Gadgetory

of all the understatements and mischaracterizations of the tech world probably the most ignominiously the point upgrade no matter how many major improvements they've contained updates like the bump from Android 4.3 to 4.4 and blackberry 10.1 to 10.2 have always seemed somehow less impressive due to their miniscule numeric promotion and that's more true than ever before with Windows Phone 8.1 from the introduction of a native voice assistant to some long-overdue interface overhauls Microsoft's new software brings sorely needed modernization to its smartphone platform and we're here to show you how it looks and tell you how well it works I'm Michael Fisher this is PocketNow and this is our video review of Windows Phone 8.1 Microsoft Editor Adam Lane and I have spent six days trialing Windows Phone 8.1 on a Nokia Lumia icon provided to us by Microsoft as a disclaimer the software we've been using is obviously pre-release and it doesn't include the improvements coming with Nokia's Lumia cyan update later this season we cover only the major changes in this video for a more in-depth look at Windows Phone 8.1 see our full review at PocketNow linked in the description below probably the first thing you notice when powering on a Windows Phone 8.1 device is the revamped Start screen a dot one continues the trend of offering an added column of tiles and it also introduces the capability of custom graphics instead of the old monoblock colors rather than just being painted on the tiles though your graphic actually floats behind them this change makes many of the default tiles essentially transparent and finally gives Windows Phone its own form of wallpaper without sacrificing that look that makes it so instantly recognizable or the live tile functionality that makes it so useful the transitions between screens have also been slightly tweaked with tightened animations making the whole thing feels zippier and resurrecting some of that hip modernity first brought by Windows Phone 7 four years ago sadly not all of the original intention had survived intact the signal strength and battery life indicators which used to elegantly slide out of the way when not needed are now displayed more off than not a change we don't think was necessary also some of the more beautiful and simple corners of Windows Phone have been sacrificed in the name of features the new Photos hub no longer has that gorgeous panoramic image behind it those new volume sliders offer more control but at the expense of some simplicity the music and videos hub has been completely removed along with its accompanying live tile Windows Phone is still quite distinctive but bit by bit it's visually centric nature is being chipped away in favor of a features first mentality that better resembles its competitors that resemblance though is more than welcome in the area of notifications aggregating alerts has always been a pain point with the Windows Phone experience live tiles notwithstanding and it's an issue Microsoft has finally addressed in 8.1 with Action Center a pulldown shade containing system toggles alongside a unified list of notifications grouped by app you can choose which apps are displayed in the notification center and in the same settings screen you can even set customizable alert sounds for things like different email accounts another feature we've been waiting a long time for and while we have a few qualms we'd like to have seen it placed elsewhere other than up top and we'd like the ability to dismiss individual messages instead of entire categories we'll gladly live with those limitations because at the end of the day it's a Notification Center in Windows Phone that works well and that alone is reason to celebrate speaking of features inspired by other platforms Microsoft's new voice assistant finally breaks cover in version 8.1 replacing the old Bing functionality of the capacitive search button down below and enhancing it with device wide search and other modern touches in terms of her vocal presence Cortana is fortunately more than just a clever halo inspired name in day-to-day use she feels about as smart as Siri first did on the iPhone 4s allowing you to set reminders and alarms perform searches voice tile and so on she's something of a blend of Siri and Google now with the personality of the former and some of the power of the latter with some very useful Microsoft touches Cortana's notebook allows you to customize exactly what she was about you and her third-party plugins mean you can ask her to read the news for example NBC news headlines reading headlines headlines for top stories most challenging hunt ever commander breaks down jet obstacles Sebelius Obamacare timeline was flat-out wrong raised or contact someone using a specific app she also plugs into bings music search so you can identify a mystery track playing at your favorite dive and she can also provide specific reminders for specific people the next time you talk to them the next time I talked to Taylor Martin remind me to ask him where I can get a sweet hat like his okay next time you talk to Taylor Mardon I can remind you to ask about his new hat sound good yes if you're in a loud environment you can also type your commands rather than speaking them and if you opt to give Cortana a live tile she'll periodically throw up headlines and other relevant info Cortana is definitely still in the beta phase again she's a lot like early Siri in terms of how well she understands voice input and some of the features she relies on like Maps still have some annoying limitations show me the closest Dunkin Donuts Washington Street also it's sadly no easier to text by voice in Windows Phone there's still no punctuation support and the system still cuts you off if you even take a breath microsoft says Cortana's functionality and reliability will grow with use for now she has a lot of growing up to do but she still adds a lot of convenience to the Windows Phone experience and she's worlds better than what we've seen on the platform up to this point while most higher-end Windows Phones will likely continue to ship with the professional-grade Nokia camera app Microsoft can't afford to ignore the non Nokia segments of its lineup particularly with so many new OEMs coming aboard as such the stock Windows Phone camera app has been given a facelift with a button layout that makes more sense and a burst mode option to the photos you take are now organized into collections in the gallery based on location and date though again we wish Microsoft had managed to retain that beautiful panoramic photo design from the previous version behind the scenes clean-up and enhancement is a huge part of the 8.1 update and while the list is covered more extensively in our full review at pocket now here's some of our favorites the excellent data sense app now has some company in the form of Wi-Fi sense which logs into familiar or free networks on your behalf and also lets you share your own access point without also sharing your password storage sense lets you see what apps are taking up space and your device battery saver functions as a kind of power sense allowing you to see which apps use the most battery and also allowing you to govern which are allowed to run in the background and if swiping rather than tapping makes more sense to you Microsoft's word flow keyboard is here and it works quite well even if you're an old-timer not used to that newfangled swipe input the People Hub was early on one of our favorite aspects of Windows Phone but it fell out of favor over the years as its functionality lagged behind the social networks it depended on well with 8.1 the hub has been for lack of a better word platform eyes meaning tapping on an update brings you right to the app of the network it came from that means more features and more abilities it brought more quickly we no longer need to wait for Windows Phone upgrades to enhance the people hub they'll come when the third-party apps which plug into it are updated and in the same vein sharing media has been rethought to better resemble the Android paradigm you're given a list of apps and you're taken directly to them to share once developers update their apps to take advantage of the new framework this will be a very welcome change and speaking of app updates they can be set to automatic now one of the many such enhancements sprinkled throughout the OS these enhancements help take the edge off some of the weaknesses of the platform some of which persist the mediocrity of Internet Explorer compared to competitors the confusing inclusion of two Maps options neither of which work terribly well at least here in the States and yes the app gap which has narrowed tremendously over the past year but which is still very visible in areas like gaming where iOS and Android continue to boast a commanding lead a comprehensive list of improvements would take many videos this length which brings us back to our first point don't judge an upgrade by its point value while this iteration doesn't reinvent the wheel that's a good thing we've always liked the clean modern look and feel of Windows Phone it was the gaps in functionality that we often took exception to version 8.1 fills an awful lot of those gaps while preserving the soul of the platform's design and its glanceable information aesthetic we'd have liked to have seen many of these improvements come sooner but as they say better late than never our numeric score will be available in the full review linked in the description below but those still wondering about Windows Phones viability in the modern world can stop wondering version 8.1 isn't just a solid upgrade it's the first incarnation of Windows Phone to feel complete enough to tempt people away from competitors that in and of itself makes 8.1 probably the most significant Windows Phone update ever and it makes us more hopeful than ever for the future of this plan you