MS releases new Windows Phone 7 dev tools, we take ’em for a spin and you can too (video)

Windows Phone 7 developers get a new release, we take for a spin, and you can too! (video)MS releases new Windows Phone 7 dev tools, we take 'em for a spin and you can too (video)

Hey, remember how Microsoft released a very limited version of the Windows Phone 7 binaries for developers, and then it took about 34 seconds for someone to unlock them to open up all their hidden goodness? Well, MS has just the delivered an updated set of tools for developers to help them get a little closer to making millions on the Maketplace, and yet again it took no time at all for that release to be unlocked This time there are a few new goodies to take a look at and if you’d like to take a peek, and learn how to try them out for yourself, click on through.

Continue reading MS releases new Windows Phone 7 dev tools, we take ’em for a spin and you can too (video)

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MS releases new Windows Phone 7 dev tools, we take ’em for a spin and you can too (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 02 May 2010 12:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  sourceThe Windows Blog, xda-developers forum  | Email this | Comments

Dell’s Lightning, Thunder, Flash, Smoke and more: rounding up a storm of mobile leaks

You might have missed it if you were sleeping, but we broke open a huge treasure trove of leaked Dell mobile devices last night, including the high-end Lightning Windows Phone 7 slider and Thunder Android set. We also got wind of the mid-range Flash and Smoke Android phones, as well as the Looking Glass seven-inch Android tablet, and to round things out we scored more details on the Aero and Streak. Yeah, it was a hell of a night, but we’ve got it all rounded up for you right here, so click on through if you missed anything!


Lightning: the ultimate
Windows Phone 7

Thunder: 4.1-inch OLED,
Android, Hulu app

Flash: Android Froyo
in ‘dramatic’ package


Smoke:
‘Like a Pixi
but awesome’

Looking Glass:
7-inch tablet
with Tegra 2

Streak:
Android 2.1
in September

Aero: Spec’d

Dell’s mobile
outlook

Dell’s Lightning, Thunder, Flash, Smoke and more: rounding up a storm of mobile leaks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Dell Lightning: the ultimate Windows Phone 7 device leaks out

Hot damn, people. The mother of all Dell leaks just dropped into our laps, and the absolute highlight has to be the Lightning, a Windows Phone 7 portrait slider. That’s right — a portrait slider. The renders on these slides look slick as hell, but they’re no match for the spec sheet, which looks even better: 1GHz QSD8250 Snapdragon processor, WVGA 4.1-inch OLED display, AT&T and T-Mobile 3G, five megapixel autofocus camera, 1GB of flash with 512MB RAM plus 8GB of storage on a MicroSD card (non-user-replaceable, we’re assuming), GPS, accelerometer, compass, FM radio, and full Flash support including video playback. We’ll see what happens with that — the ship date is pegged at Q4, indicating this is a WP7 launch device, and Microsoft’s told us Flash won’t make it into the OS initially. Here’s the real kicker, though — other slides in the deck indicate this thing is getting an upgrade to LTE in Q4 of 2011. Are we stoked? Yes, you might say that. Check out all the slides in the gallery below, and check out the rest of this storm of leaks right here.

Dell Lightning: the ultimate Windows Phone 7 device leaks out originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 21 Apr 2010 23:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Switched On: Kin dread spirit

Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology.

When deciding how to bring technologies to market, companies face the decision of whether to offer them in its own products, pursuing a strategy of vertical integration, or license constituent elements for inclusion in others’ products. In the wireless operating system space, Apple, RIM and Palm (since Web OS) have chosen the former strategy while Symbian, Google (via Android and Chrome OS) and Microsoft have generally pursued the latter. It is difficult, if not unwise, for a licensing company to compete with its partners. Attempting to avoid this dynamic led to the disastrous split of Palm, Inc. into the PalmSource software company and PalmOne hardware company back in 2003. With the imminent release of its teen-targeted, social networking handset, though, Microsoft is seeking to have its Kin and eat it, too.

Continue reading Switched On: Kin dread spirit

Switched On: Kin dread spirit originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft One and Two Project Pink phones appear in Verizon database? (updated)

What’s this? Two devices apparently of Microsoft origin in Verizon’s database prefixed by MSONE and MSTWO on the eve of Microsoft’s big presser — an event widely thought (and even announced) to be the unveiling of Project Pink. We’re also seeing Sharp, the Sidekick manufacturer named on the Turtle and Pure looking handsets that passed through the FCC. Really though, “One” and “Two?” Surely those words are just placeholders awaiting today’s event before getting properly named, right? Who knows… when you’re believed to be launching a competing platform against your own Windows Phone 7 OS while simultaneously keeping the WinMo 6.x dreams alive for businesses, hell, anything goes.

Update: 9 to 5 Mac is suggesting that the actual retail names of the devices will be Kin. As in next of, as in family. Since the company has an event in just a few hours, we’ll obviously know for certain very soon, but it does look likely given the use of Kin in the listing above.

Microsoft One and Two Project Pink phones appear in Verizon database? (updated) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Apr 2010 06:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 7 is the new name, ‘Series’ gets voted off island

Regardless of how you feel about Microsoft’s rejuvenated mobile push this year, hatred of the “Windows Phone 7 Series” moniker has been nearly universal — it’s too long, it trips you up every time you try to say it (seriously, just listen to any of our podcasts), and the “Series” bit doesn’t make a whole lot of sense anyhow. Happily, Microsoft has heard the world loud and clear on this one, officially changing the name today to the simpler, happier, more logical “Windows Phone 7.” The branding move doesn’t have any technical or strategic significance, as far as we can tell — it truly is just a name change, that’s all — so you can expect the same software to launch later this year that we’ve already been anticipating… you just won’t have to deal with a tongue twister every time you’re trying to tell a friend about it.

Windows Phone 7 is the new name, ‘Series’ gets voted off island originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 02 Apr 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft seeking patent for Windows Phone 7 Series panoramic GUI

The US Patents and Trademark Office has today made public a Microsoft patent application (serial no. 240,729) related to the graphical user interface found on the hotly anticipated Windows Phone 7 Series mobile OS. Filed in September 2008, this application describes a “contiguous background” that extends beyond the dimensions of the screen (either vertically or horizontally, but not both) with anchored “mixed-media” elements being littered atop it — all of which is to be served on a “media-playing device.” That should sound pretty familiar, given that it’s the central navigational concept of both Windows Phone 7 and the Zune HD, and as such it makes a lot of sense for Microsoft to seek to legally protect its uniqueness. Before you start wondering about potential conflicts with other UIs, take note that this requires a continuous graphical background rather than a tiled or repeating image, plus space-orientating graphical elements, which should make it sufficiently nuanced to avoid any more patently unnecessary squabbles should Microsoft’s claims be validated by the USPTO.

Microsoft seeking patent for Windows Phone 7 Series panoramic GUI originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 01 Apr 2010 21:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Omnimo: desktop Windows given fashion makeover with Phone 7 Series flair

Can’t wait for Windows Phone 7 Series, but can’t hack the emulator, either? Don’t lose hope, Windows junkies — you can still bring some semblance of WP7S order into your life with this Metro UI-inspired desktop HUD. Based on the open-source desktop customization platform Rainmeter, the “Omnimo UI” will overlay your desktop with a minimalist, tiled interface not unlike the one you’ve been drooling over for weeks, with live hooks into many useful services (including Gmail, iTunes, Steam, Twitter and SpeedFan) as well as the usual widgets and a host of program shortcuts. The best news of all? It’s available now for all versions of Windows since XP, completely free of charge; simply follow the source links or flit over to Lifehacker, where good folks will teach you how it’s done.

Omnimo: desktop Windows given fashion makeover with Phone 7 Series flair originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:48:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sling working on player for iPad, Windows Phone 7 Series

Looks like Zatz got the goods from the folks at Sling, who have a few interesting tidbits currently in the development pipe. Zatz not Funny is reporting that Sling’s Mobile Product Marketing Manager, Dave Eyler, has told him that the company is “actively moving towards H.264” and Silverlight support, as well as delivering streaming with resolutions beyond the current 320×240. Though there are no firm details or timelines yet, this means we should definitely be expecting SlingPlayer Mobile versions for the iPad and Windows Phone 7 Series. While Sling says it won’t have anything ready for the iPad’s launch, we’ve got our fingers crossed that we’ll see it soon.

Sling working on player for iPad, Windows Phone 7 Series originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 10:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Phone 7 Series screwed and chopped onto HTC Touch Diamond (video)

If there’s any better argument for rigid spec requirements for Windows Phone 7 Series hardware, it’s this video of an HTC Touch Diamond running the OS at an especially syrupy pace. Indeed, the lag is so severe that it could very well be some trickery in the form of a RDP client running on a 7 Series emulator, which is in turn running on a PC — which, now that we think of it, is a pretty good possibility. Whichever way they achieved this feat, it’s certainly not a recipe for a viable handset. But we do know that these sort of “ports” are only going to increase as time goes on. See for yourself after the break.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Update: Sure enough, the author of the video has fessed up that this is an RDP hack job — in other words, it has absolutely zero bearing on how WinPho 7 would actually perform in some post-apocalyptic future where it’s been successfully ported to the Touch Diamond (that being said, we certainly wouldn’t be surprised if the herky-jerky action ends up being just about accurate).

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 Series screwed and chopped onto HTC Touch Diamond (video)

Windows Phone 7 Series screwed and chopped onto HTC Touch Diamond (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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