Hasta La Gadget!

If you can accept what we’re about to tell you as rumor, and nothing more, then we’d like to let you in on the latest scuttlebutt surrounding Nokia’s first dip into the shallow Windows Phone waters. Eldar Murtazin, the eternal Nokia antagonist, claims to have the inside scoop on Nokia’s current Windows Phone device plans while getting an early hands-on with a prototype. Besides demonstrating a natural extension of the Nokia naming strategy to accommodate the new Windows Phone devices, Eldar tells us that model W7 is built around an X7 hardware base while the new W8 handset is a variant of Nokia’s N8 cameraphone (conceptualized in the above pic). According to Eldar, all of Nokia’s WP prototypes are built upon Qualcomm chipsets per Microsoft’s requirement (and Nokia’s dismay). The W7 model is currently being used in-house for development purposes and will likely be the first to market, according to Eldar, with an 8 megapixel autofocus camera and flash. Murtazin claims that the W7 reminded him of the HTC Mozart without any noticeable customizations to the OS. If neither of these models appeal to you, hold tight — Eldar says that Nokia has a dozen Windows Phone devices planed for 2012. Of course, it’s early days so any, or all of this might change before Nokia ships its first device later this year or early twenty-twelve. Imagine it: Nokia hardware slathered in Mango — mmm mmm good.

Nokia W7 and W8 tipped as first Windows Phone models originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 03:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We knew it was coming, and today at MIX 11, Microsoft showed off its developer platform for the next version of Windows Phone, which developers will be able to get their hands on for free in May. The new application platform adds:

• Multitasking for background processing, audio and file transfer, and fast app switching, including background audio playback for HTML5 webpages
• Deeper integration of apps into the OS, allowing programs to leverage Live Tiles, including push notifications via Live Agents running in the background
• Raw access to the camera and sensors (gyro and compass) via the Motion Sensor library, letting apps to control device hardware

Microsoft hopes this will allow developers to make even more creative and engaging apps. To get our juices flowing, it showed off demos of new app concepts from Skype, Spotify, Layar, Qantas, Amazon Shopping, and Kik Messenger. Check out our gallery below and hit the break for the details.

Continue reading Windows Phone adds multitasking, deeper OS integration, and sensor access to dev platform

Windows Phone adds multitasking, deeper OS integration, and sensor access to dev platform originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 13 Apr 2011 12:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oh, sure, it was easy to pick on Apple for all those frustrating App Store rejections over the years, but Google’s had its own run-ins with apps being pulled under unfortunate circumstances, and now it’s time for WP7 users to get a taste. Microsoft has pulled is thinking about pulling Imagewind from the Windows Phone Marketplace, an app that basically pulls random images en masse from the Twitter-stream, splaying them all over your touchscreen. MS indicated that, without some sort of filter to weed out seedy images, the app has to go. Somewhat curiously it’s actually been chilling in the Marketplace since March 3rd, and it was only upon reviewing a recent update that someone in Redmond said “Hey, waitaminute!” Imagewind is now gone and honestly we can’t say that its rejection is completely arbitrary — displaying all images the all the time is not necessarily a good thing for sensitive eyes — but it still stings, doesn’t it?

Update: We got a note from Roger at Smarty Pants Coding to let us know that he’s received a “grace period” for the app. It’s still available for download, but it could be a limited time thing…

Update 2: Another note from Roger. The stay of execution has been… unstayed. The app is no more. Break out the trumpets.

Microsoft removes Imagewind from Marketplace, WP7 gets first bitter taste of rejection originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 01 Apr 2011 10:17:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft details Windows Phone 7 by the numbers: 11,500 apps, 36,000 developers originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:27:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Where is your Windows Phone 7 “NoDo” update? That’s the question Microsoft is aiming to answer with a new spreadsheet it has cobbled together to detail the software status of all WP7 handsets released so far. A February preparatory patch and the long-anticipated first proper upgrade to the OS, herein titled merely “March update,” are sat side by side, with a set of delivery states under them for each WP7 phone. Things aren’t looking awesome in the US, where AT&T’s batch is still undergoing carrier testing and T-Mobile’s pair of phones are “scheduling” (which Microsoft says takes no more than 10 days), but news is better overseas, where most have received the February OTA and are mere days away from the final NoDo goodness. Sprint’s HTC Arrive and AT&T’s upcoming HD7S will both have that software preloaded, so at least new buyers won’t have to fret unduly.

[Thanks, Arty]

Microsoft serves up a ‘NoDo’ update schedule for Windows Phone 7 devices originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Mar 2011 05:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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