But what does that mean for his Lumia Start screen? Let’s take a look.
Tell us the apps you’ve prioritized and why?
I prioritize the apps I use on a daily basis on top of the first screen. So things like People Hub, email, news, weather, navigation as well as social/communications apps.
For news I use Weave, which is a fantastic RSS reader and allows me to stay up to date on business, technology, competitors, sports and all things animals since they are one of my passions outside of work.
On communication, the best-kept secret for business is Lync 2010. Sure, being able to have presence information and instant messaging is nice but the single biggest benefit is being able to do conference calls with a single click. No more entering conference ID information and Pin #’s to dial a conference call. Simply click on the link in your calendar and Lync will call you back and put you directly in the conference call. If you’ve tried to make conference calls on the road, I promise you this is the best feature in the world and unique to Windows Phone.:)
Skype is particularly near and dear to me because it allows me to see my teenage kids while I’m on the road. There’s nothing better than getting to see and hear them from anywhere and anytime while traveling . And for Twitter, I’m really liking the new version of Tweet It. Super awesome UI, easy to navigate and it does a great job of using the Live Tiles.
What apps do you use to pass the time?
I am very boring in this area: it’s mostly news or sports.
For sports, I really like the ESPN ScoreCenter as well as the PGA Tour app. The PGA Tour app is terrific but only have one feature request and that is it makes me a better golfer. I also just downloaded the Nokia-exclusive app, Winter Ski & Ride. I am a snowboarder and this looks like a fantastic app for anyone who skis or boards. It has snow reports, tracks your activity, resort information, lessons, safety, etc. Just started using it but very excited about it! [Editor’s note: check for these two apps in the Nokia Collection].
Lastly, I really like the game Wordament and play quite often in the evening with my teenage son when on the road. The cool thing about it is you compete with all these people live on the internet and get real time feedback on how you fared (or in my case not) against thousands of people. I see the number of individuals playing Wordament increasing significantly so obviously others have found it quite compelling too.:)
What is the last app you paid for, and what does it do?
iFun. This is an app that makes your Windows Phone look and act like an iPhone. I purchased it for $0.99 and it’s my favorite to show current iPhone users. After showing them all the great things and difference about Windows Phone I say if they really miss the iPhone there is an app to make Windows Phone look the iPhone.
The best part is I show iFun on my beautiful Lumia 920 and put it next to the person’s iPhone. And trust me – it looks so much more beautiful on the Lumia 920 than the iPhone! :)
Which apps are your guilty pleasures?
Since the Lumia 920 has great imaging capabilities, I tend to play with a lot of the photo applications. By far the best two are Cinemagraph and Photobeamer. Yes they are Nokia exclusives but believe me, these are off the charts. Cinemagraph provides capability to combine animation with still images; definitely creates a “wow” moment when your pictures now have movement. Photobeamer is a super easy way to show your pictures on any screen. Next is Timelapse Pro, which takes a picture every 15 seconds and then builds an animated movie with the still images. It’s great to capture sunrise, sunset, storms coming in, etc.
And I even used it when the kids and I set up the Christmas tree this year. It took us about 3 hours to set up and decorate the tree and Timelapse built a terrific animated movie showing how it all came together.
One other that probably fits under guilty pleasures is SBUX Card. Since I am a die-hard Starbucks lover this is a great app to keep track of your Starbucks cards and the amounts on each card. You can use it to actually pay at the counter with a QR code from the app and also keep the drink preferences of family and friends which comes in handy as it makes me look like I remember everyone’s coffee preference.:)
Lastly, Nokia Music is probably what I use most when not working. The service is just awesome. I don’t need an ID, user login, etc. I just select Nokia Music and tell it what kind of music I like and it starts streaming immediately.
You can also find Chris’ favorite apps from App Highlights under “staff picks”.
