Lost My Lumia 800 to My Dad- Awkward.

So this is a tad bit awkward, a couple weeks ago when I was in Chicago (around the time I got my stormtrooper) my dad came and asked for a spare phone to use his T-Mobile sim on (he carries an S2 and an iPhone 4) so i gave him my Cyan Lumia 800 that was sitting in my bag ignored after I had gotten my Stormtrooper.

After setting it up and showing him how simple the tiles were and pinning myself and all our family to the start screen he went on his way... I never saw the phone again. I'm no really sure where it is as he's not using it (that was only temporary) and I feel it would be bad taste to ask him for it, so I'm basically back to one WP. #FirstWorldProblems

Also if anyone in Chicago finds a Lumia 800 forgotten in a hotel room somewhere let me know please.

Asha 302- First Problems

 

A couple hours ago my Asha 302 arrived, and #SmartPhoneLiteWeek commenced, after a quick unboxing (video uploading) I moved on with setting up my email accounts, whatsapp, social etc... The first problem I encountered was that Nomatter what I try Gmail refuses to link up to the phone- even though there are some pre-set options that enable you to just slam down your password and Email and get moving, I always end up with the same error, till now I haven't been able to resolve it (if anyone know please drop a comment).
UPDATE: Issue with Email resolved  by a simple software update- read more here

The second and much more critical issue was that of contacts- Recently Mail For Exchange was released for the Asha 302- however the variant that Nokia Connects sent me isn't yet supported (Gradual roll out); meaning I would have to find another way to copy my contacts from the World Wide Web, what I tried:

1. Simple copy through Nokia Suite- issue was that my contacts on Nokia Suite weren't updated with my latest Lumia contacts (since WP doesn't sync through it)
2. Downloading MFE - which was unavailable
3. Downloading .CSV file from Gmail and moving that to the phone- Failed
4. Installed the older NOkia PC Suite and attempted to copy the .CSV file through it- Also failed
5. Re-Downloaded the contacts in Vcard format and tried copying them through Pc Suite- Which also failed.
6. At the brink of desperation Richard Dorman (@Sheridan01) ‏Suggested I copy them through my N9 to the 302- this worked however multiple contacts where only partially copies (names and emails minus numbers = defeats the purpose)
7. I tried porting them onto the Asha off my Lumia but was faced with an unsupported file error.
8.  In the end I gave up and used the partial contact info off the N9 and added the vital contacts manually. Thankfully it's only for a week.

Blatant lies of a successful transfer, I WANT MY NUMBERS!

Conspiracy Theory: Lumia 900 Has A Mystery Platform

If anyone follows me on twitter (which I doubt)- there's a theory I've been toying with a while now which is basically that the Lumia 900 will get a certain set of updates (read: Apollo) that won't be available to the other Lumias (mainly 800 & 710)- although there would be no reason for them not to get the same set of updates it could all come down to marketing (900 = US Market = Special Treatment) plus the fact that a case could be made that the 900 is Newer and is the flagship phone. Regardless The Screenshot above while not proving anything solid does open up the questions a bit, why isn't the platform for the Lumia 900 posted as "Windows Phone Mango 7.5" As it is for both the Lumia 710 & 800?? I'll let you guys fill in the blanks.

(Screen shot is from Nokia-US when choosing a side-by-side comparison)

Amazing Weather V3.1

Quick Video showing off the new features in this update:

Changelog:
-3 beautiful themes
-3 distinct live tiles
-weather alerts
-offline mode
-auto location using GPS
-5 different cities,
-refined UI with charts
-support for new languages
- New loading transitions.
- Faster data loading.
- Traditional Chinese support

Break From Leaks- N9 Vs Lumia - Random

Ok So taking a break from the list of leaks I've been flooding the home page with; here's my latest video review between the N9 and the Lumia 800 covering most of what comes preloaded on the devices but is usually ignored when actually purchasing the device.

Blown Away by Lumia- Your Phone is a Piece of Shit

Ok.. this video has everything you'd ever want; drama, gadgets and a boy getting figuratively bitch slapped by his girlfriend- all thanks to his "Piece of Shit Samsung". The guys reaction in the end is priceless; plus the fact that his girlfriend was PISSED! Priceless.

Whatsapp for Windows Phone Updated to V 1.9- Now supports Emoji and Media Sharing History

 

The title basically says it all- If you have a Nokia Lumia or a WP head on over to  the marketplace and update your whatsapp to V1.9 to get all the goodies of Emoji from smiling turds to farting elephants; as well as the added bonus of having the option to view all media shared with a contact from under "Contact Info"- All in all a pretty cool update but all it needs now is the option to sync your conversations online; or at least to save them as a text file. (I believe that option is available on Android and iPhone but not Symbian)

Full Changelog:

Improved support for Emoji

- Group mute features
- Share contacts
- Browse downloaded media in a conversation
- German and Russian localizations
- The usual bug fixes and performance improvements

-If you're not getting the latest Whatsapp update simply go to your marketplace- hit the "share" button then immediately go back to the main Whatsapp download page; hopefully you should have the option to update. 

Cheers.

Ridiculous Amounts of Speaker Interference?

Hey guys- Just a random thought; to anyone who owns a Lumia device; in particular a Lumia 800 do you get loads of speaker interference (the static ticking sound) when your Lumia is anywhere near your laptop? I have to keep my Lumia about a foot away from my laptop at all times just to avoid the dreadfully annoying buzzing that it gives off (it's there all the time not just when I'm getting a phone call or a text)- I think this might be due to Data transfer and stuff but still I've never experienced it with the N8 or the N9, any ideas???

N9 Vs Lumia Video Samples

As I had previously mentioned I was uploading some video comparisons between the two brothers from different mothers; well here they are- the N9s performance was HORRIBLE

N9- Dropped frames all over the place and horrible color saturation:

Lumia 800- A bit more impressive, autofocus is a bit laggy but compared to the N9 this is heaven (almost double the bitrate BTW)

Lumia wins a cookie! (a small one but it's stilla  cookie)

Video: N9 Vs. LumiaSocial Integration

Here it is, the video that gave me so much pain to upload: Enjoy

Emulating Windows Phone on your S^3 Device

Here's a cool app I looked at a couple days ago- basically it skins your symbian 3 device to look like WP; not the most effective method to get a WP experience, but a pretty cool trick :D

How To: Jailbreak/Sideload onto your Lumia device- a full guide.

Ok, so you got your brand new spanking awesome Lumia; but you feel a bit claustrophobic with it's walled in garden of a marketplace-
Here's something that will ease the pain a bit: (Steps are easy to follow and although it may seem long it's not)

So here’s how to do it (seems long but it’s really easy).

• Head over to Dreamspark.com
• Create an Account/Sign-in with your LIVE ID (the one you use on the marketplace)
• Once your account is complete you’ll be asked to enter your .EDU email address for verification (usual steps of logging in and clicking the link in the confirmation email)
• Go back to dreamspark after verifying your .edu email
• From Developer and Designer tools select ‘Windows Phone and App Hub’

• Choose ‘Map Your Live ID’

• Set it so your .edu email is linked to you LIVE account that you use on the marketplace (unless you want to use your .edu email as your live account)
• Now once your done with that feel free to go ahead and download & install the Windows Phone SDK tools (direct link) and get that out of the way.

Now that you’ve made a dreamspark account and linked it to your Windows LIVE & .edu email you want to register on the app hub- which basically gives you the ability to side load apps and publish apps to the Market place WITHOUT having to pay any fees (cause we’re poor students after all  )-

Note: I’m not sure of the exact order of the next steps as I can’t view them after making my account so I’m going off memory here.

• Go to the AppHub site
• Create an account, while creating select ‘As A Student‘ (which was the whole point of the dreamspark account)
• At this point depending on your university/school it might take a while for you to be verified as a student; do not panic- it took me about 24hrs (no notification that it went through so you’ll have to go and try again)
• You’ll be asked for your location; choose the correct location; and if it’s not available the closest one possible (not guaranteed to work- but if you choose a distant location it will tell you the country address is incorrect later on)
• Complete the rest of the form (since your filling it in as a student it’ll magically skip the payment step)
• Once your done just go verify or confirm the email that you’ll receive.

Up till this point we’ve basically created the  AppHub account which will give your live ID recognition on the phone you want to unlock. Now for the actual unlocking process- pretty easy and straight forward-

• Connect your Lumia device to the computer (must have Zune running and Lumia screen must be unlocked)
• Open  Windows Phone Developer Registration (also part of the SDK package you should have installed)
• Enter your Live Id & Password(that you used on the AppHub)
• Hit Register
• AND YOUR DONE!

 Now that you've unlocked it here's how to sideload apps:

 All done? Great either have some fun or go bake some cookies; up to you after all your no longer walled in :D

N9 Vs. Lumia 800 Series- Super Awseome Stuff!

 

So if you guys have been watching my youtube vids (which you'd damn well better have been- I kid, I kid free cookies for everyone!)- you might have noticed that I'm starting a new review series comparing the N9 to the Lumia 800 in almost every aspect there is to compare (cause that's how I roll)-

ANYWAYS

.

.

So far I've done unboxings & Account setups for both, as well as a comparison of gestures/Multitasking so enjoy the Tech-Porn down below:

 Unboxing the N9:

 

Account setup on the N9:

 

First real comparison against the Lumia 800- taking a look at swipe gestures and multitasking and a cookie-basket of other stuff:

 

When it came down to it the N9 took out the Lumia 800 with a vengeance; not only because it has an awesome tap to wake feature but also because  multitasking on the N9 is like nothing else- but as I posted on MNB that doesn't really matter because WP works fine with it's Pseud-Multitasking

In short Meego has a much superior Multi-tasking process than WP or anything else; but WP counters with a system that can open new processes as fast as if they where running in the background (the only comparison I can think of is how Android devices need Quad cores to run properly, while WP only needs a single core with 512MB to run smoother than most Penta-Core devices- meaning it’s not a  viable comparison)- similarly lack of TRUE Multi-tasking on WP isn’t a complete hindrance, as much as it is a luxury that we’d love to have).

Extracted from my post on MNB: http://mynokiablog.com/2012/04/02/n9-vs-lumia-800-gesturesswipe-status-bar-multi-tasking-meegovswindows/