Windows Phone Marketplace for Windows Phone 7 Series unveiled

The biggest chunk of eye candy we’ve seen out of Microsoft’s MIX10 event so far today has been the unveiling of the significantly-retooled Windows Phone Marketplace that’ll debut in Windows Phone 7 Series — and needless to say, it’s a looker. It’s got support for credit card purchases, operator billing, and ad-supported content — a hot topic right now with Google’s and Apple’s mobile advertising acquisitions — and a try-before-you-buy scheme not unlike Android Market’s policy (though WP7S devs can choose what kind of trial period they want to offer; Android devs have no such option). We’ve been offered some video of the new Marketplace in action, and it looks super polished and well-integrated with the typical WP7S way of getting around — you’re given a “panoramic view” where you can browse categories and titles, see featured items, and get details with ratings, reviews, screen shots, and pricing information. Purchased apps can be pinned to your Quick Launch screen, saving you a couple taps for your favorite and most frequently-used items. Watch the full video after the break — and keep an eye out for the trick “tilting” of menu items based on finger location toward the end of the clip, something we haven’t seen before.

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Windows Phone Marketplace for Windows Phone 7 Series unveiled originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Four awesome alarm clock apps

Sure, the stock Clock app can wake you up just fine, but why settle for fine when you can have fun, interesting, informative, and NPR? pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-10466064-233.html” class=”origPostedBlog”iPhone Atlas/a/p

App update: Rhapsody for iPhone to allow caching

Rhapsody to offer offline song-saving capability on its updated app for the iPhone and iPod Touch. pOriginally posted at a href=”http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-19512_7-20000468-233.html” class=”origPostedBlog”iPhone Atlas/a/p

Microsoft demos push notifications on Windows Phone 7 Series

Microsoft’s flavor of push notifications for Windows Phone 7 Series — the so-called Microsoft Notification Service — was just demoed using an MLS (Major League Soccer) app, and it fits in really well with the “Metro” UI motif. Notifications come in via an unobtrusive bar across the top of the display — better than iPhone, and not unlike webOS — and tapping them takes you into the app where you’re presumably taken to a fuller view of the relevant information. The notifications are available regardless of whether the app is open, a model that mirrors Apple’s and likely a heavy dose of foreshadowing that multitasking — at least, multitasking as we know it — won’t be available. Check of pic of the notification bar after the break.

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Microsoft demos push notifications on Windows Phone 7 Series originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:47:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Spiderpodium stand not for arachnophobes

Right now, all I can think about is how to wrap this thing around my face so I can make an iPhone look like a facehugger from “Alien.”

Microsoft announces Windows Phone 7 Series dev partners and details apps: Sling, Pandora, Foursquare and Xbox gaming (video!)

Microsoft just dropped its first press release of MIX 10 on us, and in addition to detailing the Sliverlight and XNA-based Windows Phone 7 Series development situation, we’ve also got a list of launch software partners and some screenshots of apps in action. There’s some heavy hitters here, and everything from games to enterprise apps are represented — notables include the Associated Press, Citrix, EA Mobile, Foursquare, Namco, Pangeonce, Pandora, Seesmic, Shazam, and Sling. We’re slated to see some demos of these in action, we’ll let you know how things look. Full list after the break.

Updating with impressions (and video!) after the break!

Continue reading Microsoft announces Windows Phone 7 Series dev partners and details apps: Sling, Pandora, Foursquare and Xbox gaming (video!)

Microsoft announces Windows Phone 7 Series dev partners and details apps: Sling, Pandora, Foursquare and Xbox gaming (video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:34:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Netflix prototyped for Windows Phone 7 Series

We just got a quick at Netflix for Windows Phone 7 Series, one of the third-party apps Microsoft’s showing off here at MIX10, and it looks… well, very Netflixy — it’s red to the bone. Unlike other mobile Netflix apps, this one’s got Watch Instantly support and it looks great — a real testament to the capabilities Microsoft’s bringing to the table with it Silverlight-based dev platform. Video after the break!

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Netflix prototyped for Windows Phone 7 Series originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft demos third-party apps for Windows Phone 7 Series: Silverlight, extensions, and true Xbox gaming

Well we’ve just gotten a look at some of the first third-party applications written for Windows Phone 7 Series with Silverlight — and they’re looking pretty darn slick. Corporate VP Joe Belfiore first showed off the Associated Press newsreader app while demoing the new OS in front of an audience at MIX10 (Microsoft’s developer pow-wow). There wasn’t a lot to glean from the quick look, but it’s clear that the developers are hewing very closely to the UI paradigms of WP7S with a multi-panel system that lets you jump through various news stories and topics. Joe touted the ability to view photos and video (utilizing some pretty slick animations) and also showed off breaking news alerts which allow you to jump to news stories as they break. We also saw a sneak preview of the monetization scheme for the AP, an animated, fly-over Ford ad that was actually a little troubling — think annoying Flash ads… but in your apps and on your handset.

Continue reading Microsoft demos third-party apps for Windows Phone 7 Series: Silverlight, extensions, and true Xbox gaming

Microsoft demos third-party apps for Windows Phone 7 Series: Silverlight, extensions, and true Xbox gaming originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Iomega iConnect review: getting your printers, HDDs online has never been simpler

Iomega’s iConnect managed to launch during the whirlwind that was CES 2010, so if you didn’t quite catch it the first go ’round, here’s hoping that you’re paying attention today. In essence, the device is fairly simple. It’s a small, port-filled slab that’s designed to sit beneath or beside your current router or hub, and while we’re certainly dumbing things down somewhat with this description, it’s basically a variant of the Pogoplug. Equipped with four USB 2.0 ports, an Ethernet jack and an internal 802.11b/g/n WiFi module, the iConnect is designed to put your existing thumb drives, external hard drives and / or printers online. We’ve had less-than-awesome experiences in the past with devices that turn localized storage into network accessible storage, so we went into this overview with fairly low expectations. Much to our surprise, we came away duly impressed with the package that Iomega has assembled, so be sure to read on if this one has been sitting on your maybe-must-have list.

Continue reading Iomega iConnect review: getting your printers, HDDs online has never been simpler

Iomega iConnect review: getting your printers, HDDs online has never been simpler originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 7 SDK Available Now, Free [Windows Phone 7]

You can download the Windows Phone 7 SDK right now from this link. Make us some good stuff, programmers. [Windows Phone Developer]