Hasta La Gadget!

Well, well — what have we here? For avid users of Windows Phone 7, you no doubt remember the hubbub last year surrounding the so-called difficulties with Microsoft’s latest and greatest mobile OS accepting microSD cards. We’d been pounded with news of “WP7 certified microSD cards,” but even now, they’re more ghost than reality. That said, it looks as if the tables are turning, with an nondescript AT&T store grabbing fresh stock of “certified” 8GB Class 4 microSDHC cards. Based on the packaging, it’s fairly clear that Microsoft’s taking the lead here, but SanDisk has been knighted to provide the hardware. $32 will soon get you a card that doesn’t destroy itself upon insertion in your Samsung Focus, and we’re guessing that they’ll be available to purchase sooner rather than later. So, you sizing up, or what?

[Thanks, Anonymous]

Windows Phone 7-certified microSD cards emerge at AT&T stores: $32 for 8GB originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 16:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The minimum specs for Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS have taken a nice bump upwards, it has been revealed at this year’s MIX. Current WP7 handsets are all running the Qualcomm MSM8x50 Snapdragon, the original 1GHz chip with Adreno 200 graphics, but Microsoft has now upgraded the requirement to Qualcomm’s second-gen part, the MSM8x55 and the more powerful Adreno 205 GPU. That’s already seen widespread adoption among devices like the HTC Thunderbolt and Xperia Play, but Microsoft isn’t content with just one option and is also throwing in Qualcomm’s MSM7x30, a fine multimedia performer that’s already hit the market inside the T-Mobile G2. The latter part also comes with Adreno 205, making it a constant of future Windows Phone devices, while the option to include a gyroscope has also been provisioned for. Video of the MIX 11 session explaining these tweaks and much more about WP7 architecture can be found after the break.

Continue reading Microsoft’s latest WP7 chassis spec includes second-gen Snapdragon, optional gyroscope

Microsoft’s latest WP7 chassis spec includes second-gen Snapdragon, optional gyroscope originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 13:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“Windows Phone 7 is the most aggressively different, fresh approach to a phone interface since the iPhone.” We published those words half a year ago, hoping WP7 would be a radical firebrand in phone land. But it’s stalled. We’re disappointed. More »

Silverlight started as just a humble Flash competitor and now, well, it’s all grown up. Almost, anyway. It’s a fundamental part of the Windows Phone 7 ecosphere and word on the street is that it’s about to become a fundamental part of the Xbox 360 world as well — or a part, at least. Microsoft’s MIX 11 developer event kicks off next week and rumor has it that Microsoft will unload a new tier of Silverlight compatibility enabling apps on the company’s console and there’s the potential for writing apps that could run both on phones and on the console. That sounds like some utopian dream-world of the future, where wavey-arm Kinect antics replace touchscreen swipes, but the bigger question is does the Xbox 360 really need another app store? Will this co-exist with the XNA-developed titles or supersede them? Is this why Xbox developer boxes just got a lot cheaper? Might we finally get Angry Birds on our HDTVs? Such delicious ponderings.

Silverlight coming to Xbox, bringing WP7 games along with it? originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 05 Apr 2011 10:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though it was teased late last year — on the same day that HTC announced its very first Windows Phone 7 devices, in fact — the company’s QWERTY-packing 7 Pro has taken its sweet time to make it to American airwaves; in the process, it’s gone through a name change and picked up the first big platform update from Microsoft. The phone we now know as the Arrive is finally available from Sprint, becoming the first Windows Phone 7 device available on a CDMA network. These days, it’s pretty unusual for an HTC handset — or a handset on any American carrier, really, regardless of manufacturer — to take this long to make it to subscribers’ hands after announcement, but in this case, Sprint’s hands were tied: Microsoft simply didn’t support CDMA initially, which explains why both AT&T and T-Mobile have been enjoying a selection of models from Samsung, LG, Dell, and HTC alike while Sprint and Verizon have been patiently twiddling their thumbs.

The CDMA dry spell’s over, though; the Arrive marks just the first of what should be several Redmond-powered phones over the course of 2011. Is it a fitting first effort? And how does it fare against the GSM models that beat it to market? Read on.

Continue reading HTC Arrive review

HTC Arrive review originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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