Anssi Vanjoki was right after all!

Anssi Vanjoki former head of Nokia mobile devices, predicted that smartphones would replace system cameras, and many so called analysts thought it to be a good joke. But today I think he was quite right, I have a number of digital pocket cameras and a Canon EOS system camera. And actually nobody in my family uses the pocket cameras anymore. Though they might have more Mega pixels, they are still lying around unused. The pictures I make with my Lumia 920 are superb, video is crystal clear and even in low light results are great. And due to the build in GPS are images are georeferenced, so you always know where they were taken. This is of great help for professional use, lecturing etc. To carry around a big camera in a city is cumbersome and actually is an invitation for thieves. The only use for a big camera is for quality nature photography. For most other use the smartphone is always ready and with you, you can upload the images directly to Facebook or any other social platform. The Lumia can upload automatically to Skydrive, a feature which is sometimes useful for backup use.

Vanjoki’s prediction became reality, and proves that analysts are too often wrong. 

Improved Nokia Navibation

WP 8 Nokia Maps and Navigation

Nokia Maps changed name to Here Maps and Here Drive Beta. There are new features, and improvements. Positioning seems to be improved, and is much faster and has higher accuracy. Places of interested stored in Maps can now be used in Drive. Maps has now the possibility of indoor navigation, for example floor plans of airports, including plans for the different floors in a building. Over 4600 buildings are available at present. 

Improvements I would like include the possibility to show geotagged images on the map, satellite visibility and accuracy information (GPS, Glonass). 

Nokia Lumia WP 8 series phones have integrated GPS and GLONASS positioning, but can we use it?

The Lumia 820, 822 and 920 use the GLONASS enabled Qualcomm GPS chip. However, it seems that the navigation software is not using this option. Recently Samsung made an application available to enable GLONASS on their Windows Phones (Mango version), the app is called High Fidelity Position, and can be used by other navigation applications to improve accuracy.

So, it seems that we have to wait for Nokia or somebody else to produce GLONASS enabled navigation software.  Let’s hope it comes soon, because at the moment we can not use the full potential of our phones.

AT the moment there is a host of Windows Phone 8 navigation and mapping software, and improved positioning would be much appreciated in urban environments with high buildings reducing satellite visibility.

An interesting WP App is the ESRI ArcGIS mapping software, enabling you to collect data, share with groups, or view online maps and imagery on your phone.

ArcGIS WP 8 App

Lumia 920, improving battery life

I have used my Lumia  920 for some weeks, abroad and in Finland. Battery life was a problem, but now it seems that by switching off the GPS I get roughly two days on one charge, under normal use. The GPS is draining the battery even if you are not using Maps or Navigation.  I also disabled as many background processes as possible, only using Battery Widget and Weather View. I also use only the Facebook App, not the integrated version, but I am not sure about the effect on battery drain. Whats up could also be an issue; I configured my email account to synchronize only once an hour. With these settings I can use the phone for two days, using a full recharge cycle.

Using the GPS abroad works better than my Symbian E7, which needs an external Bluetooth module to fix (or you have to wait for half an hour). The Lumia 920 works without internet connection, although it sometimes fell back to the position of GSM towers, due to poor sky visibility.  However, it functioned well, and also the offline navigation worked as well as one can expect.

Some suggestions for improvements; I would like to have an App to monitor the GPS behavior, I do not know if it is using GPS, Glonass, or both, this would be important to check functionality.  Actually we do not know whether the phone is actually using Glonass or not.

Another App I would like to have is a Tile to switch the GPS on and off, like the ones used for WLAN or Bluetooth. Actually this GPS-switch is available, it has been added to Connectivity Shortcuts App.

Another way to improve battery life is to switch to 2G network, this is likely using less power, and will be useful when traveling, as the phone will constantly try to switch between 2G, 3G and 4G.

My new red hot Lumia 920

The Lumia 920 is a fantastic device indeed, it feels great and works like it is supposed to. Windows 8 has many new features, and is slightly different from WP 7.8 on my old Lumia 800. I liked the 800 at lot, but I could not resist the 920.

New features include possibility to change font size, from small to extremely large. It has also a zoom function which can be activated and enables you to double tap with two fingers, much like the IPad, great if you forget your glasses. Nokia Maps seems to be using offline maps now, and Drive Beta is offers the same offline maps as WP 7.8. Position fixes are fast, but I would like an App showing exactly which satellites it is tracking, GPS, Glonass? The Apps are slightly different form the WP 7.8 version, for example the data and phone counter application is (not yet) available. I experienced some problems with Bluetooth, but fortunately all my data was stored on Windows Live. Actually there is little need for Bluetooth, apart from Bt earphones and keyboards. I did not use it on my Lumia 800 at all.

The new NFC technology provides new features like the possibility to use your phone for small payments. However, at least my bank does not offer this service, and it will take time before this will be a reality. I did not make much tests with the camera, the Arctic winter here does give little opportunities, because it is dark and cold outside. One more feature to mention: screen shots, it is possible to take a picture of the screen, which is handy to send for example a map to somebody. Facebook is deeply integrated into the WP structure, which is nice if you like it.

I did experience some battery drain problems, which seemed to be related to Skype, reinstalling it corrected this problem. It is wise though to uncheck unnecessary background processes, for example Nokia Drive is background enabled by default.

WP is easy to use, and to see how easy I did a factory reset on the old Lumia 800 and gave it to my son, who needed only five minutes to get it going, transfer the contacts from his old phone and install some Apps. After five days of intensive use, I would say it is the greatest phone I ever had and recommend it to anyone.

Lumia 920 the fastest phone

The Nokia Lumia 920 has a fast edge over the iPhone 5, at least in Europe. This is because the European LTE (Long Time Evolution) technology uses a different frequency than its US counterpart. As the Lumia 920 is fully compatible with the European system it is able to use the maximum speed offered by the network. Also the Lumia 900 has 4G compatibility. Of course the user has to make sure he has a provider contract with sufficient network resources. At least in Finland one has to choose between various network speed options.

For this reason I chose for the Lumia 920, I ordered it last week, and am waiting for delivery. This might take some time due to the unprecedented high demand for the device. 

Reviews and tests

Testers and critics

I just read a review of the new Nokia Lumia 920, which was very positive indeed. However, my attention was attracted by e single point in the article. It stated that the Lumia 920 had no micro-USB port protection like the Lumia 800, and this was considered to be a negative issue. This is interesting, because I remember the criticism the Lumia 800 received because it has a protected micro-USB port. It was considered too fragile! Now I own a Lumia 800 and the little flap protecting the USB has worked flawlessly. It has a magnetic surface which keeps it perfectly in place.  Sometimes one wonders if it makes any sense to listen to those guys! Anyway the Lumia 920 seems to be a pretty cool thing, and perhaps a major plus is the possibility to use it with your gloves on, as that will make it much easier to use it during wintertime, at least here in Finland.

Actually the Lumia 800 has become very popular due to the attractive price at the moment. It is more compact then the larger 900 version and the Microsoft Office connection makes it very useful for business users.

It seems to me that the more you use the Windows Phone interface the more you like it,  Android and iPhone just feel old fashioned and confusing.