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Windows Phone 7 |OT|

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antiquegamer said:
Really? when did they announce this?
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I think it's just rumors.

Also, there is likely to be new hardware announced at MWC. However, it may not come out until the end of the year.

Considering most of the hardware is going to be very similar to each other, I think it's a great time to get a Focus. There's a better and better selection of apps every day, plus the first update is coming very soon.

I really doubt MS is going to let the platform get fragmented by hardware in which app A won't be able to run on launch hardware. Sure, it may be able to perform better on newer hardware (there is actually a flag developers can use to see how much RAM a device has), but it will always run just fine otherwise. Plus, MS is working hard on performance, and developers are still working on finding the tricks of the platform and learning how to squeeze performance out of it (just like any new platform).

So essentially, unless you're comfortable waiting an unknown amount of months for unknown improved hardware, which may or may not provide any immediate benefit, I would suggest buying a Focus now since it's a great time for it.
 
Iced_Eagle said:
I think it's just rumors.

Also, there is likely to be new hardware announced at MWC. However, it may not come out until the end of the year.

Considering most of the hardware is going to be very similar to each other, I think it's a great time to get a Focus. There's a better and better selection of apps every day, plus the first update is coming very soon.

I really doubt MS is going to let the platform get fragmented by hardware in which app A won't be able to run on launch hardware. Sure, it may be able to perform better on newer hardware (there is actually a flag developers can use to see how much RAM a device has), but it will always run just fine otherwise. Plus, MS is working hard on performance, and developers are still working on finding the tricks of the platform and learning how to squeeze performance out of it (just like any new platform).

So essentially, unless you're comfortable waiting an unknown amount of months for unknown improved hardware, which may or may not provide any immediate benefit, I would suggest buying a Focus now since it's a great time for it.
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Thanks for the info.
 
I'd still suggest waiting, it's not a big deal to wait one month to see what is on the horizon. From the leaks about the update, we should be getting support for the MSM 7x30 Snapdragon, which should be more efficient, have a better GPU, and have HSPA+ support.

Hell, I'd wait just on the off chance that Samsung unveils a phone with more than 8 gigs of space. Super AMOLED Plus would be nice too, and I don't see why they wouldn't if it's going to every other one of their new phones.
 
Yeah I was going to wait till February/March. I might be going on a vacation at the end of Feb and I will be back in March and I might just get something when I get back.

Also waiting for more information on the next iPhone. I'm really tired of the iOS though since the past 4 years.
 
Well sweet. I won an Authenticator from Blizzard through their e-mail/twitter customer service contest. Now you can scratch that from a high need of them putting out their App for WP7. Not that I wouldn't like to see them port it over to the marketplace though.
 
What news reader are you guys using? I downloaded the trial of NewsRoom and absolutely love the look of it. It seems to lack some features like GoogleReader integration, for example. The thing is; it just looks sooo good.

I can't find a better screenshot right now, though.

268280f49320-100.jpg.jpg
 
snap0212 said:
What news reader are you guys using? I downloaded the trial of NewsRoom and absolutely love the look of it. It seems to lack some features like GoogleReader integration, for example. The thing is; it just looks sooo good.

I can't find a better screenshot right now, though.

268280f49320-100.jpg.jpg
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I'm just using the Google Reader mobile site. It's not that great since you only see headlines and such, but better than nothing. I'm hoping Google makes a better version for WP7 soon.
 
Did you Google Reader guys try GReadr? I already posted it in the App thread, but that isn't really active.


i3OUf.png
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If you have a Google Reader account, then you're probably not satisfied with the apps in the marketplace. In this case you might wanna try a new Google Reader app, that was released few days ago.

The app is called GReadr and brings all the standard features you'd expect.
Features:
* Sync with your Google Reader account
* View items all unread items, items by feed, starred or shared.
* Star/unstar items
* Share/unshare items
* Mark feed or all items as read
* Send items to Read It Later or Instapaper
* Passwords are only saved on the phone and all authentication is over HTTPS.
Click to expand...

OAaWm.png
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The user reviews have been pretty good so far, calling it the best google reader app in the marketplace. That means you should probably check it out. :D

Price: Free
Zune Marketplace: GReadr
 
At&t/MS are really aggressive about WP7 price points. There is that ad campaign with the $99 Focus, and I just got an email from my union about a bogo deal for union members like they had briefly last year for everyone.
 
brotkasten said:
Did you Google Reader guys try GReadr? I already posted it in the App thread, but that isn't really active.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I downloaded it (saw it in the App Thread :p ), but I don't really like it. You can't create folders, for example. I think I might just buy the NewsRoom App or the WonderReader one you also talked about in the App Thread. It's not like my Feeds are constantly changing so adding it once on my phone and once on my Google Account isn't that big of a deal.

Also; am I the only one who cares about how the home screen looks? I deleted the official Twitter app, because it didn't support any colors but the regular blue. Doesn't look good when everything is orange except the Twitter app. :D
 
snap0212 said:
Also; am I the only one who cares about how the home screen looks? I deleted the official Twitter app, because it didn't support any colors but the regular blue. Doesn't look good when everything is orange except the Twitter app. :D
Click to expand...

I'm actually the opposite :P I like posting albums, contacts, and so on just because it kind of breaks things up and prevents it from looking like one big single colored block.
 
snap0212 said:
Yeah, I downloaded it (saw it in the App Thread :p ), but I don't really like it. You can't create folders, for example. I think I might just buy the NewsRoom App or the WonderReader one you also talked about in the App Thread. It's not like my Feeds are constantly changing so adding it once on my phone and once on my Google Account isn't that big of a deal.
Click to expand...

Good to know about GReadr. So you can't recommend it?

PG2G said:
I'm actually the opposite :P I like posting albums, contacts, and so on just because it kind of breaks things up and prevents it from looking like one big single colored block.
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Tip: If you pin an artist on your home screen, it becomes a double tile.
 
brotkasten said:
Good to know about GReadr. So you can't recommend it?
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I wouldn't recommend it if you've subscribed to more than five feeds. It works perfectly fine, but without the option to create folders it's just too much scrolling for me. And in case you have not subscribed to more than five feeds I'd recommend "SimpyRSS" as it's imo the best free RSS Reader currently available. It doesn't support Google, but it looks good, is fast and has all the options the paid ones have as well.
 
snap0212 said:
I wouldn't recommend it if you've subscribed to more than five feeds. It works perfectly fine, but without the option to create folders it's just too much scrolling for me. And in case you have not subscribed to more than five feeds I'd recommend "SimpyRSS" as it's imo the best free RSS Reader currently available. It doesn't support Google, but it looks good, is fast and has all the options the paid ones have as well.
Click to expand...
Thanks, I'll mention SimpyRSS in the app thread.
 
VanMardigan said:
Yeah I know about that, but I got an email from my union today about a buy one, get one free deal on wp7 phones.

Edit: to the user above, I would try to avoid Facebook friends who use a cat picture as a profile picture.
Click to expand...

Hmm..thats interesting. I didn't set up any kind of facebook connection on the phone.
However, my hotmail address is my login for an old facebook profile I used to participate in a march madness bracket a couple of years ago.

That is a little spooky if the services give each other access to private information without authorization...because I certainly didn't authorize facebook information on my phone.
 
barkers crest said:
Hmm..thats interesting. I didn't set up any kind of facebook connection on the phone.
However, my hotmail address is my login for an old facebook profile I used to participate in a march madness bracket a couple of years ago.

That is a little spooky if the services give each other access to private information without authorization...because I certainly didn't authorize facebook information on my phone.
Click to expand...
Or it could be a picture from one of your friend's windows live accounts.
 
wwm0nkey said:
Im switching over from Verizon to AT&T and they are doing a buy 1 get 1 free on Windows 7 phones, which one should I get?
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That deal ended, at least in the US it did. ATT offers the Focus for $99 on 2 year contract, but some other outlets are offering it for free on a 2 year.
 
element said:
That deal ended, at least in the US it did. ATT offers the Focus for $99 on 2 year contract, but some other outlets are offering it for free on a 2 year.
Click to expand...
The store I went to said the deal is still good, either way i can still pay for a $99 phone. So the Focus would be the one to get though right?

EDIT: The deal is still good for union members which my dad is so we get one of the phones for free.
 
barkers crest said:
Hmm..thats interesting. I didn't set up any kind of facebook connection on the phone.
However, my hotmail address is my login for an old facebook profile I used to participate in a march madness bracket a couple of years ago.

That is a little spooky if the services give each other access to private information without authorization...because I certainly didn't authorize facebook information on my phone.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty sure you have to sign in with your Facebook account to download your contacts and link your phone with it, so I guess that cat face is just a Windows Live contact.
 
wwm0nkey said:
The store I went to said the deal is still good, either way i can still pay for a $99 phone. So the Focus would be the one to get though right?

EDIT: The deal is still good for union members which my dad is so we get one of the phones for free.
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I like my Focus. I am hoping for more real apps though. MS has done a good job with games, but real usable apps are fairly limited or just poorly developed.

Also you have to attach a line to the 2nd phone you get for free and ATT requires it to have a data plan. I got two Focuses, and my first bill was much more then I expected and had to fix my account.

I'm pretty sure you have to sign in with your Facebook account to download your contacts and link your phone with it, so I guess that cat face is just a Windows Live contact.
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Correct. You have to sign into any account for it to pull down any data from either Facebook or Windows Live.
 
dream said:
Wow...a shockingly blunt article from Paul Thurott, of all people, about WP7 software updates. Or, rather, the lack of them.



http://windowsphonesecrets.com/2011/01/18/software-updates-windows-phone-vs-iphone/
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Damn, that's brutal article. On the other hand though, it's fair to point out that Apple's releases slowed down considerably after those early days and that Windows Phone 7 starts of at a point with more features than the first iPhone OS. Indeed it seems the only time Apple brings out a 'quick' update now is to stop a gaping security hole used by jailbreakers...
 
Its a bad situation to be sure, but not catastrophic provided it ships within a few weeks. The catastrophe will come if they then don't update again until the fall mango update. And if we have to wait until them for true IM support and better third party APIs. A better browser should also not take a year. As much as I love this platform, waiting a year for IM and browsing would be comically tragic in this competitive environment.
 
MS should be doing monthly updates. Show that the platform is maturing, especially since so many features aren't there right now.
 
element said:
MS should be doing monthly updates. Show that the platform is maturing, especially since so many features aren't there right now.
Click to expand...
It just came to mind that the flagship WP7 phone is the Samsung Focus on AT&T and that's the worst combination for getting updates on the Android platform. heh.

It could be worse though. Palm promises the same damn fixes and APIs with each webOS update and yet they never seem to appear. I'm still waiting to utilize the magic that is Shazam on my Pre 2
 
The presumption here is that, with MS handling the updates, the dispute between Samsung and the carriers won't affect windows phone updates on the focus.

Edit: to add insult to injury, the iPhone (already with a superior Bing experience), now gets one of the cool, exclusive apps that separate wp7 from the others: OneNote.

MS may as well port Zune over to Android while we wait for the monumental.....cut and paste....update.
*Twitch*
 
Okay, I said 'wow' (or maybe it was something like "Holy shit, are you kidding me?").

The ChevronWP7 guys are currently in Redmond, meeting with some Microsoft people to discuss homebrew on WP7. I didn't post this, because we don't know anything new, besides that emulators are a big 'no-no' and the Chevron guys got a t-shirt.

But now, all of the sudden, a new player could join the game: George Hotz, aka GeoHot, posted this on his blog:
perhaps a more appropriate way to deal with jailbreakers
I'm going out to buy a Windows 7 phone
Click to expand...

And Microsoft's Brandon Watson already responded
#geohot if you want to build cool stuff on #wp7, send me email and the team will give you a phone - let dev creativity flourish #wp7dev
Click to expand...
http://twitter.com/#!/BrandonWatson/status/27508118367772672

Uhm, okay?
 
Honestly though I can't think of why I'd want to jailbreak my phone? I get it if you want to do that on say android to get you back to stock or install an update your carrier hasn't pushed out yet. Plus iOS has a ton of homebrew apps.

I'm not seeing what cool things I'd really get with jailbreaking my WP7 device at the current time beyond if you wanted to take it to another network or something.
 
well, when the phones aren't selling due to lack of updates, MS will learn, but it'll be too late. perhaps, when the first update happens and units still don't move, MS will hire more programmers to update this. i know, personally, i'm giving the platform til the mango update to get up to speed. if that doesn't happen i'll probably go to android. by then, android should make strides in the smoothness of their UI.

i just don't get why bing/maps on the iphone is better then on MS's own mobile platform. seriously, quit with those iphone updates and move those people to WP7.
 
VanMardigan said:
At&t/MS are really aggressive about WP7 price points. There is that ad campaign with the $99 Focus, and I just got an email from my union about a bogo deal for union members like they had briefly last year for everyone.
Click to expand...
smells like fire sale
 
Brettison said:
Honestly though I can't think of why I'd want to jailbreak my phone? I get it if you want to do that on say android to get you back to stock or install an update your carrier hasn't pushed out yet. Plus iOS has a ton of homebrew apps.

I'm not seeing what cool things I'd really get with jailbreaking my WP7 device at the current time beyond if you wanted to take it to another network or something.
Click to expand...
Better to jailbreak early before holes are filled?
 
sounds like att is makin room for the Moto Atrix. many android power users love to update every 6 months to the latest and greatest. geek cred is serious business.
 
Brettison said:
Honestly though I can't think of why I'd want to jailbreak my phone? I get it if you want to do that on say android to get you back to stock or install an update your carrier hasn't pushed out yet. Plus iOS has a ton of homebrew apps.

I'm not seeing what cool things I'd really get with jailbreaking my WP7 device at the current time beyond if you wanted to take it to another network or something.
Click to expand...
There are two reasons for a jailbreak:
  1. You can get apps that wouldn't pass the Microsoft certification (i.e. emulators, an app for custom accent colors, flashlight app that uses the camera LED on your phone)
  2. Devs can fiddle and hack around for stuff and APIs that are not available with the official SDK (someone released a compass app for Samsung phones, even though devs don't have access to the compass API)
 
brotkasten said:
There are two reasons for a jailbreak:
  1. You can get apps that wouldn't pass the Microsoft certification (i.e. emulators, an app for custom accent colors, flashlight app that uses the camera LED on your phone)
  2. Devs can fiddle and hack around for stuff and APIs that are not available with the official SDK (someone released a compass app for Samsung phones, even though devs don't have access to the compass API)
Click to expand...

Oh I get it, but I guess I just personally haven't heard of a ton of great apps that haven't made it through cert. Plus I'm cool with the way my phone currently looks so no need for me to really jailbreak to change up my phone aesthetically.
 
Brettison said:
Oh I get it, but I guess I just personally haven't heard of a ton of great apps that haven't made it through cert. Plus I'm cool with the way my phone currently looks so no need for me to really jailbreak to change up my phone aesthetically.
Click to expand...
I didn't bother to JB my phone either, but it might be tempting if someone releases the HTC YouTube app for other phones, like they did with the Voice-to-Text app from LG or the Samsung apps.
 
yeah, i think we all understood and accepted why the hardware and software wasn't up to speed at launch but now, there are no excuses. MS needs to step on the gas and not let up or they'll lose the mobile space forever.

i remember playing around with the G2 in october and came away unimpressed. 3 months later i play with the my touch 4G with a faster processor, more ram, and a much improved t-mobile hspa+ network and it blew the doors out of my hd7 in terms of speed. 3 months, this is how fast things can change; new hardware and faster networks. MS is delusional if they think their current crop of wp7 phones can keep consumer's interest until the mango software/hardware update.

sorry to sound desperate but this is what i feel is the reality of things. here's hoping MS shows off some amazing things in feb in that mobile conference. please show off a 3rd party multitasking app, an improved bing maps, and some new 4G hardware.
 
barkers crest said:
Has anyone figured out how to make it where a picture of a cat doesn't show up in the people tile?
Click to expand...

Well, you can just remove those friend and contact that use cat pictures their avatar. Seriously though, you can go into the Live contact and edit their picture and put whatever picture you want for them and choose that instead of Facebook picture.
 
thirty said:
sorry to sound desperate but this is what i feel is the reality of things. here's hoping MS shows off some amazing things in feb in that mobile conference. please show off a 3rd party multitasking app, an improved bing maps, and some new 4G hardware.
Click to expand...

I highly doubt we'll see 3rd party multi tasking at MWC. Improved Bing experience? Maybe. 4G hardware? Maybe. But no way they'll show true 3rd party multi tasking. And btw, the G2 is a HSPA+ phone.
 
Yeah, I'm not sure if third party multitasking is something they should prioritize. That said, I'm not really sure what they should prioritize at all. They need to show something big though. This thing isn't selling and it's a horrible sign when someone like thirty wants to bail out after only 4 months.
 
brotkasten said:
I highly doubt we'll see 3rd party multi tasking at MWC. Improved Bing experience? Maybe. 4G hardware? Maybe. But no way they'll show true 3rd party multi tasking. And btw, the G2 is a HSPA+ phone.
Click to expand...

If part of the improved Bing experience involves turn-by-turn navigation, I'll take it for now.
 
They need a better marketing campaign. Just copy Apple’s iPhone ads where you see the actual UI in action. That’s all people need to see to understand how much better the user experience is compared to Android.
 
brotkasten said:
I highly doubt we'll see 3rd party multi tasking at MWC. Improved Bing experience? Maybe. 4G hardware? Maybe. But no way they'll show true 3rd party multi tasking. And btw, the G2 is a HSPA+ phone.
Click to expand...
i asked for a multi-tasking 3rd party app, as in singular. it's already official that spotify for europe will be the first, hope they show it off as it will show other developers that it is possible on the platform.

i know the g2 is a hspa+ phone. my comment was about how much the network has improved in january compared to when i used a G2 in october.
 
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