One of the showstoppers for me when looking at moving away from Symbian to other platforms was always the thought of being separated from my beloved multimedia headsets - full media control without touching my phone at all. Experimenting with Windows Phone 8, I took the time to experiment with all the button combinations possible with that smartphone OS and third party three button headsets. OK, the results are a little artificial in that I'm adding an accessory that didn't come 'in the box', but at least most of the remote functionality I crave for my music and podcasts is now handled. If you're thinking of perhaps moving to one of Nokia's Windows Phones, then check out my article here.

From the article:

...here's the grid describing what happens when using each type of headset and pressing buttons with each type of content:

Content type >>	Music tracks	Nokia Mix Radio	Podcasts
Single press of only/centre button	Play/pause	Play/pause	Play/pause
Double press of only/centre button	Next track	Next track	Skip ahead 30 seconds*
Triple press of only/centre button	Previous track	No effect	Skip back 30 seconds*
Press of the top (nearest the earpiece) button+	Volume up one notch	Volume up one notch	Volume up one notch
Press of the bottom (nearest the main body of the lead) button+	Volume down one notch	Volume down one notch	Volume down one notch

* it doesn't appear that you can alter this period - unless someone knows differently?

+ long pressing the top and bottom keys on three button headsets takes the volume up and down much faster (kind of obvious, but...)

Does the functionality here get close to that which I mourned from the headsets from OMTP Symbian days? On the whole, yes, provided that a three button headset is used. Which is cheating slightly - but then if you're thinking of staying with Nokia's hardware for your next smartphone move then at least this gives fellow audio fans a way forward.

What do you think? Is this enough for you?