Nov 08

HTC 7 Mozart gets its microSD card swapped, but only after an intense teardown session

Posted in: diy, hack, HTC, sd, smartphone, storage, Today's Chili, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

Man, Microsoft really isn’t keen on having you swap out the microSD card that ships within its Windows Phone 7 devices, eh? After finding that the HD7’s card could be replaced if you threw caution entirely to the wind, we’re now seeing that the same is true with HTC’s 7 Mozart. But unfortunately, you’re still facing the same dilemma — should you seriously risk destroying your phone forever just to get a capacity bump from 8GB to 32GB? One Andy Hamilton answered that with a definitive “yessir,” and in the source link below, he proceeded to initiate an iFixit-level teardown in order to unearth the deeply concealed 8GB SanDisk Class 4 microSD card. He made a few mistakes along the way that you’ll want to pay attention to if you end up tossing your own mobile on the operating table, but seriously, watch where you slide that X-Acto knife.

[Thanks, Michael]

HTC 7 Mozart gets its microSD card swapped, but only after an intense teardown session originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 22:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 08

Google Comes to WinPhone 7 As an App, Not an Option

Posted in: Google, Microsoft, Phones, search, Today's Chili, windows phone 7, Wp7

Windows Phone 7 lets you make Google searches, but only through a back door.

Google’s free Search app for WP7 is available today, according to the Google Mobile team. “Just search the Marketplace for ‘Google Search,’ download, pin to Start, and the power of Google Search is only a click away.”

“Search, download, pin to Start” — doesn’t that seem a little complicated just to load a search engine on your phone?

A distinguishing feature of Windows Phone 7 handsets is their three dedicated hardware buttons. The Windows logo goes home, the left-arrow button goes back, and the magnifying-glass “search” button opens up Microsoft’s search engine, Bing.

That button is permanently tied to Bing. There appears to be no way to change it. (An anti-trust violation? Not likely, unless WP7 corners the smartphone market.)

On the iPhone or Blackberry, or nearly every web browser on the desktop, you can pick your default search engine. You can’t do that with Windows Phone 7. On the Microsoft smartphone, you get Microsoft search.

Now, Bing has a lot going for it; it works very well on WP7, and I think Microsoft is onto something by putting search front-and-center on smartphones. The hardware button is usefully contextual, too: If you’re in the Marketplace, it searches the Marketplace; if you’re in Outlook, it searches your inbox, etc. That’s handy, and exactly the kind of behavior you’d hope for.

But that doesn’t change the fact that hardwiring Bing makes Windows Phone 7 much more closed than most other smartphone platforms.

Considering the close ties between internet search, ad revenue and content-sharing with partners like Facebook, the fact that Microsoft is driving nearly all of its mobile search through Bing is no accident.

It’s a feature, but it’s also a problem.

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Nov 08

Poll: Did you get a Windows Phone 7 device today?

Posted in: HTC, LG, Microsoft, samsung, Today's Chili, windows phone, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

You may have heard that Microsoft unleashed its new mobile platform on unsuspecting Americans today (see our reviews here), and we were curious to see how many of you broke out the credit card. Let us know how you played things in the poll below, and we’re welcoming everyone into comments for an open (and totally not trolltastic) conversation about what Day One with a WP7 handset feels like. So get to it!

View Poll

Poll: Did you get a Windows Phone 7 device today? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 17:30:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 08

Windows Phone 7 in review: the good, the bad, and the Surround

Posted in: Microsoft, Reviews, Today's Chili, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

Windows Phone 7 has arrived in the US, and there are plenty of phones to choose from — even more if you’re looking internationally. So, which one should you get? Is the OS even good enough to bother with just yet? Which one is the prettiest? We answer all those questions and more in our exhaustive complement of launch phone reviews. You can find them all after the break. You won’t be sorry.

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 in review: the good, the bad, and the Surround

Windows Phone 7 in review: the good, the bad, and the Surround originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 15:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 08

Dell Venue Pro on sale at Microsoft stores, but good luck getting one

Posted in: Microsoft, t-mobile, Today's Chili, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

So, just as was rumored, it seems Dell pushed a small handful of Venue Pros to Microsoft’s seven flagship stores for sale today. We just spoke with a friendly rep who told us they were “going fast” and didn’t sound too confident that we’d be able to get one by the time we got down there, but theoretically if we did, it’d be $199 for a new line (or an eligible upgrade) or $449 outright. If you manage to score one, that’ll put you about a week ahead of everyone else — they aren’t expected to be available straight from Dell’s site until the 15th. On a related note, Dell’s website is showing two configurations for the phone — an 8GB and a 16GB model — though none of the stores we called could tell us which one they were stocking. Let’s hope for 16, eh?

[Thanks, Andrew and @FocusedProverbs]

Dell Venue Pro on sale at Microsoft stores, but good luck getting one originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:47:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  source@stakita (Yfrog), Dell  | Email this | Comments

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Nov 08

Microsoft slide chronicles the journey from Portable Media Center to Windows Phone 7

Posted in: Microsoft, Today's Chili, windows phone, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone, WindowsPhone7, zune

In case you missed it, Wired has a new piece out on the (very brief) history of Windows Phone 7. Unfortunately, the article pulls all punches, and skates through some bizarre statements from Microsofties, including calling Kin “a worthwhile risk that resulted in important lessons,” and the real head scratcher of the piece: “Software is like making a movie and building a skyscraper. You’re not quite sure how it’s going to stand until it comes out in the end.” Still, we were glad to find this slide (pictured above) in the article’s photo gallery, chronicling the journey of the Metro design language from Microsoft’s ill-fated Portable Media Center, to the vaguely successful Zune products, and around at last to the newly available Windows Phone 7. A bit of comeuppance for 2004’s ahead-of-its-time, PlaysForSure-laden iPod killer? We like to think so.

Microsoft slide chronicles the journey from Portable Media Center to Windows Phone 7 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 14:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nov 08

Will WinPhone 7 Change How We Shop for Smartphones?

Posted in: Apple, att, BlackBerry, ios, Phones, t-mobile, Today's Chili, verizon, windows phone 7

AT&T’s Windows Phone 7 handsets drop today, but if you navigate past the company’s big splash page, you’d never know it.

That’s because like most other phone retailers, AT&T’s online store drills down by manufacturer and device type (e.g., smartphone, feature phone, tablet/computer), but not operating system. The only smartphone OS it currently separates out is Android, grouped with categories like “free,” “slider” and “refurbished.”

More Windows Phone 7 coverage on Gadget Lab:

While tech-savvy consumers increasingly think of smartphones in terms of competing operating systems, wireless companies still think of their own relationship with their subscribers first, manufacturers second and platforms a distant third.

It’s even starker if you’re an existing customer looking to upgrade a mobile phone; an AT&T customer trying to find an Android phone has to navigate a long list of smartphones, while Apple and Blackberry’s models jump to the top.

Verizon Wireless’s online store does break phones down by operating system if you mouse over the “Phones & Devices” menu. The choices are Android, Apple iOS, Blackberry, Palm WebOS and “Windows phone” — the last something of a misnomer, since Verizon only offers older Windows Mobile devices, not the new Windows Phone 7.

This arguably benefits companies like Apple and Blackberry, who enjoy high name recognition and whose platforms are only available on their own branded devices. It also benefits particular smartphones, like Motorola’s Droid on Verizon, who are featured prominently on store websites and network advertisements.

But the balance is tipping in favor of the operating systems. With Windows Phone 7 now offering devices from multiple manufacturers on AT&T and T-Mobile, Verizon selling iOS devices like the iPad (and perhaps soon the iPhone) and Android’s share of the market growing an extraordinary rate, wireless companies will be hard-pressed not to put a device’s operating system front and center — not buried at the bottom of a tech sheet next to its Bluetooth spec and its camera’s megapixel count.

AT&T has made a big bet on its support of Windows Phone 7 — I wouldn’t be surprised if we see those menus get an upgrade soon.

Images: screenshots from AT&T Wireless Store by Tim Carmody.

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Nov 08

Windows Phone 7 Debuts in U.S. Stores

Posted in: Microsoft, Phones, Today's Chili, windows phone 7


The first batch of phones running Microsoft’s brand-new Windows Phone 7 operating system hit U.S. stores Monday.

More Windows Phone 7 coverage on Gadget Lab:

Windows Phone 7 is now available on three handsets: the HTC HD7, the HTC Surround and the Samsung Focus (pictured above). The HDC7 is available for T-Mobile customers, and the Surround and Focus are available for AT&T customers.

The phones are listed at $200 retail, but some web discounts bring them down to as low as $150 with a new contract.

Two other Windows Phone 7 handsets — Dell’s Venue Pro and the LG Quantum — are scheduled to ship during the holiday season, according to Microsoft.

All the phones include a Snapdragon processor, 256 MB of RAM, at least 4 GB of flash storage, 802.11 b/g wireless, a capacitive touchscreen and five sensors (A-GPS, accelerometer, compass, proximity and light).

Full specifications for the five Windows Phone 7 handsets are available at Microsoft’s website.

Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft’s complete do-over on a mobile OS after scrapping Windows Mobile in late 2008. For more details on what happened behind the scenes, see our feature “How Microsoft hit CTRL+ALT+DEL on Windows Phone.”

Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com


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Nov 08

HTC HD7 Review: Size Ain’t Everything [Review]

Posted in: feature, Microsoft, review, Smartphones, t-mobile, Today's Chili, top, windows phone, windows phone 7, Wp7

No smartphone platform is complete without a phone big enough to double as an ice scraper. The hulking HD7 is that phone for Windows Phone 7. More »

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Nov 08

HTC said to be working on its own app store, would make a lot of Sense

Posted in: Android, apps, AppStore, HTC, htc sense, HtcSense, leak, plans, rumor, rumors, Software, speculation, Today's Chili, windows phone 7, WindowsPhone7, Wp7

Keen readers of the Financial Times will have been greeted this morning by a nice little bit of insider information regarding HTC’s future software plans. We already knew the phone maker was keen to play a more active role in the softer parts of the smartphone experience it offers, but two new sources have come forward with word that HTC is actively hiring new staff in preparation for setting up its very own app store. The HTCSense.com cloud service that recently launched with the Desire HD and Desire Z Android models in Europe looks like the first step toward that goal, with its HTC Hub area already acting as an app discovery assistant — it wouldn’t be terribly difficult to include an extra section in it for HTC’s own application offerings. That’s not to say that this would be an Android exclusive thing, however, as HTC already boasts a selection of ten apps on Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 platform and it would seem quite logical that it’d want an organized repository where it could sort through all its wares.

HTC said to be working on its own app store, would make a lot of Sense originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 08 Nov 2010 07:28:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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