SlashGear » Windows Phone 7 Series

Windows Phone 7.8 due in early 2013

Craig Lloyd — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 21:41:16 +0000

Windows Phone 8 might be out in full force now, but the Windows Phone 7 series is still carrying on and will see an update to version 7.8 sometime early next year, according to Microsoft. The update will include resizable Live Tiles and new lock screen options. Microsoft says that the update will roll out “to as many devices as possible.”

Unfortunately, not all existing Windows Phone 7.5 handsets will receive the update, but most existing users can expect an update to version 7.8 that will bridge the gap between their device and new devices running Microsoft’s latest mobile operating system. WP7 users are upset as it is, since they won’t be able to get WP8 on their current devices, so it’s crucial that Microsoft roll out the update in a timely manner.

Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Windows Phone, Terry Myerson, said that “new models running Windows Phone 7.8 are beginning to launch in many countries around the world,” which means that there will technically be Windows Phone 7.8 devices out in the wild, but the update for existing customers won’t be ready to roll out until early next year.

Other features of Windows Phone 7.8 include 20 new theme and accent colors, new lock screen features that can display the Bing Picture of the Day, and an “A1B2C3″ PIN/password challenge to prevent accidental device wipes on phones connected to Exchange accounts. While I’m sure most WP7 users would love to have WP8, WP7.8 seems to be a good compromise.

Windows Phone 7.8 due in early 2013 is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia prepares Windows Phone press event for CES 2012

Paul Fang — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 06:27:13 +0000

Well, Nokia has just sent out press invitations confirming its plans for an CES press event at the Las Vegas convention center. From the looks of it, the phone company is slated for a presentation the afternoon of January 9, the day before CES formally starts, and the focus is clearly going to be oriented towards something Windows Phone-esque, as the press invitation depicts the (surprise, surprise) Windows Metro UI tile theme.

On the press invitation, Nokia says to “Join our press conference and get the latest news from Nokia, hear from some of the leading minds in the industry about the future of smart devices and applications and witness stunning demos of Nokia technology in action.” Really, Nokia? Can you be any more generic than that? Although we’re guessing that it’s going to be somehow Lumia-related, just saying.

Nokia hasn’t done a huge amount lately, having been overshone by the likes of the plethora of Android devices (and I’m looking especially at you, long-awaited Galaxy Nexus) as well as the ever surging popularity of the iPhone 4/iPhone 4S variants from Apple. We’ll be looking forward to what they’re going to have store this year at CES.

Nokia prepares Windows Phone press event for CES 2012 is written by Paul Fang & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft Zune Pass price drops, 10 songs a month along with it

Chris Burns — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 17:02:10 +0000

Starting on the 3rd of October, those hoping for a lower price point for the Zune Pass unlimited music service will be jumping for joy as $14.99 turns into $9.99. With this price cut comes a few other cuts as well, including the option to download 10 songs per month that you can keep for your own forever. This price cut will take place on October 3rd, 2011, and will be available to Canadian Zune users as well. Will this cut finally convince you to jump in on the Zune revolution*?

Of course you know the true state of both platforms, here the Zune offering a service for a lower price point with less options hoping for a wider audience by getting rid of a digit in their price point. What you got before, for those of you that don’t know, was essentially a purchase of 10 songs at $1 each and an unlimited streaming service for an extra $5 a month. What you’re getting now is a lower price point at $9.99 a month to start with, but you don’t get to keep any of the songs you get to hear each month.

The Zune Pass is and has been available to several platforms for a while now, this including Windows Phone devices, the Xbox 360, Windows PCs, Zune devices galore, and of course in-browser at Zune.net. Microsoft continues to push the Zune with Windows 7.5 Mango as it’s pushed to devices across the board in the coming weeks. Will a $5 price change boost the service into the future?

*A hint of sarcasm – quick unofficial poll – do you use Zune?

[via MobileBurn]

Microsoft Zune Pass price drops, 10 songs a month along with it is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Dell Venue Pro Receiving Windows Phone 7 Update “Copy and Paste” Starting Today

Chris Burns — Thu, 31 Mar 2011 21:14:24 +0000

In addition to a Windows Phone 7 update, users of the Dell Venue Pro will be being sent a separate update for the handset that will provide additional enhancements and fixes. There’s no ETA on this update, but the WP7 update is indeed rolling out to users today, March 31, 2011. This update is known as “Copy and Paste” and will continue to be released in a phased fashion over the next few weeks.

This set of updates will come to you in three separate cycles. First there’s an update known as the “February Update” which you may well have already received. Without this update, you cannot update to the Copy and Paste update. Once you’ve got the first, you can start working on the second – Copy and Paste will also be sent over the air and downloaded by you essentially automatically (with notification, of course.)

What the Copy and Paste update will do, in short, is give you faster app speed and gaming load times, tweaks to the Marketplace, tweaks to Outlook, and more. The process which you must go through is thus, provided to us by Dell themselves:

Connect your Venue Pro to a machine that has the latest Zune software installed. If you want to manually check for the update, launch the Zune software, click the Phone link, then choose the View Synch Options button, and click Update on the left hand side.

When I clicked update, it notified me that I needed to update my Zune software first.

Next, I started the Phone Update process.

The whole process took about 20 – 25 minutes for me overall. The longest part was creating the backup.

Then, I got the confirmation that the update was successful.

After the update, my Venue Pro shows the OS version as 7.0.7390.0 (in the About section under Settings):

Simple, right? Apparently this update also adds speed to loading everything overall, Facebook, Twitter, Neflix load and movie playback included.

Dell Venue Pro Receiving Windows Phone 7 Update “Copy and Paste” Starting Today is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia readying 4 Windows Phone 7 handsets, MeeGo tablet rumored

James DeRuvo — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 17:25:16 +0000

Nokia looks to be hitting the ground running with up to four Windows Phone 7 handsets already in the R&D pipeline. The Phones are rumored to be based on Nokia’s “Chasis 1″ with a 1Ghz processor and capacitive touch screens. The other two mid range phones will be worked into “Chasis 2″ with a slower 800 Mhz processor and resistive screens. In addition, Nokia’s rumored Windows tablet entry won’t be out until 2012 and will feature a full version of Windows 8, rather than the lean and mean Phone mobile OS. But others think that MeeGo isn’t dead and may find a home in the tablet interface.

The rumor comes from Eldar, a noted critic of the Nokia/Microsoft deal, who has a hit and miss track record when it comes to story leakage, so it should be considered as a pure rumor, especially when dividing up the phones into touch screen and non touch categories makes little sense to Windows Phone 7 fans. It doesn’t take long looking Eldar’s hit and miss track record is likely missing on at least part of this story. Users think it would be a stupid move to fragment the Windows Phone 7 market with a design that would frustrate the core finger friendly interface of WP7 in favor of a stylus phone design. Who would really want to carry around a pen in their pocket?

It would seem that if resistant screens were doing to find their way into the mix, it would more likely be with the tablet. But with multitouch so standard on tablets now, wouldn’t that be a giant step backwards for Microsoft and Nokia trying to compete in an already hyper competitive market? That’s where the talk of maybe MeeGo staying alive gains ground, especially since it’s Reuters who’s making that assertion. As with any rumor, the answer usually poses more questions. We’ll certainly be paying close attention to what Nokia has in store as time marches on.

[via My Nokia Blog]

Nokia readying 4 Windows Phone 7 handsets, MeeGo tablet rumored is written by James DeRuvo & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

HTC Arrive Hands-On and Unboxing

Chris Burns — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 19:52:18 +0000

Today we’ve received a package from Sprint that’s contained no less than the newest Windows Phone 7 handset in the world, the HTC Arrive! This is a piece of hardware that you’ll never forget you’ve held. It’s got not only a unique hinge revealing a full QWERY keyboard under its head, it’s one of the most substantial and hardcore smartphones we’ve ever laid eyes on. It’s got metal pieces and speakers all over the place, smoothly placed HTC and Sprint logos at the top of it’s face with a classic Windows logo down below, and a giant heavy screwed-down battery cover on the back. Take a journey with us through the opening, handling, and holding of this lovely phone.

Before we continue, I must tell you that this is the first Windows Phone 7 phone I’ve ever held. I’ve used and reviewed my share of Android phones in the time they’ve existed, but WP7 has until now evaded me. That time has ended! This review will truly come from a fresh set of eyes, ladies and gentlemen, yours truly, a person who does know a thing or two about devices such as this, but will be giving this phone the test of an everyman, an everyman with distinct tastes!

First Impressions

This is a heavy phone. That said, compare it to phones on the average a few years ago, and it’s just a normal weight phone. It’s not a phone that weighs more than a smartphone of today should, but it’s definitely up there. It’s substantial as its mostly metal, and you’ve definitely got a device that looks like it’s worth the money you’ve payed for it. Then there’s the hinge. It’s such an odd hinge. This is a hinge that’s so weird, I’d say it’s stranger than the hinge I last saw on the G2. Take a look at that, then take a look at this. Weird – and incidentally, totally refreshing.

Handling

The phone handles like a dream thus far. Holding the phone feels like you’re really holdings something fabulously expensive, or at least filled with lead. This is a masculine phone, if you’d have to decide between that or feminine, and it’s made to get things done quick. Windows Phone 7 is all about making things uber-simple, or so they say, and having a phone like this to run such an operating system is going to amplify that effect without a doubt. Typing is fast, the hinge slides in and out without a problem, and the screen is top-notch responsive.

I’ll be working with this phone for a few days in order to give everyone a full review, and you can be sure we’ll be testing out ev-ry-thing. Stay tuned to SlashGear.com for a real deep dive.

Bonus facts! This is Sprint’s first Windows Phone 7 device, a rebranded version of the HTC 7 Pro – well played, HTC. This makes Sprint the first US carrier to pick up the HTC 7 Pro, and it’ll be out on the market on March 20th, 2011.

It’s so fancy!

HTC Arrive Hands-On and Unboxing is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Daily Slash: February 11, 2011

Chris Burns — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 07:43:40 +0000

Nokia ruled the day today, their Microsoft partnership announcement reverberating through the whole day from Google offering sacked Nokia engineers a lifeline to Nokia Workers walking out of their Finnish jobs. Want to read more on the original event? We’ve got you so covered you’ll be unable to breath clean air – Nokia Microsoft partnership video, see Steve Ballmer say “Nokia will do unique things on top of Windows Phone 7″, and grant yourself a full guide with Chris Davies’ Nokia Windows Phone: Everything you need to know. Finally, don’t let yourself sleep at night without checking out Ben Bajarin’s On Time Analysis entitled Nokia’s Huge Bet On Windows Phone 7 is All or Nothing. And of course, it’s not ALL Nokia today, it’s all this and MORE on The Daily Slash.

R3 Media Network

Editor’s Choice
Google offers sacked Nokia engineers a lifeline
Samsung rebrands Exynos processor family: Hummingbird flies away
Sports Illustrated comes to Android
LG Optimus 3D P920 Ad Spot – 3D Yoga Lady Demo [VIDEO]
Twitter 2.0 for Android [REVIEW]
HTC Forest Concept Phone Employs Trackball and Mystery Android OS
Rovio Takes on Nokia with an Angry Call to Arms
Orbo Watch Takes Circular Face, E Ink, Tells All

SlashPhone
Belkin Introducing Verizon iPhone 4 Case Line
Nokia Announces Partnership With Windows Phone
WP7′s Copy and Paste Update Might Come in March

Android Community
Twitter 2.0 for Android [REVIEW]
Immersion unveils MOTIV Haptics dev platform for Android
Microsoft Tags now used in USA Today paper
Nokia passes on Android because there “are too many players”
ViewSonic V350 dual-SIM smartphone and ViewPad 10Pro Win7/Froyo slate revealed
Waves of Impact and No Lines for Verizon’s iPhone
Samsung Galaxy Tab Maintenance Update EA24
HTC Forest Concept Phone Employs Trackball and Mystery Android OS
Condoms Promote Smartphone “Couples” Deal for Valentine’s Day
Motorla Xoom Pricing Confirmed at Best Buy
HTC ThunderBolt Best Buy Price Confirmed
RuniK Updates to Verzion 2.1, Turns Out to be Awesome
Atrix Docking options highlighted in AT&Ts Mobile Minute [VIDEO]
Motorola XOOM Silver GSM Model Revealed by TBreak [VIDEO]
Gameloft’s 50% off App Sale and Galaxy Tab contest
Motorola Atrix 4G and Droid X have Same Battery Lineage
Android App coming to control your home
Sports Illustrated comes to Android
LG Optimus 3D P920 Ad Spot – 3D Yoga Lady Demo [VIDEO]
T-Mobile offers Galaxy Tab for lowest price yet
Samsung 10.1 Inch Honeycomb Tablet Coming Within a Week
Galaxy S2, Desire 2, and Wildfire 2 specs leaked
Radio Shack offers Samsung Phones w/ $50 Trade-in credit
Advent Vega Android Tablet Gets its Flash Player Back

SlashGear
Vodafone Webbox internet keyboard plugs into your TV [Video]
MacBook Air Sandy Bridge refresh tipped for June
Analysis: Nokia’s Huge Bet On Windows Phone 7 is All or Nothing [ON TIME ANALYSIS]
Nokia Microsoft partnership video
Samsung rebrands Exynos processor family: Hummingbird flies away
Apple iPhone 5 and iPad 2 NFC rumors debunked by analyst that prompted them
Google offers sacked Nokia engineers a lifeline
MeeGo hardware “repurposed” for Windows Phone; no WP7 update for N8 or E7
Nokia: Big Windows Phone push in 2012; Increased R&D in low-end devices
Nokia allowed to modify Windows Phone while rival OEMs locked out
Windows Phone kills Symbian as Nokia strategy shifts
GeoHot forced to hand over HDD to Sony
Microsoft paying Nokia “hundreds of millions” for WP7 deal?
Engage WirelessLCD debuts, Piccard nowhere to be found
USA Today uses Microsoft Tag to get more interaction from smartphone users
Boogie Board LCD writing tablet heads to Europe
VTech InnoPad is a kid’s tablet
“Too many players” in Android led Nokia to Windows Phone
PowerTrekk fuel cell charger charges gadgets anywhere
Nokia confirms “substantial reductions in employment around the world”
Antec rocks us with the rockus 2.1 speaker system
Nokia considering Microsoft and MeeGo for future tablets
Onkyo Unveils Entry-level AV Receivers
MeeGo focus shifts to “future disruption in mobile ecosystem”
“Weeks and months” before Nokia Windows Phone hardware reveal
Swingline unveils Stack-and-Shred paper shredder
Nokia CEO: Xbox Live on Nokia phones
Steve Ballmer: “Nokia will do unique things on top of Windows Phone 7″
Sharkoon Scorpio 1000 ATX mid-tower case debuts
Live at Nokia & Microsoft partnership event
Nokia: “Success requires speed. We will be swift”
Nokia announces Windows Phone partnership [FEATURED]
BlackBerry PlayBook Android app support coming in 2H 2011 tip insiders
ViewSonic dual-SIM V350 phone & dual-OS ViewPad 10Pro tablet outed
Nokia Windows Phone: Everything you need to know [FEATURED]
Boston Developing “Street Bump” App to Report All Potholes in Real Time
Galaxy Tab 2 To Premier at MWC?
LG Triptych: Phone Morphs Into Tablet Concept Design
AT&T Offers A Sweet Perfect Pair Deal For Valentines
Duke Nukem Forever Collectors Edition Revealed
HTC Thunderbolt At Best Buy Price Confirmed
Intel To Ship Fixed Cougar Point Chipsets February 14th
Apple Improving Notifications On Next iOS
Rovio Takes on Nokia with an Angry Call to Arms
Orbo Watch Takes Circular Face, E Ink, Tells All
Nokia Workers in Finland Take Collective Lunch Break in Protest of Windows Phone 7 Deal
Hitachi Announces 4.5-inch Display That May Rival Apple’s Retina Display
Sony Hints At Withdrawing From iTunes
AT&T Rewards iPhone Customers With Bonus 1000 Rollover Minutes
Target Offering iPhone 4 Trade-In Service

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

The Daily Slash: February 11, 2011 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Nokia Workers in Finland Take Collective Lunch Break in Protest of Windows Phone 7 Deal

Chris Burns — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 21:26:16 +0000

It would appear, according to Finnish paper HS.fi Uutiset that workers at at least one Nokia development location in Tampere, Finland, are walking out in protest of the deal made official this morning between Nokia and Microsoft. While a member of the senior staff at this particular location, Kalle Wedge, noted “Aika moni käytti joustavaa työaikaa,” aka “Quite a few people used their flexible working time [their break] to do this protest.”

Doing a walk-out during the time you’d normally have a break anyway would seem like it would be rather ineffective, so we must assume there’s something else going on here, as it appears that massive confusion via rumors have been spreading in other locations such as Oulu, where at the moment of the 2,000 employees, 1,000 work on Symbian, while 600 work with MeeGo. At the Tampere location about half of the employees currently work on Symbian.

A massive walking out or protest or combination of the two would be right in order with the notes and actions that’ve been playing out and reported today. Take a peek at Nokia announcing “Substantial reductions in employment around the world and Google’s Aidan Biggins tweets “Any Nokia software engineers need a job? We’re hiring: www.google.com/jobs”.

Hs.fi Uutiset reports that these engineers are afraid for their jobs and seek answers as their confusion over the future of each of their individual branches appears to hang in the balance. The Marine, Finland branch noted that although the Symbian side of development would be gradually reduced, these workers would more than likely just transfer over to working with Windows Phone, and that thus there’s no reason to fear.

[via Geek]

Nokia Workers in Finland Take Collective Lunch Break in Protest of Windows Phone 7 Deal is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: February 11 2011

Chris Burns — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 17:21:48 +0000

It’s shaping up to be a real Nokia day, believe it or not, with Microsoft and Nokia announcing a partnership that they hope will launch Windows Phone 7 to the top of the charts. See all the big points laid out in an On Time Analysis by Ben Bajarin entitled Analysis: Nokia’s Huge Bet On Windows Phone 7 is All or Nothing. Next watch the Nokia Microsoft partnership video, see as Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer notes that “Nokia will do unique things on top of Windows Phone 7″, and peek at a full guide from Chris Davies entitled Nokia Windows Phone: Everything you need to know. Check out a review of the brand new Twitter 2.0 by yours truly – it’s slick! Grapple your fingers around a brand new ViewPad 10Pro Win7/Froyo slate. And MORE here on SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up!

R3 Media Network

Editor’s Choice
Google offers sacked Nokia engineers a lifeline
Samsung rebrands Exynos processor family: Hummingbird flies away
Twitter 2.0 for Android [REVIEW]

SlashPhone
Belkin Introducing Verizon iPhone 4 Case Line
Nokia Announces Partnership With Windows Phone
WP7′s Copy and Paste Update Might Come in March

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: February 11 2011 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: December 22 2010

Chris Burns — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 16:38:01 +0000

Oh man! First thing in the morning Verizon WP7 apps appear in Marketplace – does this mean launch time aproacheth? Then Chris Davies columns about why [he] won’t buy the Nexus S. Check out some Space tech that’ll allow you to check your heart rate on your iPhone, pick up a Google Nexus S at the UK drop today, see the VERY OBVIOUSLY engineered leak of the HTC Incredible HD, and check out the Mini iPad caught in the Wild. THEN check out the BRAND NEW Notion Ink Adam video demoing their Sniffer Application! All this and MORE on SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up!

R3 Media Network

Editor’s Choice
Bacteria used to store data by Chinese researchers [WHAAAT?!]
ITC votes to launch investigation into Microsoft Xbox 360 [RUH ROH]
NoseDial for iPhone is exactly what you think it is [WHY]
Elliptic Labs Reveal Touchless iPad via TGUI Stand [NEATO!]
Microsoft to Announce an ARM Processor Compatible Version of Windows OS [INCASE YOU MISSED THIS GIGANTIC NEWS]
Nexus S DIY soft-touch battery cover mod is finger-friendly [TOUCHY]

Android Community
Notion Ink Demos Adam’s Sniffer Application [Video]
Motorola Acquires Zecter, Plans on Enhancing MOTOBLUR
Motorola’s Android Update Site Gets Refreshed, Doesn’t Look Promising
Samsung Epic 4G Reportedly Being Updated to Android 2.2 December 26th
Nexus S DIY soft-touch battery cover mod is finger-friendly
Nokia N900 gets Android 2.3 Gingerbread port
Web-based Android Market imminent as Google updates app links?
Is Xoom the Motorola Android tablet name?
Boingo WiFi app comes loaded on MetroPCS Android smartphones
Ford Sync AppLink available now for 2011 Fiesta owners
TuneLink Auto shoots tunes from your Android device to your car with no wires
Sony Ericsson LiveView firmware update due Jan 2011
Android tips & tricks list released for 2.3 Gingerbread
Nexus S on sale in UK now

SlashGear
Verizon WP7 apps appear in Marketplace; launch imminent?
Motorola MOTOBLUR to get wireless sync & media streaming with ZumoCast acquisition
Android 2.3 Gingerbread arrives on Nokia N900
I won’t buy the Nexus S [COLUMN]
OpenBSD FBI backdoors probably planned admits founder, but unlikely to have survived
Sony Music Unlimited offers custom radio & 6m track access on your BRAVIA or PS3
GM using recycled oil booms used to clean Gulf oil spill in Volt
Bacteria used to store data by Chinese researchers
Aluratek Bump Boombox with Remote Wireless speaker makes me thirsty
Motorola seeks trademark on Xoom name
Rahul Sood leaves HP and lands at Microsoft
ITC votes to launch investigation into Microsoft Xbox 360
2011 Ford Fiesta owners are first to get AppLink voice control
Space tech used to create headphones for iPhone that can monitor heart rate
NoseDial for iPhone is exactly what you think it is
TuneLink Auto for Android offers wireless tunes in your car coming soon
Sony Ericsson confirm LiveView update in Jan 2011: Bluetooth fixes & more
Google Nexus S arrives in UK: £430 SIM-free or free on contract
India faces 3G data & video call ban over real-time security fears
Archos 70b Android ereader up for pre-order in Europe
Synology DiskStation DS1511+ packs 15TB (or 45TB with booster drives)
Viliv Media Tablet Phone could be 3G-enabled P3 PMP
HTC EVO Shift 4G leaks ahead of 2011 Sprint launch
HTC Incredible HD leak is obviously engineered
Newzoo Projects Gamers Spent Almost $25 Billion on Games in 2010
Call of Duty: Black Ops Passes $1 Billion in Sales Worldwide
Mini iPad Caught in the Wild?
Occipital Finds Augmented Reality Capabilities Within Mobile Safari for iOS 4.2
Elliptic Labs Reveal Touchless iPad via TGUI Stand
VUDU Update to 2.0 Goes Live
Microsoft to Announce an ARM Processor Compatible Version of Windows OS

To see more wrap-up posts, follow the following tags: [The Daily Slash] or [SlashGear Morning Wrap-up]

SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: December 22 2010 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Daily Slash: December 20 2010

Chris Burns — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 03:39:23 +0000

Be amazed as Philip Berne lays down a connection between Tron and FB in an article called Facebook on the Job, while Don Reisinger delivers a bit of knowledge on home socialization in an article called Netflix: The Savior of Living Room Entertainment? Next, take a peek at Motorola talking smack about iPad and Galaxy Tab. After that, marvel as the Notion Ink Adam floodgates open! Take a video look at the Eden UI, then take a walk through another video of Notion Ink Adam as driven by Notion Ink CEO Rohan Shravan. Have a glance at a review of the Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type and a Griffin Elan Passport Galaxy Tab Case, see Android’s security team proclaim “Openness,” not “Rooting”, and finally take a peek at a rumor (and subsequent official comment) about Nokia Windows Phone 7 phones in 2011. All this and MORE on The Daily Slash!

R3 Media Network

Editor’s Choice
Sam’s Club Selling iPhone 4 for $147 Until Christmas Day [CHEEP!]
Leaf Aptus-II 12 80-megapixel camera back now shipping for $32k [NOT CHEEP!]
WSJ finds many iPhone and Android apps are sharing your data without consent [DANGER WILL ROBINSON]
Yamaha Infosound TV test pumps high-pitched URLs into your iPhone [SOUND TRANSMISSION DETECTED]
Some college Students lose sleep and don’t eat to spend time playing MMORPG games [DUH... OH GOD IM HUNGRY]

Android Community
Nexus One’s Gingerbread Update Confirmed to be Released “In the Coming Weeks”
Swype Beta Re-Opens for a Limited Time
NookColor Updated to 1.0.1
DROID Incredible gets MultiTouch Via Kernel
Android Security Team Proclaims “Openness,” not “Rooting”
Verizon to Introduce LTE-Equipped Handset Jan. 6th at CES
DROID 2 Certified Pre-Owned Now Available From Verizon
Sprint 4G Activated in Denver and Bridgeport, Connecticut
HTC Desire HD Coming To TELUS
Android tablets to grab 39% of market by 2012
Creative ZiiO Android tablet now available to purchase
UK Nexus S launch now Dec 22 as £429.99 price cut confirmed
Android Apps are sharing personal data without your consent says WSJ
Vodafone HTC Wildfire Froyo update released today [Update: All UK carriers today!]
$199.99 Galaxy Tab as US Cellular boosts discount
HTC Wildfire Froyo update hits Europe this week
Griffin Elan Passport Galaxy Tab Case [REVIEW]
NVIDIA’s Tegra 2 Processor May Be The “Reference Design” for Honeycomb
Official Android Vinyl Toy CLASSIC Edition

SlashGear
Advertisers Spend More Online than in Print Newspaper this Year: First Time EVER
Adobe Posts First Billion-Dollar Quarter
Digital Storm’s new xm15 Laptop Switches Between Video Cards Automagically
Pen Stylus Computing to Return on Android, Adobe Might Ride the Wave
World’s Biggest iPhone is 56 iPads Stacked Together, Lands in London
ZTE Corporation’s Double Smartphone Wins Red Dot Concept Design Award
NEC Dual-Screen Cloud Communicator Tablet & New Marketplace to be Shown off at CES 2011
TRON Inspired Messenger Bag Features EL-Wire [Video]
Motorola talk tablet evolution: iPad & Galaxy Tab just steps toward Moto Honeycomb slate
Call of Duty: Black Ops First Strike DLC for Xbox 360 Landing February 1
Verizon Showcasing LTE Android Devices at CES 2011
Sam’s Club Selling iPhone 4 for $147 Until Christmas Day
Samsung Bada 2.0 detailed: NFC, multitasking, SNS & more
Leaf Aptus-II 12 80-megapixel camera back now shipping for $32k
Microsoft firm on Kinect sex game ban
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M mobile GPU headed for CES 2011 reveal?
Foursquare iPhone update adds photos & comments; Android version imminent
Notion Ink Eden UI gets live video demo
Sony upbeat on Google TV, though user fun “might take a little longer”
Microsoft axes Office Genuine Advantage program
Nokia X3-02 Touch and Type [REVIEW]
AT&T buy FLO TV spectrum for 4G multicast speed boost
Kinect update could double resolution
Boba Fett Christmas ornament and other geeky decorations
Amazon vows to look into problem with Kindle covers and replace defective covers
WSJ finds many iPhone and Android apps are sharing your data without consent
Nexus S UK price-drop confirmed as launch slips to December 22
Wireless carriers eye charging a fee per service
Yamaha Infosound TV test pumps high-pitched URLs into your iPhone
Best Buy kills restocking fee on phones and other gear
Zynga and Dr. Dre team up to stream new single “Kush” inside Mafia Wars
Peek-powered phones, PMPs & digital photo frames in licensing future
Some college Students lose sleep and don’t eat to spend time playing MMORPG games
OnStar to offer Santa location updates Christmas Eve
Mission R electric racing motorcycle is awesome!
Sharkoon Flexi-Drive Extreme Duo breaks cover
Orange NFC push: 50% of smartphones NFC-enabled in 2011
Cricket Muve Music $55 plan to offer unlimited music & service
Nokia Windows Phone 7 phones in Q2 2011 tips insider [Updated]
Best Buy offers iPad buyers a free mobile hotspot (with an agreement, naturally)
Google TV to miss CES: Toshiba, LG & Sharp freeze product lines
Facebook on the Job [COLUMN]
ISP Porn block proposals as UK government start smut smackdown
Nexus S gets SIM-free pre-order price cut
Notion Ink Adam gets live video run-through
Netflix: The Savior of Living Room Entertainment? [COLUMN]

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

The Daily Slash: December 20 2010 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Daily Slash: November 19 2010

Chris Burns — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 01:39:28 +0000

It’s a [FEATURED] fantasy today! We’ve got columns and special posts by the barrel-full, and you’re gonna love em! First thing in the morning we got a pre-noon delivery from the FedEx truck – what did the FedEx man bring for us to unbox and get our hands on? A NOOKcolor, fresh off the factory line! Then we write a couple of columns: one on the raging state of the Tablets market, and one on the current quick-paced state of political news. Then Josh Marinacci says webOS will be available soon for ALL Palm devices, there’s a White iPhone 4 sale in China, and the feature stream begins. Last night our man Vince was at PEPCOM and brought back video demos of Gorilla Glass, a three screen monitor from Samsung, and a NOOKcolor. Finally (there’s more?!) the last installment of Evan’s Week with the HTC HD7 is up – Xbox LIVE! All this and even MORE on The Daily Slash!

SlashQUOTE
Today’s item of interest in The Daily Slash is a quote from the Professor / Writer / Inventer of the Internet Tim Berners-Lee as he writes an article called “Long Live the Web” about defending the Internet against those who would limit it in a variety of ways. I suggest you read the entire thing because it’s a masterfully written statement and it concerns us all, all of us internetlings.

Why should you care? Because the Web is yours. It is a public resource on which you, your business, your community and your government depend. The Web is also vital to democracy, a communications channel that makes possible a continuous worldwide conversation. The Web is now more critical to free speech than any other medium. It brings principles established in the U.S. Constitution, the British Magna Carta and other important documents into the network age: freedom from being snooped on, filtered, censored and disconnected.

[Via Scientific American]

R3 Media Network

Android Community
Motorola Droid X, 2, & Pro with HTC Droid Incredible on Sale for 1 Penny at Amazon
POV Mobii TEGRA tablet offers more budget Tegra 2 Android
Pocket Legends MMO lands for Android devices [WHOOOA]
Schlage LiNK system gets Android app support
Droid and EVO Dominate Android Traffic
Droid Pro $99 At BestBuy [CHEEP]
Terrifying People-Face Fingers Play with Samsung Galaxy Tab in New Ad [Video] [SCARY]
Free NFL Streaming from Verizon this weekend only
Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor V3 coming
HTC Hero Maintenance Release rolling out now

SlashGear
iPhone business alone worth more than all but 10 firms tip number-crunchers
Nook Color Unboxing and Hands-on [FEATURED]
Cox “Unbelievably Fair” wireless launches: pays cash for unused minutes
Google to wipe accidental UK Street View data to escape further inquiry
Urban Ears TANTO Multicolor headphones are thankfully limited edition [BLECH]
Amazon launches Kindle ebook gifting
Sony Ericsson dismisses Windows Phone 7 and tablet rumors
World iPad with multi-mode GSM/CDMA modem tipped for 2011
Geeks get Ubuntu working on Samsung Galaxy Tab
Samsung Orion tablet gets previewed ahead of presumed 2011 debut
Astronomers discover planet originating outside our galaxy circling a dying star [FIRST]
Advent Vega “unprecedented demand” sees slate sell out in hours [Updated]
NewerTech USB 3.0 Universal Drive Adapter makes any drive an external storage solution
ARM in Google TV talks over cheaper, energy-frugal STBs
Angry Birds devs admit lightweight version in works for underpowered Android phones
Advent Vega tablet now shipping: Tegra 2 slate for £249 [Update: Sold out!]
Myspace “mashup” opens door to Facebook invasion [THE APOCALYPSE COMETH]
Verizon HTC Merge gets premature preview
iPad 2 Up, Samsung Galaxy Tab Down & Tablets Out for the Count [COLUMN]
Cut, Copy and Hate [COLUMN]
id Software Co-Founder Says iPad is More Powerful Than Wii
Palm Mansion to Feature 5-Inch Display, webOS 2.0 Coming to All Devices Soon [UPDATE: Palm's Josh Marinacci Video Speech Added] [ALL PALM DEVICES, ALL OF THEM]
White iPhone 4 on Sale in China [I SMELL TROUBLE]
Rod Whitby of webOS Internals Details Roadmap for Preware 2.0
Bungie is Looking for Beta Testers, You Could be One
NOOKcolor Demo [FEATURED]
Gorilla Glass Demo [PLUS: How Gorilla Glass Works - Chemically!] [FEATURED]
Checking Out the Samsung MD23 Three Screen LCD Monitor [FEATURED]
A Week with the HTC HD7: Xbox LIVE & Final Thoughts [FEATURED]

A Week with the HTC HD7
A Week with the HTC HD7: Hardware
A Week with the HTC HD7: Software
A Week with the HTC HD7: the Apps [Updated]
A Week with the HTC HD7: Xbox LIVE & Final Thoughts

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash] or here: [SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up]

The Daily Slash: November 19 2010 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace Glitch Allows XAP Package Download: Viewable Application Source Code For All

Chris Burns — Fri, 12 Nov 2010 20:53:00 +0000

At this very moment, it is possible for any Joe Schmo to go over to Microsoft’s server and download all of Windows Phone 7 XAP application packages without the need of a WP7 device or Zune Desktop software. This is possible because Zune software uses ATOM XML feed to grab application info, so it’s just a matter of diving into the code to find the XAP package address and download it directly. Once you’ve got the XAP package of an application, you can simply unzip it and have your way with all of that app’s assets and resources – including the source code of the app with the use of Reflector (a debugger for lots of nasty projects.)

Microsoft knows about this problem, as evidenced by their November 2010 Windows Phone Marketplace Anti-Piracy Model (.docx) which asks developers to use obfuscation tools in their apps before submitting them in the first place, but wait! What about the people who’ve already had their apps in the market for a while? They might be screwed at the moment.

You’ll notice some rather unhappy folks over in the App Hub forums, and apparently Microsoft is working on a larger solution, but check it out, MobileTechWorld has the whole solution right here, it’s so simple:

Obviously the best solution would to have the XAP encrypted but this isn’t the case yet and Microsoft isn’t saying when this will happened (it was announced a while ago). and just for your information; the XAP can’t be directly deployed to a retail WP7 phone byt can be ran in the emulator. This is a messy situation folks and many developers aren’t happy about what is going on.

[Via Mobile Tech World]

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace Glitch Allows XAP Package Download: Viewable Application Source Code For All is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Daily Slash: November 10 2010

Chris Burns — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 02:45:56 +0000

What a frajabulous day of revealing leaks, first looks, and yes, HAX. There were not one, but TWO sightings of Droid 2 functionalities in the wild. The myTouch 4G was blessed with a Permaroot, and that brand new Android-to-iPhone port was granted a no-computer install and activation. Then to rather peek-a-boo moments: a Sharp ISO1 Unboxing and a Hustler app for Android. Apple tops the holiday want-lists (is anyone surprised?), the SlashGear Pad and Quill iPad case giveaway winner is revealed, and Nintendo wants to own “It’s On Like Donkey Kong!” All this and some lovely FEATURES coming your way today, on The Daily Slash!

SlashINTERNETS There are two really rock and roll amazing things about the internet. One, is the the fact that it changed the world and keeps me in the technologically neato news publishing business. Two, is the fact that it does things like give little kids back their stolen backpacks. Just the other day, the internet (including, importantly, Gizmodo and Reddit,) got word of this little man getting his backpack (full of Halloween candy and a PSP) stolen! So what did they do? Like all good communities, they called out for help. Talk show host Jimmy Kimmel got wind of it, and like a good talk show host, he did a special on the situation and sent the kid a new backpack with new candy, a new PSP, and a bonus NERF gun. Win! I love you, internet. Watch the Jimmy Kimmel clip here:

R3 Media Network

Android Community
Droid 2 OS Images Surface [DROID 2]
Droid 2 Global Introduced on Video [DROID 2]
myTouch 4G Gets Permaroot and s=off [HAX]
iPhone Users Now Require No Computer to Install Android 2.2.1 Froyo [HAX]
Sharp ISO1 Pocketables Unboxing [FIRST LOOK]
T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Tab on Sale Now [RELEASE TODAY!]
Hustler Offers Up Its First Android App [NUDEZ]
Sprint 4G Coverage Coming to the Los Angeles Area by December 1st [FOUR GEEZ]
Fox Joins GoogleTV Protest, Blocks Their Website on All Google TVs [WAR]

SlashGear
Apple Tops Consumer Electronics Holiday Top 10 Lists [MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE]
Nintendo 3ds Seeing More Interest from Developers than Original DS, Hollywood Included [DEVELOPERS]
Nintendo Files for “It’s On Like Donkey Kong” Trademark [LAW LOL]
SlashGear Pad and Quill iPad Case Giveaway Winner Announced! [WINNER]
Why A Game Console Is All You Need to Be Entertained [COLUMN]
Iomega eGo 1TB USB 3.0 HDD Review [REVIEW]
Gartner: Android second largest smartphone OS worldwide; iOS share down but not out [WAR]
Windows Phone 7 Marketplace transaction fees doubling app prices for some users [COSTLY]
Leaked Sony Ericsson ANZU is 4.3-inch replacement to XPERIA X10? [Updated] [ANZU XPERIENCED?]
New Hitachi touchscreen tech could make gloves iPad-compatible [WINTERTIME IN TECHLAND]
Notion Ink Adam manufacturing samples outed: we want a Ferrari Red one [VROOM]
Only 40,000 Windows Phone 7 devices sold at US launch? [WTF?]
Sub-$500 BlackBerry PlayBook confirms RIM with iPad in sights [WAR]
Samsung’s 7-inch Super AMOLED get Galaxy Tab style outing [FANCY!]

To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily Slash]

The Daily Slash: November 10 2010 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace Now Has Nearly 2,000 Apps and Games

Chris Burns — Mon, 08 Nov 2010 18:44:46 +0000

This news is bigtime, especially considering the mark they set for themselves in Early October at only 1,000. Marketplace is now fully open to submissions from all of their 13,000 registered developers in 30 supporting markets. This is all certainly due in no small part to the program kicked off in early October encouraging developers to get to work creating lovely apps for WP7 devices worldwide.

An expanded set of Windows Phone Developer Tools is also available now and has already been downloaded over half-a-million times. Also starting TODAY is Microsoft Advertising’s in-app As Solution for WP7 – this helping developers earn cash with easy-to-implement and track – they’re calling it “the industry’s first real-time, bid mobile ad exchange.”

Microsoft publicist Todd Brix lets us know that Windows Phone 7 is a “fresh start” for Microsoft and their developer community, adding that he’s very encouraged by the reception it’s all received so far. “If you’ve been waiting to submit your app, we’re ready for you,” he says, reminding everyone that the holidays are fast approaching and that hard-cold cash for everyone with a fantastic app is just waiting to be scooped up.

[Via Windows Steam Blog]

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace Now Has Nearly 2,000 Apps and Games is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Scoop on Microsoft’s 2010 Professional Developer Conference

Chris Burns — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:35:41 +0000

Welcome to the 2010 Professional Developer Conference, aka PDC, from whens we’ve got a few bits of info on Windows Phone 7 for you. PDC2010 was kicked off with a keynote speech by Steve Ballmer and Scott Guthrie that said some very nice things about Windows Phone 7′s investment in the WP7 development community. They know that these developers can make or break the whole project, so they’ve done a few things to help them finish up their first round of WP7 apps: hint: free stuff.

First, all paid PDC conference attendees will get a free Windows Phone 7 device (because it’s always good to have the device you’re designing for lying around to test with.) Then, they gave a few notes on how big the Windows Phone Developer community currently is: 12,000 developers registered with Marketplace, up 40% from last month, with more than 100 adding every day.

Then noted that on November 3rd, developers may submit their applications “with the self serve capabilities of Marketplace for developers.” A tiny but important note to add to this is that there’ve been som revisions to Marketplace policies which everyone should check out here.

Then, presenters! A giant list (which you can see here) of PDC presenters share tips on optimization and testing and all that fun stuff developers love to hear for hours on end. To see the presentations as they happen, yes LIVE STREAMS, take a peek over at the Microsoft PDC site and get out your popcorn and pens and pads and peel your eyeball skins up for great talks.

[Via Microsoft]

The Scoop on Microsoft’s 2010 Professional Developer Conference is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Daily Slash: October 20th 2010

Chris Burns — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 03:56:48 +0000

Welcome to one giant jungle cat of a Daily Slash, so wild and crazy I keep calling it the daily Slasher in my head. Two giant bits of news hit at once: the Back to the Mac event and the release of Windows Phone 7 handsets (hint: we’ve got three of em to look at!) Plus a whole torrent of other wonderful and fabulous bits of news that’d otherwise be big but was sort of CRUSHED by those two big guns. Shall we? Let’s begin!

R3 Media Network

SlashPhone
First thing in the morning, we find out that KDDI has a 16 megapixel Cybershot, wowzers, that’s giant. Next, woops, BlackBerry Storm 3 is spotted in Verizon’s inventory system. Finally, Notion Ink opened early registration for those wishing to develop Android apps for the device, T-Mobile G2 is now available on Amazong for around $80 bucks, and Verizon sets a November 11 release date for four giants, DROID Pro, Droid 2 Global, Palm Pre 2, and CITRUS.

Android Community
A November 3rd release date for the HTC Desire Z is the first thing we find this morning from Bell Wireless. Verizon pulls a punch by releasing a 3G network extender today. T-Mobile TV is extracted from a MyTouch 4G ROM available for download now, while Lenovo confirms no tablet plans until Honeycomb, and Amazon UK has a price adjustment for Galaxy Tab, while the O2 version drops on November 1st, and the US version drops sometime in November for $600. Sprint gets in on health patient Remote Monitoring for Android, while the greatest brand name in the world Cooler Master unveils an external smartphone battery. Sony Ericsson bribes their customers with Happiness, while Synapse One allows you to have the Android you’ve always wanted. Access your NAS with QNAP QMobile, get your LG ENV Touch Pro on November 11th, and be an excellent mother by going TAB. Hack the road as HTC and TOMTOM team up, hack the levels on Angry Birds, and get ready to fling those birds at sports stars as EA aquires Chillingo. Android is almost the king of ads, while the UK gets ready for some yummy Froyo update. Hook up with GoogleTV NOW with the Logitech Revue at Best Buy, watch the cutest little Android ad video for the Galaxy Player, get the Motorola Defy on November 3rd, Cut the Rope with Zeptolab’s Android version of Cut the Rope, and pose for candid Liquid Metal. Get yer YouTube for Android, Overclock you some G2 up to 1.42 GHZ, and watch an episode of Fringe to see a little sneak of a phone – that devious EVO 4G! Finally, the most serious of all newses, get your collectors case open and toss in another terror, here’s the Dead Zebra Vampire Android Toy.

SlashGear
Good god that’s a lot of stuff already. And we’re only just started with the really good stuff! Before all the Mac goodness, there was a bit of badness: RIM CEO blasts Apple. Check out a 360 degree car camera system, buy an expensive Asus Eee Top, spot an iPhone prototype, and unclog thy wireless comm. Get poisoned with Patriot Viper Xtreme RAM, get a bit’a fallout from Muschkin Radioactive RAM, open a Windows 7 tablet with Onkyo, get sharp with Razer Starcraft II gaming gear, and get a mic’d set of earphones from V-Moda. Epson ships nice white PowerLite 1700 projectors, Barnes & Noble announces launch of NOOKstudy, and the smallest video recorder in the world is just a tiny CamBall. There’s a rugged phone in Asia that is Very kool, an app for iPad that allows you to Etch a Sketch, and tiny chassis for a Blu-ray/HDD DVR by Panasonic. For TVs and Phones Samsung plans on a single platform, there’s LEDs everywhere including shower heads, and Sony has a remote control for kids. Shipping is November 10 for Boxee Box, Nokia C7 hides a chip, and the APP STORE IS DOWN?!

Back to the Mac event on SlashGear
Oh my goodness that must mean the Apple Back to the Mac event is about to start! Joy! For a more in-depth look at how this info is separated, take a look over at the Rundown, otherwise, check the list: iLife ’11, iPhoto ’11, iMovie ’11, GarageBand ’11, FaceTime for Desktop and Laptop, OS X 10.7 Lion, solo App Store, Mission Control, 13.3″ MacBook Air, 11.6″ MacBook Air, and we’ve got both a hands on, and an unboxing for you too, plus a lovely analysis of the whole event.

Windows Phone 7 Release on SlashGear
Then there’s a slight slew of enjoyable bits about the Windows Phone 7 release! First there’s a fat informational post about the future of Xbox live and how your games and characters will be popping up on your Windows 7 Phone and New Zealand is the place you’d have had to be if you wanted to attain the status of First Dude in the Entire World to Buy a Windows Phone 7 Handset. Then we’ve got three fantastical phone reviews including the HTC 7 Surround, the Samsung Focus, and the HTC 7 Mozart.

And that’s basically a day in the life of a team of people who are utterly, uniquivicably, irreversably obsessed with technology. To see more Daily Slash posts, click here: [The Daily SLASH!]

The Daily Slash: October 20th 2010 is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Windows Phone 7 Handsets Released into the Wild in New Zealand

Chris Burns — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 01:18:27 +0000

As you may well know, at any given point in the day, it’s late enough in the day that it’s already a completely different day on the other side of the world. Right now, it’s October 21st in New Zealand, which can mean one one thing: there’s a dude who has seen Lord of the Rings more than 50 times, and now he is able to purchase a Windows phone 7 handset. He is so very happy about this, and the people selling it to him seem joyous as well.

This dude, who will be more than likely forgotten in about 10 minutes for his awesome achievement, is named Jourdan Templeton and is a Computer Science student at the University of Waikato. His feat is to be the first person in the entire world to purchase a Windows phone 7 handset, hooray for him! It appears that it might be a HTC 7 Trophy – a phone which, if you ask me, isn’t quite as hot as the HTC 7 Mozart. You be the judge whenever you get your claws on them.

[Via Twitter]

Windows Phone 7 Handsets Released into the Wild in New Zealand is written by Chris Burns & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Series is Missing Copy and Paste

Evan Selleck — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 23:02:40 +0000

It can’t be all rosy, now can it? Despite the plethora of news coming out of MIX10 yesterday, we were definitely expecting some kind of shade to come over the glowing press the mobile Operating System was getting. Here it is, folks. It looks like Microsoft is not including Copy and Paste into the Windows Phone 7 Series suite of features. We know, we know. This sounds brutally reminiscent of another company’s antics over the past couple years, but let’s not look at it like that.

How should we look at it? Well, that’s up to you. We’re sure that you can’t really find a good reason for this, but maybe if you try, you can ignore the fact that Windows Mobile of yesteryear has been enjoying the feature pretty much from the start. And yes, if you’re wondering, that also means that there won’t be any clipboard functionality. So, no cut, either.

Is this a deal breaker for you? We know that the stink raised about the missing feature with a competitor’s device changed a lot of minds out there, so despite everything you heard and saw yesterday, is the missing digital clipboard enough to make you turn your eyes somewhere else? Let us know in the comments.

[via Engadget]

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Series is Missing Copy and Paste is written by Evan Selleck & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Microsoft Interview Explains Development Process, Applications, and Updates

Evan Selleck — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 03:09:33 +0000

There’s no doubt that with the launch of Windows Phone 7 Series, that things are changing for Microsoft in the mobile market. They’ve decided to revamp everything, and that means the development process is getting a major face-lift as well. While they’re hoping that the main stay of developers from previous version of Windows Mobile will stick around, they also want to make it perfectly clear that new developers can take full advantage of the new Silverlight development process. In the interview we conducted, we learned that Microsoft agrees with everyone else, in that the development process is just as important as the hardware and software, to the survival and success of Windows Phone 7 Series. We also learned how applications will be distributed, upgraded, and everything else in between. Oh, and we find out that some dreams are certainly going to be dashed.

We’ll just start off with the “bad” news first, just to make sure we get it out of the way. As much as everyone is still holding out hope that the HTC HD2 is going to be upgraded from its current Windows Mobile 6.5 existence, we can now completely confirm that the HD2 is not getting updated. Furthermore, despite the rumors that OEMs would be able to determine whether or not their current generation models would be able to get updated to the new mobile Operating System, that rumor can now officially be squashed. It’s not happening. Microsoft is making a clean break from the previous iterations of their software, and doing so with no strings attached.

Microsoft is doing everything they can to remove a lot of the barriers and other blockades that was preventing previous developers out there from creating applications for their Windows Phone 7 Series platform. New tools will be introduced with the already set-in-stone tools available to developers, making it completely possible that new devs can just jump right in and start making the highest class products, right out of the gate. And as we mentioned in earlier posts throughout the day, these applications can be developed in record time, and have the same high quality that consumers have come to expect.

The Windows Phone Marketplace is going to be a vibrant digital store front, with the applications being the most important part. As you make your way through the Marketplace, you’ll download what you want, and watch as the applications of that same nature are shown to you on the go. Are you fond of a particular style of game? The Marketplace is going to show you the other titles in that particular style, just to make sure that you enjoy your experience. And speaking of games, where trial periods are a well known feature, the developers are able to determine just how long a particular trial period will last. Whether that means you get to play the first level for free, or continue on until you’ve accomplished a particular goal, is completely up to the developer. Furthermore, while some applications may become static and forgotten on other systems, an application or game title in the Windows Phone 7 Series platform will always be able to be found easily, and be promoted by the developer with push notifications. Have an update for a game you’ve forgotten about? The developer can let you know with a simple push notification.

Ads are still going to be be prevalent within the application marketplace for Windows Phone 7 Series. Developers can utilize their own advertisement network, so that they can promote something that they wish to promote. Anyone can bring their own model for advertisement, if they wish. Microsoft, though, has created their own advertisement model, which promotes other applications within the Windows Phone Marketplace, and showcases other paid apps. Basically, to keep the pay ecosystem going strong. The Windows Phone Marketplace is currency-based, as well, which should be good news for people who have been fed-up with Microsoft’s Xbox LIVE points system. Consumers can tie their Windows Live account (which means you can use Xbox LIVE, Hotmail, or any other Microsoft-based service) with a credit card, and pay for applications directly in that fashion. A Live account is required, though. And, thankfully, the credit card and applications are tied to the account, and not the phone.

Updates for applications are pushed to the device, meaning you’ll never miss an update. Additionally, if the application is part of the core element of the Windows Phone 7 Series, like an Xbox LIVE arcade game, then that push notification would be displayed on the Game Hub. Updates to third-party applications happen in two ways: the toaster method, which means that you get a pop-up notification that an application can be updated; or users can be notified of an available update when they enter into an application. These are determined by the developer, and will be different for each application.

The full policies of application development and all the extra information will be available in May, when Microsoft releases that information officially.

Finally, the Windows Phone Marketplace will be the majority rule for downloading applications to your Windows Phone 7 Series device. Meaning, you can’t side-load a lot of the applications. Except that, you’ll be able to do some “big screen” shopping from your desktop client, such as the Zune Software that syncs your device with your PC. You will be able to buy them from the PC, and then they will syncronize with your device when you connect it.

With rumors coming out that Microsoft is hard at work on the next version of the Zune HD, we wanted to know if Microsoft has any plans to make an optimized version of Windows Phone 7 Series available for any other “mobile” platform. They ceremoniously said that they haven’t announced any future version of the Zune HD, but they did add that the Windows Phone 7 Series User Interface is obviously pulling a lot of design elements from the Zune HD. So, take that for what it’s worth.

The big difference between the Windows Phone Marketplace and the Apple App Store is going to be the transparent screening process. While the rules for the development process for the App Store may not be so clearly defined, Microsoft is going to make sure that everyone who wants to develop for the Windows Phone 7 Series platform knows exacty what they need to do to get published. If they follow those rules, and don’t stray far from the scope, then they’ll get approved. As of right now, there won’t be any mature-rated material found in the Windows Phone Marketplace, but that’s because they don’t have any parental controls in place. As soon as that changes, then the Marketplace may begin to reflect those changes.

As we mentioned previously, developers get 70% of revenue when their application is bought within the Windows Phone Marketplace. When asked about returns, Microsoft made it clear that they do allow refunds for Windows Mobile 6.x, and that that is going to stick around for Windows Phone 7 Series. As for returns that do occur, the developer gets only 70% of the return price, and Microsoft would keep the difference. Developers will not be charged for updating their software, and developers are only charged the $99 a year for the ability to release applications. The development software is free, and will always be free. Additionally, developers are able to release 5 applications, before they are charged $99 for any additional applications they want to release. Obviously, not many developers go over that 5 application threshold. Developers can release one of their apps they’ve already released as many times as they want in the Marketplace, and have the ability to update their application an unlimited amount of times.

MIX10 is still going strong, and there’s still a lot of information to sift through. Hopefully this in-depth interview has brought answers to a lot of the questions you may have, but if you have more, feel free to let us know in the comments. And, if you’re a developer that plans to bring applications to the Windows Phone Marketplace, we want to hear from you in the comments. Are you excited about what Microsoft is doing? What are some of the applications you can’t wait to see, or are going to build yourself?

And lastly, if you want to join the discussion about Windows Phone 7 Series, sign-up over at Windows Phone Forums!

Microsoft Interview Explains Development Process, Applications, and Updates is written by Evan Selleck & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 - 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

LG, ASUS, and Samsung Windows Phone 7 Series Devices Get Photographed

Evan Selleck — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:27:39 +0000

It had to happen eventually. There’s no telling how many devices are in production right now that are going to eventually run Windows Phone 7 Series, but we can certainly tell how many there are right now, at least. Up until about a month ago, we thought we were just seeing about two devices, the ASUS manufactured hardware that’s been running the Windows Phone 7 Series software every time we’ve seen it since the official announcement, and the LG manufactured device that appeared a few weeks ago. But now, as we detailed earlier, Samsung has joined the game.

The team over at Engadget had an opportunity to have a quick meeting with the three handsets, and managed to take some quick snapshots of them as they posed for their moment in the spotlight. As for the phones themselves, we don’t have any real details about the devices in particular. We have the minimum specifications to go off of, but from these images alone we can’t really guess as to what kind of devices we can expect to hold in our hands. Or, more accurately, what’s powering them.

As soon as we get some more information, we’ll be sure to pass it along. As it stands right now, we’re waiting to find out some more information on these LG and Samsung devices, because we’ve heard that the ASUS model is strictly for the beta software. But, things change all the time. As MIX10 continues, we’ll be sure to bring you the latest information, so stay frosty.

[via Engadget]

Talk about these handsets and the Windows Phone 7 Series software over at Windows Phone Forums!

Seesmic Interview Offers Hands-On Time With Seesmic for Windows Phone 7 Series

Evan Selleck — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:06:42 +0000

Twitter is one of those applications that has to be included on your phone, one way or another. And now that we’re fully submersed in the world of application markets, Twitter clients are some of the most downloaded apps out there. Seesmic is one of those applications. The application has become synonymous with the micro-blogging service, and there’s definitely nothing wrong with that. We went ahead and got some face time with the two biggest names in Seesmic’s development process, Loic Le Meur and Mathieu Thouvenin, and we were lucky enough to receive some detailed information about Silverlight, and what it means for Seesmic.

The Seesmic team has one of the best opportunities right now: they’re the Twitter client for Windows Phone 7 Series right now. We know that a lot of companies and people out there would love to be in their position. But the team seems to be pretty humble about the entire experience, thanking Microsoft for the ability to develop their desktop client in the Silverlight platform. Of course, developing their desktop application (which has been a huge success for the company) in the Silverlight platform is both great for the desktop, but also means it’s fantastic for the Twitter client that will be utilized on the Windows Phone 7 Series Operating System later this year. Just as we’ve seen from Xbox LIVE Arcade games utilizing XNA Game Studios 4.0, with Seesmic using the same software to run the desktop client and the mobile client, means that things can be synced on the go, and utilized in tandem, instead of one and then the other. It also means that no unnecessary code needs to be learned while developing for the desktop and mobile clients; it’s all just seamless, and works.

And while the team stressed that coding for other platforms, like Android and iPhone, would still mean that developers would have to develop new code for Silverlight (unless they’re already programmed in Silverlight, obviously), that it’s easy enough that anyone can do it.

During our hands-on time with the Twitter client proper, we got to see the action closeup, as opposed to the big screen during the keynote. The transitions from each screen within the panoramic view are just as seamless as we’d expect, and the options available within the client are just as full-featured as they should be. You are able to see your timeline, replies, as well as direct messages. However, the real magic happens when you select “nearby” tweets, which brings up the integrated Bring Maps, and showcases for you right there on the screen all the tweets coming to you within a set distance. Opening up a Twitter profile not only brings up the bio of the person, along with their most recent tweets, but it also brings up their Twitter background, right there in the client. It’s fun to watch, and also helps the user feel more integrated with the service itself. We can’t wait to see more of the Seesmic Twitter client as it develops, so we’ll be sure to keep checking in with the team as the months progress.

Discuss Seesmic running on Windows Phone 7 Series over at Windows Phone Forums!

Windows Phone 7 Series Game Hub Video Demonstration

Evan Selleck — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:12:31 +0000

The tiles on the Start screen of the upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series is one of those features that we just can’t get enough of. Aside from the fact that they’re interchangeable and customizable, you’ve also got the mix of live Hubs in there that just make them all the more interesting. In the case of the Game Hub, this live tile is always connected to your Xbox LIVE profile, which allows for your LIVE Avatar to pop his or her head up every once in awhile, just to let you know they’re stuck in there.

As Joe Belfiore elaborates, right from the start you’re shown pretty much everything you’d want to know about your LIVE profile at a glance: notifications, and what your Avatar looks like. These notifications come in real-time, and are in the fashion of a number at the upper-right corner. Once you touch the panel to access the gaming section within your Windows Phone 7 Series device, you are immediately transported to the details of your LIVE content. Right at the start, you’ve got the games that you’ve installed on the device, which you can launch (just like everything else) with a quick tap of your finger. Below those tiles, you’re offered a “Try for Free” tile, which is being marketed directly from the LIVE servers to you.

As you pan to the right in the panoramic view, you’ll reach the Spotlight feature within the Hub. In this area, Xbox LIVE is telling you what’s new and available. Whether that’s cheats, tricks, or what not for a particular game, or new games themselves, this is the area where you’ll find the latest run-down of what’s new for you to take in. As you continue to the right, you’ll find your actual Avatar standing there, waiting patiently for you. Right next to the digital representation of yourself, you’ll find your current gamerscore as well. These are all updated in real-time, so that when something changes (like your Achievements, from playing a game), this screen will update accordingly.

Moving to the right again, we come to the requests section. This is the area that reflects the notification number on the Hub upon your Start screen. In the case of the video, Belfiore has three requests to play games with people. While these may be requests to play games in general, or for friend requests and the like, what Belfiore is showing off in the demo is something we’d heard about before. The asynchronous turn-by-turn gaming, for such titles as Backgammon, where you can play a real game, with real players. Belfiore also mentioned that this gaming experience isn’t just meant for people with Windows Phone 7 devices, but also for those playing the game on the PC. And eventually, the console as well. As long as the title is written with XNA Game Studio 4.0, you’ll be able to play it with your friends. We love where multiplayer games are heading, so let’s start counting down the months, shall we?

Dicuss this, and other great Windows Phone 7 Series features with others like you! Join Windows Phone Forums!

Microsoft Unveils Third Windows Phone 7 Series Device: It’s a Samsung [Update]

Evan Selleck — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:04:05 +0000

The hits just keep coming. After Microsoft’s keynote about Windows Phone 7 Series and Silverlight during MIX10, Joe Belfiore decided to show off a little bit more. We were on the scene first-hand to check out the device, which makes this only the third device to be seen actually running Windows Phone 7 Series. So, what is it? It’s a Samsung.

We weren’t given that much time to look at the device, and we weren’t able to actually touch or play with it, but from what they were showing off, it looks like Samsung is determined to offer a quality handset to the Windows Phone 7 Series line-up. Especially along side the two other manufacturers that Microsoft showcased on screen, ASUS and LG, Samsung is definitely in the game. While Microsoft wouldn’t elaborate on any real details about the device itself, you can obviously see that the standard hardware keys are on the phone: Back, Start, and Search. Microsoft also pointed out that the Samsung device has a very bright screen (an AMOLED display, perhaps?), and then the camera. The Samsung will have a terrific camera, and considering how beefy it looks on the back of the phone, we are hoping that’s very true.

It was also mentioned that the photo capabilities in Windows Phone 7 Series is something to be excited about, along with the fact that this Samsung device will play a part in that as well. With the hard work that Microsoft is putting into the minimum specifications for their hardware, we’re not surprised that they also want to make sure that the images you take with your phone are just as good. After all, if you take a photo with a bad camera, what good is it looking at it on the phone?

Belfiore also wanted to come clean on the minimum hardware specifications for their Windows Phone 7 Series devices, and it looks like they’ve covered all the bases. As we’ve heard before, all the devices need to have a capacitive touchscreen, with at least four contact points. In the sensors department, all the phones must have a-GPS, Accelerometer, Compass, Light, and Proximity. The cameras need to be at least 5MP, have a flash, and a hardware camera button. Memory has a minimum specification of 256MB RAM, and 8GB Flash. Keep in mind, those are the minimum specifications for their devices. The GPU needs to be DirectX 9, and the CPU needs to be a ARMv7 Cortex/Scorpion or better. Screens need to be at least HVGA, and have a resolution of 480×320. Again, these are the minimum specifications.

[Update:] That HVGA, and 480×320 resolutions specifications are coming out some time later. At the launch of Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft is making sure that all the devices are 800×480. And that’s it. On top of that, all the devices will have the same amount of RAM available, as well as have the same capacitive touchscreen capabilities.

Basically, Microsoft is making sure that their software, Silverlight functionality, and the user experience is always in tip-top shape, and the only way to do that is by mandating the hardware that powers it. Microsoft wants you to love using your phone, and not worry about a process slowing you down. From what we can tell, they’re doing a great job of that.

Want to discuss Windows Phone 7 Series? Head on over to Windows Phone Forums and join in on the discussion!

[update via Engadget]

Foursquare Debuts on Windows Phone 7 Series

Evan Selleck — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:18:26 +0000

Foursquare has become synonymous with location-based services. While there may be some other applications out there, Foursquare managed to create a system that makes going places, and telling everyone you know that you’re there, fun and entertaining. When Foursquare got demoed at MIX10, it showcased all of the great some features, but added that Silverlight flair that Microsoft is pushing full-steam ahead with Windows Phone 7 Series.

Just like the Seesmic Twitter client, Bing Maps is playing a heavy role in the location-based service. When you pull up where you are, and go through the routine of checking in and then shouting out where you are, you can take a look at the integrated map within Foursquare, and find out where some cool locations are around you. The great part of Bing Maps being integrated into the application, is that you can actually use the map from within Foursquare. No need to exit out of it, or do anything else. Just use the map, right then and there.

Of course, if you’re not a fan of finding where you want to eat on a map, the application has made the locations available in a list just below the map as well, so that you can scroll through them and find them in that fashion. When you select a location, it will open up the ability to check-in there, shout out, or add a review/opinion about the location. You can also read reviews/opinions about the location from other Foursquare users as well, all from within the application itself, in the same seamless fashion.

Want to talk about Foursquare and more? Then join Windows Phone Forums and join the discussion!

Seesmic Shows Off Twitter Client for Windows Phone 7 Series

Evan Selleck — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:59:05 +0000

Twitter is one of those things that seems to be in the natural order of selection nowadays, and that’s why we’re not shocked at all that Seesmic managed to find their way onto the stage today at MIX10, and showcase their build of a Twitter client. Of course, this is the first “real” Twitter client showcased on a Windows Phone 7 Series device, but even with that heavy burden on its shoulders, Seesmic stepped up to the plate.

Silverlight is going to be a huge part of the platform. That goes without saying. But, even as we see in the video, Seesmic is using the technology to capitalize on the transitions, backgrounds, and other elements of the software. In this case, you can see that as the image of a Twitter user comes up on the screen of your phone, their Twitter background is also shown on your phone. This makes for a far more robust user experience. You are also able to showcase Tweets near you, with a map, as well as their tweets listed below the map of your location. This uses a Bing Maps plug-in, making the services used fast and accessible.

The integration between applications, the software, as well as seemingly everything else that goes into the phones makes it look like Windows Phone 7 Series is going to be a seamless experience. The use of plug-ins, especially the ones such as Bing Maps within Seesmic, means that you can move form one service to another, like geotagging your tweets or seeing where your friends are tweeting from around you, is one of those features that gives a lot back to the user, and just goes to show why you’d want to use the service at all.

Feel like you need to add your piece about Windows Phone 7 Series? Sign up at Windows Phone Forums and join the discussion!

Windows Phone 7 Series Marketplace Showcased, Detailed

Evan Selleck — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 18:37:31 +0000

Despite the fact that the Windows Phone 7 Series has a bold new User Interface, and a brand new mobile Operating System outlook from the Redmond-based company, the big question on everyone’s mind is whether or not the platform will have an App Store competitor. Thanks to MIX10, we can finally say with absolute certainty that that’s exactly what Microsoft has planned, as they’ve officially named the Windows Phone Marketplace as the successor to the Windows Marketplace for Mobile.

The Marketplace is being billed as the perfect place for you to find whatever it is you’re looking for. Whether to find a game, or to find something to spice up the life of your phone, the Marketplace will have it. It says that it’s a “smarter way” to find your apps, games, and music for your phone, thanks to the panoramic view that Windows Phone 7 Series is highlighting. You can also find featured items of the day.

There’s also the ability to read reviews of the applications you want, as well as “try before you buy,” which is created by the developers. They can choose how long an application can be tested, before the customer is optioned to buy it. There wasn’t any mention of a refund policy though. You cana input your own reviews, and base your decision on app ratings. All easy enough by the touch of your finger.

Discuss Windows Phone 7 Series at Windows Phone Forums!

Robert Scoble Talks Windows Phone 7, Google, and Location-Based Services

Evan Selleck — Sun, 14 Mar 2010 05:47:08 +0000

If you hadn’t heard, South by Southwest Interactive is going on right now, over there in the big state of Texas. It’s one of the biggest conferences around, and all types of people show up to speak their minds, show off the latest and greatest, and have fun doing it. Included with some of those people (outside of our own team), is Robert Scoble. He’s one of the biggest names in the tech journalism game (just try following him on Twitter or Google Buzz), and he’s got some great perspective on quite a few things. Most importantly, the big names in tech right now.

Windows Phone 7 Series is one of the most highly-anticipated, most-talked about platforms to come around in awhile. A lot of people see it as the resurrection of a mobile Operating System, and we’re amongst them. Scoble expounded on his own ideas regarding the latest and greatest from the Redmond-based company, most of which circled around the fact that he believes Windows Phone 7 Series is a beautiful thing. He went on to further mention that the User Interface in the 7 Series has moved past the iPhone, which is a good thing. He did mention some problems, though. For example, it’s not out yet. We agree: that is a bad thing.

The second issue deserves its own paragraph. Scoble wanted to make it clear that Google has figured out the best game plan for their Android-based devices. Going as far as to say that when he picks out his next device next year, it’s not going to be because it’s pretty, but because of the services it offers. In this way, he does not believe that Microsoft (and Apple as well) will be able to offer the same experience. Case in point, while you get to keep all your applications from the iTunes Store via iTunes proper, you still have to sync your phone to the computer and download them. When you get a new Android device, if you’ve set up a back-up from a previous one you had, then the moment you sign in onto your new device your applications are immediately downloaded to your device. Right from the cloud.

What’s Scoble’s advice to Microsoft? Fire everyone that’s not working on Internet-based, mobile device products. From the top down. So basically start fresh.

Moving on to location-aware applications, he spoke on Twitter, Gowalla, and Foursquare. Despite the fact he was obviously overjoyed by the simple fact they were all working at this year’s SxSW, he noted that while it’s great Twitter is getting into the market, they aren’t offering something in return for people “checking in” at locations. Simply geotagging a location is not enough for people to keep up with the service. The reason Foursquare and Gowalla have picked up speed is because they give something back to the user, such as points, badges, and the like.

But everything isn’t roses and butterflies for the location-based service giants. Apparently, if you get the appropriate teams drunk enough (which, for the record, SxSW is a perfect place to do that), they’ll tell you that their biggest competitor is set to turn on their own location-based platform in April or May: Facebook. Considering the big user base it will build off of, we’re wondering what kind of services the platform will offer, and how indeed it will compete with the likes of Foursquare and Gowalla.

And then, of course, we have Google Buzz. Scoble’s been a high priority target on Google’s latest project, and has amassed quite a few followers since its launch. And while he believes that Google Buzz is interesting, he admits that it’s much like Twitter in that it doesn’t offer something in return for tagging a location. The most interesting part of Buzz is Google Maps, and the layer it exists in. Seeing nearby buzzes is great, but it’s not enough to be an actual competitor to the location-aware giants.

SxSW is still going on, so hopefully we’ll get the chance to mingle with a few other big names walking about. If we do, we’ll be sure to pass it along. Check out the video below if you want to hear all the bullet points in a more spoken fashion. Plus, you get to see all the people milling about like ants. Which is always fun.

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series Push Notifications Get Detailed for Gaming

Evan Selleck — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:12:29 +0000

Have you heard? The Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) is going on right now, which is why it shouldn’t go as a big surprise that all these companies are announcing things there. Yes, they’ll generally have a video game/gaming twist to it, but that’s okay. Especially when we have Microsoft presenting, and they’re giving details on how push notifications are going to work on the upcoming mobile Operating System.

Right up until the official announcement of Windows Phone 7 Series, there came a time when multitasking came under fire. Was it going to be included? Would Microsoft really ditch such an integral feature (and one that’s been highly scrutinized by the competition)? Well, at least in the form of their online “multiplayer” games, it looks like push notifications are going to be the rule, rather than the exception. As the video explains, this is going to be the best way to run these games. As we’ve mentioned before, asynchronous, turn-based games are definitely going to happen on Windows Phone 7 Series, and this methodology is going to make sure they run smoothly.

However, this is dealing with gaming. And while they do show that the live tiles, the ones that are displayed on the phone’s “home screen”, and explain that they are going to get updated in real-time, we’re wondering just what this means for third-party applications, as well as first-party ones. Will there be no multitasking at all? (Outside, of course, listening to music and the like.) Will Pandora, which was noted during the initial keynote, work while you’re sending a text message? These are the questions that people are still asking, and even though we may have just shed some light on it, we’ve certainly not illuminated the depth of the cave quite yet. MIX10 anyone?

[via Pocket Now]

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series Will Have 3D Gaming, Robust LIVE Integration

Evan Selleck — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:54:37 +0000

That title shouldn’t be that big of a surprise. If you’ll recall, the Zune HD does 3D gaming as well, and considering that the XNA Studios is heavily invested in the Personal Media Player, we’re not surprised to hear (again) that XNA and Windows Phone 7 are going hand-in-hand. We’ve seen that a game developed by XNA Game Studio 4.0 allows for developers to create three-screen gold, but the details that are starting to seep out of GDC are mouth-watering to say the least.

The Game Developers Conference is under way, and Microsoft is making sure that people know they are there. Despite the company’s big investment with console gaming, Windows Phone 7 Series is offering up a new, innovating, and in-depth new way to play games, with the sort of integration between platforms that we’ve only ever dreamed about. Microsoft noted that XNA Game Studio 4.0 will include accelerated 3D APIs, which means advanced 3D games are going to be the standard, and not the exception when it comes to gaming for the mobile platform.

The news doesn’t stop there, though. Just as was previously mentioned, the Xbox LIVE integration is pretty robust. It offers new ways to acquire those coveted Achievements, and there will be push notifications for turn-based gaming. Of course, at this point the big question is whether or not we’re going to get some real multiplayer games, but Microsoft is keeping mum on that subject for now. They’re releasing morsels right now, but MIX10 is just around the corner, so we’re expecting quite a bit more details to come from there. If you’re not interested in Windows Phone 7 yet, maybe you should watch this video again, just to make sure it sinks in.

[via engadget]

SlashGear » Windows Phone 7 Series

Windows Phone 7.8 due in early 2013

Story Timeline

Nokia prepares Windows Phone press event for CES 2012

Microsoft Zune Pass price drops, 10 songs a month along with it

Dell Venue Pro Receiving Windows Phone 7 Update “Copy and Paste” Starting Today

Nokia readying 4 Windows Phone 7 handsets, MeeGo tablet rumored

HTC Arrive Hands-On and Unboxing

First Impressions

Handling

The Daily Slash: February 11, 2011

Nokia Workers in Finland Take Collective Lunch Break in Protest of Windows Phone 7 Deal

SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: February 11 2011

SlashGear Morning Wrap-Up: December 22 2010

The Daily Slash: December 20 2010

The Daily Slash: November 19 2010

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace Glitch Allows XAP Package Download: Viewable Application Source Code For All

The Daily Slash: November 10 2010

Windows Phone 7 Marketplace Now Has Nearly 2,000 Apps and Games

The Scoop on Microsoft’s 2010 Professional Developer Conference

The Daily Slash: October 20th 2010

Windows Phone 7 Handsets Released into the Wild in New Zealand

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Series is Missing Copy and Paste

Microsoft Interview Explains Development Process, Applications, and Updates

LG, ASUS, and Samsung Windows Phone 7 Series Devices Get Photographed

Seesmic Interview Offers Hands-On Time With Seesmic for Windows Phone 7 Series

Windows Phone 7 Series Game Hub Video Demonstration

Microsoft Unveils Third Windows Phone 7 Series Device: It’s a Samsung [Update]

Foursquare Debuts on Windows Phone 7 Series

Seesmic Shows Off Twitter Client for Windows Phone 7 Series

Windows Phone 7 Series Marketplace Showcased, Detailed

Robert Scoble Talks Windows Phone 7, Google, and Location-Based Services

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series Push Notifications Get Detailed for Gaming

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series Will Have 3D Gaming, Robust LIVE Integration