Hasta La Gadget!

It’s raining Mango, Hallelujah! Windows Phone 7.5 is now officially ready to get pushed to existing devices, and in a big way. Taking lessons Microsoft learned from the update debacle that was NoDo, the company’s eager to do a much more efficient (and quick) job of rolling out its latest revamp. While Redmond didn’t offer any exact details on which phones would be the lucky recipients right away, it’ll be keeping the masses posted through its “where’s my phone update” page. If your handset is listed, hook it up to your computer, load the Zune client and there should be a lovely message waiting for you. As always, don’t feel too discouraged if your device isn’t available right away, since these rollouts have a habit of taking a bit of time to get to everyone.

In addition to the rollout, the Web Marketplace will also make its debut, giving Windows Phone users the opportunity to do what Android users already enjoy — the ability to surf for apps online and have them downloaded directly on the phone with no sideloading required. There’s one bit of sad news to relay to anyone that already has a Windows Phone, however: Microsoft confirmed to us that Internet Sharing — the long-awaited mobile hotspot functionality — will not be available for existing devices. There’s no word on if this will be offered through a future update or if it’s a permanent deal, but at least it’s only a single thorn in an entire rose garden of good news.

Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’ update begins rolling out today originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 27 Sep 2011 13:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Can’t say that we’re caught off guard with this one. Only two weeks ago, AT&T announced the first three members of its Windows Phone Mango lineup, charting out an Autumn debut for the handsets, but only giving us a glimpse of the Titan. So, it should come as no shock to see Samsung’s update to its popular WP device, the Focus S, getting its charge on in the wild. The leaked shot over on PocketNow, gives us a tilted preview of the 4.3-inch phone, the usual offering of three capacitive buttons and its sleek, rounded edges. There’s not much in the way of gadget porn here considering the lone, off-center image, however, we do officially know that that currently unlit screen boasts a Super AMOLED Plus display and, lurking beneath it, is a 1.4GHz processor. An official street date has yet to be set for this 4G phone (the company didn’t specify if this would be LTE-ready), but expect to see it hit the orange-colored carrier sometime very soon.

Samsung Focus S snapped in the wild sipping on micro-USB juice originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 17:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung just took the wraps off its Omnia W, which looks like a non-US variant of the Focus Flash we’ve already heard about via AT&T. The handset will debut in Italy and start spreading across the Old World and Latin America from next month. It’ll sport Windows Phone 7.5 out of the box, a 3.7-inch 800×480 Super AMOLED display, 1.4GHz processor, VGA webcam on the front and rear 5MP shooter with 720p video recording. We expect it’ll go head-to-head with HTC’s 3.8-inch Radar when the War of the Mangoes finally kicks off.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Continue reading Samsung’s Omnia W: Mango, 3.7-inch Super AMOLED, 1.4GHZ processor

Samsung’s Omnia W: Mango, 3.7-inch Super AMOLED, 1.4GHZ processor originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 26 Sep 2011 07:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The man who previously led the development of IE Mobile for Windows Phone is no longer with Microsoft, whose termination followed a series of tweets regarding one of Nokia’s unreleased Mango handsets. A representative of Ballmer & Co. has confirmed to us “that Joe Marini no longer works at Microsoft,” and while the company refuses to discuss the details of his termination, you be the judge. In his first tweet, Mr. Marini expressed glowing enthusiasm for the device, having called it one of Nokia’s slickest ever. Then, however, he went on to give the phone an “8” (to summarize his 144 character review), criticize the camera as being good, but not great, and bemoan its screen size. Oops. If anything, unbridled enthusiasm is encouraged at Microsoft (just think back to Steve Ballmer’s monkey dance if you had any doubt), but when sheer excitement erupts into stunning frankness regarding unreleased products from partner companies, perhaps this ex-Microsoftee should have kept his thoughts offline. We wish you luck, Joe, but next time, just remember that review scores are a relic of the past. Instead, just let the words speak for themselves.

Microsoft boots Windows Phone manager following mini-review of Nokia’s Mango handset originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung Focus S wanders through FCC en route to AT&T originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 17 Sep 2011 00:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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