I’ve had a good long time to live with both my new devices – Boxee Box and Windows Phone so I thought it was time for an update.

Boxee Box

There has been one more small update which corrected some bugs I never experienced and added a couple user interface features. You can now jump to the “S” section (or whatever letter) of your movie or music folders. This is a big help if you have hundreds of titles to scroll through. A few more apps have been added or updated. There is still no Netflix, but it’s still promised for the end of the year. My prediction is that they will release it Christmas day. They did their first big update on US Thanksgiving so why not have the other big update done on the next big holiday. My only hope is that the Netflix app that is issued will be one that works in Canada as well.

Overall I am still very happy with the Boxee Box and use it almost everyday. I continue to “backup” my DVD’s so I can watch my entire DVD library from the Boxee Box, but I’ve already filled up one 2TB drive and I’m only about two-thirds of the way through our collection. Number one on my Boxing Day list is another 2TB drive.

Windows Phone

There has yet to be any firmware updates for the Windows Phone, but one is scheduled for January. Rumour has it that this will add the Copy/Paste feature. Despite all the negative talk about Windows Phone because of the lack of Copy/Paste I have to say that I really haven’t missed it. It’s nice to have but in retrospect something that I never used used that much. The one thing I miss are custom ringtones. I miss my Darth Vader Imperial March ringtone.

I have been thrilled with the phone and everyday I enjoy using it. The coolest feature I discovered was the voicemail to text feature. Whenever I get a voicemail the phone transcribes it into a text message – it is incredibly accurate. I think some android phones may do this as well. This is a feature that I could not live without now.

The phone continues to be incredibly snappy and easy to use. The integration of pictures and people into easy sections (hubs) makes the phone so easy to use. Whenever I go to my wife’s iPhone 3G (my old phone), the interface seems so dated and clunky. I feel like I’m using a phone meant for a little kid. Before I get hate mail from all the iPhone lovers let me remind everyone that I was one of the biggest promoters of iPhones since it was the best thing out there. I don’t think it is anymore – that’s just my opinion.

The only fear with the Windows Phone is it’s staying power. Will enough people buy one to keep the app programmers interested? Will Microsoft keep it’s focus on it and keep it on the public’s radar? It’s hard to fight the mighty Apple Marketing machine and the market saturation that the Android phones have accomplished. I firmly believe that the Windows Phone interface is superior to both iPhone and Android, but I’m just one person.