Hasta La Gadget!

The biggest chunk of eye candy we’ve seen out of Microsoft’s MIX10 event so far today has been the unveiling of the significantly-retooled Windows Phone Marketplace that’ll debut in Windows Phone 7 Series — and needless to say, it’s a looker. It’s got support for credit card purchases, operator billing, and ad-supported content — a hot topic right now with Google’s and Apple’s mobile advertising acquisitions — and a try-before-you-buy scheme not unlike Android Market’s policy (though WP7S devs can choose what kind of trial period they want to offer; Android devs have no such option). We’ve been offered some video of the new Marketplace in action, and it looks super polished and well-integrated with the typical WP7S way of getting around — you’re given a “panoramic view” where you can browse categories and titles, see featured items, and get details with ratings, reviews, screen shots, and pricing information. Purchased apps can be pinned to your Quick Launch screen, saving you a couple taps for your favorite and most frequently-used items. Watch the full video after the break — and keep an eye out for the trick “tilting” of menu items based on finger location toward the end of the clip, something we haven’t seen before.

Continue reading Windows Phone Marketplace for Windows Phone 7 Series unveiled

Windows Phone Marketplace for Windows Phone 7 Series unveiled originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We just got a quick at Netflix for Windows Phone 7 Series, one of the third-party apps Microsoft’s showing off here at MIX10, and it looks… well, very Netflixy — it’s red to the bone. Unlike other mobile Netflix apps, this one’s got Watch Instantly support and it looks great — a real testament to the capabilities Microsoft’s bringing to the table with it Silverlight-based dev platform. Video after the break!

Continue reading Netflix prototyped for Windows Phone 7 Series

Netflix prototyped for Windows Phone 7 Series originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 13:27:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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At its dev-focused MIX10 event kicking off today, Microsoft’s closing the loop on some of the Windows Phone 7 Series third-party development details it started sharing in the days leading up to GDC last week — and as you might expect, Silverlight and XNA are the stars of the show. XNA will naturally be the core, critical element of Redmond’s gaming story while Silverlight is serving as a catch-all for the “rich internet applications” that make up much of your other mobile activities for those rare moments when you’re not… you know, blowing up aliens or navigating a race course littered with your opponents’ destroyed vehicles. To that end, Microsoft is kicking things off on the right foot by offering a free package of developer tools to would-be WP7S coders that includes both Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone and the Silverlight-focused Expression Blend for Windows Phone, pretty much everything you need to start building apps in preparation for the platform’s anticipated launch toward the latter part of the year. The beta dev tools are available today.

Developers are going to be treated to a host of must-have services out of the gate, including accelerometer support, location-based APIs using Microsoft’s own Location Service, a newly-announced Microsoft Notification Service for pushing notifications regardless of whether an app is running (sound familiar?), hardware-accelerated video with integrated DRM and support for Microsoft’s Smooth Streaming tech, multitouch, and camera / microphone access.

On a related note, Microsoft has shared some important details on the revised Windows Phone Marketplace (notice the subtle name change) for WP7S-based devices today. The revenue split remains unchanged — 70 percent goes to the publisher, 30 percent to Microsoft — but the developer portal for managing submissions has been “streamlined” and some of the incremental costs associated with it have been killed off; what’s more, students enrolled in the DreamSpark submission will have their registration fees waived altogether. The Marketplace has evolved from an app store to a content “destination,” housing apps, casual and premium Xbox Live games, music, and customized carrier stuff in one spot. We’ll be wandering MIX10 throughout the day, so stay tuned as we get more of the story.

Microsoft tells its Windows Phone 7 Series developer story, tools available today originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 15 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Even though Microsoft’s big MIX event is still days away, the Windows Phone 7 Series development platform is already pretty well defined. It’s also clear that Microsoft wants to keep things tidy for developers by requiring all WP7 phones to meet a certain base-level spec. Now, thanks to a post from Microsoft’s Shawn Hargreaves, we know the display resolution for the first batch of Microsoft’s next generation phones: 480 x 800 (WVGA) pixels at launch, with a future update that will introduce a 320 x 480 (HVGA) native resolution. Dedicated hardware will ensure image scaling across all those pixels without taxing the GPU. That allows game developers, for example, to write to a lower resolution (requiring less horsepower) and then scale up as required while remaining compatible to a variety of screen resolutions.

Now, for those playing along at home, the HD2 getting ready to launch on T-Mobile in the USA is also WVGA and it features a 1GHz Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, Microsoft’s WP7 silicon partner. So we can assume (but not guarantee) that it meets the image scaling hardware requirements described by Hargreaves. Man, if only the HD2 had three-buttons.

[Thanks, Cytrix]

First Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Series devices to boast 480 x 800 pixel displays, HD2 owners sigh originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:37:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Windows Phone 7 Series demo video reveals new apps, screens

Windows Phone 7 Series demo video reveals new apps, screens originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 05 Mar 2010 21:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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