Hasta La Gadget!

Well, that settles that. Not that we really expected Microsoft to branch out and try the whole “let’s make a phone!” thing again — particularly after the Kin debacle ended the way it did — but the company’s own Tivanka Ellawala just said as much at an investor conference in San Francisco. For those unaware, Mr. Ellawala is the company’s CFO for the Mobile Communications Business, and we have all ideas he’s still reeling from lost investments related to Kin. Answering a question about rumors surrounding a future Microsoft-built phone, he stated: “We are in the software business and that is where our business will be focused.” He went on to stress the importance and magnitude of Windows Phone 7, which he says will spearhead demand for data services and will be “strong on the gaming side.” Honestly, we aren’t too bummed out — we’d rather the engineers in Redmond stick to making the best mobile OS they can, while the dudes and dudettes at HTC, Samsung and LG keep on cranking out the drool-worthy hardware. But mostly we’re just terrified of the Kin 2.

Microsoft’s Tivanka Ellawala: no plans to develop more phone hardware originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 20:13:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’ve been holding yourself back during these early rounds of the smartphone wars in anticipation of Windows Phone 7, your wait just got a tiny bit shorter. Today Microsoft is announcing that its fancy new mobile operating system has been released to manufacturing, making the idea of you holding an actual WP7 device in your hands that much closer to reality. The finished product is now rolling out to partners around the world where it will be getting carrier and manufacturer tweaks and additions, and going through the kind of pre-launch testing you would expect for a release of this scale. If you had any doubt that the Windows Phone 7 onslaught was close at hand, feel free to abandon them now.

Furthermore, the folks on the 7 team have managed to cram a few last minute goodies into the OS, one of which we’re particularly excited about. As you probably know from our in-depth preview of an early version of the software, we had a lot of issues with overflowing Facebook contacts in our phone. Microsoft has now solved that problem by enabling a contact filter system which looks for pre-existing matches to your Facebook contacts. If it doesn’t find a match, it doesn’t pull that contact into your address book (kind of like how Android filters Facebook friends). It’s a welcome addition and should make the Facebook / Windows Phone 7 combo a lot more palatable to a lot of people. Furthermore, Microsoft has added functionality into the People Hub which will allow you to “like” someone’s posts, and you’ll be able to comment directly onto someone’s Wall right in the hub. The company has also made tweaks and fixes focusing on feature discoverability (another issue we pointed out in the early look), along with the expected set of polishing and finish you’d expect from a product that’s gone gold master.

Windows Phone 7 goes gold master, begins rolling out to partners for final launch preparations originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’ve known that proper Xbox Live gaming (powered by XNA) was coming to Windows Phone 7 devices, but we’d yet to see any of that thumb-spraining goodness in action besides a brief demo and a few developer videos. Well, Microsoft has finally come clean with details about its launch strategy for the platform, and from where we sit, it’s definitely looking pretty promising. First off, the company has announced a full list of launch titles for WP7 handsets, including some familiar names and franchises like Castlevania, Halo: Waypoint, Star Wars, Crackdown, and Guitar Hero, alongside a handful of newer properties like the ultra-cute ilomilo, produced in-house by Microsoft Game Studios. In total, the company will launch with over 60 game titles, with new offerings appearing every week in the Xbox Live Marketplace, just like its big brother console version. We’ve got all the details, a full list of the launch titles, and our hands-on preview after the break — so read on to get the scoop!

Continue reading Xbox Live launch titles for Windows Phone 7 finally revealed, we’ve got the full preview

Xbox Live launch titles for Windows Phone 7 finally revealed, we’ve got the full preview originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Aug 2010 23:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mary Jo Foley had us all fired up about the potential of Microsoft’s mysterious Menlo, but it appears that the project’s not yet a groundbreaking mobile OS — it’s just a prototype slate. Menlo V1 made its cameo debut in a Microsoft Research paper destined for MobileHCI 2010, where it’s listed as a 4.1-inch device with a 800 x 480 capacitive touch screen, a 3-axis accelerometer (and a barometer, for some reason) all running on the comparatively boring Windows CE 6.0 R2. According to the paper, which tested out a Silverlight-based app that allowed users to follow a trail of virtual breadcrumbs back to their parked car, the device didn’t even have a magnetometer at the time of testing — thus the throwback compass you see immediately above — and it’s actually never referred to as a phone. We’ll keep you abreast of any future developments, but even if the project were leagues more exciting we’re not sure if we’d put our hearts on the line. Once burned, twice shy.

Microsoft’s Menlo is a Windows CE device, nothing to see here folks originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 09 Aug 2010 09:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Shameless isn’t even the word for it. While some companies try to get away with calling themselves Nokla or BlockBerry, these Chinese KIRFers have no qualms about copying HTC’s EVO 4G in its entirety (externally, anyhow). Yes, that includes the Sprint insignia and the promise of 4G, both of which are, of course, amusingly untrue. Not only do you not get that supersonic WiMAX radio, you also miss out on Android, as this EVO rides the WinMo 6.5 gravy train. There’s also no 8 megapixel camera, no 720p video, and no mini-HDMI output. But you still get a 4.3-inch, 800 x 480 screen and one of the best copy-and-paste KIRF jobs we’ve seen to date. See the back of this skilled imitator after the break.

Continue reading Keepin’ it real fake: EVO 4G Shanzai edition

Keepin’ it real fake: EVO 4G Shanzai edition originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 04 Aug 2010 07:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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