For Those Who Cannot Powerpoint

If you have ever been subjected to or, worse yet, produced a presentation that looked like the following, this article is for you.

Sway is a new app by Microsoft that aims to make creating and sharing content easier. Think of it as a combination of Prezi, PowerPoint and a website (and FrontPage if you know what that is). It will be part of their Office suite and downloadable across a plethora of devices, including Windows, iOS, and Android. In order to really understand what it is, watch this video:

Although it hasn’t been officially released yet, I was fortunate enough to receive an invite to the preview and want to share my preliminary thoughts with you. Keep in mind this is only the preview, not the full version that will be released later.

For the Lazy and Uncreative

Truthfully, that header may be a little harsh. I understand that sometimes you may just be too busy to invest in a well-designed presentation or maybe you were simply born without the artistic gene. Well either way, Sway has you guys covered. The app is incredibly intuitive and easy to use. I spent just around 30 minutes putting together this BEAUTIFUL presentation (and that included my hummus and pita chips snack break).

Getting started was super easy and brought me to a start screen with some quick explanations, which are quite honestly all you need.

The basic skeleton is a “storyline” of cards that are classified either as the title, header, or content, and each present your content and media in different ways. It’s kind of similar to PowerPoint slides, although much more structured and “template-ed”. Yeah, that’s a real word. These basic cards are then transformed into a beautiful presentation with minimal work by you.

Adding your content is really simple and convenient. Not only can you add content saved on your device or OneDrive, but you can also pull content from social media. Facebook allows you to upload your photos, tagged photos, and even full albums. Twitter can embed public tweets and timelines. YouTube allows you to search and embed videos, one of my favorite features.

All that said, I think Sway’s true power comes from its ability to make the laziest, most unartistic presentation look sexy. There are about three major decisions you’ll have to make: structure, style, and color. Each one has a handful of presets you can choose from. It will even choose the color for you based on pictures you’ve used, another awesome feature I love. I mean, seriously, if you can’t make these kind of decisions, I’m not sure how you get dressed in the morning or even eat.

They also make sharing your presentation easy with options to share on Facebook and Twitter or embed on a site. To top it off, the content adapts to the device it’s being shown on (aka it’s mobile-friendly). There doesn’t appear to be a download/offline option yet.

Give A Little, Take A Little

Of course, you have to sacrifice a few things for all these features. Mainly, you don’t get nearly the level of customization as you do on other platforms. Currently, Sway doesn’t allow you to change individual fonts, text size, boldness, etc…

Although it was easy to add content, I found it frustrating at times to edit in Sway. In order to see what your content actually looks like on the Sway, you have to switch between the storyline and preview. I could not make edits directly to the preview. It was also unfortunate that there wasn’t an undo button to correct mistakes, including accidentally deleting a card.

Overall, I thought it was a great app and could definitely see myself using it again in the future. I just want to point out again that this is just a preview. It is not the full app and additional features will probably be added before release. But that’s my unqualified opinion as of now! I’m curious to see when other people will use it and how they will use it differently than PowerPoint. What do you guy think? Comment below or on social media!

If you didn’t click the link to my Sway before, check it out so you can see Sway in action: https://sway.com/OoOamRDN6lP9svV5. If you’re interested in trying out Sway for yourself, you can request an invite from their website. But you’re best bet is tweeting with them on Fridays in my unqualified opinion.

Hey it's #FollowFriday and today we have invites for a few followers who will provide great feedback. Ready to join us on our journey?

— Office Sway (@sway) October 17, 2014

Lumia 635: First Impressions

And thus my first week with this little guy has come to a close. It’s been a roller coaster of emotions. We laughed, we cried, we made memories. But most of all, we learned about each other. Therefore, I want to share with you my first impressions of the Nokia Lumia 635. This opinion will be broken up into two sections: Lumia 635, dealing with the specific hardware, and Windows Phone 8.1, which covers the OS.

Lumia 635

Coming in under just $100 without a contract, this is one of the cheapest smartphones on the market right now. Truthfully, I wasn’t aware of exactly how dirt cheap it was until I went on AT&T’s website and sorted by price: low to high and found it at the very top of the list. For $100, you get want you’d expect, if not a little more. Here’s why:

• I never noticed lag while running the same OS and apps as I do on my Lumia Icon, a high-end Windows Phone. Everything started up quickly, and I never experienced any crashes. I was worried the phone could not handle a power user like me, but it stood up to the test.
• The front-facing camera is only 5MP. When taking pictures along side my Icon (20MP), the Lumia 635 took only slightly darker, less vibrant, and grainer pictures when zoomed in. However, for just $100 and an Instagram filter later, I’m pleased with the results. But you definitely shouldn’t expect pictures from this phone to end up in National Geographic.
  

  Top: Lumia 635. Bottom: Lumia Icon. #NoFilter

• The single biggest drawback was the lack of a front-facing camera. To be honest, I would almost rather have a front-facing camera instead of a rear-facing camera. But only because I use it to Skype my dear, old grandparents. Just kidding- it just throws off my selfie-game.

• Finally, I’d like to note I have accidentally dropped the phone 3 times already and the phone hasn’t chipped, cracked, nor crapped out. Maybe Nokia should send me a case though… *hint*hint*

Windows Phone 8.1

All the essentials, playtime included.

The OS does a great job of straddling the simplicity of the iPhone and the customizability of Android, with a touch of Microsoft’s signature productivity. I’ll give more in-depth opinions on the unique features in future posts, but some aspects I’ve already fallen in love with are:

• Live tiles that provide notifications, previews of content, and always-updating information at a glance
• App-specifc lock screens that update with information and backgrounds from most social media apps, news and weather apps, etc…
• Pre-installed Microssoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, OneNote, and PDF Reader
• Cortana, your personal assistant with the usefulness of Google Now and the personality of Siri (but a little sassier). We’re basically in a long-term relationship. Couple pictures to follow.

So, that’s my unqualified opinion on my first week with the Lumia 635. If anything sparks your interest, let me know in the comments below! I want to answer what you’re interested in.

Note: I am a Microsoft Lumia Device Trail Test blogger, and this is a sponsored post.

Unboxing: Nokia Lumia 635

Below is my first ever unboxing video– the Nokia Lumia 635! I did my best with filming and editing, but I could only do so much with limited equipment. At the very least, I know I could definitely turn this blog into my hand-modeling portfolio.

The Nokia Lumia 635 is less $150 on most major carries WITHOUT a contract, one of the first to come pre-loaded with Windows Phone 8.1, and one of the cheapest smartphones you can find right now. Even then, the phone looked and felt great for a budget phone, although with a few reservations. Keep an eye out this week for my first impressions posted on Twitter/Instagram and a blog post at the end summarizing my first week!

Don’t forget to comment, like and share all of your feedback! I’m really interested and appreciate the help.

Note: I am a Microsoft Lumia Device Trail Test blogger and this is a sponsored post.