Is your Lumia 1520 slower after upgrading to Windows Phone 8.1?

I have just managed to get my phone to be upgraded to official Windows Phone 8.1 + Lumia Cyan.. Yay..!! :)

It took more than 30 minutes for the whole process to complete. First, there was update to Windows Phone 8 itself and then it would allow you to upgrade to Windows Phone 8. Overall, the process is very smooth.

However, just after upgrade, I can feel the phone is somewhat slower than before. After ensuring there is no more apps updating, I check on the battery saver that actually all the apps that have option to :"run on background" are now allowed to. I have to go through one by one to turn it off. After that, I can feel the phone back to normal with all the glory of WP 8.1. :)

To go to Battery Saver, just go to Settings > Battery Saver. Swipe to the right to usage, and you can see which apps that are allowed to run on the background. Some apps that are popular to suck all battery juice like Here Drive should be turned off to run on background, and only turn it on when you need to use it.

After choosing background to start screen, transparent live tile on 6" screen really look stunning.

Windows Phone 8.1 Keyboard: Where is my comma?

For one that has already used Windows Phone 8.1 will have a shock when they start to type and the comma is nowhere to be found. Instead, you either need to type "&123" or press long on ".". This is too troublesome to type even normal sentence.

Apparently, this can be changed easily. Just go to settings > keyboard > advanced, and check "Show a comma key when available".

I think it's better to display comma as default, and give option for user that needs bigger "space". If I don't really search into this, I will not know this can be displayed back and only can curse somebody at Microsoft for hiding the comma.

One changes that I like in addition to "swype" feature is the cursor key. Previously, you need to press and hold for few seconds then the flying cursor appear. Now, there is one small circle below the cursor, just press the circle and drag. Nice..

Windows Phone 8.1 + Lumia Cyan should land anytime from now

With all the greatness of Windows Phone 8.1 and Lumia Cyan, I have been waiting for the arrival to my Lumia 1520. Now Nokia has published the availability and status of the update on their own website at this link. Well, my Lumia 1520 under starhub status is "under testing". Hopefully it will not take forever.

Well, I have also been lucky selected by Starhub to test out the Lumia 930. Overall so far it is a great device, however, with a few complaints here and there, which I will post later. :)

Other "coming soon" stuff is BBM for Windows Phone. Currently this is under closed beta. It means only registered beta users can use the software now. I have tried to register, but there is no news until now. The app itself is available here, although I hit permission error when trying to install it on the phone.

SQL Server Login Error: The login is from an untrusted domain and cannot be used with Windows authentication

One of SharePoint Farm that I have configured for one client has recently failed with all error shows something like below:
The login is from an untrusted domain and cannot be used with Windows authentication.

After many hours investigating, we found out that this SQL Server had 2 DNS name. This system has been used for many months without issue under this 2 DNS. After AD was upgraded, this error started to appear. Many article pointed to Kerberos issue, but we did not use Kerberos authentication. After removing one of the DNS address, the issue seems to be fixed.

I suspect when the AD was upgraded, somehow the priority of the DNS name might be changed which caused all login to fail.

Free Gift Card for Lumia Users (SGD 45)

Wow, Nokia just published new apps to allow Lumia users to redeem gift card with value of SGD 45 to get any paid apps in Windows Phone store. Quick grab yours here:

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-sg/store/app/gift-voucher/18bca550-bf7a-42e4-a2e1-1501b4863f74

Follow the instruction shown in the apps, and wow, $45 just credited to my Microsoft Account wallet.

* Update: Just realize it is mentioned selected Lumia model only, so you can try yours. I use Lumia 1520 and redeem mine succesfully.

How to update to your Windows Phone 8 to Windows Phone 8.1

Windows Phone 8.1 brings tons of new interesting features. I believe there are lot of news out there where you can find what new features there are. Some features I like so far:

1. Background picture to Tile.
   With this new feature, start screen will be even more interesting, alive and more personal than ever before compare to any other mobile OS out there.
2. Action Centre
   Well, in a glance, this looks exactly like Android. Pull down from the top, and you will be able to see all notifications plus few buttons for quick settings. This link summarizes comparison to Android notification centre: http://www.zdnet.com/windows-phone-8-1-action-center-provides-a-balanced-alert-system-7000028553/
3. Battery Sense
   Well, this feature is already available in Android since long time ago, and I missed it so much in WP. And now they have made it official. My gripe with phone like Lumia 920 is the battery life. Sometimes it is so poor and you do not know who drinks the juice so fast. Now, I can see which apps that I can uninstall because it is not efficient in handling power.
4. Cortana
   Well, I have to set the settings to US to enable this feature. It is basically Siri or Google Now. It is nice to have this new addition to Windows Phone. Hopefully, it will come to Singapore soon.

If you want to try out Windows Phone, below are the steps. But, please be aware that you will not be able to roll back (officially, although some said Nokia Restore Software will be able to roll back), and breaks your warranty. So, just install it on your own risk or spare Windows Phone.

• Sign up to be a Windows Phone developer at appstudio.windowsphone.com for free using the Microsoft account associated with your phone.

• Get the Preview for Developers app from the Windows Phone Store .

• Run the app and sign in with your Microsoft account.

• Check for updates (Settings > Phone update > Check for updates) and download/install any that are available. You’ll have an update to download and install before Windows Phone 8.1 shows up if you’re downloading the Preview for Developers program for the first time.