Search Results for: windows phone

Microsoft [MSFT] are said to be launching a different variation of Windows Phone 7 for developing markets such as India. The lighter version will run on different spec handsets to the usual chassis 1 we have heard about in that it will support smaller screens and perhaps even slightly lower specs although details are a little vague at the moment.

Right now only chassis 1 specs have been revealed and it was expected that chassis 1 covers the 3 buttons on the front of the device along with a specific camera resolution, processor speed and screen resolution. It is unclear if the light version of Windows Phone 7 will be chassis 2 or a new/custom category. [Read more…]

In an interview with Charlie Kindel about Windows Phone 7 he has mentioned that Microsoft [MSFT] will be adding features over time to the operating system. In the past he said that Microsoft have tried cramming all the features in to Windows Mobile. This in my opinion, has caused the OS in the past to not be where it should be. Microsoft are not focusing on doing it well.

The reason for adding features over time is to not rush them in to production models. Rather than adding a function like copy and paste, it will be added at a later date when they get it right. This follows how Apple [AAPL] work in some ways in that they don’t introduce something till it is done the best way possible. [Read more…]

Microsoft [MSFT] have confirmed that they will be taking responsibility for providing firmware updates to Windows Phone 7 devices when the new OS launches. Right now, Microsoft leave that to the device manufacturers.

Updates will arrive on Microsoft Windows Phone 7 devices in a couple of different ways. For small updates, they will be received over the air (OTA) using either a 3G connection on the phone or the WiFi connection if available. Larger updates will be downloadable in the Zune Manager software and when tethering a phone to a computer, you’ll be able to update your device.

In my opinion, MS looking after the updates will be a good thing as all users should be able to get the latest updates around the same time. The current method of device manufacturers pushing out updates could cause some phones on some networks to get delays, for example the same phone on the Orange and T-Mobile networks could see Orange customers with a new firmware and T-Mobile lagging behind. With a central coordinated system it should allow all users of a specific phone to get that update when it is made available. [Read more…]

According to a tweet from the official Microsoft [MSFT] twitter stream, we can now drop the Series from Windows Phone 7 Series by just calling it Windows Phone 7.

The original name was a bit of a mouthful and thankfully they have dropped the Series. However, it appears that nothing else has changed at all in that it’s just a slight name change and doesn’t indicate any changes to the mobile OS are coming in the future. Basically it was just a bad choice of names and it seems MS listened to the criticisms and complied.

The operating is still on target from what we hear to launch later on this year with a few manufacturers of phones showing interest and already creating hardware for the OS. [Read more…]

Microsoft [MSFT] announced Windows Phone 7 Series a few months back now which included a new panoramic user interface that could be used to scroll sideways around menus. It’s quite an impressive user interface that actually surprised a number of people as it actually looked good. Microsoft for the last 10 or more years have generally stuck to the same UI for mobile phones and for some reason, they came to a realisation with Windows Phone 7 Series and created something far better.

I think we can also safely say that Microsoft also think their interface is good too as they applied for a patent to protect the methodology and application of it back in summer of 2008. The patent will allow only Microsoft to use the interface and no others without permission… they have patented the whole thing by the way.

From what we understand, Microsoft are also patenting other things related to the Windows Phone 7 Series user interface and as of yet, we are not sure what else has been applied for and of course, we don’t know if the applications will get granted (ie, if they are unique etc…). [Read more…]

The Windows Phone 7 Series theme for the Apple iPhone [AAPL] is something you don’t expect to see every day. However, this has been done. A user called woocash-kun found over here has created a theme that runs on his iPhone.

The downside is that the theme hasn’t been release yet along with instructions on how to install it. If he does release it you’ll need to jailbreak your phone to install it.

What you will get in the theme is the home page for Windows Phone 7 Series that you can easily scroll down. Along with that a second page with smaller icons is also included. Right now some of it doesn’t work such as the status bar although there is a very good lock screen clone for those of you who prefer the WM7S version. [Read more…]

We’ve been told officially now that the HTC HD2 is not going to be getting a Windows Phone 7 Series upgrade due to the HD2 not meeting the technical chassis requirements, ie, it doesn’t have the three hardware buttons on the front face and potentially doesn’t meet other hardware and graphical requirements. Either way, it didn’t stop the HTC HD2 on T-Mobile last week from selling lots of units.

Anyway, we are now hearing that someone has managed to port a real working ROM of an early Windows Phone 7 Series build on to a HD2 over in Russia.

As well as getting the ROM working on the HD2 handset, we hear that most of the features work which includes Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth and all other hardware functions which is good news. The downside is that the UI is quite choppy and laggy at the moment although we should note that this is common when porting a ROM from one device to another, or installing a ROM any any device that wasn’t really designed to be used on the hardware. Give them another month and they should be able to iron out that choppiness quite a bit. [Read more…]

Yesterday we mentioned that SanDisk were launching a microSDHC card that has a 32GB capacity. This was a fantastic achievement considering they are the first company to ship a microSDHC card with that capacity. Along with that announcement came along another announcement that they have also managed to squeeze 64GB of storage capacity on to a card similar in size to a microSDHC card.

The new card is designed to be embedded in to mobile phone devices. You might wonder why a company would want to embed a card that’s traditionally not embedded so it can be removed. The reasons for this is based around the new Windows Phone 7 Series devices that Microsoft [MSFT] announced would have a fixed (un removable) memory card inside. A card like the one pictures above (the left card out of the 3 pictured) is a card that can be embedded. Unlike microSDHC cards that are currently 32GB in size, these particular cards are up to 64GB capacity now. [Read more…]

Recently a few phones were displayed at a Windows Phone 7 Series event. One of them was a Samsung device that was later confirmed to be a Samsung Omnia HD that was capable of running Windows Phone 7 Series.

Rumours are now saying that Samsung could be getting four Windows Phone 7 Series devices for launch sometime in the summer although if we look at the release dates that are tentative at the moment, we expect it will be closer to September or even October that the devices will launch. This information comes from a Russian site Mobile Review. [Read more…]

Yesterday we showed a few phones that were the first handsets to run Windows Phone 7 Series. One of them was a device by Samsung that some believed to be a Samsung Omnia HD (i8910HD). This has now been confirmed although it’s still not clear if the Omnia HD will actually receive a Windows Phone 7 Series update.

The demo used on the phone was just a one off as the phone apparently received a multitouch upgrade with a WVGA screen and a 1GHz chip.

When compared to the original phone it has the same three buttons below the screen that are a requirement although for the demonstration purposes the buttons were relabelled to Start, Search and Back. [Read more…]