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Windows Phone 7 |OT|

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Steelyuhas said:
Ouch.

Is there any word on any larger ones in the future?

None yet. Lots of reports of people that have succeeded in finding a card that worked, but not many in the 32gb end of the pool.
 
Commodore said:

Again, the certified card I got from At&t is 8gb Sandisk Class 4, so if you can find same card elsewhere it should be OK. I think you can get 8gb Sandisk class 4 for under $10.00 versus $30.00 that A&t is charging. Just make sure you get real one and not a fake one ...

List of working cards from XDA forum

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=834144

Use this list with caution, as the results are based on our short time with the device. Thanks

Confirmed Working(Data remains after soft reset):

Centon
Centon 8GB Class 6

Kingston
Kingston 4GB Class 4
Kingston 16GB Class 4

Microcenter
Microcenter 16GB Class 2

Patriot
Patriot 16GB Class 2

PNY
PNY 8GB Class 4
PNY 16GB Class 2

SanDisk
SanDisk 8GB Class 2
SanDisk 16GB Class 4
 
I just bought the Sandisk 16gb Class 4 from Amazon. I'll give the results on if it works without issue on Wednesday. It's received 4 and 5 star reviews from Focus owners, so that was enough for me to pull the trigger.
 
SeanR1221 said:
Who thinks a Zune player with the Metro UI will be shown at E3 as an Xbox portable?
It would make sense, but Microsoft isn't known for doing thinks that make sense. I'd be surprised if they had a portable Xbox at E3.
 
So, according to this picture, Microsoft will be live streaming their E3 conference to mobile phones as well. Does this include Windows Phone 7 phones? I've never been able to watch any kind of live stream on my WP so I'm curious. :)
 
snap0212 said:
So, according to this picture, Microsoft will be live streaming their E3 conference to mobile phones as well. Does this include Windows Phone 7 phones? I've never been able to watch any kind of live stream on my WP so I'm curious. :)
That's interesting, but I have no idea how it can work on a Windows Phone.
 
snap0212 said:
So, according to this picture, Microsoft will be live streaming their E3 conference to mobile phones as well. Does this include Windows Phone 7 phones? I've never been able to watch any kind of live stream on my WP so I'm curious. :)
looks like it

majornelson twitter said:
You can watch the #Xbox #E3 briefing streamed directly to your mobile (Android, iOS, WinPhone 7 and more) tomorrow from Xbox.mobi
 
Are there any large phone or electronics events coming up in the near future where Microsoft/Nokia may show their next generation of hardware?
 
Tapiozona said:
Are there any large phone or electronics events coming up in the near future where Microsoft/Nokia may show their next generation of hardware?
I can't think of any and Nokia hardware won't be ready for the Mango launch anyway.
 
snap0212 said:
So, according to this picture, Microsoft will be live streaming their E3 conference to mobile phones as well. Does this include Windows Phone 7 phones? I've never been able to watch any kind of live stream on my WP so I'm curious. :)
Awesome, I wonder if they'll use Silverlight to stream on WP7.
 
So I think I completely broke my Captivate (ODIN can't save it, it seems) and I am looking for a new phone. Having experienced both iOS and Android, I wanted to know how WP7 is doing.

How is the pricing?
Wide selection of applications for specific genres? (There are like 10 rss feeds, and twitter apps for android, I like the wider selection)
Will the new Mango update or whatever be coming to existing devices?
Which is the best handset to go with (AT&T contract expires soon-ish, so if I jump ship, the cancellation fee won't be that bad).
How is the update support handled with apps and the handset itself?
Have there been many updates manufacturers for their devices, coming from a Samsung device for Android, their update track record was atrocious.
 
Weenerz said:
So I think I completely broke my Captivate (ODIN can't save it, it seems) and I am looking for a new phone. Having experienced both iOS and Android, I wanted to know how WP7 is doing.

How is the pricing?
Pricing of the phones? I'd say it's been good so far. Microsoft has thrown a lot of internal stuff like XBox games and Microsoft Points into promoting the phone. At this point I wouldn't pay a dime over $50 with a contract for a new phone as aggressively as they've been marketed.

Wide selection of applications for specific genres? (There are like 10 rss feeds, and twitter apps for android, I like the wider selection)
Guess that depends what you're looking for. There are a number of Twitter and RSS apps, for sure. Aside from that there are a number of the "big" apps like Kindle and NetFlix. Twitter will also be integrated into contacts come Mango.

Will the new Mango update or whatever be coming to existing devices?
Yes. All existing phones will get the Mango update.

Which is the best handset to go with (AT&T contract expires soon-ish, so if I jump ship, the cancellation fee won't be that bad).
People seem to like the Samsung Focus the most. Personally I love my Surround, if only because it's a much more solid device physically. I understand why people love the Focus's screen, though. AMOLED really, really shows off WP7's innate beauty.

How is the update support handled with apps and the handset itself?
Apps update much like iOS (never used Android so I don't really know how it's handled there). Anything below a certain MB limit can be updated on your phone. Everything else, phone updates included, runs through the Zune software. Podcasts sync over the air if both devices are connected to the same WiFi network and the phone is plugged in.

Have there been many updates manufacturers for their devices, coming from a Samsung device for Android, their update track record was atrocious.
There's really only been one test so far with the "NoDo" update and it didn't go too well. The problem rested much more with the carriers than the manufacturers, though. Microsoft has promised a more seamless rollout of Mango. I don't think the market will end up nearly as fragmented as Android *fingers crossed*

WP7 is a great experience. At this point I simply can't go back to a grid of Apps, even if there are more of them to download. When Mango hits WP should be very competitive feature-wise. Ahead in some areas, probably behind in some others. I'd recommend going into an AT&T store and trying it out. 5 minutes should give you enough time to let you know if you like the feel of the operating system or not. If you do then go for it; it only gets better.
 
Meant the pricing of apps themselves.

Glad to see that there are a wide range of must-have apps (twitter, facebook, rss readers, etc).

Only thing making me gun shy is the promise of newer devices having better hardware, since the initial launch of WP7 devices have been out for 8 months or so. Are we near a launch of newer hardware? Or will the coming devices be on the same level? (1ghz proc, 512mb ram, etc)?
 
Weenerz said:
Meant the pricing of apps themselves.

Glad to see that there are a wide range of must-have apps (twitter, facebook, rss readers, etc).

Only thing making me gun shy is the promise of newer devices having better hardware, since the initial launch of WP7 devices have been out for 8 months or so. Are we near a launch of newer hardware? Or will the coming devices be on the same level? (1ghz proc, 512mb ram, etc)?

Aside from Xbox Live enabled games, apps seem to be priced roughly the same. Lot of free stuff, lot of $.99 stuff. Microsoft is doing their damnedest to make $2.99 the new $.99 with their Xbox games, though, which always seems to elicit some jeers from the reviewing crowd. All of them have cheevos and and free trials. Mango should see a reworking of the gaming hub that hopefully will better integrate multiplayer.

As to new hardware I would be in the same position that you are. Newer hardware probably won't launch until Fall at the earliest, probably later. If specific specs have been released for those phones I've not seen them.

The real question out there is what Nokia will bring with their first round of offerings. Microsoft has set pretty strict hardware guidelines for their partners so far - whether Nokia is allowed to deviate from those and produce some awesome, truly upscale devices remains to be seen. I imagine they will as WP really needs it's version of the original Droid at the moment in terms of hardware.

I guess it all depends on how much you need cutting edge hardware. The OS is super snappy as it is and will likely remain so even with Mango so it may not be a huge deal depending on what you're looking for. I wouldn't blame you for trying to find a Focus or Surround off of Ebay to tide you over to the first Nokia product, though.
 
Weenerz said:
Which device do you have Anno? I'm looking at a decently priced WP7 HTC Surround on Craigslist, any input on that phone?

That's actually what I have. The slide out speaker is pretty sad, but I guess it's there if you need it. It's certainly a very solid phone - I've dropped the damned thing probably 15 times from chair-height and it's still going strong without a scratch. The camera and the screen are good, if not unremarkable. Battery life isn't bad at least. I usually listen to music about 6 hours a day at work, plus maybe 40 minutes of internet browsing and I always get home with maybe 25-35% battery left. To my knowledge there's no SD card integration so if you need a ton of storage you might want to go with something else. It could exist, though; I've never needed it enough to really care.

I really can't say anything other than it's a decent, mid-tier vessel for a nice OS. If you can grab one for what you think is a decent price to hold you over until later this year or early 2012 I think it's a good idea. If you want a nicer screen with a worse battery and, to me at least, a less solid build, look into a Focus. I've no experience with any of the other WP7 phones unfortunately. The HD7S just debuted and is probably a better phone but would require a new contract.
 
I know it wasn't the most ringing endorsement but I really think you should give the OS a try. Right now that's really the star of the show and videos/pictures don't at all do it justice. I switched over to the Surround day 1 from an iPhone 3GS and wouldn't trade it for anything at this point. I've simply become too dependent on live tiles and the overall experience not to mention stuff like Zune Pass. When Mango hits I truly feel that it'll be a feature complete OS with its own very strong set of advantages that will appeal to a very broad range of people.
 
I watched pocketnow interviewing some MS guy about Mango, and it's very impressive how they pool all of that contacts information into one menu. I most likely will be getting a Surround this weekend when I have time.
 
Joe Belfiore finally tweets and answers some question.

  • Gapless playback won't be in mango
  • They think about support for MS Points, but world wide operator support is more important, so don't expect ms points on windows Phone anytime soon
  • No expanded landscape support in mango
  • Notifications with lights/LEDs are theoretically possible, but it's up to the oem
  • No event viewer in mango, but it might be possible with a 3rd party app
  • 3rd party devs don't have access to the messaging threads

And the most important tweets for some users here:
EvolutionQY7 @joebelfiore will there be any extensions to service availability of Zune and Bing services outside UK and US.

joebelfiore @EvolutionQY7 Yes- many WP7 services will move steps beyond US/UK -- Zunepass, Speech, a few others. Watch for a blog post to explain.


frontieruk @joebelfiore ... any chance that the podcast market will be opened to the uk? or mixview?

joebelfiore @frontieruk At some point -- we are trying to simultaneously add new features and get ALL the work supported around the world.
It looks like we might get some announcement or at least an explanation on the official blog. I don't expect international podcasts in mango, though.

Feel free to ask him some questions. Can't hurt, you know?
http://www.twitter.com/joebelfiore
 
Does anyone have the extended 2150 mAh battery for the HTC trophy? I have been a little underwhelmed with the default battery's life. I haven't gone through a full day of work without it needing to be charged, and there aren't really any places I can leave it charging there so I am strongly considering upgrading. I also read that it comes with a bigger battery cover, so I'm wanting to know how much bulk it actually adds. I really do like how slim the phone is right now and don't like the idea of having a cover that has to stick out. Just a minor issue (I love my new phone and WP7!) but it might be worth the $50 if it means not having to think about it anymore.
 
The only caveat I have with Windows Phone 7:
tetrisIOS.png
tetrisWP7.png


doodleIOS.png
doodleWP7.png


Is this because of the market adoption rate/userbase, or are they just charging that much because they can?

EDIT: Looks like it's Xbox Live licensing fees or something. It makes sense, but wow...
 
Just a guess, but they are probably trying to cash in on early adopters. Just like when the Xoom came out, almost every tablet enhanced app was 2-3 times the price of normal apps even if it was the same app. I guess you could say the same for iPad apps too.
 
Weenerz said:
Just a guess, but they are probably trying to cash in on early adopters. Just like when the Xoom came out, almost every tablet enhanced app was 2-3 times the price of normal apps even if it was the same app. I guess you could say the same for iPad apps too.
I'm almost certain that it's an Xbox Live-related cost. There isn't any Xbox Live-enabled game under $4, but there are plenty $0.99 games elsewhere. Seems a bit silly since Apple's Game Center is free for developers (AFAIK).
 
I think I am blind (or need a coffee), but how do I synchronize apps with the phone?
Zune tells me they are getting installed when I connect the phone, but nothing happens.

edit: it works, somehow. I have no idea if the apps get downloaded via the phone or the PC because there is no single indication I have seen yet.

also - kind of disappointed the tiles don't show information, like weather infos for the news tile and such things.
 
Are there any work-arounds for these geo restrictions? If you have a us vpn, us credit card and/or us address (i.e if you have a friend in the us) can you configure an european wp7 device to use the us microsoft services? how hard is this barrier to overcome?
 
derFeef said:
also - kind of disappointed the tiles don't show information, like weather infos for the news tile and such things.
Isn't that one of the new features in the upcoming Mango update? I think I saw it in that video.
 
derFeef said:
I think I am blind (or need a coffee), but how do I synchronize apps with the phone?
Zune tells me they are getting installed when I connect the phone, but nothing happens.

edit: it works, somehow. I have no idea if the apps get downloaded via the phone or the PC because there is no single indication I have seen yet.

also - kind of disappointed the tiles don't show information, like weather infos for the news tile and such things.
When you download apps with the Zune software, you have to wait a bit, because the software doesn't install the apps instantly. Most of the apps are so small, you won't even see the download manager in the software.

I'm gonna quote myself, because I made a similar post in the past.
I already said that most apps are too small for the download tab. If they're bigger, then you can see the download progress there.

bpjigpizjfmuacvi9.jpg


I agree with the rest. The Zune client needs better app management.
Tip: If you want to see your download history, go to settings, account and then purchase history.

bpjilpjzjgvznnudd.jpg


That should be easier to find.
I hope that helps.

It depends on the apps if it has a live tile or not. You have to download them. Try Weatherbug for example.
 
The Zune software is so amazingly smooth after coming from iTunes. GPU acceleration should be in every program, period. Only thing that annoys me is the inablity to view apps by author.

edit: I wish Microsoft would take a leaf out of GNOMEs book and include a universal icon set that developers can use. It's really annoying seeing all those weird glossy 'crystal' icons alongside the simple interface.
 
brotkasten said:
Joe Belfiore finally tweets and answers some question.

  • Gapless playback won't be in mango
  • They think about support for MS Points, but world wide operator support is more important, so don't expect ms points on windows Phone anytime soon
  • No expanded landscape support in mango
  • Notifications with lights/LEDs are theoretically possible, but it's up to the oem
  • No event viewer in mango, but it might be possible with a 3rd party app
  • 3rd party devs don't have access to the messaging threads

And the most important tweets for some users here:
EvolutionQY7 @joebelfiore will there be any extensions to service availability of Zune and Bing services outside UK and US.

joebelfiore @EvolutionQY7 Yes- many WP7 services will move steps beyond US/UK -- Zunepass, Speech, a few others. Watch for a blog post to explain.


frontieruk @joebelfiore ... any chance that the podcast market will be opened to the uk? or mixview?

joebelfiore @frontieruk At some point -- we are trying to simultaneously add new features and get ALL the work supported around the world.
It looks like we might get some announcement or at least an explanation on the official blog. I don't expect international podcasts in mango, though.

Feel free to ask him some questions. Can't hurt, you know?
http://www.twitter.com/joebelfiore

It was weird seeing Joe's response to my tweet posted here, was really gutted over the gapless mp3, but hopefully they'll work on it as he seemed to take onboard people actually like to listen to music without gaps :-/ I wonder if that's on the dev suggestion site yet...
 
Is there any reason why you aren't officially supposed to expand the storage using a microSD? I can't see why they wouldn't use the same system as the 360, wherein the USB is integrated with the internal memory but it doesn't break the system if you remove it. It's something I was hoping they'd 'fix' in Mango.
 
Weenerz said:
So I think I completely broke my Captivate (ODIN can't save it, it seems) and I am looking for a new phone. Having experienced both iOS and Android, I wanted to know how WP7 is doing.

How is the pricing?
Wide selection of applications for specific genres? (There are like 10 rss feeds, and twitter apps for android, I like the wider selection)
Will the new Mango update or whatever be coming to existing devices?
Which is the best handset to go with (AT&T contract expires soon-ish, so if I jump ship, the cancellation fee won't be that bad).
How is the update support handled with apps and the handset itself?
Have there been many updates manufacturers for their devices, coming from a Samsung device for Android, their update track record was atrocious.

Must-view video

http://youtu.be/OP30F3ZxTmw

Notifications with lights/LEDs are theoretically possible, but it's up to the oem
Well we can forget about that then
 
Thanks brotkasten, that helped a bit. I hope they improve the Zune synchronisation a bit, it really is nebulous.

Live Tiles: I tried several apps with live tile support now and not a single one works, very weird.
 
NotTarts said:
Is there any reason why you aren't officially supposed to expand the storage using a microSD? I can't see why they wouldn't use the same system as the 360, wherein the USB is integrated with the internal memory but it doesn't break the system if you remove it. It's something I was hoping they'd 'fix' in Mango.
The OS handles storage like a RAID0 (or actually JBOD) system, it merges everything into one big storage pool. The problem with that is the performance and quality of MicroSD cards that varies from card to card, even if it's supposed to be the same model.

YA1ka.png


Here's an interesting read on that topic.
http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=918
 
brotkasten said:
The OS handles storage like a RAID0 (or actually JBOD) system, it merges everything into one big storage pool. The problem with that is the performance and quality of MicroSD cards that varies from card to card, even if it's supposed to be the same model.

Here's an interesting read on that topic.
http://www.bunniestudios.com/blog/?p=918
Is there any advantage to this, though? What happens if your card just dies?
 
derFeef said:
Thanks brotkasten, that helped a bit. I hope they improve the Zune synchronisation a bit, it really is nebulous.

Live Tiles: I tried several apps with live tile support now and not a single one works, very weird.

Live Tiles can take some time, even a day or so, to "activate", it seems. Many apps required that you enable the live tiles as well--they aren't enabled by default. Other apps just have poor implementation, perhaps? My Birdsong live tile never works, seems to be a known issue, and a few other apps are just incorrect. My weather channel app will stop updating the live tile after a few days if you don't access the app, though that may be by design.

REALLY hoping for more consistent live tile functionality with Mango.
 
NotTarts said:
Is there any advantage to this, though? What happens if your card just dies?

They probably don't want users to have to deal with worrying about where to save and retrieve files.
 
NotTarts said:
Is there any advantage to this, though? What happens if your card just dies?

What happens if your internal memory dies? Same thing. With the card, you can swap it out, do a full wipe, then load back up your accounts, pics, etc. from Zune. The only pain is re-downloading the apps you didn't get on Zune.

edit: in terms of advantages, I'm sure the WP7 team has some more, but the only one I can think of (which is a big deal imo) is simplicity. You do not have to manage the external memory the way you do in Android.
 
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