My first days with a Windows 8 phone

[whs]

It's a bit of a pita though. If they would provide an imaging facility instead, I would not worry about malware. The backup facility to the cloud they have is a joke. I have a 32GB SD card and want my full system images there. The data on the SD card I don't care. That is backed up anyhow via my desktop.

I do imaging like that on my Asus Transformer which is 8.1 and it works perfectly. Of course there I have a USB3 port and a micro USB2 port from where I can start the recovery program. They should put at least 1 micro USB port into the device.

 

[whs]

Trip report to the bakery in Yalahla


Today I took the 521 for the first time on the road - to buy bread at a bakery 65 miles away. Besides bread they have real yummy pastry on which we also stocked up. They also have a small farmers market where you can buy tomatos that taste like tomatos.

Upon arrival we were greeted by outdoor music for a huge crowd of people that were having lunch on outdoor tables. We joined them with a nice helping of bratwurst, potato salad, sauerkraut and a Laugenweckle ( I think you call it pretzel roll).

Only the wife had been there before with a friend driving her. So the navigation skills of the Lumia 521 were required because it is a bit tricky to get there. The Lumia and Here+ did a beautiful job. We always knew where we were, it told us the distance to the next turn, warned us of speed restrictions and all of that on a very crisp picture on the screen that even I could read (with sunglasses) which is quite an accomplishment for my poor eyes. And the voice guidance was perfect too.

For planning the trip back I thought I needed the WiFi for the initial settings. But nobody in the bakery knew the password for their WiFi - I guess they are bakers and no IT specialists. To my great surprise though I discovered that it was possible to set the directions without WiFi - only with the help of GPS and the Florida map that I had downloaded a couple of days ago. So getting back home was a breeze too.

The only time Here+ was coughing was when we left our development and did not take the proposed route because we know the shortcuts better than the navigation program. But thing went back in line as soon as we got to the main road. In summary I am very pleased and this is one up for W8P over Android where the navigation programs are good too, but not that good.

 

[Tepid]

You should also check out the Here City Lens
That has come in handy more than a few times and the way it works is pretty sweet too.
Works best when you are on a street and can stay still for a short time to see what is down the street.

As for backing up things to the cloud, I have not had any issues with that.
Pictures, Doc's, OneNote, no problems at all.

I love that I can work on OneNote on any of my PC's,
walk away and have it on my phone or vice versa with no extra anything to do at all. It just synchs, done, move along.

What is not working with Cloud Backup?

 

[whs]

The city lens I have looked at. That's neat.

For starters I don't want a cloud backup. No cloud for me. And then it does not backup the whole system - as I understand it. I am not worried about my data. That's all duplicates from other systems and backed up many times. I only want the full system backed up - either to one of my PCs or the resident MicroSD card.

 

[Tepid]

Correct, there is no full system imaging of a WP.
There is no need for it that I understand.
Since Malware/viruses are basically nill, and apps can't affect other parts of the system in negative ways
It's a pretty ingenious system, to a degree.
You will never need to do a full system restore. or the reasons are so small that it is almost nill.

Apps can crash, but they don't affect the whole system. Only that App crashes.
The system has almost no chance of getting corrupted. Except through a possible update
From all that have been sent out, I have not ever had an issue with that.
The last one was GDR3 from MS and Black from Nokia.
Both of those went without an issue.
GDR2 and Amber before that,, no issues.

Corrupting a Windows Phone is not an easy thing to do, that I know of.

That does pose a few limitations on cross app sharing,
but we will have to wait and see how future apps can be developed around that idea.

I will say that what is lacking is the ability to back up App Data.
This is a problem on the WP.
I don't know if Developers can institute something into their apps that might give you the
option to upload/download some kind of non-executable data file to wherever you wish (PC, SD Card, Cloud service, etc)

I was very anti-Cloud, but I am relaxing to certain circumstances.
I don't put personal info out there. But other info and data, some pictures etc doesn't bother me.

It's akin to email anyway, email IS a cloud service since day one. And think about how much personal data we all have
floating around in that system. So, really, it's not that much different.

Yeah, some things are still missing. But they may (hopefully) change this year.

 

[whs]

Well, it is reassuring that WP is prettu secure. But I am still a bit leary that things can go wrong. In my 53 years with IT I have learned that things go wrong when you least expect it. I have been around operating systems since the first days - when they were still called IOS and seen them in all their colors as an OS developer.

But maybe you are right and I should not worry about it. If the thing goes on the blink, I just get a new one. It just challenges my professional ego if I cannot control the course of action.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

@ whs

Thumbs up on the trip and navigation. :thumb:

No USB port? I’m surprised. How does it charge?

I believe anything sent to MS cloud is encrypted if that’s any consolation.

No need for imaging really. There’s soft and hard resets. It’s like refreshing a PC.

 

[whs]

HG, It does have a mini USB port for charging and you can attach it to the PC as an external device and work the files. But I doubt that attaching e.g. a stick with an OTG cable would do anything. There is no facilitu to access the stick and there is probably also no power for the stick.

I have to look for the reset options. Did not see anything in the 521 manual but maybe I should get myself a Windows 8 Phone manual.

Yeah, the trip was a full success - both for the chow and for the navigation. I was really amazed how well the little guy performed. I was already spoiled by my Nexus, but this one was even better.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

I do imaging like that on my Asus Transformer which is 8.1 and it works perfectly. Of course there I have a USB3 port and a micro USB2 port from where I can start the recovery program. They should put at least 1 micro USB port into the device.

You mention here it didn’t have one or am I misunderstanding something?

Brink has and is building a tutorial section here:

Windows 8 Tutorials

If you have an MS account, sign in (or not) here at the Windows Phone site. The “How-to” link is very informational.

The Smartphone Reinvented Around You | Windows Phone (United States)

 

[whs]

No you did not misunderstand. I differentiate a micro USB port for charging and one where I can attach devices and execute programs or import data.

I know this tutorial section. There are even a couple of my tutorials in there.

I have an MS account. I will check out this site, thanks.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

No you did not misunderstand. I differentiate a micro USB port for charging and one where I can attach devices and execute programs or import data.

I’m still not understanding this. It's one in the same on most phones no matter what make. Perhaps you would not know this not having a smart phone previously. The micro/mini USB port is for charging when on a charger. It also charges and transfers data when connected to a USB port on another device. Device to me also includes a tower PC and a laptop. It shows up as Windows Phone in File Explorer. Or at least on mine it does. It's basically a exterior drive.

There is also the Store app called Windows phone that opens when the phone is plugged in via the USB ports. The first time I plugged my phone in the app downloaded and installed by default. If I remember correctly the tile installed on the Start Screen, which is rare.



App open without phone connected.



Then when connected. Phone number shows where the white rectangle is next to the make and model.



Other have of that app window.



The link in the lower right corner takes one via immersive IE to windowsphone.com which one can do a whole load of things like ring a lost phone to find it. You can record a phones location and it will show up here. Other things/functions as well. It took me a good week to learn the basics. Still learning things every day.

In File Explorer.



I know you know where the tutorial section is and I have seen your tutorials. It’s the Windows Phone tutorial section I was speaking of. When I copy and paste the link it shows as thus:

Windows 8 Tutorials[1]=Windows%20Phone%208

 

[whs]

Thanks HG. I think I understand all that and I already had the phone connected to the Desktop via the USB port with no trouble. I have also seen this Windows Phone app. But this is not what I am talking about.

My Nexus 7 also came with a mini USB for charging. But I can also attach an OTG cable and put a USB stick in. It gives enough power to run the stick and there are several programs I can use to import data from the stick. I think that is not possible with the phone.

I currently cannot test it because my OTG cable is defunct and my good cable is in Germany. Nobody around here has straight OTG cables. They only have those short bent ones which are a pain.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Ok, Wolfgang. Your Nexus 7 has Android 4.1 Jellybean, which is a full blown OS, therefore it has a file manager/explorer in it. I believe most phones are limited in this way. My Droid X2 had an explorer in it, but it was limited with just viewing files, not transferring them around. Someone may know different, but I think it is this way.

Did your phone not come with an OTB cable?

 

[whs]

No, they were cheap. No OTG cable. But that is no problem. In Germany I have a good one.

For managing the files in the phone and on the MicrSD card, I can always attach it to a PC. The Micro SD card is a great asset. The Necus 7 does not have that so the ability to attach a stick comes in handy. But I have 32GB of flash, so I can store a lot of stuff inside.

 

[HippsieGypsie]

Lol. Excuse my misunderstanding and/or ignorance again, Wolfgang. How did you hook the phone to the computer in which you mentioned in an earlier post without a OTG cable? Your 521 charges via the USB port, correct? If so, you cannot disconnect the cable from the wall socket charging unit and use it for the computer? Mine came with this kind of cable and configuration.

 

[whs]

Right, it came with the charging cable. But the USB plug is a male plug. An OTG cable has a female USB plug to attach sticks or disks (which really only works with SSDs because HDDs need to much power to spin).

 

[whs]

I skinned another cat. I finally found a VoIP app with free calls within the US and from Europe to the US. But for that it must be initially set up in the US. All the ones I had tested before (e.g. Viber) required a mobile phone plan as base. But I have no mobile phone plan. That was the whole crux of the matter.

If you put VoIP into the search of the MS app store, the apps in the picture below will come up. It is the Spare Phone app that costs $3.49 but it is well worth it. This works like in Android with the Google Voice. I had a Google Voice account already but it is easy to get and free.

The quality of the calls is excellent as far as I could test locally and to New York. The setup is easy too - was a bit more complicated for me because I did not remember with which Email I was signed in at Google Voice and I also did not remember the password. But after a few experiments on my desktop, that was settled too. One should always write those things down.

Next will have to be a decent File Explorer. I tried a few free ones but they are all retarded. No way to open the folders on the MicroSD card. There is one called Pocket File Manager for $1.99 which seems to do that. So this is my next project.

 

[Tepid]

Pocket File Manager is getting a lot of updates lately.
I did buy that as well a while back.
a File Manger has it's advantages to a degree I guess, not sure about SD Card as my phone does not have one.

I am waiting till after April build conference to see if Verizon will be getting any new WP phones in.
May take advantage of the Edge plan and upgrade.
I was looking at the Icon, but, it has no SD Card Slot, which is what I am more interested in.
I am not entirely sure why, I have plenty of room in the eternal memory, and have never had issues with
getting my data off or on the phone. I will ahve to tink about that and see if it really necessary.
However, we will see what comes out in the next month or so and go from there.
I don't know if the Mobile Conference was the end of what may be announced.

 

[e000r1w2]

WHS,

I skinned another cat. I finally found a VoIP app with free calls within the US and from Europe to the US. But for that it must be initially set up in the US. All the ones I had tested before (e.g. Viber) required a mobile phone plan as base. But I have no mobile phone plan. That was the whole crux of the matter.

If you put VoIP into the search of the MS app store, the apps in the picture below will come up. It is the Spare Phone app that costs $3.49 but it is well worth it. This works like in Android with the Google Voice. I had a Google Voice account already but it is easy to get and free.

The quality of the calls is excellent as far as I could test locally and to New York. The setup is easy too - was a bit more complicated for me because I did not remember with which Email I was signed in at Google Voice and I also did not remember the password. But after a few experiments on my desktop, that was settled too. One should always write those things down.

View attachment 39379

I also recently jumped to a Windows Phone and have successfully set it up to use the wi-fi phone connection only paired with Spare Phone. I had no trouble getting the phone to make outgoing calls with the Spare Phone app but thus far no success receiving calls. Did you encounter problems making the in coming calls connection? If so what is the secret? (I am communicating with Spare Phone support on the problem, but no luck yet)

 

[whs]

Yeah, that is a problem I have not yet solved either. This is the offical answer:

I’m not receiving incoming calls. Help!?
Answer: To receive incoming calls you must enable ‘Google chat’ as one of your phones to ring in the Google Voice settings. Just make sure you don’t have the cell phone you’re using and ‘Google chat’ enabled simultaneously.

I am still struggling with Google chat because I am really not sure what settings have to be made. I am going to ask my friends at the Android forum. They know that stuff and report back when I got it solved.