[brian.taylor]

I�ll be nice and put the TL;DR at the top

Tl;Dr: I have a wp8 right now, and I�m wondering how the new BB10 experience stacks up against my favorite features of WP8: the People Hub, Nokia Here maps, e-mail, Skydrive/Office & the Baconit Reddit App.

I started with the first iPhone, got bored. Went to WebOS w/ a palm pre plus, but I needed my keyboard to actually type and the battery to last longer than an hour.

Went to a Droid 2. Nope.

Blackberry Storm: I LOVED the fast response e-mail, calendar, blackberry travel and battery life, but I had the same memory and OS gripes as everyone else.

Palm Pre 2, I loved webOS (rip) and the new hardware was a big step up, . I drop-kicked it trying to slow its fall, kicked it into the corner of a cabinet and broke it in half.

HTC trophy, then a Bold 9930.

I liked, no I LOVED the physical keyboard on the Bold, and I felt like I was much more productive on it than my windows phone. I didn�t like the OS hang-ups, and os7.1 just felt�old, like it didn�t match the hardware.

I snagged a week old Lumia 822 on ebay for $150, and I planned on switching back and forth with my Bold, but switching from a 3g to a 4g phone on Verizon is a pain, so I sold my Bold.

I really like Windows Phone 8, but I�m not very productive. I find myself avoiding replying to e-mails and long texts because I�m just horrendous at speed with the virtual keyboard on this phone. I�m due for an upgrade in mid-June, and I�m considering the Q10, but I�d like some input from those of you familiar with both OS�s.

I�ll miss these things in WP8:

Music: I was a Zune pass freak, and I�ll just break out my old ZuneHD if need be, but I�ll still transfer some non-drm music onto the BB, how does the Q10 fare as a music player? Are there any smart playlist-like features?

Skydrive: I use it much more than I thought I would, uploading andn downloading documents and pictures. Does the Q10 come with DocsToGo? How does it fare reading PDF�s and Word docs?

The People Hub: I seriously think this was the greatest feature of WP, the unified contacts/feed system. I love that I can scroll through Facebook and Twitter feeds and upload content to them straight from the OS. How does BB10 do with uploading data (updates and pictures) to Facebook and Twitter, and browsing their respective content?

Nokia Here (Drive) Maps: Are there any offline or online turn-by-turn options on BB10? I have a TomTom, but I found myself using my phone because the app is so darn good.

Apps: I�m not a heavy app user, I�m fine side-loading, and I understand there�s a working (if clunky) Netflix bar out there. My single most used app on WP is the reddit app called Baconit. It�s seriously beautiful, and a superb Reddit app. Are there any good native reddit apps for BB10?

E-mail: I understand the BB10 doesn�t use the BIS service anymore, how does it do with e-mail delivery times, reception speed, etc.? I use outlook.com, Gmail, and a pop3 work e-mail.

Calendar: How is the experience syncing data with a desktop outlook calendar? I hated using the Desktop Manager, so I ended up using an app that would upload the data to my outlook calendar, but I�ve since quit using it.

Alarms: I know the native alarm doesn't support multiple alarms, are there any apps in the app world that do?

So there you go, I�m on the fence and looking for some input.

P.S. does the q10 come with a belt holster or do you have to buy it separately?

[anon(4226043)]

Hey there, before I answer, some background on my phone history so you can have a better idea where I'm coming from.

My first platform was webOS. Had the Pre 2, Veer and Pre 3 before finally moving on...

I moved to Windows Phone (after a very brief Android stint), having tried the Dell Venue Pro, Nokia Lumia 710 and finally the HTC 8S.

So, as for the features you listed:

Music: I'm using my Z10 as my music player, so I feel that the music player in BB10 is certainly serviceable. I don't use much playlists and stuff, mostly just put it on shuffle, but it handles my flac, mp3, etc just fine.

Skydrive: Obviously, BB10 doesn't have the same level of Skydrive integration as WP8, but BB10 integrates with both Dropbox and Box. Also, it does come with Docs to Go, which is fine for viewing and making minor edits to doc, xls, etc files. pdf viewing via Adobe is also smooth and works as expected, though I haven't looked for more advanced pdf features like annotation.

People Hub: BB10 doesn't have this per se, and you'd have to open up the respective apps for News Feeds. However, being notified of FB and Twitter posts in which you are mentioned will integrate with the BB Hub, which as you know handles pretty much all communication in one place. In summary, you won't have one aggregated FB/Twitter News Feed, but everything else (posting photos direct from other apps/at the OS level) is on par if not better than WP8 Social Media integration.

Nokia Maps: ...yeah, BB Maps is slowly improving, but Nokia/WP/Google/etc maps are still better. Use the browser if you can't stand the BB Maps.

Apps: As you already mentioned, sideloading Android apps is certainly possible. If you are comfortable with using such apps, keeping in mind a potential performance drop for these unofficial apps, then I'm sure you'd be able to find something to do anything you need. I would also add that BlackBerry World is growing quite quickly, and I personally don't feel the need to sideload anything. I don't use Reddit, so you're on your own there.

E-mail: I use outlook.com, gmail and an exchange account with my BB10 devices. Outlook.com often appears on my phone before it does in the Mail app on my laptop Windows 8 machine, which is to say you shouldn't have trouble at all. Gmail on the other hand will require polling the server (IMAP? Can't remember what protocol I set it up to use), meaning you might experience slight delays with that account.

Calendar: I don't use desktop Outlook, so I can't help you here. BB10 syncs fine with web calendars though.

Alarms: Multiple alarms at the OS level are coming to BB10 in the upcoming 10.2 update, to be released at the end of summer if I remember correctly.

Holster: You'd have to buy this separately

[brian.taylor]

Thanks!

Sent from my cm_tenderloin using CB Forums mobile app

[Alex_Hong]

SImilar to you I started on iOS (3G, 4) as well (excluding S60 and WinMo I had prior), before getting a BlackBerry. Actually a lot of BlackBerry devices (from as old as 7230 to the Z10 a few months back).

But meanwhile I've had a bunch of Andorid too. S3, note, note 2, Nexus 4, and recently the S4 as well. I also had iPhone 5, Lumia 800 in cyan, black, and white (don't ask why, i just love its design, lol), Lumia 510, and just yesterday got myself a Lumia 520. I'm a junkie.

So i hope I can help your queries if you need another opinion.

Music:
Well, I've never used Zune pass, or XBox Music pass as it is now call, but if you are talking about a native music service, BB World does not stack up well. On the brighter side, transferring songs in is pretty straight forward. There are no smart playlists to speak of, just the good old shuffle.

Personally for streaming, I am using a 3rd party client for Google Music, which is decent enough to stream my own music. Personally looking forward to seeing a Spotify client, but nothing yet.

In terms of music playing, i have to say WP has the edge. With Xbox Music, as well as Nokia Music, as well as a native Pandora client, as well as a 3rd party Google music client. As you can see plenty of options. In fact the 3rd party google music client works a lot better on WP8 than the 3rd party client i'm using on BB10.


Skydrive:
No dice here unless you purchase a 3rd party app such a PlayCloud 10, but that app is well worth the money. It can tie in to Google Drive, DropBox, Box, Sugarsync, Skydrive, and then some.

But the native file manager does work with Dropbox and Box integration. with auto photo upload for Box as well. You can share to both dropbox and box within any app too since its part of the sharing framework, which is super useful. That plus the native file manager can zip up multiple files as well, which i use a lot.

For reading docs and PDFs, the Adobe app and Docs to go works fine. But I haven't used it to edit anything just yet. I use Adobe reader a lot for my electronic bills, and it works pretty decent for just viewing.

People Hub:
BlackBerry has a unified contacts as well, that you can link to social networks like twitter, facebook, linked in, as well. In terms of combined feed for twitter and facebook, there's no built in way to do it. Also there is no native way to post to multiple social networks at the same time like you can do on WP.

However posting content to individual networks are pretty simple. You can use Instant actions in universal search to post simple text tweets, fb updates, and linkedin updates by typing "tw", "fb", or "li" followed by what you want to post. Or if you want to post photos, links, etc, you can use the sharing framework to do so from any where on the phone with content to share. Be it in browser for links, or in photo app for photos etc.

Well, you didn't mention this but i thought i would. I like how facebook is really integrated on WP. Like how you can browse photos you've posted on facebook right within the photos app on WP. Not available on BB10.

Nokia Drive:
BB Maps is decent, but Nokia Drive is frankly much better, and with offline maps. However on BB10 you can sideload a version of Google Navigation, that allows you to cache which parts on the map you want to save for offline use. The app is not perfect, but does work decently. Of course turn by turn works too.

Apps:
Well, there is an app call Alien Flow which looks pretty good, plus its native. You can check it out. I can't comment whether it looks better than Baconit, since that's subjective. But imo, they both look good in their own right. I'm not so sure if Netflix works on the Q10 though since I don't use Netflix.

Emails:
Delivery times for me has been almost instantaneous for both my gmail and outlook.com. Gmail uses Imap, and is a little clunky, but works ok. But keep in mind there's no search for emails on server, and is limited to 90days in 10.1. Outlook uses EAS so works better imo. I don't uses pop3 email accounts, but I have heard that BB10 doesn't play well with POP3 in some instance, you might want to dig around CB for more info. If anyone can chime in more, please do.

Calendar:
Well, I don't sync from desktop outlook as well, so can't help. But to chime in, syncing from both my gmail and outlook.com works quite well.

Alarms:
As mentioned multiple alarms is coming in 10.2. But if you really need it now, and don't mind paying a bit, there is an app called Alarm X that works very well.

Hope this helps.

[the_igg]

well since the others have mentioned a lot already, i'll just post regarding reddit since i read a lot of reddit as well. there are currently 3 native reddit clients in BB world. i've isolated these 3 because they are not android ports and the others are not up to par or just app generated RSS feeds. and no, i'm not hating on android ports. anyway, the 3 apps are alien flow, snooby and reddit in motion.

out of these 3, i'd say snooby is a tad clunky for me mainly because it was not built in cascades. it works just fine but it doesn't incorporate that BB10 peek and flow that i like so much. and it does take slightly longer to load as compared to the other 2. maybe because it is built in HTML5, but i have seen smooth HTML5 apps so i could be wrong here. snooby is free, but there is a catch. some of the features are locked out unless you pay. so consider it like an in-app purchase. if i'm not mistaken, you need to pay if you want to comment or upvote a post.

now on to alien flow. alien flow is smooth and yes, it is built in cascades. what sets this one apart from the other 2 is that it offers a night mode. so yeah, it's kinda like you have a choice between a lighter theme and a darker theme. not that big a deal for me, but yeah some people go nuts for choices like that. the UI is pretty nice but just like snooby, although it is a free download, certain features are locked out and can only be accessed through an in-app purchase.

lastly, on to reddit in motion. this app was released a lot later as compared to the other 2 apps. so what this means is that it may not have gotten the same amount of exposure as alien flow and snooby. furthermore, crackberry wrote up articles on those 2 so yeah people are bound to notice them more. however, reddit in motion is built in cascades as well, and is extremely fast and responsive. furthermore, this app is totally free. yeap no in-app purchase, nothing of that sort. everything is free. the UI is pretty clean too. as a side note, please learn the BB10 gestures before using the phone. i reckon you probably know all this, but the reason i'm stating this is that some people have been leaving comments in BB world stating that it is not possible to log into your account here. it's through a swipe down from the top, and clicking on the settings. everything that i usually do from reddit can be done here but the app and dev has stated that there will be more options coming so yeah that's a point to note. i basically use reddit to read and upvote some stuff that i really like. maybe a hardcore reddit user does something more? i'm not too sure about that.

well, that's all i can say regarding these reddit apps. for what it is worth, i'm using reddit in motion because i find it gives the best experience for me. i cannot really say how it would compare to baconit because i have never used that but i do know it is considered the best reddit app in WP right? so yeah hopefully you can make your decision with this

[Twistcles]

I got my passport a couple of days ago, having used WP since the early days (LG Optimus, HTC Mozart & Titan, Lumia 800, 900, 920, 1020, 1520, 930).
I just joined to say no, there is nothing like Baconit on Android or BB. I can't even find a simple Reddit reader that allows me to move on to the next post with a swipe (pref of the keyboard on my Passport!). All of them seem to require me to go back to the listings to select the next post. And none of them seem to have the optimisation of images that Baconit does. This is the one thing driving me nuts!

[yhamaie]

SkyDrive and Documents To Go . . . they work very smoothly on BlackBerry 10 devices.





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