Windows Phone 7.8 released

[holidayboy]

So then, has anybody had the 'update available' message on their phone / in Zune yet?

Care to share handset and network info?

Nothing so far on my O2 branded HTC HD7 (Orange UK /EE SIM).

[mark1234]

Nothing on my Samsung Omnia 7, locked to useless T-Mobile UK. But then I haven't had an update since November 2011 either, so I'm not surprised at not getting 7.8. My keyboard still keeps disappearing on this thing - a bug MS fixed over a year ago.

But never mind because my shiny new HTC 8X is due to arrive tomorrow!

[milli260876]

Got it here - HTC radar generic... Aside from the start screen nothings changed, although I do like the new start screen

[holidayboy]

Oooh, nice Mark

Is the 8X 4G ready? Not that I'll be getting a 4G signal this side of the apocalypse anyway.......

No upgrade for me until September, I used my last one to get a Radar for the other half.

Good to see you got the update milli, the new start screen will breath a bit of extra life into our devices once we get it (one way or another!).

[mark1234]

I don't believe the 8X is 4G compatible. Nottingham does have 4G, but I'm not paying EE's ball squeezing prices for it. Happy to sit this out for another two years.

There are a number of ways to force the update, but I decided long ago that I want my phone to "just work" and so I'm not into hacking it apart.

[holidayboy]

I know what you mean - EE are definitely making the most of things while they can, I'm sure they're missing out on a lot of sales by setting prices so high though.

I have a spare HD7 with a broken case that I'm going to experiment with to see how I get on with getting 7.8

[mark1234]

It's arrived! Who cares about 7.8 anyway??

[holidayboy]

Enjoy

Be good to hear your opinion on WP8 vs 7.5

[mark1234]

I waited a little on replying so I could give a more considered answer on WP8.

It's a bit weird as an upgrade as there is no single killer new or better thing (unlike when I went from Symbian to WP7). There are some improvements (being able to search server-side emails in Hotmail - big win) but also some things not so good (the keyboard auto-correct is nowhere near as good IMHO).

The new start screen is brilliant. The ability to choose the icon size, and losing the gutter down the right have just given so much more usable space and possibility. When I look at the Omnia now it just doesn't look as good.

The new hardware is lovely. I never had any issues with the screen on the Omnia 7, but compared to the 8X screen, it's night and day. The 8X is so much clearer and brighter, and the extra resolution is awesome! You can actually see the mini-pictures in the People Hub clearly now, rather than them being a shape you just recognise. It has also survived it's first high-speed contact with my hard kitchen floor without a mark on it.

However one massive downer is that Microsoft have completely, and deliberately, broken podcast support. One of the main uses for my phone is as a podcast player. WP7.5 was functional, but a pain to get set up in the first place. WP8 isn't even functional. And none of the podcast apps that I've tried quite cut it either. I'm actually still using the Omnia as a podcast player, which wasn't my plan.

Still no sign of WP7.8 arriving on the Omnia. I'm not holding my breath on that one either.

[holidayboy]

Thanks for posting. I remember you mentioning about being a regular podcast listener and wondered how you'd get on. I think that I heard Ian Dixon talking about the lack of wireless sync?!?

I forced 7.8 in the end and really like it, I'm still undecided as to what to do when my contract ends....

[mark1234]

The only MS supported way to sync podcasts is to use iTunes on my PC and then sync using a wire. A wire??!! If I wanted that kind of retro experience I'd have bought a Blackberry. I want wireless, automatic, background syncing. Like my old Symbian could do four years ago...

The podcast apps I've tried all have some combination of the following issues:
* Dreadful UI
* No background syncing
* No ability to (reliably) remember playback position

The best I've found are one called Podcatcher which downloads fairly painlessly (though only does so when you start the app) but it's not good at remembering playback position, and Podcast Lounge which is better at remembering playback point but isn't so good at the download side. Ian was talking about an app called Bringcast, but it has a truly, truly, awful interface.

I was a bit unsure what to do when my contract ended. Stick with my Omnia and drop down to a cheaper 30 day SIM, go WP8 or even try Android. I was tempted by Android because ultimately I don't think WP will be a success, and I wondered how wise it was to again buy into a platform that's going nowhere. But my wife bought a Galaxy Note just before my contract ended, and the experience of setting that up reminded me of the horrifying UI experience that is Symbian, and why I rejected Android last time around. I don't regret getting WP8, but it's not without compromise.

Have you also seen that when three launch their 4G service, they aren't going to charge a premium over 3G? That's the day that EE's early-adopter penalty charges end.

[tony_park]

Hi Mark,

thanks for confirming my suspicions about WP8 - I'm on a sim only plan at the moment with Vodafone, and using a Lumia 800. I've had the 7.8 upgrade, and other than the new screen and the extra new colours, nothing else has changed.

Having said that, I don't mind that, as my phone pretty much worked as I wanted anyway. But I was considering changing to an 820 or 920, but I think, after reading your review, I'll wait for a while longer until MS update the phone software with some of the missing bits!

Thanks for your feedback, you've saved me a packet

[mark1234]

Always glad to help. (Donations gratefully received!)

I know there are loads of under the covers improvements from WP7 to 8, but the start screen experience is the main user benefit. As you get that with 7.8, it does reduce the appeal of WP8.

Unfortunately, with this being Microsoft, you will be left waiting for some time for these "missing bits".

[holidayboy]

I don't understand the decision to remove wireless Zune sync. MS could have just rebranded Zune to Xbox something surely? Adding drag and drop is a good thing, taking away other features isn't!

[mark1234]

I'm not bothered about losing Zune. I only ever wired up my WP7 for a periodic download of pictures and videos that I'd taken. Now that WP8 supports uploading the full quality versions of pictures and video to SkyDrive over wifi, I really have no need for my phone to ever meet my PC.

I did try using Zune wirelessly, but it didn't work in my particular setup so I stopped trying.

[Embiggens]

Yeah thanks for the report, mark. With WP8 I'm not seeing much compelling me to stick with WP for my next phone- that podcast thing is a killer. I want to hang in there but the long-tail apps thing is starting to get to me.

And I'm still waiting for someone explain to me why it was necessary to abandon WP 7.5 users for WP8? What I understand is that they changed the kernel giving them slightly improved performance with multicore processors, right? But as an average user, I don't think I care about this. And w/o a unification of the W8 and WP8 ecosystem, this whole endeavor seems nearly pointless to me. Just a short rant.

[mark1234]

Where are you, Embiggens? If you're in the US then podcasting will work just fine. It's the Rest of World region where it doesn't. This is also why I'm comfortable in saying that they've deliberately broken podcasting - it works in the US. They must have put in effort to disable it for other regions.

[Embiggens]

I'm indeed in the US. Yeah, I thought I heard Paul Thurrott dogging the new podcasting for some reason, so what you were saying lined up with that and I was just thinking it was for everyone. I'll have to look at it more closely when I re-up.

[mark1234]

He was dogging podcasting??? Wow, that must be a word that has a different meaning on your side of the ocean...

[holidayboy]