Google Nexus4 First Impressions Review

Luckily I didn't wait for the Google LG Nexus 4 to be available again at the Google Play store. It was out of stock last week and remains so now. No such problems with Phones4U, I ordered the Nexus 4 on Friday and the courier delivered it direct to the house the following Tuesday.



Google Nexus4 First Impressions Review

After using the Nokia Lumia 800 Windows 7 phone recently and the iPhone 3GS before that my first impressions of the Google Nexus 4 is wow! The speed of the phone is amazing with no lag at all between opening apps or switching pages. The 2Gb of memory clearly makes a massive difference along with the quad core Snapdragon processor. Google apparently aimed for a smooth experience like butter and have certainly achieved that.

The Nexus 4 fits well in your hand although not quite as comfortably as the Nokia Lumia 800 which had perfectly positioned buttons for turning the phone on and off when held in one hand.

The screen is excellent and incredibly sharp and crisp with very easy to read text. Despite the larger 4.7" screen size the Nexus 4 is actually lighter than the Lumia 800 at 139g compared to 142g for the 3.7" screened Nokia Lumia 800. The Nokia Lumia 920 with its smaller 4.5" screen actually tips the scales at an incredible 185g.

After a few days the battery is also performing brilliantly; unlike the Lumia and iPhone 5 it seems to be no problem making it through a whole day without needing a recharge. The refreshing change is that a standard mini USB cable can be used to charge it but more importantly plugging the Nexus 4 into your PC allows you to copy music and data directly to it in contrast to the locked down iPhone and Nokia Windows devices.

What are Cheapest Google LG Nexus 4 Phone Available Deals?

The Nexus 4 smartphone from Google made by LG is still unavailable at the Google Play store but is one of the best value smartphones available for the features at this price.

What are Cheapest Google LG Nexus 4 Phone Available Deals?

The 16Gb Nexus 4 is £279 at Google Play (8Gb version is £239) and available at £379 at Carphone Warehouse.

I've found that the cheapest way to get a Nexus 4 is to buy on contract which actually works out at £100 less than buying direct from Google Play.

I'm currently on a SIM only deal with Vodafone at £20.50 per month. The LG Nexus 4 from Phones4U is available at £29 per month with no upfront cost for the phone for a 24 month contract.

That equates to £8.50 per month to get the Nexus 4, over 24 months that is a total of £204. I'm on a Vodafone Friends and Family deal so get 20% off all monthly bills bringing the total cost of the phone down to £163 over the 2 years.

When is Google Nexus 4 Available to buy?

So buy from Google SIM free at £279 or from Phones4U at £204 (or as low as £163 if you have Vodafone Corporate deal).

Best of all the Nexus 4 is actually in stock and available from Phones4U unlike Google Play and is due for delivery in 2 days time!

Windows Phone WP 7/WP8 Problems & Frustrations

Having now used the Nokia Lumia 800 Windows phone for 3 months the problems and frustrations of the phone have become more apparent. While I love the People hub and the fact the phone can let you send text messages while you are out of coverage and they will be delivered as soon as a signal becomes available (unlike the iPhone!) there are a number of issues that really let the phone down.

Something that has only become apparent since switching to the Google Nexus 4 is that with the WP7 you are constantly swiping the screen to access things because the icons are much larger and you cannot divide them into different screens. On an Android phone or iPhone you have so much more screen space available and can move across screens.

1) No way to search content on the phone such as SMS text messages.

I get a lot of text messages. Many are not from or to anyone who I have contact details stored for so if I want to find a message I need to search. Except on Windows Phone 7.5 (and also on the new WP8) searching is not something that is possible.

So if I want to find a message from someone about a specific subject I have to search - manually - through all my messages in order to find it. Not good and something that is easy to do on both Android and iPhone so missing it from the latest Windows Phone 8 release is a major mistake Microsoft!


Windows Phone WP 7/WP8 Problems & Frustrations

2) Screen Shots

On WP7 it isn't possible to get a screen shot from anything running on the phone other than by using a camera to take a picture of it. Standard on Android and iPhone and another serious ommission although apparently this is now available in WP8.

3) Status bar - signal & battery

On WP7 and Windows Phone 8 the design theory is to keep the screen clear and uncluttered. Unfortunately that also means not displaying the signal strength unless you are on the home screen and tap the top of the screen. SO being able to check if an app is running slowly due to the poor mobile signal is not possible without switching back to homescreen and back to app again.

4) Apps

As a heavy Facebook user for business and personal, the FB app for WP is poor and way behind the standard of the iOS or Android versions. This might be fixed at a later date but isn't much help now.

Unfortunately despite the benefits from Nokia Lumia Windows Phone I've now decided to switch to Android and a Google Nexus 4 is now on its way to me

Fake 70% Debt Writeoff SMS Text Message Scam

After the deluge of SMS Text messages claiming you have cash waiting for PPI claims, the latest SMS text scam being sent out says that you can write off 70% of Debt.


Fake Debt Writeoff SMS Text Message Scam

These are spam/scam messages being sent out. There is no connection to the person receiving the message and they have no way of knowing if you are in debt and if any debt could be written off.

The SMS text message reads:

If you are worried abnout paying your monthly bills then don't be, you can write off up to 70% of your debt before you start struggling. For free info reply DEBT.

The message is completely fake - you cannot automatically write off 70% of your debt and if you do so then your credit rating will be severely impacted.

The mobile number being used to send these messages is 07876242169 or +447876242169

You may be report these messages to your provider. The following links may help:

Vodafone – How do I report spam text messages? Forward the spam message to VSPAM (87726).

Orange – Stop spam text messages. If you are on Orange and get spam messages, please forward them to 7726 free from your Orange phone. By doing this you are helping Orange to collate information to help reduce spam messages being sent to you and others.

02 also allow you to report on 7726. See: SPAM and unwanted subscription texts

You could also try forwarding the message onto 7726 if you are with T-Mobile or Three.

When will Nokia Lumia 800 be Upgraded to WP7.8? What Date is Windows Phone 7.8 Upgrade Released?

When will the Nokia Lumia 800 get the upgrade to Windows Phone 7.8 (WP7.8)?

At the Gadget Show Live in London this weekend Microsoft had a massive stand showing the new Windows 8 software and Surface tablet also including the Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC 8X running Windows Phone 8. It has previously be confirmed that the Nokia Lumia 800 will not get WP8 update.

Unfortunately the Nokia Lumia 920 is currently only available on EE, Orange and T Mobile so Lumia owners on other networks will have to wait for the upgrade to Windows Phone 7.8 that brings most of the Windows Phone 8 (WP8) features to the Lumia 800 with Mango 7.5 Operating System.

At the Microsoft stand the date given for the availability of the WP7.8 update to Lumia 800 was January 2013 so we don't have very long to wait. We could of course take the plunge, switch to Orange to get the Lumia 920 or use the HTC 8X instead but that would miss out the fantastic Nokia Drive and Nokia Music applications.



When will the Nokia Lumia 800 get the upgrade to Windows Phone 7.8 (WP7.8)?

Tesco Mobile Down No O2 Network Signal on 15/11/12?

There seem to be a lot of seaches hitting this blog today (15 November 2012) for Tesco Mobile signal down so it looks like the O2 network may have another fault meaning Tesco Mobile customers have no signal again.

As soon as I find any more info and if there is a widespread problem affecting O2 & Tesco Mobile networks I will post it here

Update on 15/11/12:



Tesco Mobile Down No O2 Network Signal on 15/11/12?

I've checked my O2 mobile and it is showing a full 3G signal so it looks like this is a localised or intermittent problem with O2 signal down - exactly the same situation as occured last month with O2 network and back in July 2012 as well.

Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone Review - The Smarter Smartphone?

Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone Review - The Smarter Smartphone?

Having now had my Lumia 800 for over a month as a trial to decide if I should upgrade to the Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8 I am very impressed with the phone and features compared to my previous iPhone 3GS.

Possibly the most useful feature I have found so far is that you can write text messages when you have no signal and they will automatically send as soon as your signal reappears. One of my major annoyances with the iPhone is that if no signal you have to manually resend a message until it goes - a real pain if you are on a train going through many tunnels!
The key features on the Nokia Lumia 800 for me are as below:

Camera - direct button to access
Music - free downloads
Text sending when no signal
Group text - built into message app via people hub (Never available on iPhone!)
Group contacts into logical groups (family, friends etc)
Reject call when locked
Zune vs iTunes, ease of use
Value for money
Pinning apps to home screen
Live tiles
No need to constantly enter password to install free apps
Speed of web

The downsides of the Lumia 800 are:

Lack of apps and support
Text different mobile for a contact (you can only text one number for a person)

The apps will hopefully improve in time but I would like to see the ability to text multiple numbers for a contact to be resolved in WP8 when it is released.



Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone Review - The Smarter Smartphone?