Verizon renews HTC Trophy offer for Microsoft employees

Early 2011” is rapidly passing us by — as, for that matter, is March — but we still wouldn’t rule out a Verizon Wireless launch of the HTC Trophy smartphone. You see, the carrier’s seemingly still advertising the Windows Phone 7 device inside Microsoft itself, in a likely attempt to gather preorders before the device hits shelves. We can’t say for sure when the phone will actually arrive, of course, but if we were the gambling type, we’d toss some horseshoes in the general direction of April Fools’ and pray they find a mark.

Verizon renews HTC Trophy offer for Microsoft employees originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 05:32:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC HD7S hands-on

HTC’s HD7 was certainly one of the most handsome devices to be launched back at Windows Phone 7’s retail introduction late last year — and really, when you take the HD2’s heritage as your starting point, it’s hard to go wrong. Of course, in the last year and a half, mobile display technology has advanced by leaps and bounds — and the original HD7 was using nothing more than a standard, old-school TFT LCD with less-than-perfect contrast and viewing angle specs. Well, that’s where the HD7S comes into play: the “S” in the name presumably stands for Super LCD, the newer type of display that HTC’s been using on recent 4.3-inch models like the Thunderbolt. It’s quite pretty, but otherwise, it’s the same HD7 as usual — and really, considering how nice this hardware is, that’s just alright by us. The phone also comes with the so-called “NoDo” update of Windows Phone 7 preinstalled, a fact we were able to verify with a quick look of the version number being reported in system settings. Check it out in the gallery!

HTC HD7S hands-on originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:42:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 7 hack brings instant app resumption, mobile multitasking to the masses

Looking for a little snappier response when jumping to and fro between apps on your WP7 device? Well, do we have just the hack for you — a dev from Windows Phone Hacker, Jaxbot, did some poking around in the Window’s Phone registry and found a way to instantly resume apps, no muss, no fuss. By setting the “DehydrateOnPause” registry key value to zero, he got rid of that pesky app dehydration / rehydration process altogether. Keep in mind there may be some “undesirable” side effects from force-feeding your device multitasking (ADD?) ahead of schedule and you’ll need a developer-unlocked device to access the registry, so only advanced users need apply — you taking notes, Mr. Ballmer? Hit up the source link for the full monty, and check out the hack in action after the break.

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 hack brings instant app resumption, mobile multitasking to the masses

Windows Phone 7 hack brings instant app resumption, mobile multitasking to the masses originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Arrive now available for $200 from Sprint (update: $50 at Amazon)

It’s March 20th and, right on schedule, Sprint has started taking orders for its first Windows Phone 7 handset. The HTC 7 Pro, renamed the Arrive on the Now Network, can now be had for $200 after rebate when bought with the customary two-year contract. Amazon’s doing its usual thing of undercutting carriers’ own pricing by offering it up for 50 greenbacks less at $150, and we suspect other online retailers will follow suit. So affordability shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re still wondering if the investment will be worth it, we’ll have our review of this handset early next week — just before Sprint makes it irrelevant by blowing the doors off CTIA.

[Thanks, Justin]

Update: That was quick, Amazon’s dropped its price to just $50.

HTC Arrive now available for $200 from Sprint (update: $50 at Amazon) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Arrive now available for $200 from Sprint, $150 at Amazon

It’s March 20th and, right on schedule, Sprint has started taking orders for its first Windows Phone 7 handset. The HTC 7 Pro, renamed the Arrive on the Now Network, can now be had for $200 after rebate when bought with the customary two-year contract. Amazon’s doing its usual thing of undercutting carriers’ own pricing by offering it up for 50 greenbacks less at $150, and we suspect other online retailers will follow suit. So affordability shouldn’t be a problem, but if you’re still wondering if the investment will be worth it, we’ll have our review of this handset early next week — just before Sprint makes it irrelevant by blowing the doors off CTIA.

[Thanks, Justin]

HTC Arrive now available for $200 from Sprint, $150 at Amazon originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 20 Mar 2011 14:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Ignite, Prime, and Pyramid renders surface?

Even before the Incredible S was announced as the company’s new top-of-the-line set back in February, the rumored Pyramid was the upcoming HTC phone that was capturing everyone’s imagination thanks in no small part to its promise of a dual-core processor — something the Incredible S notably lacks. We hadn’t seen what this beast might look like, though… until today. Chinese site xda.cn has posted alleged renders of the Pyramid’s front and rear, showing a careful evolution of HTC’s current design language along with claims of a 4.3-inch 960 x 540 display, 8 megapixel primary and 1.3 megapixel front cameras, 768MB of RAM, and Android 3.0 (that last bit doesn’t sound right to us, though — Android 2.x with Sense would be more plausible). Rumors have this one pegged for launch on T-Mobile at some point this year; it’d be nice if that happened at CTIA next week, but considering how tied up they might be with Sprint at the show, it’s hard to say if that’ll happen.

Moving on, we’ve got some visual evidence here that HTC’s pressing on with its Windows Phone line. The first of the two, the Ignite, looks like a midrange slate thanks to an 800MHz Qualcomm processor (clocked slower than the current batch of 1GHz units that are out there), a mere 3.7-inch display, and a 5 megapixel camera around back. The Prime, meanwhile, looks like a little brother to the 7 Pro thanks to a slide-out QWERTY keyboard and similar specs to the Ignite — not blockbusters by any stretch, but HTC (along with other OEMs) might be waiting to pull out the big guns until Mango. Check out those renders at the source link.

HTC Ignite, Prime, and Pyramid renders surface? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 15 Mar 2011 13:51:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC Arrive up for $50 pre-order at Wirefly, requires new Sprint account and two-year contract

HTC’s first Windows Phone 7 QWERTY slider handset is a mere five days away from its launch on Sprint, but already there’s an online retailer keen to undercut everyone else for your business. Wirefly is currently offering the HTC Arrive (aka the 7 Pro outside the US) for $49.99 in upfront costs when bought in conjunction with a new two-year service plan from Sprint on, importantly, a new account. Eligible upgraders will have to shell out $149.99 for the privilege, though that’s still less than Sprint’s own $199.99 pricing. If you find it any cheaper elsewhere, do make sure to let us know.

HTC Arrive up for $50 pre-order at Wirefly, requires new Sprint account and two-year contract originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 14 Mar 2011 22:15:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nokia Windows Phone Handsets Won’t Be Available Until 2012

A stylish, colorful Nokia Windows Phone concept

Don’t hold your breath waiting for a Windows-powered Nokia.

According to the managing director of Nokia India, D. Shivakumar, Nokia is working on a 12 month timeline to release its first set of Windows Phone smartphones.

A 2012 release date likely means that the handsets would run the next version of Windows Phone 7, aka Mango, which is supposed to be made available to manufacturers in late 2011.

According to Shivakumar, the Nokia-Microsoft partnership should bring new life to the fledgling smartphone OS, which made up only 3% of total wordwide smartphone sales at the end of 2010. Nokia’s flailing Symbian smartphones held a strong 31% of the global market that same quarter.

“Microsoft has been looking for a strong hardware partner, but they have been on phones [platforms] which have not given them that strength. With Nokia, suddenly the scales are huge.”

In February, Nokia announced it would be teaming up with Microsoft to “transform the company.” The move meant that Nokia would be abandoning Symbian in favor of Windows Phone 7 and future Windows Phone installments, much to the chagrin of its developers.

Nokia still plans to release about 20 Symbian smartphones in 2011 out of the 40-50 total new models it’ll be launching.

The Finnish company plans to follow a two-year time frame to complete the transition to Windows Phone-only handsets.

In the mean time, Nokia has redirected its primary business strategy to reach the 3.2 billion people who don’t currently own mobile phones, and the other nearly 3 million who can’t or don’t access the Internet on their devices, while Apple and other smartphone manufacturers vie for the high-end spectrum of tech power users.

Nokia’s First Windows Phone to be Released in a Year [DNA via Slashgear]


Bloomberg: Microsoft to pay Nokia ‘more than $1 billion’ to make Windows Phones

Though neither Nokia nor CEO Stephen Elop ever said there was an exchange of billions of dollars as a part of the company’s tie-up with Microsoft for the Windows Phone platform, Bloomberg is sourcing “two people with knowledge of the terms” in saying that something in excess of $1 billion is flowing from Redmond to Espoo. Though the deal isn’t yet finalized — Elop said as much back at MWC — it’d apparently call for Microsoft to pay out at least some of the cash upfront with Nokia sending cash in the other direction for device licenses. Interestingly, the deal is said to give Microsoft access to parts of Nokia’s expansive patent portfolio — and they’ll have it for quite some time, too: the contract’s apparently going to be good for “more than five years.” That’s more than most marriages, it seems (and roughly as expensive).

Bloomberg: Microsoft to pay Nokia ‘more than $1 billion’ to make Windows Phones originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 16:46:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony Ericsson Windows Phone 7 device said to be just an ‘old prototype’

Get your hopes up about that Sony Ericsson Windows Phone 7 slider that surfaced over the weekend? Well, then we’re afraid we’ve got a bit of bad news. According to Mobile Review’s Eldar Murtazin, it’s just an “old prototype that was canceled last year.” As we mentioned previously, however, that shouldn’t exactly come as a huge surprise, considering that Sony Ericsson has repeatedly stated that a move to Windows Phone 7 is highly unlikely given the company’s commitment to Android, and given the fact that we’ve already heard of a since-scrapped WP7 prototype that sounds suspiciously like the one pictured above.

Sony Ericsson Windows Phone 7 device said to be just an ‘old prototype’ originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 07 Mar 2011 13:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink SlashGear  |  source@mobireview (Twitter)  | Email this | Comments