You mean po-dunk-ville?  Oh ok......

Excellent form. Call me a troll in one thread and make fun of my town in the next. You are showing your true colors.

well, at&t has the nokia monster purity hd over-ear headphones for $100 instead of $200 so i grabbed a set this morning. even tho they're made by the same people who make the dr dre beats (monster), they sound nothing like the beats. the beats are way too bass heavy for my liking. these purity hd's sound great. the mid-range and voice are as clear as a beautiful spring day. the build quality of the purity phones are quite nice as well. i'm pretty well satisfied. i think i'll look into the purity in-ear earphones now. if they sound as nice as these do, i'll be a happy camper.

I also received a free wireless charger as a promotion from AT&T.  It works, and it's real convenient to have just sitting on my desk.

Yes, while some 'reviewers' on the internet referred to the wireless charging included with the lumia as not much more than a 'gimmick' I completey agree with how convenient it makes even something as simple as keeping your phone charged.

I actually went so far as to mount a charging plate against the underside of my office desk (all it took was me drilling a tiny hole at the back so the thin cable could be fed through).    Now I just place my phone down on my desk (within a certain area of course) and it starts charging.  Needless to say the act of charging my phone has become quite the attraction in my office.  

i also received one of those charging pads. unless i'm transferring tunes or other files, i never use the usb cable that came with the phone. the charging pad is sweet. 

Remind me to get a charging pad for my phone and Xbox controllers.

Speaking of Xbox.  The xbox live integration with the lumia is pretty handy.  Using the Xbox smart-glass app to control your xbox (yes I know you can also use that app on the iphone etc.) and being able to message, game-invite etc. all from the phone is really neat.

EDIT:

My favourite apps (mostly for their 'coolness factor') are still the following (in no particular order):

Photobeamer - when in the same room with any internet-connected screen (ie. TV etc.) just navigate to www.photobeamer.com on said screen.  That screen will then display a QR code which when scanned by your Lumia enables immediate access to your photos.  Just swipe left-right to display your photos to the entire room!  

Smartshoot  -  One of Nokia's proprietary 'camera-lenses'.  This lens takes multiple shots in quick succession.  Immediately after taking the picture you can now choose the best overall picture, remove the dude who walked in front while you took the picture, swap each person's face with another instance/shot of their face to quickly and efficiently cobble together the 'smart'est shot!

City Lens - I use this app all the time.  Open the app, point your phone at the city around you and any points of interest you've asked to be shown will be superimposed over the city being displayed.  Click on a point of interest to get any contact info and directions to same.  You can then use Nokia's own turn-by-turn nav system to get you there!

I don't own a Xbox and possibly never will as I'm not a big gamer and my other multimedia needs are taken care of with other devices, and while I can see the sense/value of live integration with WP8 phones, it is more the cross-platform situation that interests me at the moment.... how both Apple and Google seem to be suffering a case of sour grapes or something at the moment.

I don't know who else has been following the cross platform squabble between the above mentioned and Microsoft, but it seems to me that while Microsoft appears to be doing the right thing by its customers with IOS and/or Android devices, by providing access to products and services such as Skydrive from within those platforms, both Apple and Google have become MS unfriendly and appear to be making life difficult for the software giant and users alike. 

First we hear that Google will no longer develop or support apps to Microsoft products and services, and then that Apple is blocking the way to Skydrive being made available to its customers on OS-X and IOS.  Now while some may say that is is good business sense on the part of Google and Apple, I'm not so sure that the denial of products and services... the freedom of choice is a healthy business move.  I mean, really, it all seems so petty, like schoolboys bickering over who has the best project to show teacher. 

For mine, both companies should open the way to those MS products and services, if for no other reason than as a courtesy to all of their loyal customers.  I don't see that happening, though, not when both companies appear to have a stick up their arse over Microsoft.  Now is that because they can't stand the competition of a new player in the phone market and realise their products have gone stale, or is it because WP8 is the superior platform and they're afraid?  In either event or both, the consumer is the loser here.

Thoughts anyone?

Sure I can see how one would come to that conclusion.  Apple is after all still intent on riding the coat-tails of the first iPhone (with some 'enhancements' of course) and Google after making sure to firmly seat themselves in all areas of the consumer market seems content to just throw more and more apps at the world (many that do exactly the same thing as a thousand others already available but with so much clutter and so little 'standards' in the droid marketplace who would know?).  Both, Apple and Google have enjoyed free reign in their respective markets for a long time (too long in fact) as realisticly any user attracted to iOS and the "iWorld" would not even consider the "free-spirited" ideal of Android and Google as an alternative (same inverse). 

For the first time in a long time, there is it seems a real alternative to both, and that should be scary to the two (Apple and Google), and in my opinion just as the greater 'market' underwent an adjustment back in 2008 I sense the mobile/tablet world (ie. the new computing landscape) is in the process of undergoing an adjustment.  The 'winner' here will be the one who is most adaptable to the consumer and most innovative/forward thinking.  I think it is obvious which of the 3 might be occupying that seat at the moment.  Here's hoping MS doesn't drop the ball.......

February 27, 2003 ....

haha

well, the nokia purity in-ear headphones were delivered this morning and i'm very happy with them. i'm all-in with win8 and wp8 now (other than i haven't decided which win8 tablet to get) and i have 2 sets of headphones that were designed to work with wp8 and sound great. i'm a happy camper.

)

I had the opportunity to show a friend who recently picked up the Samsung AtivS (Windows Phone 8 version of the Galaxy S3) how to configure some things in the OS and some other general tips and tricks and a few things became immediately painfully obvious to me.

On the Samsung AtivS WP8 just doesn't 'feel as slick' as it does on my Lumia.  What I mean is.  It is obvious to me that my Lumia has a faster more fluid (seems to have more inertia) display.  Also, while the AtivS has a super-AMOLED display, I swear one can really tell the difference between the Lumia's 332 PPI over the AtivS which has (if I'm not mistaken) a PPI of 308.

I was beginning to go over a few of the things I find so helpful about WP8 when I realised that a few of them weren't in fact WP8 things, rather NOKIA exclusive apps and therefore not available to him.......

The build quality.  Wow......what a difference.  The AtivS (not unlike most other Samsung phones at the moment) just has such a 'pasticy' feel to it and feels too light to me.  I have yet to put my Lumia in a case (and I can't see myself actually doing that) whereas my friend's AtivS would feel even flimsier without one.

Wireless charging.  What did I ever do before I had Qi with my Lumia?  I can't remember.....

Camera.  But since the camera on the Lumia bests any other mobile phone camera on the market today it's sort of a moot point by now.....

On the plus side, the AtivS has a slightly larger screen and has a removable backing which allows for battery swap and of course removable storage (which is actually the one thing I miss having on my Lumia).

I really cannot (other than brand loyalty to Samsung) understand why anyone would choose that phone at this time over either the Nokia Lumia or even the HTC 8X.  Both of those phones are better (in my opinion) than the Ativ S.  Seems to me Samsung gave WP8 'the old college try' and to me......that just isn't good enough.

That's why I was quite happy to settle with the Lumia 820 when the 920 wasn't readily available on an affordable plan.  While I have a 32gb SD memory card in mine at the moment, I can and will add one up to 64gb so I can carry more photos, files and music with me when on the go.  As for the 820's display, despite it being super AMOLED and slightly smaller than the 920, it is still more responsive and fluid than the iPhone and others I road tested on the day... an yes, of all the phones I handled that day, and previously, the Nokia Lumia 820 and 920 are the sturdiest, most solidly built of them all.

Another thing I've been hearing about lately it the comparison between the Nokia and HTC WP8 phones.  While many reviewers favour the HTC offering, Nokia is the one that presents with fewer problems [hard and software] and tends to be the more reliable, better built phone.  A friend who had nothing but trouble with her HTC, ended up taking it back to the store and exchanging it for a Lumia 820.  She said that during the exchange the salesperson told her that she was not alone in here dissatisfaction and several other customers had also returned theirs. 

Yup, glad I got the Nokia.