Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft’s been playing it really cool with the nascent Windows Phone 7 hacker community so far, which is winning them friends in all sorts of important places — not the least of which is the ChevronWP7 team itself. The first guys to split the platform open for homebrew apps were recently invited up to Redmond for a powwow with the guys in charge, and it seems the meetings were fruitful to say the least; though much of what they saw was under NDA, they say they’re “genuinely excited” by what Microsoft has in the works. Furthermore, Microsoft was kind enough to give the team a heads-up that an upcoming platform update would break the existing ChevronWP7 tool, though they say they’re “collaborating with Microsoft on an interim solution that will continue to support homebrew developments after the update.” Considering that they’ve already reached out to jailbreaker extraordinaire Geohot as well, it’s clear that Microsoft doesn’t believe this is a black-and-white situation — the ChevronWP7 guys seem to think homebrew has a place somewhere in the platform’s future, it just remains to be seen how that’s going to play out.

Windows Phone 7 jailbreak devs ‘genuinely excited’ by Microsoft’s roadmap originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 12:08:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You’ve seen Windows Phone 7 and Android both ported to the stately HTC HD2, now how about having them on the same device at the same time? Well, not literally at the same time, that’d be all sorts of confusing, but the restless souls over at xda-developers have figured out multiple ways to install both WP7 and Android on the HD2 while using the same SD card. We’ve looked at them and none of the methods seem particularly trivial or, you know, easy, but then what would be the point of a dual-boot solution if everyone could just up and do it? Detailed instructions await at the source link.

[Thanks, engadgeteer]

Continue reading HTC HD2 can now dual-boot Windows Phone 7 and Android, promises to love them equally

HTC HD2 can now dual-boot Windows Phone 7 and Android, promises to love them equally originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 Jan 2011 04:21:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Okay, so the WP7 hacking community may not be quite as active as that working tirelessly to keep every facet of Android devices splayed to the breeze, but that’s not to say there isn’t a skilled group of tinkerers doing their best on Microsoft’s best. ChevronWP7 is a clear example of that, and though it’s been officially pulled it is still quite certainly being used. Now its functionality has been extended with a second hack that enables you to use Zune to sync your HTC handset without it getting all locked up tight again. You can find all the details on the other end of the source link below, but we’ll go ahead and warn you that as soon as the next WP7 version drops this particular unlock will be disabled. Then it’ll be on to the next one.

How to keep your unlocked HTC WP7 device from re-locking after every sync originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 20 Jan 2011 12:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tired of your Windows Phone 7 device sending and receiving random bouts of data? Well, Microsoft is, too — and they’ve started to reach some conclusions from that investigation opened a few days ago. Apparently, there’s a “third party” that’s responsible for the misbehavior, and Redmond’s already reached out to help ’em make the necessary fixes; the story isn’t necessarily over, though, because they’re still “investigating additional potential root causes,” which we presume could involve the operating system itself. As for the third party, it seems a “small” number of customers are affected, which probably explains why it’s taken this long for the complaints to come to a rolling boil. Here’s the full statement:

“We have determined that a third-party solution commonly accessed from Windows Phones is configured in a manner that potentially causes larger than expected data downloads. We are in contact with the third party to assist them in making the necessary fixes, and are also pursuing potential workarounds to address the configuration issue in case those are needed. At this point in our investigation, we believe this is responsible for most of the reported incidents.

We are investigating additional potential root causes for the remainder of the reports.

A small (low single-digit) percentage of Windows Phone customers have reported being affected.

We are continuing to investigate this issue and will update with additional information and guidance as it becomes available.”

Microsoft tracks down ‘phantom data’ bug in Windows Phone 7, points finger at unnamed third party originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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To be a jailbreaker means different things depending on the device that you’re busy hacking preinstalled walls from. If you’re fiddling with consoles, a legal team would come highly recommended, but if you’re tweaking mobile code, at least Windows Phone mobile code, you’re in for a much sweeter ride. The ChevronWP7 guys that brought us the first jailbreak of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 are currently in Redmond having a sitdown and a frank exchange of views with WP7 dev experience director Brandon Watson, and the amicable nature of their discourse has been evidenced by the image above. Microsoft is clearly taking a light-hearted and community-friendly approach to handling the (now inevitable) efforts at disabling limitations to its software and we can only congratulate its mobile team for doing so.

[Thanks, Tasos]

Update: Looks like Microsoft’s softie approach really is working. Shortly after the jolly news, notorious hacker Geohot announced on Twitter that he’s going to treat himself to a WP7 device; but before long, Redmond’s already reached out to offer him a free handset. Any bets on MuscleNerd hitting the tweet button next? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Visualized: the glamorous lifestyles of WP7 jailbreakers (update: Geohot crashes the party) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 03:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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