Why Nokia is Microsoft's best bet

BACKGROUND
This year is truly going to be the battle of the OSes - Windows, OS X and iOS, and Android. Moreover, it's going to be a battle of ecosystems between two traditional rivals - Microsoft and Apple. With Apple launching Mountain Lion this summer and Windows 8 expected to come out in September-October this year, the race only gets more exciting. Windows 8 is also going to come in the tablet version and is said to be the real competitor to the iPad. The Lumia 900 is launching in the US on 8th April, and is expected to be a blockbuster launch.

I call it the war of ecosystems because the devices these companies make and the software they offer are so integrated into one another, that not having even of them would be like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle. From mainstream computer devices, tablets and phones, they are also competing in the space of cloud computing and entertainment devices. The integration offers a great unified user experience and it may essentially boil down to just this.

Taking about the Apple ecosystem, it recently announced its latest Desktop and Laptop OS 10.8 Mountain Lion, dropping the name it was synonymous with - the Mac. This indicating that there is now greater integration between iOS and OS X. With ML, Notification Centre, iMessage, Game Centre, Twitter Integration, Reminders and Notes - all iOS apps have now come to the OS 10.8. At the same time  iWork and iLife was ported into iOS. Apple offers the iPad as its tablet offering and iPhone as its mobile device. iTunes is the one stop hub for all media - songs, movies, TV shows, audio books, tones, books and mobile apps. Apple TV is Apple's entertainment device that allows you access iTunes content on a TV set. Not only that, with Airplay you can use it as a wireless projector for you Mac, iPad and iPhone. Binding it all is iCloud which keeps all content synced and up-to-date on all devices including iTunes purchased media. Apple also has Game Centre for those who love gaming on iOS. Many games are now on the Mac OS as well, making it a complete ecosystem.

Windows too has a great ecosystem offering as well. By adopting the Metro Tile interface across all devices, it has brought it uniformity. The new Windows 8 offers drastic UI changes for earlier versions of Windows. It is great to look and simple to use. Self updating tiles make your screen come to life. The Messages app now merges your MSN and Facebook contacts into one, and you can chat without even logging on into Facebook. Nokia Lumia is the perfect device to use the Windows 7.5 OS Mango. With great hardware and software, Nokia completes Windows on the phone and I will explain this later. Windows 8 has also specifically been designed keeping in mind the tablet market. Windows 8 will be great on a tablet device, and we just have to wait and watch for that. With the success of the XBOX, Microsoft had a perfect gaming device and with Zune, they are trying to get more media content on board to make XBOX not just about gaming but also entertainment. XBOX is now integrated into the 7.5 OS Mango and Windows 8. To top that, there is Skydrive which is the cloud offering of Microsoft and available on all devices. Skydrive is now built into Windows 8 and merges with Office. This again completes the Microsoft Windows ecosystem.

WHY IS NOKIA THE BEST BET FOR WINDOWS THEN?

The new OS 7.5 Mango is on phones manufactures by Nokia, HTC and Samsung. Samsung has been concentrating its core on using Android on its devices and giving it the push to take on Apple. They have not provided such a push for the Windows based phones, which seems like they already think Mango is inferior to Android. Moreover they are developing their own OS Bada. So in priority, they will push Windows last. As far as HTC is concerned, they too are now focussing on Android heavily. Not much push is given to the Mango OS. This means that lesser attention will be paid to these devices and if you buy them you may be stuck due to lack of services and native apps by these manufacturers (although HTC had HTC Sense).Nokia on the other hand, is empowering its devices with Windows OS and is thus able to put all its effort and resources behind it. They are not dealing with any other OS except Symbian but it is now clear that the Lumia range of phones is going to be its flagship for a long time to come.

With the Lumia 900 launching on 8th April in the US, massive preparations are underway by AT&T and Nokia. Infact the Head of Device at AT&TJeff Bradley has commented, "Before you walk into the store, you know this is our hero phone...At all levels, this is a notch above anything we’ve ever done." This means that AT&T is putting a lot into this, even more than it's best selling iPhone. They have never done or said such a thing for any Android device or even a Windows device made by HTC or Samsung. So I guess it's not so much about Windows as it is about Windows 7.5 on a Nokia Lumia. This is another reason why Windows can bet big on Nokia.

One of the reasons iOS is criticized is because of the lack of a native mapping and GPS device. Even the Windows OS doesn't have GPS, it has Maps. But Nokia completes it with Nokia Drive and Nokia Maps which is far better and extremely convenient to use. Its not only these but other apps as well made by Nokia that add to the Windows OS like Contacts Transfer, Network Setup, TuneIn Radio, CNN and TuneIn Radio. 

There was a time when your dealer would recommend a Nokia phone for you. Overtime that has changed and now the same dealer will tell you to go for Samsung. I realized that it is because the margins and commissions on those phones are more. But, if you're someone who is looking for Windows it should be the Lumia. If you're someone who is looking for an ecosystem and an integrative experience and you're a  Windows person, then Lumia is the perfect phone for you. It will not disappoint. The takeaway in all this is that now it's Microsoft's turn to talk about their products, their ecosystem and not leave it on Nokia alone to promote and market the Lumia Windows phone. When they want to promote their mobile devices, they should show Lumia as the frontrunner and also show how it fits into the entire ecosystem.

iCloud v/s SkyDrive

One of the emerging technologies today is cloud computing. Earlier available to only big corporations, cloud computing is now available even to consumers for their files and docs. One of the early players was DropBox (which still stands out among the existing players), Apple's iCloud bought to the forefront cloud computing and how it can lead to perfect synchronization between devices. Launched last year, every individual who doesn't own an iPhone or iPad knows about iCloud, but little is known about a service called SkyDrive.

SkyDrive is Microsoft's cloud service for its users. Launched in 2007 as Windows Live Folders and available to a few testers, the service was then made available in 62 countries in 2008 and was renamed as Skydrive, with an initial 5GB of space. Every user now has a limit of 25GB. I only came to know of the service two weeks back when I first started using the Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone. I was searching to see if there was a cloud service that the Windows phone had when I stumbled upon SkyDrive. And I must say, I am very impressed by this offering. Just disappointed that I din't know of it earlier and it has never been a talking point that Microsoft has used or what Nokia can use. In this post, I am going to compare and contrast what i think is going to be a big battle: the battle between Microsoft and Apple for their respectives Phone OS, and their cloud service iCloud v/s SkyDrive.

SPACE
iCloud offers all users a minimum 5GB of space. It allows you to purchase additional space on the cloud. An additional 20GB comes for $40/year, while additional 50GB comes for $100/year. If you have multiple Apple devices and keep a backup of each of them on iCloud, then 5GB maybe less and you will have to purchase additional space. SkyDrive offers every user 25GB. As of  now its not expandable but it will be an option soon where Microsoft is believed to give unlimited space for documents and photos, and 25GB for everything else. You can't keep a backup of your Windows Phone on SkyDrive. This is a feature that SkyDrive should get.

ACCESSIBILITY
iCloud is now an integral part of iOS 5 and the new OS X Mountain Lion. Inbuilt into iOS 5, a user is expected to provide login details at the setup stage of the device or is free to create an account. It then syncs seamlessly with apps that support iCloud. With the new Mac OS, you can now browse files on the cloud on your MacBook Pro/Air or iMac without logging into iCloud.com . There is no facility as of now to drag and drop files like DropBox. You have to upload/download files through iCloud.com on a browser. iCloud is available on all Apple Devices, and through iCloud.com for those using a PC. SkyDrive on the other hand is available to all users who have a Windows Live ID. Not only can it be installed on a Windows Phone, but also on an Android and iPhone, making it available on all major phone platforms. You can access it anywhere by signing into you Live ID. While there was no support on Windows 7, hopefully Windows 8 will see some inbuilt SkyDrive features which can be a definite plus point for SkyDrive.

CONTACTS AND CALENDARS
iCloud offers seamless integration for your contacts and calendars. Updated on one device, contacts and calendar entries will be available on all devices - iPhone, iPad and Mac. Contacts and Calendars on your Windows Phone syncs will Hotmail. It will not readily show in Microsoft Outlook (not for me atleast). It would be a great plus point fot Microsoft to merge this with Microsoft Outlook and Address Book on Windows. One thing that happens on Windows Live is that your contacts also show your Facebook Friends and LinkedIn connections.

DOCS
On iCloud, you can upload Powerpoint and Keynote Presentations, Word and Pages docs, Numbers and Excel Sheets. These can be edited through the Pages, Keynote and Numbers apps (purchased apps) on the iPhone and iPad. Other than these, no other file formats are allowed. PDFs can be opened on iBooks but cannot be arranged into folders. Docs automatically show in these apps. SkyDrive is extremely flexible. You can create folders and upload files to them directly. Even PDFs can be uploaded and viewed. With Microsoft Office now inbuilt in Windows Phone OS 7.5, docs on SkyDrive can be viewed and edited on your phone. You can replicate your exact file and folder structure of your PC on SkyDrive and carry you docs with you right in your pocket with your Nokia Lumia Windows Phone. This is a great feature and I'm wondering why Microsoft hasn't publicized this yet. It's time Microsoft decided to take on better marketing and support its partners, especially Nokia which can make do with a great feature like this.

PHOTOS
On SkyDrive, you can upload your photo library and arrange them as per your preferences. This gives users the flexibility of keeping large albums online and accessing it anywhere. Photos clicked on your Windows Phone is not automatically added. This is where iCloud scores a brownie point. With Photo Stream, photos clicked on one device can be seen on all other devices. Earlier, you could not upload photos from your library onto the cloud. After launching the iPhoto app, you can create journals out of your photos and put them on iCloud. You can't directly upload them from your computer to iCloud. In that sense SkyDrive is better as it offers more flexibility.

MUSIC AND APPS
I'm afraid theres no comparison here. iTunes is the one stop shop for purchasing music, movies, TV shows and mobile apps. With iTunes Match, you can store all your purchases on the cloud and access it on all other Apple devices. The experience is just magical. Apple has merged iTunes and iCloud extremely well. The service though, comes at a small fee of $25/year. There is Zune Pass, which gives you access to all music for a fee. This is an area of development for Microsoft. With the XBOX which is now a entertainment device and not just for gaming, the Windows Phone and soon to come Windows tablet and Windows 8, there is a need to create an ecosystem something like what Apple has created with iTunes.

SHARING
The photo journals you now make on the iPhoto app and uploaded on iCloud can be shared with people of your choice. Documents on iCloud, however, is only visible to you and cannot be shared with anyone to view or edit. You can either mail a copy of your document or upload Keynote, Pages and Numbers docs to iwork.com to share with others on a view-only basis. Viewers can add notes or download the doc. On the other hand, docs on SkyDrive can be shared with anyone on a view-only or view and edit basis, making collaboration easier. You can also share photo albums with others. Sharing is easier on SkyDrive than iCloud.

Both iCloud and SkyDrive have different features that make it stand out. SkyDrive offers more flexibility but Apple's ability to simplify cloud and integrate it into the very backbone of the Apple ecosystem makes it easier to use and more accepted. Apple has used its prowess in marketing to make more people aware of  iCloud and how its used with Apple devices. Having said that, Microsoft too has a good service, they need to focus on making it more known and acceptable to the public. There is a need to simplify the UI, and greater integration into the Windows Phone and Windows ecosystem. SkyDrive provides a great rallying point for Nokia to promote its Lumia range of phones, because SkyDrive actually has the ability of transforming the smart phone to a PC in your pocket or what Windows phones were called earlier - 'Pocket PC'. Microsoft should recognize this and support its partners better to achieve seamless integration.

Hands on with the Nokia Lumia 800

 The first smartphone I had ever used 6 years back was a windows. In those days, the only touch screen phones around were the Windows phones. Manufactured by HTC, iMate, O2 and a few other companies, these phones were huge and needed a stylus to operate. It was almost similar to the PC, where you tapped on the Start button and the menu dropped down. There was a Control Panel, Windows Media Player, a very dysfunctional Word, and a few more programs (there were no 'apps' then). Setting up an email account was hard and even web browsing was limited (Blackberry ruled that market. I never considered BB to be a smartphone, I think it's an email phone and that's it). There were plenty of buttons on the phone, and many ports for different devices. You needed an external SD card of not more than 512MB max which had to be loaded with data before you could insert it back into the phone. There was no PC sync software (or there was but the PC never recognized the phone). The only competitor was Palm, but they never came to India. I used the Windows phone for 3 years, and by then 2007 had arrived.

2007 redefined the smartphone with the entry of two new players in the market: Google with Android and  Apple with iOS (was not called iOS then). These phones not only transformed the smartphone industry, but the entire mobile phone industry. Touch phones now responded to your finger, there was no need for a stylus. Screen sizes became bigger, cameras became more clearer, phones had inbuilt memory and there was no need for memory cards. It also introduced us to the world of 'Apps' or applications which can do a variety of functions and operations which was never thought possible.

As Apple and Android were gaining ground, there were two companies that were on a downward slide. The flaws of the Windows phone were exposed with the advent of other platforms, and its share in the market was falling. At the same time, Nokia saw a sharp decline in phone sales, and less people were accepting the Symbian platform. Analysts and tech enthusiasts were writing off Windows as a phone OS and Nokia as a manufacturer.Even I thought so, till I saw the Nokia Lumia 800.

The Nokia Lumia 800 is Nokia's first phone to run on the Windows 7.5 Mango OS. I first saw the phone at the priority store in a local mall, and it immediately caught my fancy. I browsed through it, kept it back and went on. But as days passed, my urge to use the phone starting increasing. I finally decided to use one, and I am glad that I did. Similar looking to the Nokia N8, the phone is sleek and chic. The glossy touchscreen is slightly convex giving a bubble like feel to the phone. The phone looks like its made out of a single piece of poly carbonate, with small openings for the necessary plugs. Unlike earlier phones, the battery is inbuilt and the phone comes with a memory of 16GB. The good part about the material is that even if it gets scratched, it won't expose a glaring silver color but the same color of your phone (Black, Blue or Pink). The screen is made of Gorilla glass and gets no scratches; the OLED screen is extremely clear and makes high def pictures look stunning. Even with sunlight, images are as clear as ever. The touch is extremely responsive and effortless. The response is fast and that leads to swift usage.There is no front camera (will be there in the Lumia 900) but there is a rear 8MP camera, which is attached with a small still slip with the Nokia logo embossed. There are 4 buttons on the side - volume, on/off and camera. The Start button, Bing Search and Back are capacitative touch buttons. Overall, the form factor is great, good to look, great to hold and comfortable to use.

As I switched on my phone, I was asked to enter my Windows Live ID. Luckily I had one and I did. It then went to initial setup, and I was easily able to transfer my contacts through the 'Contact Transfer' app. In less than a minute I was done and good to use the phone like any other. The interface is a welcome change from other Mobiles OS. It's based on the Metro tile interface, that is now seen on the XBox and Windows 8. Unlike most smartphones, where the icons are on the screen and you can add widgets, the Lumia and most Windows phones work on live self-updating tiles. You can add an app as a tile on the Start screen. The app (not all, but few) keep updating depending on the availability of new content and information. News apps show the headlines, Weather apps show the latest climate based on location etc. There is the main start screen with all the tiles, and by swiping left, you can see all the apps. Unlike all smartphones which populate the screen with apps as icons, the Lumia lists them alphabetically and you have to keep scrolling down for more so there are no multiple screens.

While there are stand alone Facebook and Twitter apps, you can also configure your Facebook and Twitter profile inbuilt . By doing so you not only add to the People app, but also the Me app. The People appbshows you all your contacts, by swiping you can see the latest Facebook and Twitter feeds, swipe again and you can see who are the people you have been engaging with recently. The UI and experience is amazing. All Social feeds are at one place. When you choose a contact, you can see the person's number, latest Facebook and Twitter Activity, history of SMS Text and calls. The Me app is all about you. It's about what your are doing in the Social space. You can update FB and Twitter directly from there. It also delivers Social notifications. While Sony has tried to integrate Social with People scape, the Lumia experience stands out.

The Lumia is power packed when it comes to inbuilt apps. Office 365 is already loaded and needs to additional purchase. You can now edit your Word docs, Powerpoint presentations, Excel worksheets on your phone. Save and upload to cloud is another feature. When it comes to GPS and Maps, Nokia is by far the undisputed leader in India. While there is Google Maps, navigation is not available in India. Most GPS apps for iOS and Android need to be purchased additionally. That's not the case with Nokia. The Lumia comes with Nokia Drive, the turn-by-turn GPS navigation app, and it works fantastic even in India. Perfectly accurate and precise, Nokia Drive will ensure you're never lost. While configuring it, you have to download maps for India. Finding known places is easy, but exact addresses is hard to find. You can view the maps in 2D and 3D. Unlike most GPS apps, Nokia Drive and Maps is simple and easy and needs no special understanding. There is a Local Scout app, which based on your location tells you the closest restaurants, hotels, malls, cinemas and other relevant information. And its just there, always.

Nokia is also known for its phone cameras. The Lumia 800 comes with a 8MP Carl Zeiss Tessar Camera.  Compared to the iPhone 4 and many Androids, its the best. The picture is clear, and even in the night pictures come without the white patch. The camera is comparable to point and shoot cameras, and you can also adjust the Scenes, white balance, exposure, ISO, Metering Mode, Effects, Contrast, Saturation, Focus and Resolution. The camera is easily accessible by the lower button on the right side. I am not the best at photography, but I like the Lumia camera the best.

The default email account is Windows Live/MSN/Hotmail, but you can add Outlook, Yahoo, Google, POP and IMAP accounts. Among Social, you can add FB, Twitter and LinkedIn. The messages interface is also great and is now a thread interface between you and whoever you are messaging. The bubbles stand out against the black background and that gives a great effect that makes your conversations come alive.

Windows has incorporated Zune into the OS and has made it the defauly player for music and video. By tapping on the tile, you can choose between music, videos, podcasts and radio (most smartphones don't come with inbuilt radio, so this is definitely a plus). By choosing music, you can then swipe between songs, artists, albums etc. Same goes for videos and podcasts. You can also view your history and the apps which have audio and video content within the Zune app. The speakers of the phone are good and loud, and you can hear music and sound even from a distance.  Music can be transferred through the Zune Desktop software for Windows and Windows Phone connector for Mac.

For apps, there is the Windows Marketplace. You can use your Live ID to make purchases. While the number of apps is less compared to iOS and Android, all the important apps are available so there is so particular utility or function you will miss as such. There maybe lesser games but its only a matter of time before it catches up. Skydrive is a must-have app and is Window's offering of cloud services. With an initial 25GB limit, you can upload almost anything from your computer and access it on your phone thus transforming your mobile phone into you portable PC right in your pocket (more on Skydrive in my upcoming post). With inbuilt Office, your productivity on the Lumia can be at its best.

If there is one complaint I have with the Lumia, it's the battery. The battery is inbuilt so I can't change or put an external battery of higher charge. It doesn't last more than a day, and I at least expect a day and a half to two. I hope something is being done to improve them. Lot of work needs to be done on voice commands, though dictation for speech to text is good, but needs a slight accent. I also think there is a better way for multi tasking, right now a long press on the back button shows all open windows. You can't close them directly but you have to choose the app and keep pressing back.

Many believed Microsoft, when it came to mobiles is a sinking ship and Nokia had made a wrong choice by going with the Windows OS and not Android. I beg to differ, I think its great that such software it combined with superior hardware to make the experience complete and fulfilling. I've used the phone for only a week and a half, and there's lots more to learn and discover. Do let me know what you think, and remember its not just Apple and Android, its also Nokia and Windows. If you're buying a new phone, its worthwhile to consider the Lumia 800 ( Lumia 600 is also available, costs lesser).

     PHONE SPECIFICATIONS (Source: gsmarena.com)

GENERAL	2G Network	GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
	3G Network	HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1900 / 2100 - RM-819 HSDPA 850 / 1900 / 2100 - For Canada
		HSDPA 900 / 1900 / 2100 - RM-801 CV
	Announced	2011, October
	Status	Available. Released 2011, November

BODY	Dimensions	116.5 x 61.2 x 12.1 mm, 76.1 cc
	Weight	142 g
		- Touch-sensitive controls

DISPLAY	Type	AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 16M colors
	Size	480 x 800 pixels, 3.7 inches (~252 ppi pixel density)
	Multitouch	Yes
	Protection	Corning Gorilla Glass
		- Nokia ClearBlack display

SOUND	Alert types	Vibration; MP3, WAV ringtones
	Loudspeaker	Yes
	3.5mm jack	Yes

MEMORY	Card slot	No
	Internal	16 GB storage, 512 MB RAM

DATA	GPRS	Class 33
	EDGE	Class 33
	Speed	HSDPA 14.4 Mbps, HSUPA 5.76 Mbps
	WLAN	Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n
	Bluetooth	Yes, v2.1 with A2DP, EDR
	USB	Yes, microUSB v2.0

CAMERA	Primary	8 MP, 3264x2448 pixels, Carl Zeiss optics, autofocus, dual-LED flash, check quality
	Features	Geo-tagging
	Video	Yes, 720p@30fps, check quality
	Secondary	No

FEATURES	OS	Microsoft Windows Phone 7.5 Mango
	Chipset	Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon
	CPU	1.4 GHz Scorpion
	GPU	Adreno 205
	Sensors	Accelerometer, proximity, compass
	Messaging	SMS (threaded view), MMS, Email, Push Email, IM
	Browser	WAP 2.0/xHTML, HTML5, RSS feeds
	Radio	Stereo FM radio with RDS
	GPS	Yes, with A-GPS support
	Java	No
	Colors	Black, Cyan, Magenta, White
		- MicroSIM card support only - SNS integration - Active noise cancellation with dedicated mic - MP3/WAV/eAAC+/WMA player - MP4/H.264/H.263/WMV player - Document viewer/editor - Video/photo editor - Voice memo/command/dial - Predictive text input

BATTERY		Standard battery, Li-Ion 1450 mAh (BV-5JW)
	Stand-by	Up to 265 h (2G) / Up to 335 h (3G)
	Talk time	Up to 13 h (2G) / Up to 9 h 30 min (3G)
	Music play	Up to 55 h

The Lumia 800 costs about Rs.30,000 while the Nokia Lumia 600 costs Rs.18,000.