I should have had an update out about TOR - and I apologize to my readers about that. I've been super busy. Between full time work and catching up with friends, it makes things pretty difficult to keep up with. That post will come out, but first, I thought i'd get in a post about the state of the mobile market today.
I'm no stranger to mobile phones/smartphones. The very first mobile phone I owned was a Ericsson t28, passed down to me by my Uncle, who had 'upgraded' to a Ericsson t66!! (Wow!). Those phones were fantastic. Ultimately, I ended up getting the best phone to ever exist (at the time): the Nokia 3310. I found out that these phones could be 'unlocked' for free online by typing in your IMEI number and getting an unlock code - I was charging kids in the school playground like £3 a pop. I was a little entrepreneur .... well, almost. You see, there weren't as many kids with phones - in fact, most adults didn't have a mobile phone back in the year 2000.
These days, it's hard to find someone who doesn't have a mobile phone. Kids grow up amongst phones/tablets and the world as we know it is becoming much more reliant on technology as a tool to communicate, live and work with. Having loved the Nokia 3310 and all of the other models i've owned (trust me, it's hard to name a Nokia that I haven't owned), I went back to the Nokia world that I had fond memories of and purchased a Lumia 920. The biggest change is that Microsoft now own Nokia...
The home screen on the Windows Phone 8 device is actually quite nice. It's a 'live tile' which updates when you get emails, or texts, or calls. Missed a call? No problem, you get a '1' on the live tile. Weather? The weather will update live on the tile. News? Yeah - that's covered too. The problem with Microsoft's Nokia range is the user-interface that sits behind the home screen. It's absolutely WOEFUL.
My Nokia Lumia 920 shipped with Windows Phone 8 as the OS and soon enough, there was a sneaky way to upgrade to the developers preview of Windows Phone 8.1. Of course, I did this, and there were some good changes. What I was extremely unhappy to find - was that the user interface was exactly the same, but with more options. This makes for a horrible mess of an interface which Microsoft/Nokia haven't addressed. Now this might not sound like a big deal, but when Apple's flagship iPhone series have virtually perfected their interface - it's a BIG problem.
To top it off, Microsoft have said that Windows Phone 8.1 is going to be released in the UK in "late 2014", Source: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/mobile-phone/3510108/windows-phone-81-cortana-release-date-new-features-uk/
Personally, i've waited 7 months since owning the phone for Windows Phone 8.1 - and when I purchased the phone, it was already an aging phone. To make me wait longer AND not improve the user interface - I'm out. Although I wanted an iPhone, i'm actually opting for an Android (and believe me, I hated Android in the past).....but I am going to try it and see how things go.
I may end up going back to the iPhone if the Android phone doesn't work out - and i'm not the only one who thinks this way! There are millions of avid consumers out there wanting the latest and greatest phones which do everything they want - and then some. It really highlights that the mobile phone market is more competitive than ever and there's a-lot at stake. It wouldn't surprise me if companies end up going bust trying to compete in the current climate as consumers want the best deal for their hard earned cash.
Until next time - thanks for reading.
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