Verizon won’t sell Windows Phone 7 until 2011

Uh, oh, looks like Verizon has indeed distanced itself from Microsoft after the Kin debacle: the carrier confirmed to Bloomberg Businessweek today that it won’t offer any Windows Phone 7 devices at launch this year, instead waiting until 2011 to support the new OS. That certainly ties right in with AT&T’s claims that it’ll be the “premier carrier” for Windows Phone 7 and the flood of Blue-tinted device leaks we’ve seen, but it also leaves Microsoft in a seemingly tough spot to start — we haven’t heard more than the slightest whisper about WP7 devices on Sprint or T-Mobile yet, and until we do it’s going to be the iPhone and WP7 head-to-head on Ma Bell while Android continues to dig in everywhere else. We’ll see — this launch can’t come quickly enough.

Verizon won’t sell Windows Phone 7 until 2011 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 16:36:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink PhoneScoop  |  sourceBloomberg Businessweek  | Email this | Comments

Microsoft employee profile hints at possible Acer Windows Phone 7 device

Well, this is certainly curious. What you’re looking at above is a snippet from the LinkedIn profile for a Microsoft Hardware Program Manager who seems to have not only worked on Windows Phone 7 devices from ASUS, LG and Samsung, but one from Acer as well — the same Acer that’s so far been out of the Windows Phone 7 mix. Just as curious is the fact that the device in question is the Acer M900, which actually started out life as a Windows Mobile phone before morphing into the Android-based InstintQ / Moment — could another shift (or revision, perhaps) be in store? Of course, this is still far from an official confirmation, and it also simply mean that Acer had worked on a WP7 device but ultimately abandoned the idea. Either way, it would be the first time that a bit of Windows Phone 7 news leaked out on LinkedIn.

Microsoft employee profile hints at possible Acer Windows Phone 7 device originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 14:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phone Arena  |  sourceWMPoweruser.com  | Email this | Comments

Is this HTC Sense on Windows Phone 7? (update: and is this HTC’s Hub?)

Whoa, Nelly! Just 24 hours after we caught wind of a leaked webOS 2.0 video, in flies this. If the “Confidential use only” watermark is accurate, the video embedded after the break is HTC’s Sense overlay on Windows Phone 7. If you’ll recall, we finally heard that Sense would indeed be hitting Microsoft’s forthcoming mobile OS after all back in July, but we’ve yet to see any real indication of what the end product would look like. Until now, of course. With “the holidays” rapidly approaching and Redmond holding funerals for rival operating systems, there’s a better-than-average chance that this is legitimate. Frankly, we’re digging what we’re seeing thus far, but is it wrong to wish that even more panels were shown off?

Update: And what’s this? Yet another video has fallen into our laps, and it’s featuring an HTC handset we’ve never seen before. Pocket PT is calling it the Hub (while tipster Eric suggests it may be the Mozart), suggesting that it’s also running Sense atop Windows Phone 7 in the video after the break. When it rains, right?

[Thanks, Sid and Pedro]

Continue reading Is this HTC Sense on Windows Phone 7? (update: and is this HTC’s Hub?)

Is this HTC Sense on Windows Phone 7? (update: and is this HTC’s Hub?) originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 13:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft demoes Twitter and Netflix apps for Windows Phone 7, releases final dev tools

Digg
Coming this holiday season to a Windows Phone 7 phone near you: Twitter, Netflix, Flixster, OpenTable, and Travelocity apps. The adroit coders behind those slices of software have managed to put together enough eye candy for Microsoft to highlight them as part of its announcement that the WP7 developer tools have been finalized. It doesn’t sound like anything dramatic has changed from the beta — which seems fitting given how close to the actual launch we now are — but a new Bing Maps Control SDK has been issued, allowing access to a cornucopia of map-related coding opportunities. We’re sure you’re just over the moon about that. Go past the break for a couple of Microsoft’s demo vids as well as a little Seesmic teaser or click the source for more.

Continue reading Microsoft demoes Twitter and Netflix apps for Windows Phone 7, releases final dev tools

Microsoft demoes Twitter and Netflix apps for Windows Phone 7, releases final dev tools originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 12:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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HTC HD7 resurfaces on a T-Mobile accessories list, could be with us by November 1

Aha! The phone you heard about here first has made its second document-based appearance, this time crossing the Atlantic and showing up on a T-Mobile inventory sheet. We can apparently look forward to accessorizing our HD7s with a leather sleeve, a “charge shell,” a pair of different screen protectors, and two flexible protective covers made by Speck. Most of these parts are expected to arrive on November 1, and since accessories aren’t much good without something to put them on, we can probably expect that to mean the HD7 will be dropping some time before November. It’s expected on October 18 in the UK, which dovetails neatly with the idea of it being a headline Windows Phone 7 device from HTC — that’s about the time Microsoft promised WP7’s European launch.

As to that “Dell Claire” you see near the top, we’re hearing it’s the T-Mo version of the Dell Streak.

[Thanks, John and Jakub]

HTC HD7 resurfaces on a T-Mobile accessories list, could be with us by November 1 originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 16 Sep 2010 06:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink MobileTechWorld  |  sourceTmoNews  | Email this | Comments

Nokia software engineer says ‘hardware rules,’ software follows

Care for a little more insight into Nokia’s smartphone development habits? In an email to our pal John Gruber, a former Nokia software engineer has laid out his perspective on why the Finnish phone maker seems to be struggling in that lucrative high-end smartphone market:

“Here’s the problem: Hardware Rules at Nokia. The software is written by the software groups inside of Nokia, and it is then given to the hardware group, which gets to decide what software goes on the device, and the environment in which it runs. All schedules are driven by the hardware timelines. It was not uncommon for us to give them code that ran perfectly by their own test, only to have them do things like reduce the available memory for the software to 25% the specified allocation, and then point the finger back at software when things failed in the field.”

He goes on to say that Nokia’s haughtiness extended to the point of turning an assessment of the iPhone’s relative strengths into a list of reasons why it wouldn’t succeed, which — considering that the doc was compiled at around the 3GS’ launch — seems like a distinctly foolish thing to do. The really interesting bit here, though, is where that leaves Nokia today. As far as its Design chief Marko Ahtisaari is concerned, the future’s MeeGo all the way, but that new platform was nowhere to be seen at Nokia World this year, and Gruber raises the question of whether Nokia shouldn’t perhaps switch to the already ubiquitous Android or soon-to-be-everywhere Windows Phone 7. Neither makes a ton of sense on the surface, as Nokia’s proud tradition doesn’t exactly mesh with dancing to Microsoft’s stringent spec tune or becoming yet another Android phone manufacturer. But in the current fast-moving market, a good smartphone software platform today might just be better than a great one tomorrow — more to the point, we probably wouldn’t be pondering this if Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo was still in charge, but now that a software guy has finally taken the helm, maybe the winds of change might blow once more in Espoo?

Nokia software engineer says ‘hardware rules,’ software follows originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 17:48:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceDaring Fireball  | Email this | Comments

Windows Phone 7 slides into TV spot, Rachel Zoe’s life

If you knew anything about The Rachel Zoe Project, you’d know that dear Rachel never, ever leaves home without her BlackBerry. Apparently, her comforting hubby — known affectionately as Rodger Berman — isn’t going far without his unbranded Windows Phone 7 device (and a little help from Bing, naturally). Curiously enough, the date on the screen shows July, so there’s a halfway decent chance the software they’re playing with is of the pre-production variety… particularly since he’s wielding a Samsung Omnia i9810-based prototype. Oh, and as you can see above, we’re guessing he’s relying on WiFi or some off-camera magic to actually pull anything up. Hard to get 3G in Los Angeles, especially when your phone is missing its SIM card. At any rate, the spot in full is embedded just past the break, and just between us, we get the feeling this is just the first of many more to come.

[Thanks, Michael]

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 slides into TV spot, Rachel Zoe’s life

Windows Phone 7 slides into TV spot, Rachel Zoe’s life originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:40:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung’s i8700 Windows Phone 7 handset goes through the video leak ritual

It’s well known around these parts that if you aspire to be a highly desirable smartphone, you have to leak out in three clearly delineated stages: pictures, video, and specs. We’ve seen the i8700 a couple of times already now, and the specs can probably be extrapolated from Windows Phone 7’s stringent hardware profiles, but the video, that was the bit that was missing. Until now, of course. Slide past the break to see it smoothly sailing through the now familiar WP7 interface. The video’s focus is soft, but it won’t get in the way of seeing some truly buttery processing of touch input.

[Thanks, Eggo]

Continue reading Samsung’s i8700 Windows Phone 7 handset goes through the video leak ritual

Samsung’s i8700 Windows Phone 7 handset goes through the video leak ritual originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 14 Sep 2010 04:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourcewap camer (DailyMotion)  | Email this | Comments

Exclusive: Galaxy Tab, red / white BlackBerry Torch and Samsung Focus hitting AT&T in Q4

Mmm, delicious. That’s the feeling we’re left with after being inundated with yet another round of AT&T leaks, this time giving us insight at a few flagship devices on tap for the carrier’s holiday push. First up is the Galaxy Tab — an Android 2.2-based tablet that we had previously heard rumored for AT&T’s airwaves. Thanks to a branded snapshot from the carrier’s internals, we can confirm that the Tab will indeed be sold on Ma Bell, and it (along with three other new Android devices) will ship “prior to December.” Moving on, we’ve got even more confirmation that the Samsung Cetus (i917) will be one of the operator’s first Windows Phone 7 devices, and it looks as if a heretofore unheard of Samsung Focus and HTC Surround will be joining it. Better still, we’ve got it on good authority that three other WP7 handsets will be splashing down alongside those others in time for the holidays. As for the remaining BlackBerry loyalists, AT&T will be tempting you with a trio of limited run Torch motifs coming in “mid to late November,” with an all-white version, red / black model and olive colored edition on tap. We’ll be keeping an ear to the ground for more, naturally.

Exclusive: Galaxy Tab, red / white BlackBerry Torch and Samsung Focus hitting AT&T in Q4 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 17:12:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft bringing Windows Phone 7 to some languages without Xbox Live or Zune?

Microsoft has already gone on record saying that Windows Phone 7 will be initially launching in just five languages, all with essentially the same easy character set — English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish — but they’re undoubtedly champing at the bit to ramp that list up to a few more. In fact, the latest word on the street is that they’re going to be cutting a bunch of corners on those additional tongues, presumably in an effort to get them on shelves sooner rather than later. Not a bad strategy, perhaps, but the rumored list of features on the chopping block is an ugly one: Xbox Live support, Zune functionality, and “limited” Windows Phone Marketplace capability, just to name a few, and only the browser and email views will actually support the native character sets; phone menus and keyboards will initially be in one of the “big five.” As much as we’d like to see WP7 in as many places as possible right away, we’d have to say this is too great a sacrifice if true — all the best stuff would be gone. Keep chugging, guys.

Microsoft bringing Windows Phone 7 to some languages without Xbox Live or Zune? originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 07:53:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phone Arena  |  sourceWMExperts  | Email this | Comments