At Mobile Word Congress in Barcelona, Microsoft VP Joe Belfiore gave a demonstration of some of the new features coming to Windows Phone 7 in an update to come later this year. The touted features include multitasking, which is for some the Holy Grail of mobile platforms. Somewhat overshadowed by the multitasking features was the demonstration of Internet Explorer 9 for Windows Phone,...
In the wake of the uproar over their lack of communication on their update strategy, Microsoft created a web page to communicate with users on the status of their updates. Up until now AT&T users were left wondering what "Testing" meant, and how long that would take. The bad news is that all three Windows Phone 7 devices on AT&T are still in the testing phase, but the good news...
Let's start with some disclaimers. First of all I am a Windows Phone fanboy, so I may be slightly biased toward Microsoft. Secondly I am a Windows Phone fanboy, and I want my update right the heck now. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's move on. Comparing NoDo to Froyo There has been much debate/discussion/discontent about the so-called NoDo update for Windows Phone 7....
Last year, Microsoft’s MIX conference offered the first real glimpse of what Windows Phone 7 was to offer. This year’s event will be a source of information on the major functionality coming in the Mango update. For those interested, Microsoft has announced their speaker lineup. Keynote speakers will include Joe Belfiore and Scott Guthrie of the Windows Phone team and .Net development...
Microsoft’s imposing array of cloud services and server tools are an area that they have very little competition. The promise of integration of those tools and services into Windows Phone 7 are a major topic of interest for many in the tech industry. At the Microsoft Management Summit this week, a beta of System Center Configuration Manager 2010 (SCCM) was announced. SCCM is a tool for...
Slacker Radio is one of our favorite streaming radio apps for both Windows Phone 7 and Windows Mobile. Sports fans can now get their fix as Slacker have partnered with ESPN to bring ESPN Radio content to your phone. We’re assuming this is going to function in a similar way to ABC news on Slacker, where basically you get individual clips that rotate through in the same way you would go...
We’re fans of moTweets ‘round these parts, the features and UI make it one of the top Twitter clients for Windows Phone 7 at this point. Looking at the features that are coming in version 2.2 we can’t help but get excited. In addition to fixes to GPS retrieval and some other bugs; Panoramic is adding themes, Facebook integration, and support for tools like Twitlonger and Plixi/...
RunKeeper is an extremely successful (more than 5 million downloads on iPhone/Android) exercise tracking application. As of today, Windows Phone 7 devices have a RunKeeper app of their own. RunKeeper will use your phone’s GPS to record your path and speed, and will even allow you to share your statistics on Facebook and Twitter. RunKeeper is a free download from the Zune Marketplace.
In short, Foursquare is a location-based social networking engine. Using the app on your phone you can “check in” to the locations you visit. These check-ins allow you to earn points, badges, and other rewards. Foursquare 3 adds functionality to be able to find specials near you, and leader boards to allow you to compete against your friends. The bad news is that the Foursquare app for...
Pandora is one of those services that use databases and high end math to answer a simple question, what music would I like? Sadly, Pandora hasn’t made an appearance on Windows Phone 7 yet; though Slacker Radio is a good alternative. The rumor mill is starting to churn at the possibility that Microsoft is building a social-centric music discovery service codenamed Ventura. Obviously...
We’ve talked about Microsoft Lync Server before. The follow-up to Office Communication Server does a number of cool things like handle chat and voice communication in an Enterprise environment. Lync is also included in Microsoft Office 365 which is a cloud-based solution for small-to-medium businesses that also provides access to Exchange and SharePoint. An official Lync client for...
We’ve discussed at length Microsoft’s commitment to bringing developers to the Windows Phone 7 ecosystem. Microsoft has long been a friend to developers, from making world class tools to educating devs on the platforms that they’re building upon; Microsoft is the company that others emulate. With Windows Phone 7 Microsoft is going over and above even for them, as exemplified by a recent...
One of the big concerns expressed when Microsoft and Nokia announced their partnership was if the move would alienate Microsoft’s current stable of OEMs (see LG's reaction); in particular HTC. The biggest reason for concern was the rumor that Nokia would be allowed to alter the Windows Phone 7 UI, something that HTC has traditionally done across all of their devices on Windows Mobile...
Now that Microsoft has officially mentioned a major update in the pipeline, we can start up the rumor mills full force. We’ve discussed the new features that "Mango" will bring to the table; but the timeframe (other than a 6-month window) and official name remain nebulous. A number of media outlets are conjecturing that the Mango release will be significant enough that it could be...
The Microsoft keynote at Mobile World Congress definitely didn’t disappoint those of us that have been hungry for more details on the direction of our platform of choice. One of the main things that Windows Phone 7 has gotten knocked for is the lack of multitasking for third party applications. The big news of the day is that Microsoft has committed to deliver multitasking support for...
We’ve been covering the exploits of the ChevronWP7 team for a couple of months. From the original release and the various applications released for unlocked devices, to Microsoft having a heart-to-heart with the team and the subsequent discontinuation of the unlocker, it’s been a busy couple of months. The stated reason for ChevronWP7 development being discontinued was that Microsoft...
Microsoft insider and author of Windows Phone Secrets Paul Thurrott has revealed some additional details about some of the Windows Phone 7 updates we can expect in 2011. We’ve discussed several of the rumors that have been floating around, and Thurrott confirms much of what we’ve been hearing. The first update, rumored to be announced tomorrow night at the opening keynote at CES in Las...
One thing that you can say unequivocally about Microsoft, they have a solid foothold in the IT world; and there isn’t a close second. Between the server offerings and the Windows 7 OS, nobody can stand toe-to-toe with Microsoft in the enterprise. One thing that I (as an IT Professional) love about working with Microsoft products is the wealth of documentation and resources housed within...
Microsoft watchdog Mary Jo Foley is reporting that Microsoft is prepping a major update to Windows Phone 7 for the fall timeframe. Codenamed Mango, the fall update is rumored to add Silverlight run-time and HTML 5 support as well as additional languages. Foley speculates that Microsoft may ramp up the enterprise functionality with Mango, in particular additional support for Exchange...
Analyst Charles Wolf of Needham and Co., is calling the launch of Windows Phone 7 a success. Wolf bases his analysis not on current numbers, but on Microsoft’s commitment to marketing Windows Phone 7. The report further states that if Microsoft continues to grow market share, Google’s Android platform could be the big loser. Much of Android’s success is due to Verizon’s Droid line of...