $850 million. The company expects the moves to be " substantially complete" by the end of the calendar year.
...
Shares of Microsoft, down 4.6% this year, slipped 6 cents to $44.22 in morning trading.

Dragging Microsoft down! Maybe if they got rid of that terrible Metro-looking UI...

They're decent enough phones and the UI is OK - on a phone.

But that's all it is, a basic smartphone. It had potential but the app selection is dismal, appears that 90% of what's available is Chinese malware.

Microsoft is bowing out of building its own phones for consumers. After dramatically scaling back its Lumia devices last year, Microsoft hammered the final nail in the coffin today with an additional $950 million write off and 1,850 more job losses. Microsoft's Lumia devices still account for more than 95 percent of all Windows phones sold, but a lack of new devices means sales and Windows Phone market share have declined sharply over the past year. Windows Phone is dead, and phone makers aren't interested in reviving it.

Not a surprise. Terrible UI. Windows 10 wouldn't be setting the world on fire either if it wasn't for Microsoft stealth installing it against people's wishes. No such avenue exists when it comes to phones!

So like 10,000 job losses later.. And losses of nearly $2 billion, along with basically destroying Nokia, they finally figured out what most people knew from the get-go. Great job!


Edit: I guess the total is closer to $8 billion.

I just had a conversation yesterday with a couple friends about how Windows phones were going to go away soon, funny.

Aslanna wrote:
So like 10,000 job losses later.. And losses of nearly $2 billion, along with basically destroying Nokia, they finally figured out what most people knew from the get-go. Great job!

That's the power of Microsoft and a company that makes tons of money every quarter no matter what. Maybe they'll give Sony the Nokia treatment.

I mentioned quite awhile back that it looked like Microsoft would use Oculus as their VR solution. Rumor now has the updated Xbox being capable of using an Oculus Rift. Makes sense with Rift shipping with an Xbox controller but it doesn't get me too excited unless they somehow add roomscale as well. Rift, hardware-wise, is better than Sony's VR solution.

It would be good for the VR industry which is all I really care about since all of my gaming lately has been using a PC.

http://kotaku.com/sources-smaller-xbox- ... 1778634446

Winnow wrote:I mentioned quite awhile back that it looked like Microsoft would use Oculus as their VR solution.

Typical Microsoft. Can't come up with their own shit so they have to buy it. How well did that work with Nokia!

Winnow wrote:Rift, hardware-wise, is better than Sony's VR solution.

And more expensive.

Besides. it's a dumb statement. Even the rumored upgraded XBO, as far as I can tell, doesn't meet the recommenced specs that Oculus recommends. So you'd have compromises there as well.