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Lumia
January 7, 2016

Lumia Person of Action: Jamie Ramsay



Here at Microsoft, we are devoted to celebrating people who #DoGreatThings and Jamie Ramsay is one man who completely embodies this ethos. Jamie has embarked on an incredible adventure, running 17,000km over just 600 days – through 14 countries and 2 continents! Jamie didn’t undergo this adventure alone however…he was powered by Microsoft devices to help him through this incredible journey.

Jamie Ramsay holding a Lumia 950 XL.

When we last caught up with Jamie, he had made it to Bugalagrande, Colombia which meant he was 10,000km through his challenge (read more here). Since then, he has covered an incredible amount of ground – meeting us in Argentina! We couldn’t wait to catch up with Jamie to find out how he’s been getting on.

First things first, what motivated Jamie to do this?
On our first encounter with Jamie, it was apparent that he lived a comfortable life, filled with great friends, family and a stable job. Despite this security, Jamie’s passion for adventure and thrill drove him to want to achieve more, leaving behind his daily duties to embark on an exciting adventure that would truly help others. He confessed, “My motivation was essentially to inspire myself that I could do more and more meaningful things with my life.”

Jamie’s decision to leave his job was, to say the least, pretty brave! Once committed, he began looking for charities that would benefit from generous sponsorship. He stated, “I wanted to make sure some good came out of the expedition and ensure I was not just fulfilling selfish motivations, so I found three charities I wanted to support.”

These charities (CALM, WaterAid UK and Macmillan) are close to Jamie’s heart and were at the forefront of his mind throughout his journey. His choice to undertake such a challenging experience in the name of charity, highlights his inspiring character further.

How did Microsoft products and services help him?
We were delighted to discover the role that Microsoft played throughout Jamie’s experience and couldn’t wait to uncover how Jamie used his Microsoft Band, Lumia and Microsoft Display Dock on this journey. Having previously owned the Lumia 930, we knew Jamie would be keen to test the latest flagship device so we equipped him with the almighty Lumia 950 XL.

Jamie Ramsay using a Lumia 950 XL.

An important factor for any adventurer beginning a feat alone, is the ability to stay connected with friends, family and fans from around the world. Fortunately, with the help of Skype, Jamie never felt alone and instead managed to stay in touch with his loved ones, updating them on every step of his journey, in real-time. While Skype helped on-the-go, Jamie occasionally had the chance to sit down and take a moment to compose his thoughts.

He loved the capacity to use Continuum and Microsoft Display Dock with his Lumia 950 XL, and connect it to a keyboard, mouse and monitor to enable a PC-like experience. As a keen multi-tasker, Jamie was delighted he could have Microsoft Word projected onto a big screen to write his blog posts and embed images he had captured with his Lumia, whilst still using the phone to carry out other tasks too, such as texting.

Jami Ramsay taking a picture with Lumia 950 XL.

Jamie also made full use of Maps on his Lumia 950 XL, to guide him in the right direction, “the maps are just brilliant…the offline capability is the best feature.” Finding the nearest station or food source was integral to Jamie’s journey and he found a friend in Cortana to keep him informed. Not only was Cortana full of knowledge but also a friendly voice to keep him entertained along the way, cracking jokes and even singing!

Jamie Ramsay using a Microsoft Band 2.

Alongside Lumia, Jamie used the new Microsoft Band to help assist him throughout his trip. As Jamie was running more than a marathon’s worth each day, the Microsoft Health app was keeping him informed of his performance; updating him on the distance travelled, calories burned and recovery time.

Jamie told us that, “as an adventurer the holy-grail is to have the most functionality available from one device, as it cuts down on space, wires, chargers and reduces the risk of things going wrong.” It’s clear that the Lumia, Band and Display Dock enabled Jamie to be productive throughout his trip, and it’s fair to say that these devices were his greatest allies…not forgetting his trolley of course!

How can we follow his progress?
Although Jamie is nearing the end of his adventure, he’s not stopping yet. On touch-down in the UK, not content with having run Canada to Argentina, Jamie will be running from Terminal 5 at Heathrow all the way to greet the Queen at Buckingham Palace on Sunday 10th January! We’ll be joining him at the finish line to celebrate his amazing achievement! Follow his final leg here: http://jamieisrunning.com/

Jamie is a truly incredible man and we are proud that Microsoft helped fuel his venture and helped him #DoGreatThings. We wish him an extremely safe and successful last leg of his trip!

Warning: Prepare to be empowered by the amazing Jamie Ramsay in our first of three videos from his expedition…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9gZQzx7bfY