Return to Windows Phone I briefly used a Nokia Lumia 800 when WP7 rolled around and it was... OK. Underwhelming. A nice idea that lacked polish in some areas and features just about everywhere else. The build quality was top notch. But then that was all Nokia. I've recently acquired a Nokia Lumia 1020 and I must say that I'm impressed with how far the platform has come. The phone itself is great (more on that in a full review) but the platform is still clearly evolving. That's not to say that it's undeveloped like its previous iteration though. It's getting there in terms of functionality, but it still lacks a few basics that would put some people off the platform. You still can't use your own text tones for example, or change the media volume independently of the tiger volume. But for all its flaws, there are some great inclusions that often get overlooked. The biggest of these is the fantastic social networking integration. I'm not the highest Facebooker in the world, but it's still great to see updates available in virtually every nook and cranny of the OS without them cluttering up the place and pushing content out of the way. The integration with Xbox is also something to be noted, especially with the new Xbox One SmartGlass app waiting to be unfurled come November 22nd. It's actually made paying for Xbox content easier as well since the Wallet app integrates with Xbox Live and the Microsoft Store. The only real downside so far has been the lack of app populating the store. It's not that it's barren in there by any stretch, but a lack of key apps can put a brake on your workflow from time to time. Most notable holes have recently been filled, like Vine for example, but the absence of Dropbox has had to make me rethink how I'm doing things more than once. Usually it involves substituting SkyDrive (which is actually pretty good), but it's still a bit of a pain. For those who don't like the idea of making the change, but are worried about moving from Android or iOS, don't be. Pop into a shop and have a play, if you don't like it within 10 minutes, you probably never will. But if you do, you might be missing out.
