I’m on vacation with the family in Branson, Mo and writing this review for momgadget.com from the Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T). As I sit on my balcony overlooking the river, I am delighted with the light feel and quick response of this device. The user interface is intuitive and the phone comes out of the box equipped with practical applications working moms can use to make their lives simpler.

Though I’m initially impressed, I want to know how easy it will be to use the Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T) to work on momgadget.com. The 3G network enables me to easily log into my server and perform administrative tasks. I’m able to upload posts and photos at speeds almost as fast as my home computer. That I can toggle between the server, other web sites, AND the integrated Facebook and MS Word applications without losing connectivity or speed is a welcome surprise.

Bing Maps (GPS) tool is terrific. It takes less than 30 seconds to get directions from my hotel to a nearby restaurant. Maps opens with your current location as the starting point, and though you have the option of entering a different starting location, the default makes things much simpler when you are in an unfamiliar place.

Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T) phone comes with a number of other useful apps including mobile versions of Microsoft Power Point, Word, and Excel. To the delight of my children, Xbox Live is also preloaded. They loved everything related to Windows Xbox Live, preferring to play on the phone instead of the Xbox.

I found 3rd party apps did not work as seamlessly as the integrated apps. I had problems accessing gmail and went online to find out why. It appears Windows is aware of the 3rd party app hiccups and is working on improvements.

My feelings about the virtual keyboard are mixed. For a virtual keyboard, it is really quite excellent. But, virtual keyboards are difficult to use for extended typing. I found it difficult to take full advantage of the work related functionality of the Windows 7 OS because I found myself retyping quite a bit. Though my hands are not large, the keys were so close together I kept hitting the wrong keys.

Bottom Line:

This is a practical and stylish phone with a lot of excellent basics for working moms. Great maps, search, camera and integration with Facebook. Pre-loaded MS Office apps and speed that enables short-term fixes for documents, presentations and managing a blog like momgadget.com. Xbox Live is also a nice distraction for kids getting antsy at the grocery store.

If you plan to do a lot of texting or writing, you’ll need to practice quite a bit on the virtual keyboard. Anyone requiring 3rd party apps, may want to wait for a later version of the Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T) that fixes these known bugs.

Momgadget gives the Samsung Focus Windows Phone (AT&T) phone 3 out of 5 stars.

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Tagged as: branson mo, com, keyboard, microsoft power point, MomGadget, party apps, Phone, speed, virtual keyboard, virtual keyboards