I love my old phone. But frankly while my old phone had some apps I love, it was awkward to use for other things, like getting around. While my husband got the “internal compass” gene, my internal compass seems to be always spinning around (like Captain Jack Sparrow’s compass). So I need all the help I can get!
The folks at Microsoft were kind enough to let me try a Nokia Lumia 900 — a Windows Phone! I love the big screen and the bright blue color, but turns out there are a lot of other things I like about it (and I’ll talk about those in other posts). And it has great apps to help me with my directional challenges!
The AT&T Navigator app on this phone is really awesome.
My husband liked it so well that he borrowed my phone on a business trip this week (thus the picture in Seattle). In fact,
It worked really well — like a car GPS, and included voice control and walking directions (if you aren’t driving). The AT&T 4G speed was noticeably fast, too. It is great for the directionally challenged, like me!
The other night we wanted to go out to dinner near our house and we headed out to find something to eat … and discovered a great app called “Local Scout.” (I think it came out with Windows Phone 7.5, which is what this phone runs).
Run the app and it gives you a list of highlights near you — activities, food, and so forth:
(Image from Microsoft)
So we wanted to find a place where we hadn’t eaten for a while, and stopped here:
(You will note that we took the first choice, not the fourth.)
And of course every listing has more information, including phone, hours, etc.
Sure, I could have found all of that by searching on the Web, but this was convenient and in one place!
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I LOVE the smooth and fast way the phone responds when I scroll around, and it’s easy to find apps and people (more about that in a later post).
And I like the camera and have gotten some great shots with it!
And I’ll show some more pictures soon, but here are a few from when my family hijacked the phone and took some impromptu portraits:
(Trixie in the backyard thinking about needing to be groomed)
Ella showing off her Fourth of July treat creation, complete with fashionable swirls on the plate.
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I can get lost in the mall!
But what’s YOUR best story about getting lost?
Let me know in the comments — and we will all laugh or cry along with you!
xoxo
PS: Tomorrow’s my favorite day of the week: Join me for the Weekend Wrapup Party!
I’m so excited to feature you!
The Nokia Lumia 900 Windows Phone was provided to me for review. See here for complete disclosures.
As a young bride in 1977, I joined my husband in Japan. About 2 weeks after I arrived, we were to have houseguests for dinner and I needed a pan to cook the ham in so ventured to the neighborhood shop. I used Charades to explain what I needed and a delivery person for Canada Dry was there with limited English and told me he would drive me to the store. I accepted the ride and after a 20 minute drive, he dropped me off in front of a big 5 story department store. I jumped out of the cab, and told him I would be right back. I raced up the escalator, found my pan, paid in Yen, and raced back out. I was gone about 5-6 minutes.
He was no where to be found. I waited thinking maybe he just drove around the block. No, he was gone. I didn’t have my address, and there are no street signs on most of the streets in Japan. I was in a sea of Asian people and suddenly saw some blonde hair. aaaargh….they were speaking German.
I began walking in the general direction of where I thought my house was, and after many tears and a little over an hour of walking, I began to see some familiar sights. I was back in my neighborhood and to this day am convinced it was divine intervention. What a scary time it was, I was only 19 years old.
Dinner turned out grea! 🙂
Wow – that is an amazing story. I am so glad everything turned out ok. You must have been so scared!!
xoxo
My husband has an iphone (my wedding present to him!) and we use it all the time to get to places we’ve never been. Don’t know what we would do without it!!! (i’m getting one soon and can’t wait!)
My husband and I got lost. On our WEDDING night. For over an hour.
This was before either of us had smart phones, so we had printed off directions to the Bed and Breakfast where we would be staying. We were in the middle of nowhere in the Texas Hill Country in the black of night with no cell service and very low on gas (haha! figures!). As we were driving around, we both felt like maybe they weren’t 100% correct. We arrived at where the directions said was our destination – it was a trailer park. All of the trailers had MOUNDS of garbage piled in front of them…I’m talking Sanford & Son, Hoarders: Buried Alive.
My response: This is not it. This is not it. This is not it….
Husby: How do you know??
Me: LOOK AT IT!!!!!
Hahaha – we turned around and drove until we had some sort of cell service and were able to reach the B&B owner. She had NO idea where we were, but she stayed on the phone with us and looked at a map until we all figured it out. It turns out the road that it was on is one of those that stops and starts again somewhere else ( I hate those!). It was a horrible hour plus, and I’m sitting there in my wedding dress thinking the honeymoon is over before it has even begun – but we think it’s hilarious now and laugh about it. It’s so funny to see the looks of unbelief and horror on people’s faces when we tell them the story. 🙂
Oh my goodness Rachel!! That is an awesome story. I am sure it wasn’t funny then but I bet you both laugh about it then. It’s something your kids and grandkids will LOVE hearing about!! Thanks for sharing it with us 🙂
xox
My phone is my lifesaver! I get mixed up from N- to S… don’t laugh too hard please! My husband thinks I am just crazy because I never know direction. Well…my phone tells me where to turn every step of the way and I Love it!! Love your story, and that phone looks super awesome!!
LOL!!! I am EXACTLY the same way. I get lost all the time. It’s kind of sad — hahaha!
xxox
I totally panic when I get lost so I’m REALLY happy for GPSs, especially when they tell me exactly which lane I need to be in because I’m one of those people who has to be in the correct lane 10 miles before I need to exit or turn 😉 I simultaneously use my Tom Tom AND my smartphone GPS…as in together at the same time – dueling GPSs.
hahaha – that is a great idea. I wish I didn’t get lost all of the time. I wasn’t born with that direction gene. I am glad to hear that other people are the same!!
xoxo
Does anyone remember getting lost before the days of cell phones…O yeah, I used to travel from Texas to So.Dak by way of Colorado and Wyoming…now after a while I wanted to see different country. This was before the car I had showed N/S/E/W…I ended up in eastern Colo. when I thought I was going to find something neat in Kansas…go figure. One time I took off on the back roads of Nebraska, I found some fun stuff. But 2 hours extra to get back on track….It really is easier to not get lost now. But some times it is fun to get lost when you find a great new little town,or a great view.
Oh no!! I tried to explain to my kids what it was like before cell phones and GPS but they can’t imagine LOL!! I am so glad for modern technology!
xxox
Before GPS and Smartphone Apps and before my husband and I started dating, we went with a bunch of friends to the “big” city. I was driving and getting a bit lost, when he stated in the back: “I’ve been lost here before!” When I asked how he got out, he said ” I can’t remember!” Somehow we figured it out and got everyone home. With two people whose internal compasses are broken, GPS Apps come in handy. {I can find my way around a shopping center. :)}
I agree!! I couldn’t go back to no GPS and call phone travel apps. It’s so much easier!!
xoxo
I love my iphone and don’t think I could go back to living without one. I love the navigation. Oh, yes I do..
I get lost all the time because my phone’s GPS doesn’t work right :-X
Oh no – getting lost is the worst! I feel your pain!!
xoxo
Believe it or not, I got lost in our neighborhood on Halloween and had to call my hubby to come get us in our car. I chose to blame it on the dark and a sugar coma haze 😉 My internal compass is not broken, it is completely nonexistent!
LOL – that is a great story!!! I am exactly the same way 🙂
xoxo