Sony Ericsson Windows Phone prototype hits eBay, reminds us sliders existed

Sony Ericsson Windows Phone prototype slides onto eBay, wants us to call her Julie

eBay is as close as it comes to a genuine Aladdin’s cave, and we’ve seen plenty of ancient rarities, prototypes, sci-fi weaponry, and the odd killer robot go under its gavel. One of the latest artifacts of interest comes from eBay’s Netherlands site, which is hosting an auction for a Windows Phone prototype slider known to her friends as Julie (or Jolie, depending on where you look in the listing) from the now defunct Sony Ericsson partnership. The phone that never was from the company that is no longer is allegedly one of only seven units made, and is touted as having an 8-megapixel shooter and 16 gigs of storage. Some digging through the XDA Developers’ forum suggests the handset’s old Windows Phone 7 ROM is basically non-functional, so don’t expect to plug in your SIM and stroll out the door with a useable device. If that doesn’t put you off, however, there’s no exorbitant entry price, and bids remain sensible, for now. Head to the listing below for more pictures and to get in on the action, but bear in mind the only shipping options are for Europe. Nothing a PM with an outrageous offer won’t rectify, surely.

Update: The seller has been in contact to let us know that international shipping is now available, and while the WP7 ROM running on the handset is by no means a final build, there are no issues with voice calling, the camera or Bluetooth.

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Via: Windows Phone Central

Source: eBay (Netherlands)

US Cellular expands its Windows Phone catalog with the ZTE Render for $80

Most Windows Phone enthusiasts have their sights set on large trophy-like targets, but if you have more modest goals in mind, then US Cellular’s latest acquisition might be just what the doctor ordered. If the device pictured above looks familiar, that’s because it should. Rebranded as the Render, most of you know this handset as the ZTE Orbit, an entry-level device that features a 4-inch 800 x 480 display, a 1GHz Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB of internal storage, a 5-megapixel camera and Windows Phone 7.5 Tango. So, if US Cellular is your wireless carrier of choice and you’re seriously crushing on Windows Phone, the ZTE Render will run you $80 after a $100 mail-in rebate.

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US Cellular expands its Windows Phone catalog with the ZTE Render for $80 originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 29 Sep 2012 12:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video out enabled on Windows Phone 7, just not for you

Video out enabled on Windows Phone 7, just not for you

The video out feature in Windows Phone 7 is reserved for select Microsoft employees, and now one enterprising member of the XDA Developers forum. With certain files ripped from an LG Panther 7003 ROM, the help of someone on the inside and many months of work, forum member marsrogers succeeded in pushing video from his Samsung Focus to a companion PC app. Don’t get too excited though — this particular trick will not be released to the masses so the MS confidant involved is not exposed. However, it’s not all bad news, as marsrogers’ source reports that Windows Phone 8 will have remote desktop capability straight out of the box. Sadly, for those of you carrying around current-gen WP devices, there’s still no hope.

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Video out enabled on Windows Phone 7, just not for you originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Aug 2012 21:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft opens Windows Phone Dev Center, limits in-app purchases to Windows Phone 8 (update: store rebrand too)

Microsoft opens Windows Phone Dev Center, limits inapp purchases to Windows Phone 8

It’s a day of mixed blessings if you’re a Windows Phone developer. The upside? Microsoft has shelved its old App Hub in favor of the heavily reworked Windows Phone Dev Center: along with being simpler and more reliable, it now lets app designers offer their apps in four times as many countries (three times as many for paid apps), gives them better tracking tools and lets them at last get payment from Microsoft through PayPal. We hope they aren’t making too many grand plans to bring Microsoft’s newly added in-app purchasing support to every title, however. The counterbalance in this story is confirmation in the Dev Center that any in-app commerce will be limited to Windows Phone 8 — even devices running Windows Phone 7.8 will have to turn to all-or-nothing transactions to directly generate cash. While we can’t say we’re surprised, knowing that Microsoft hadn’t mentioned legacy support before, the news no doubt dampens the enthusiasm for developers who now need to wait for a wave of new devices before they can join the freemium app gold rush.

Update: WMPowerUser noticed something in that tiny text on the home page — the artist formerly known as the Windows Phone Marketplace is now the Windows Phone Store. A small (and still unacknowledged) change, but notable for harmonizing the mobile app shop with the Windows Store on the desktop.

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Microsoft opens Windows Phone Dev Center, limits in-app purchases to Windows Phone 8 (update: store rebrand too) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 07 Aug 2012 11:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Windows Phone Developer Blog, The Verge  |  sourceWindows Phone Dev Center (1), (2)  | Email this | Comments