Tap That – My Tap To Pay Experience

It has been promised for years, but today actually having a wallet in one’s phone is now a real option.   The media’s love affair with all things Apple has made Apple Pay very visible in the headlines.  Outside of the orchard, there are phones that, for years, have had the proper hardware, NFC (Near Field Communications) to get job done.

How does all of this work in the real world? Does it work at all?  Is this all worth it?  I will attempt to answer those questions, with first hand experience.  I setup my Windows Phone powered Lumia 1020 and…well…no spoilers.  Read on to see how it all turned out.

All of those selfies w/ my Nokia Lumia

 

Ahhh, the selfie.  There’s a song about them and even a new TV show that bears the name.  I kinda hate most of them, but then I thought I’d take them to another level. Obviously, I’d be in them (BONUS), plus I’d use my Windows Phone as the consistent prop and I’d inject bits of awesome inspiration, into every shot.

There are 25 pictures in this collection that I did over a few weeks, recently.  There were kind of a hit and I’ve been asked to put them all in one spot because my friends didn’t always see the “selfie of the day”.  Now they are here in one spot.  I hope you like them as much as I enjoyed making them.

All 25 images were shot on the phone and edited on the phone.

Tools

• Nokia Lumia 920 (the red one in  most shots)
• Nokia Lumia 1020 (the white one in some shots)
• Fhotoroom – my workhorse editing app and also the community where I first displayed these images!
• Fantasia – another editing app I used for tone-mapping and some precise edits
• Melange – app I used for cutting and pasting (see #22 & #25)
• Tripod

Selfies w/ Lumia Series

If you’ve been paying attention to any of my social media channels this past week, you’ve probably noticed a theme.  I’ve been taking selfies using the Lumia 1020, of my and my Lumia 920.  The 920 display shows a picture that is always the “prop” .  I always used language as though each image was showing an “app” that should be available for Windows Phone.

It all started with this picture of me sleeping with a “teddy bear”, that I entered into a selfie w/ phone contest run by www.winphan.net.  Alas, the contest was a random drawing and not for having a creative, well-executed shot.  I didn’t win, but I got inspired take more.  Let’s see what I came up with!

Does Size Matter– In Pro Photography?

I have owned a Lumia 920 for over a year and been using the Lumia 1020 for a couple of months.  They both take excellent still photographs and amazing video and in many scenarios, I can see using these devices on professional jobs.

Whereas the image quality is up to par, I think that paying clients have a “gear bias”.  Meaning, that they expect big gear and lots of it to justify that they are paying for the shoot.  Is the bias real or am I just imaging it?

Let’s delve in and let it be known that I have big equipment and I know how to use big equipment. In no way do I have lens envy.  Now that’s out of the way, let’s get going.

Why Nokia Wins – Post Beta Test

There is finally some good hardware competition going on with Windows Phone.  Samsung and HTC have really been repackaging successful Android devices and Nokia is focused solely on Windows Phone.  That focus seems to be paying dividends.

Nokia is now the best-selling Windows Phone device after being in the market for just a few months.  The reviews have been great and the customer satisfaction has been off the charts.  The greatest testament was when Siri got caught recommending the Lumia when asked “What is the best cell phone ever”.  Apple has since hard-coded the answer to be more Apple friendly, but the customer satisfaction data that Siri originally based her answer on, doesn’t lie.  Now let’s look at WHY Nokia is winning and elevating the status of Windows Phone.