10 reasons why your Lumia is a great social smartphone

Published by Boc Ly on June 26, 2012

Social Networks

We will never know for sure, but if Jean-Paul Sartre had owned a Nokia Lumia smartphone then he may never have concluded that hell is other people.

Sure, lots of other phones can connect with social networks, share your photos, instant message and play games with other people.

However, I believe that no other phone can do all of them as well, as elegantly and with as much as joy as your Nokia Lumia smartphone.

It puts you and your social networks at its very core and makes connecting with people a simple and gratifying experience.

Here are 10 reasons why I think the Lumia is a truly great social smartphone.

1. Account management

Even gadget enthusiasts will tell you that setting up email accounts and signing into multiple social networks can be a real chore.

On the Windows Phone the process is made as painless as possible. You go to “Settings” and then “email + accounts” and from there you can login to all your different email accounts and social networks.

It’s as quick and simple as you could want it to be. No need for repeated logins or constant password prompts, or opening up lots of different applications for different networks. Do it and your Lumia smartphone is transformed into a social networking sensation. 

2. People Hub

This is the heart and soul of the social experience on Lumia. It is an address book that doubles as a one-stop social networking HQ.

Click on a friend to call, text, chat, email, mention them in a tweet, or write on their Facebook wall – all without the need for opening a different app.

Nokia Lumia 800 on the table

You’ll also be able to see their latest updates that have been automatically and seamlessly pulled in from social networks such as Twitter and LinkedIn. The Facebook photo albums look particularly good.

Furthermore, you can also see the latest interactions you’ve had with your friends on the History screen.

And only the most misanthropic soul, or French existentialist writer, could fail to be delighted as the People Hub Live Tile continuously transforms itself with chequered images of your nearest and dearest.

3. Groups

This is a great feature of People Hub that will make it easier for you to stay in touch and connect with a particular group of your friends, for example family, colleagues or your football teammates.

Once a group is created, you will be able to see all the latest updates from the members of that group and you’ll also be able to message them simultaneously whether by text or email.

4. Live Tiles

If a group is not specific enough then you can go even further by dedicating an entire Live Tile on your home screen to a special someone. As well as super-quick access to their contact information, you’ll see their latest updates and photos.

In the People Hub, scroll to the desired contact, press and hold over their name and select ‘Pin to Start.’

5. Email inboxes

Many people now have several email addresses. I have one for work, a personal email and another one that I use for signing up to mailing lists and newsletters.

Nokia Lumia 710

Having multiple emails is great but it can also be a nuisance to keep track of them and to be sure that you’re not sending an email from the wrong account.

Your Nokia Lumia solves this by having a different Live Tile for each email account, while at the same time giving you the option to link any of your various accounts into a single inbox. Simple and effective.

6. Me

It’s all very well being sociable but sometimes we all need a little ‘me’ time right?

The Me Hub shows you, at a glance, your latest tweets and in the ‘notifications’ you can see who has been tweeting about you.

You can also with a single message, send an update that is simultaneously posted to your Facebook wall, Twitter, LinkedIn or Windows Live.

7. IM Apps

Windows Phone actually allows you to chat on Messenger or with your Facebook friends from within the Messaging Hub.

But there are a variety of other Instant Messenger applications to make sure that you are never out of touch with those that are closest to you.

Here’s a round up of the five free IM clients for Windows Phone.

Nokia Lumia 800

8. Social Games

What are friends for if you can’t beat them up, shove them off the track and cast them away to the dragons every now and again? I’m talking, of course, about video games.

Windows Phone is fully integrated with Xbox LIVE for great social gaming and there’s even more to come soon when the popular Zynga titles Draw Something and Words with Friends arrive on your Lumia smartphone.

9. Maps

With Nokia Maps on your Lumia Smartphone there is no longer any excuse for not knowing where the party is at.

More pertinently, if you’re hosting the party you can easily inform your guests of the exact location.

In Nokia Maps, press and hold down on the spot until the location is flagged up. Tap on the marker and then use the Share icon to message or email the location details with your friends.

10. Photos and Camera Extras

The social experience on your Lumia smartphone is going to be getting even better shortly with the introduction of new Camera Extras.

Already, you can view friends’ albums and easily share the photos you take on Facebook or with a more select group on SkyDrive.

With Camera Extras you will be able to capture great group shots in a single attempt by choosing the best faces from a burst and with the self timer you can put yourself in more pictures with your friends.

What could be more social than taking and sharing great photos of you and your friends?

image credit: webtreats

Comments

  • http://conversations.nokia.com/ Adam Fraser

    I use the Me tile for most of my Tweeting, Facebooking, and checking-in. Can’t beat it.

  • http://twitter.com/adzim_adonis Muhammad Adzim

    are you still marketing this phone even though you know its dead already? you gotta be kidding me

  • steelicon

    There is this wonderful phone that is still alive and kicking and doing well. Market that instead, please. Thank you.

    @selop:twitter @nokia:twitter @phonedaz:twitter 

  • Nabeel Sowan

    Sorry Nokia, if it ain’t Maemo or Symbian, we aren’t buying any more of your phones. You lost your customers when you got taken over by Microsoft.

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/T2HB2LH6ASYNL5BLVZZODU7AMU Dan

      I disagree, I’m excited to pre-order what Nokia will offer for WP8 and even a new tablet. I hope that T-Mobile USA gets the flagship phone and it doesn’t become an AT&T exclusive. I pre-ordered my HTC HD7 WP7, and have to say I’m impressed with the OS, and now having the quality that Nokia brings to the table it will be even better.

      For those bemoaning upgrades, what about the new Samsung Galaxy S III, I saw it will be released July 21 and a new Android version will be released six days later on the 27th. Talk about a short sales window!

      • Nabeel Sowan

        Hooray, now you can have that virus-infested experience on your mobile handset, too ;)

  • JasonBoss

    Since MSFT killed the Lumia line of phones it no longer makes sense to develop any apps for it.

    btw. latest action from Redmond forced online retailer Amazon to drop price of Lumia 900 from $499 to $0.01

    Any takers?

    • http://profile.yahoo.com/YZ5PG6AKSB46LER2XJYADDW7DE Keith L

      Since all 3 Lumia 900s are in the top 10 of Amazon’s AT&T Best Seller list I would say there are lots of takers.

    • r1james

       I totally agree. Microsft has take a decision and Lumia is dead. Just 1 month!! in the market and it is out of it. Super!!

  • http://twitter.com/capricotwi04 Caprico

    I’m not a WP fan at all, but I have to say that WP is a good social smartphone. Most important social media applications are available (or already integrated) and someone who likes to display her/his “social activities” isn’t wrong with WP – it provides a very good overview about whats happening.

    What I miss a lot is a convincing Skype application (which also works flawlessly in background), since this app is very important on me.

    The Nokia N9 (btw also a great social smartphone) is the most perfect phone for Skype calls (except lacking video call support what I don’t need anyways), therefore my choice fell on that phone. 

    Both phones have a clear advantage as a social phone to e.g iPhone which needs an app for everything and those aren’t even working well together with the system itself. When I just think back on iPhone Skype…terrible times. Android does that much better, but not as convincing as N9 (yet). 

  • droopyar

    Lumia is not updated to wp8, so no developers will code for it. It is a dead phone now.  Moreover, if microsoft will launch their own phone (hardware) like the do with tablet surface, nokia just dissapear as a company.  So, Elop, be smart and support your real and ONLY flagship phone with native symbian which is Nokia PureView 808. 

  • http://twitter.com/Hdrules Hradayesh Nimavat

    Yes Lumia phones have nice social apps integration built in and also in terms of multimedia, Nokia windows phone apps are not far behind ios/android social apps like instagram etc but I think Nokia and Microsoft should push Facebook and Twitter to release their official apps for up coming windows phone 8.

    • irfanullahjan

      Exactly. The current Facebook and Twitter apps are just average. Although people hub and me tile are great for quick updates but sometimes I prefer a dedicated app. I wish Facebook and Twitter develop their apps themselves.

      • r1james

         Even symbian, android and all mobile phones have twitter and facebook. So whats new here???

        • http://twitter.com/Hdrules Hradayesh Nimavat

          there is difference in using twitter client by twitter company itself than twitter client by any developer or smartphone maker itself. For example Symbian phones have Nokia social built in for both twitter and facebook but that app doesn’t provide all features of twitter neither facebook features so most of Symbian users use Gravity app which is very good for twitter and somewhat good for facebook same situation in windows phone as well.

  • Pingback: 10 Reasons why Lumia Phones are Great Social Smartphones | Nokia Windows Phone

  • http://phonecompanies.blogspot.com/ Phone Companies

    Honestly, to me the Lumia is really good.. especially about its OS stability. It’s really stable and fast, even better than Android.

    • r1james

       I totally disagree. It is NOT better than android. Lumia do not have background process. So, it is not a smartphone.

      • guesttt999

        Your comments make no sense. What do you mean do not have background process? And so just because a phone does not have an imaginary feature, its not a smartphone? Crazy! Windows Phone have much higher satisfaction ratings than Androids. Experience is what matters, not the specs. Androids can’t even make efficient use of multiple cores and are highly prone to malware.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=754945678 SzeLee Lai

    I’m an iOS user that was recently decided to try out Lumia and Windows Phone. Unfortunately, I am totally disappointed with the announcement of WP8. Though current Lumia will get 7.8 upgrade, but it’s purely cosmetic which does not bring any value. As a user, we are hoping the phone can last for at least 2 years with consistent OS support, but with no commitment from Microsoft, Lumia is definitely an obsolete product line now.

    • http://conversations.nokia.com Ian Delaney

       Updates have been guaranteed for the Lumia 900. Maybe not the one you wanted, but there’s no need to worry about lack of support.

      • r1james

        Why select Lumia? If windows partners are 4. Huwai, samsung, lg and nokia. Nokia i think must have their own OS

  • snoflake

    Is there any way to not have Photo’s showing on the People Hub I find it rather intrusive, particularly for business contacts (don’t want other business contacts seeing who I know if I have my phone on table). Or is there any way as well to prevent showing photo’s completely in my contacts, not keen on having people’s faces show up when they’re calling me when I didn’t attach an image to their contact. Alternatively can I just pin my contacts list to the Start Screen without having the People Hub there?

    Concerning email is there any setting so that I can prevent the email client marking emails that I have read as “read” on it’s server for one email account I have which is pop3 access (it’s preventing them being downloaded to my other devices and PC’s)?  Bit antiquated I realise but it’s an important legacy account and can do this on Symbian and iOS, dont’ know about Android.

    • Taupo

      Best option is removing People tile from your start screen. Can restore it again whenever you like it. You can bring individual contacts, groups etc to your start screen as separate tiles if you like. 

      I do not have a “read” problem, as you’ve put it, on either of my two Windows Phone devices and Windows Live Mail client on my PC. 

      • http://conversations.nokia.com Ian Delaney

        Yes, or just move the people hub lower down the screen so that it is “beneath the fold”.

        I’ve made a subset of contacts (‘favourites’ if you like) into a group and pin that one at the top.

  • r1james

    Lumia has no support. And i am not sure if microsoft will release their own phone, like the do with tablet surface running windows. Hope nokia keep upgrading symbian

  • Gonzales Rimao

    Articles about how good Lumia is are pointless now in scope of last announcements from Microsoft about WP8 and no upgrade for Lumia. People who have Lumia don’t care about this “10 reasons” and other crap because they already have the phone. People who wanted to buy one, any way will wait for WP8 phone. So, Nokia killed Symbian and MeeGo and now has no smartphones to sell for next 6 months. Only couple of asha phones and Nokia 808, that’s it.

    • http://conversations.nokia.com Ian Delaney

      I disagree. Most people buy phones on the basis of *what they can do with them now*. Not what they might be able to do several months down the line.

      • ashutosh sharma

        lol :D ”
        what they can do with them now ” also suggests that people should be ok with phones & apps at instant they purchase phones. But consider, MS always says its ecosystem is growing and apps are being added.
        And the phones we are talking about are FLAGSHIPS.. not your day to day use phones. I purchased one out of my hard earned money, its not GIFTED as your might have received. SO dont be goody good.

        • http://conversations.nokia.com/ Adam Fraser

          That’s just not true, Ashutosh. People do buy an item for what it does, at that very moment. Sure, there’s the possibility that things may be added, but people just don’t purchase items for that reason.

          • perecFX

            Say it again after few months when you’ll see the drop of sales because exactly for this reason :-))

          • http://conversations.nokia.com/ Adam Fraser

            6,500 participated in that poll. That’s not a small focus-group, that’s a considerable amount.

          • OhHei

            Engadget?

          • perecFX

            P.S.  … and even according this diagramm from wpcentral only 54% are happy about update. Now project this fillings to potential buyers and you can see at least 46% drop of sales in nearest feature.

  • Reynold Meta

    I never buy a nokia lumia but i will. But i’m a bit concerned about it. Is the UI friendly enough ? I just love symbian.

  • http://www.facebook.com/pmadusha Prashanth Madusha

    Two weeks after moving to Lumia 800 after from 1.5 year N8 user (N95 8gb earlier, other feature Nokias previously)

    The good -
    1. Very easy to use
    2. Quick interface, No hanging/ screen freezing
    3. Social networks integration right into the OS is very very very good
    4. Groups tile makes it extremely easy to keep track of close ones
    5. Screen is a beauty
    6. On Screen keyboard is excellent
    7. Lumia 800 is the best looking phone i have used

    The not so good -
    1. No real multitasking, mainly hurts apps like Whatsapp and IM+
    2. Unable to edit email synchronize schedule. Some of us may not want mails pushed to our phones at night and/or over the weekend.
    3. No BT file transfer4. Takes longer to get a GPS lock, on both Foursquare and Nokia Maps, when compared to N8
    5. Can’t plug into PC n use as mass storage device
    6. Lack of expandable memory
    7. Apps in marketplace are expensive when compared to Nokia store(in India at least)
    8. I’m not used to charging my phone everyday. Same kind of usage on the N8, would give me half a day more when used un-bothered.

    Having said this, the constant updates to apps and services makes the Lumia 800 a promising device to use.

    If anyone from Nokia reads this, firstly Thank You!!
    Secondly, Looking beyond WinPho 7.8 I wish to see the “not so good” list become shorter :)

    • http://conversations.nokia.com Ian Delaney

      Glad you’re enjoying it. Thanks for sharing both lists. 

      • r1james

         Unfortunately, your phone is obsolete now, no updates to wp8. You buy a non working phone, no multitasking, and very limited in hardware. Just move to Nokia pureview 808.

    • http://twitter.com/capricotwi04 Caprico

      That’s why I have the Nokia N9 which also has all the features you listened under “The not so good”. Except that GPS lock could be faster (compared to N8) and there’s also no expendable memory (even though compared to Windows Phone, MeeGo is able to do that).