Windows Phone Thoughts.com

WP7S To Support HVGA Screens

Nurhisham Hussein — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 20:00:00 GMT

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/12/...boast-480-x-80/

"Now, thanks to a post from Microsoft's Shawn Hargreaves, we know the display resolution for the first batch of Microsoft's next generation phones: 480 x 800 (WVGA) pixels at launch, with a future update that will introduce a 320 x 480 (HVGA) native resolution. Dedicated hardware will ensure image scaling across all those pixels without taxing the GPU."

So much for strictly controlling the hardware. Isn't this how we started down the slippery slope towards the developer nightmare of having to write for multiple screen resolutions? Image scaling sounds nice, until you realize that you're looking at two different aspect ratios (5/3 versus 3/2). Hopefully it'll stop here.

A Loke Uei Interview for Your Friday Afternoon

Jon Westfall — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:30:00 GMT

http://www.wmexperts.com/video-inte...rts+(WMExperts)

"Our brother editor Rene Ritchie of TiPB fame is still out at GDC 2010 in San Francisco, and he's caught up with Microsoft's Loke Uei to talk a little more about developing for Windows Phone 7 Series, and what's coming up."

Have some time this afternoon and want to hear more about upcoming Windows Phone 7 Series? Then check out this video interview with Loke Uei from WMExperts!

Android Picks up More US Subscribers as Windows Mobile Share Plunges

Pete Paxton — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/a...tent+Feed+-+BN)

"Windows Mobile phones continue to bleed US subscribers, with Android devices picking up most of the lost subscriber share. Can you say free falling? Today, ComScore released standard handset and smartphone data for the three-month period of November 2009 to January 2010. ComScore designates the platforms by vendor. Microsoft smartphone subscriber share fell to 15.7 percent from 19.7 percent three months earlier. Meanwhile, Google rose to 7.1 percent from 2.8 percent during the same time period."

I agree that Windows Mobile is hurting - for now. I hardly ever see anyone with a Windows Mobile device anymore and I really don't hear many talking about near future purchases of Windows Mobile devices. But if we look back, sales of MS Vista were also low but sales of Windows 7 have been very good. I think the same is going to be true for the Windows Phone 7 series. And even though it's still months away, I don't think we'll see enough drastic changes in the Iphone or Android devices to keep people away from what Microsoft will offer. As a matter of fact, I think it will be a welcome change for many. The bottom line? I think Comscore's data collection from November 2010 to January 2011 will be much different. Do you agree or disagree?

YouTube 2.4 Released For Windows Mobile

Ed Hansberry — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:00:00 GMT

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/20...le+Mobile+Blog)

"Last March, we launched the YouTube Mobile app for Nokia S60 and Windows Mobile phones. Since then, the application was translated to 12 languages, installed on millions of devices around the world, and has been chosen as a Nokia Ovi Top App of 2009. Today we're excited to announce the release of the latest version of the YouTube Mobile app, version 2.4."

Looks like Google has updated their YouTube app for Windows Mobile, so if viewing video on your phone is a high priority, head over to get the download.

Microsoft Managers Talk Games On Windows Phone 7 Series

Darius Wey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 22:45:00 GMT

"Windows Phone 7 isn't just Microsoft's attempt to compete against Apple's iPhone. It's also the introduction of the first portable Xbox platform. During GDC today, we talked to Xbox Live GM Ron Pessner and XNA Game Studio manager Michael Klucher about how games integrate into the mobile platform and what gamers and developers can expect in the future."

If you're interested in learning a little more about the user and development experiences of games -- both Xbox LIVE-enabled and not -- on a Windows Phone 7 Series device, head over to Joystiq to read an interview with Xbox LIVE GM, Ron Pessner, and XNA Game Studio Manager, Michael Klucher. And for the Gamerscore-obsessed among us, take note. Much like the majority of Arcade games on the Xbox 360, each game will pack 200 Gamerscore points for you to unlock, and as you do, you can expect to hear that satisfying "Achievement Unlocked" sound you've grown to love.

Google Analytics Goes Mobile

Jason Dunn — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 12:30:00 GMT

http://www.wmexperts.com/google-ana...-windows-phones

"Synerge Tech Solutions has released Google Analytics Mobile. As the name implies, Google Analytics Mobile allows you to access your web site's Google Analytic's data directly from your Windows Phone. For those not familiar with Google Analytics, it is a program that tracks your website activity ranging from the number of visits to where your site visitors are located (geographic regions)."

Are you an analytics fiend? Always wanting to check your Web site stats, no matter where you are? Then you'll be interested in Google Analytics Mobile from Synerge Tech Solutions. It's a neat concept, if only in that it will allow you to drill down and learn more about your Web site stats when you have some down time (sitting in the dentist's waiting room, etc.).

Microsoft Announces XNA Game Studio 4.0 for Windows Phone

Darius Wey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 04:00:00 GMT

"As I was sitting on the plane heading to GDC 2010, I started reminiscing about the explosive growth we've seen in developing for the mobile gaming industry over the last few years. It wasn't long ago when we had to show up early to learn about anything related to game development on portable devices. This year, however, developers are already lined up to learn more, as mobile gaming commands several summits at GDC and is woven in throughout the conference. At GDC this week we're giving everyone a first look at the latest and greatest, XNA Game Studio 4.0, which provides a powerful, productive, and portable technology for game development on Windows Phone 7 Series, Xbox 360, and Windows PC."

Image courtesy of Engadget.

If there's anything about Windows Phone 7 Series that you should be excited about, it's definitely the gaming potential. Microsoft has just announced XNA Game Studio 4.0, which will give developers the opportunity to deliver highly immersive and highly integrated gaming experiences on the Xbox 360, PC, and Windows Phone 7 Series. Engadget has a deluge of screenshots, a video, and some details on achievements and upcoming titles for your perusal, so scoot over there and check them out. As an avid gamer, I'm pretty excited with where this is heading and look forward to jumping into Xbox LIVE not just on the Xbox 360, but on the Windows Phone, too.

T-Mobile's Release of the HD2 is So Close!

Jon Westfall — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:30:00 GMT

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/08/...bile-usa-wilds/

"T-Mobile has the release honors and is now showing the HD2 as "coming soon" in its phone inventory. We've also got the first "in the wild" shots courtesy of TmoNews showing that big Blockbuster shortcut linked front and center for downloading On Demand movies directly to the device. Still no firm price or date but $199.99 on contract ($449.99 unlocked) sometime around 24 March sounds about right"

Photo Courtesy of TmoNews, and a piece by Engadget to as well, are the latest proof that the HD2 is about to drop on T-Mobile USA. Start preparing your credit card or bank account now...

Opera Mini Goes Native on Windows Mobile

Darius Wey — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:30:00 GMT

http://www.opera.com/mini/next/

"Opera Software today launched a native version of Opera Mini 5 beta for Windows Mobile 5- and 6-based handsets. By integrating Opera Mini with the Windows Mobile platform, Opera is able to deliver an optimized version of the popular Opera Mini browser that dramatically improves performance and the overall user experience. While Opera Mini traditionally requires Java, the new Windows Mobile version does not, which means that Opera Mini will work on any Windows Mobile phone. The Opera Mini 5 beta for Windows Mobile includes the same rich feature set as the Java-based version. Renowned features, including tabbed browsing, the password manager, bookmarks and Speed Dial, are built-in to deliver convenience while on-the-go."

If you've found Opera Mobile to be too much for your needs and prefer something a little more lightweight such as Opera Mini, then you'll be happy to know that the latest beta is now native on Windows Mobile. That's right, there's no longer any need for a JVM. It's free, so head over to the Opera web site, download it, and give it a whirl.

Microsoft Tells Us What They Mean By Xbox Live on Windows Phone

Jon Westfall — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 17:00:00 GMT

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/06/...s-windows-phon/

"Guess we don't have to wait until MIX to have all our Windows Phone 7 Series questions answered! Microsoft's Eric Rudder, speaking at TechEd Middle East, showed off a game developed in Visual Studio as a singular project (with 90% shared code) that plays on Windows with a keyboard, a Windows Phone 7 Series prototype device with accelerometer and touch controls, and the Xbox 360 with the Xbox gamepad. Interestingly, not only is the development cross-platform friendly, but the game itself (a simple Indiana Jones platformer was demoed) saves its place and lets you resume from that spot on whichever platform you happen to pick up."

So if you're wondering what is meant by the Xbox live tile on a Windows Phone 7, this video should help explain what will soon be possible. Hit up this video, and find out! Warning: It's pretty cool!

Windows Phone 7 Series Demo Video Reveals New Apps, Screens

Eriq Cook — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:00:00 GMT

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10464972-56.html

Charlie Kindel of Microsoft recently gave CNET a demonstration of the WP7 interface showing off some new apps and the XBox Live hub. He also explains the primary tools for WP7 apps (XNA and Silverlight) and Microsoft's more specific direction for developers that'll make it much easier to build apps and extend them to the new Start page.

WP7S: The Backwards Compatibility Story Thickens

Jon Westfall — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:30:00 GMT

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/04/...t-ahead-of-gdc/

"One final note at today's event is that Microsoft has now officially confirmed for the first time that 7 represents a clean break from Windows Mobile as we know it today; existing apps won't be compatible. Though that's likely to be a pain for existing owners with specialized apps who are looking to stay in the Microsoft ecosystem, Windows Phone 7 Series itself is a very different beast than the operating system it replaces -- it feels different, seeks a different demographic, and symbolically represents a very important clean-slate departure for a company that had lost its way in the mobile space. The bright side for the 6.5 faithful, we suppose, is that Kindel closes by saying that they "will continue to work with our partners to deliver new devices based on Windows Mobile 6.5 and will support those products for many years to come" -- a message Microsoft has been echoing recently."

In case you hadn't heard deduced this, our favorite third party apps won't work with Windows Phone 7 out of the box. Will this mean that developers will flock to technologies such as XNA and Silverlight to re-design their apps? Or do you think they may just leave the platform?

Detailed 17 Minute Walk-Through of Windows phone 7

Jason Dunn — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 13:00:00 GMT

Sometimes there are advantages to living nearby to Microsoft - Chris Pirillo got some hands-on time with a Windows 7 phone via a walk-through with Microsoft's Greg Sullivan. Well worth watching!

Contest Time, Win a Gomadic Charger !

Jeff Campbell — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:00:00 GMT

http://www.gomadic.com/

The Gomadic chargers are very slick, and we recently did a Quick Look on the 2-in-1 Charger pictured above. If you aren't familiar, the system uses what they call "Tip Exchange" so all you need is one cable and a tip for each device, instead of having to carry around separate charging cables. They pretty much cover every device know to man, or at least it seems that way (the brand list is here).

Now the folks at Gomadic are being generous enough to give away four (4) of their 2-in-1 Charging cables as well as two tips to be chosen by each winner. Since Gomadic has such wide coverage on devices, this is a network-wide contest. To win, all you have to do is go to the Tip Exchange page and pick two of the charging tips you want to go with your 2-in-1 Charger. Post the two numbers along with a reply to this post and you are entered. You MUST post the two tip numbers in your reply or your entry won't be counted.

One post per person, and the contest closes on Friday the 19th of March at 12pm Pacific time, GMT -7. This contest is world-wide with Gomadic providing the shipping. Remember that all first posts in our system are held in moderation, so if this contest entry is your first post, please wait up to 48 hours before getting concerned if your post hasn't shown up yet - it will. Winners will be contacted via private forum message, so have email notifications turned on. Winners will have 72 hours to claim their prize.

Save $50 Registering for Visual Studio 2010 Launch

Jon Westfall — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 10:30:00 GMT

http://www.devconnections.com/

"Join us for the Launch of Visual Studio 2010 - and get in-depth sessions from the best speakers in the industry! On April 12, Microsoft will launch Visual Studio 2010, and by joining us at the Microsoft Visual Studio Conference & Expo, you will not only experience the launch alongside the Visual Studio team and industry legends - you'll get three days of sessions by the best speakers in the industry on the latest and greatest technologies, such as Silverlight and .NET 4.0. The topics will range from all the new, great features in Visual Studio 2010 to Silverlight, WPF, WF, WCF, Application Lifecycle Management, .NET 4.0, ASP.NET 4.0 AJAX, ASP.NET MVC and much more! And remember: If you sign up for Microsoft Visual Studio Conference & Expo, you'll automatically get access to both the ASP.NET and Silverlight and the SQL Conference and Expo! That's a Visual Studio launch and three conferences for the price of one!"

Thoughts Readers get a discount of $50 on registration for the Visual Studio 2010 Launch, the ASP.NET, AJAX, & Silverlight Conference, and the SQL Server Conference when they use the discount code WESTF during registration! If you're heading out to the launch, be sure to save some cash (Or use that extra $50 on some Vegas-style entertainment!).

Why A Half-Baked Windows Phone 7 Release on an HD2 is a Bad Idea

Jon Westfall — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 05:00:00 GMT

"We've had it up here with these shenanigans. You're jerking us around, and we're sick of it. We get it, you have a very particular concept of what sort of phones you want running your new Windows Phone 7 Series OS. Not only do we get it, but we're kind of proud of you for sticking up for yourself for once and ensuring some sort of sameness across your platform. Unfortunately, it's not the holiday season yet, so we can't buy one of these fancy WP7S phones yet. Meanwhile, on the other end of town, HTC is bringing the HD2 to T-Mobile in the US this month. Sure, it runs your soon-to-be-outdated Windows Mobile 6.5 OS which nobody wants, but it's also pretty much the best hardware we've ever seen. Bar none."

Paul Miller published an editorial at Engadget yesterday that made me think about the consequences of corporate secrecy and policy when it comes to the geek community. Even as someone willing to play by these rules (as evidenced by my own NDA with Microsoft), I still long for a time where geeks can have what they want, and companies can keep mainstream customers happy. Unfortunately I don't see that happening any time soon for some very practical reasons. And in the end, as frustrating as it is, I think it is for the better.

We're Geeks: Just Let Us Play

This is the mantra that I think resonates with us, and where Paul is coming from in his editorial. We're geeks, we know that there is a high degree of likelihood that Windows Phone 7 can run on the HD2's fantastic hardware, so let us have an upgrade. After all, as geeks, first adopters, and hardcore'ers, we're cool with the fact that it doesn't run 100%. Haven't we all experienced the surprise of having a piece of technology we assumed would have bugs run better than we expected (or flawlessly?). Geeks already anticipate problems since we're used to pushing the bounds.

However regular users are not. Believe it or not, most people who buy a phone expect it to work 100% of the time. They give no slack to the vendors involved when it comes to bugs, errors, acts of god, or any combination of the three. And unfortunately again, they outnumber us! Which means that even if we all go out and buy 5 Windows Phone 7 series devices at launch, we still wouldn't have the same consumer power as regular users. So why can't we just keep them away from our "secret" ROMs and such? Well if you've ever been over at the dark side of the force you know that this is impossible. Just look through the forums there and you'll find many non-geeks who saw cool features they wanted for their phones, and ended up doing horrendous things to their devices because they skipped a step, or didn't see something, or didn't do something we all take for granted. Regular users shouldn't be expected to act like geeks, and because of that, companies can't give us half-baked un-intended ROMs and still deliver an exceptional product.

But Since Regular Users Won't Use It, a Half-Bake Can't Cause a Negative Perception!

So who am I? I'm a geek and a contributing editor. This means that I both push and write about the limits and the mainstream. And while some of the old media types aren't geeks, most of the new media (where you'll get your first impressions of Windows Phone 7 Series, most likely) are. This means that it's tremendously important for the success of WP7S to make a good first impression on users and media members alike. Would a good first impression best be served by the HD2 running a half-baked ROM or by a device built with the OS in mind? The latter. The most available to media geeks? The former. Therein lies the problem. If I buy an HD2 (which I will...) and I put a ROM on it that isn't built for it (which I might...), I may be biased toward the final product remembering bugs that I saw with my unintended preview. It sounds crazy, but as a psychologist, I've actually thought of this (which is why it's unlikely that I would flash a Windows Phone 7 ROM onto my HD2 - I don't want to judge a new OS by a flawed implementation).

What if Microsoft Just Releases a Win 7 ROM That Isn't Half-Baked?

That's awesome, if it happens. I personally doubt it will happen (and honestly have no clue from any source, NDA-covered or otherwise), but if it does, it would likely be a good thing, speeding up adoption rates of the new platform. As for myself, I may want to keep my HD2 running 6.5 though - after all, it's the last great device of a great operating system (that unfortunately outlived it's greatness in many ways).

There you have it, my own editorial. I agree with Paul at Engadget though - Microsoft should come out and say yes or no on the issue. But to address Paul's last line, I doubt Microsoft would ever release a half-baked ROM with a non-preferred caveat - it would only hurt their efforts to rejuvenate their mobile phone business in the end.

Jon Westfall is a geek psychologist decision making researcher working in New York City. His average day includes server maintenance, manuscript revisions, statistical data analysis, and reading a myriad of tech and psych blogs. You can learn more about him at JonWestfall.Com.

Windows Phone 7 Series Developer Info Starts to Flow

Jason Dunn — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:52:00 GMT

http://blogs.msdn.com/ckindel/archi...experience.aspx

"Different is often good. Especially when it's different for good reasons. Windows Phone 7 Series is different because we reset everything we were doing to focus on end user experience. This extends directly to the developer platform. Developers, designers, and producers of applications, games, and content these days are demanding that we be different as well. Over the last year we've had face to face conversations with 100s of developers all over the world about what we should do with Windows Phone 7 Series."

I think the above screen shot is fantastic, because it shows exactly how different Windows phone 7 really is - there's a strong sense of sameness as you move from left to right, but when you hit the Windows phone 7 user interface, you have to stop and take note that it's completely different from the others. Microsoft is taking a big risk by breaking away from the pack of normalcy every other mobile phone OS brings to the table.

Now, on to the developer stuff: first off, and this is no shock, there's zero backwards compatibility with Windows Phone 6.5 applications. This will doubtless upset some end users, and developers, but it underscores the point that this really is a brand new operating system. Yes, it's still based on Windows CE underneath (version 6 in this case), but it's not a coat of paint on the old Windows Mobile house. They tore that house down and built a whole new house in its place. Developers are going to need to re-code their apps. So what will they code it in? So far, we've been told Silverlight and XNA. Kindel's post also mentions Web 2.0 Standards and Microsoft developer tools, along with .Net. Nothing about C++ or native code versus managed code, but I suspect it's more the latter and less of the former. I'm not a developer though, so I'd appreciate hearing your opinion after you parse Kindel's post.

Hit up Charlie Kindel on Twitter to ask questions; at the bottom of his post there's also a number of Twitter accounts from other members on his team, so start asking questions - and be sure to report back here with the results so we can get an understanding of the developer story for Windows phone 7.

It's Alive! Project Pink Coming to Verizon

Nurhisham Hussein — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:00:00 GMT

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/ne...o-verizon-1.ars

"Pink, the long rumored Microsoft-branded (but not Microsoft-manufactured) phone(s) that features premium mobile services (think Zune) and has also been referred to as Zune phone, is all but officially confirmed now, thanks to leaked third-party marketing materials obtained by Gizmodo. Microsoft did not announce anything regarding the device when it showed off Windows Phone 7 Series, but these documents lay out a promotional plan for Pink in detail, and while they don't talk about specs or software details, they do shed some light on the upcoming mobile phone."

After months of speculation ("It's dead!" "No, it's alive!"), we now have something a bit meatier to chew in to. Gizmodo has the scoop on marketing materials including the above pic of the Turtle, one of the two phones MS is apparently working on. You can catch the details and analysis at Ars Technica. Meanwhile, Engadget has a really blurry pic of the other phone in the lineup - the Pure - as well as shots of the dialer. There's still no confirmation on what OS will be running the hardware, but I don't think it's likely to be WP7S.

Vintage Windows Mobile Commercials

Jason Dunn — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:30:00 GMT

http://pocketnow.com/thought/vintag...ile-commercials

"We came across some interesting commercials that aired many years ago for several Windows Mobile phones. The below commercials are from the HTC TyTN, the Compaq iPaq 3800, the HP iPAQ 614 Business Navigator, the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1, and, for good measure, the Sony Clie. Remember these devices? Are there any vintage mobile device commercials that you'd like to share?"

pocketnow.com has dug up some vintage Windows Mobile commercials - some aren't really that old - but it inspired me to dig up a video file that I'd been saving since 2000 and upload it to YouTube. Above, you'll see the original Pocket PC promo video created for the then brand-new platform. Wow, does that bring back memories or what? It really shows you how amazing the devices were for the time - you can hear them making jabs at Palm devices, the dominant competition in 2000. I miss those days sometimes...things seemed much simpler back then when devices were mostly disconnected. ;-)

Enough With Animal Names! LG's WinPho 7Series' Name is Panther?

Jon Westfall — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:30:00 GMT

http://gizmodo.com/5485499/lgs-firs...t=Google+Reader

"LG's first Windows Phone 7 handset, which got shown off recently in the sweaty palm of a Microsoft director at the Engadget Show, will be called the LG Panther. Apparently. We know LG likes silly names, but Panther?"

Seriously, Panther? Aside from the fact it's already been used, (good luck with branding), the name just doesn't sound exciting to me. While corporate naming decisions can be screwy (Xfinity anyone?), a well placed name can really work for a product (e.g., Treo, Razr, etc..). The first phone we know about from a new platform named after an apple-esque animal? Here's to hoping that this is mostly baseless rumor!