Ever wonder what all those icons mean at the top of your Windows Phone screen? Look no further at Microsoft has gone ahead and detailed all of 'em for you. Things like roaming, DO (for EvDO, CMDA's 3G standard) and a few others may be a little obscure, so it's nice to have a key. Sure, for many of us who've been around smartphones, the support article at Microsoft seems like a big ol...
Like Halo Reach? Have a Windows Phone? Good, because now you can have some Halo Reach lockscreen wallpapers for your device. In fact, here, have 44 different types, all perfectly cut at 480x800 at 96dpi, making the most of your screen when it's doing nothin'. The wallpapers come courtesy of Mike "stuckart" Stuckers over at DeviantArt who is making them available in two download packs:...
For those familiar with CDMA handsets, you'll remember the old "PRL" (preferred roaming list) and "Network Profile" options. It took a few years to get direct OS support for it (Anyone remember calling Sprint to get your PRL update "flagged"? Yeesh), but we did with later versions of Windows Mobile. So it's nice to know that in Windows Phone 7, part of the CDMA integration that came...
Every time we post about a new app update, a lot of users chime in saying they can't see the update yet, meaning the Marketplace on their device is not showing any "updates" on the Tile. Of course the update is there and in fact if you scroll down you can usually see the new version number listed, but there's no update button. Frustrating! Luckily, there's a little trick: just go in the...
![Samsung's photos don't play well with iOS 4.2 [WP7 Bug]](https://www.windowscentral.com/sites/wpcentral.com/files/styles/w250h188crop/public/resource_images/ipadsammy.jpg)
Here's an interesting, if somewhat odd bug found with Samsung Windows Phones: if you send a photo to any device with iOS 4.2, upon saving the photo, it renders it unreadable. So you can preview it when attached in an email (like above) but if you save it to the Photo Library, you get the gray JPG image and no pic. And indeed, we replicated the problem ourselves. Strange, right? A...
Have you experienced this problem? You get your new Windows Phone, you sync up your contacts and then you add a few to the Start screen, using those nifty dynamic squares. And then you notice it: the terrible, crappy resolution and blurriness. You think to yourself: "That's not how it looks on the commercial!" Well, we think we figured it out. It's not Microsoft's fault and it's not a...
We get a lot of questions here at WPCentral regarding transitioning your data or media from one service to another. One common question is about iTunes and compatibility. While you can use the Windows Phone 7 Connextor tool to help in that area, one alternative is the open source iTunes Export program by Eric Daugherty. The app is either command line or has a GUI version (requires Adobe...
Although the little battery meter on all Windows Phone 7 devices gives you a rough idea of remaining juice, if it's one thing Windows Mobile users of past want it's 1% battery readings (we're a finicky bunch, aren't we?) Luckily on the Samsung Focus there is a way to find out the exact battery level. While not the easiest method, it's far from hard either. As I demonstrate in the video...
While we like the Zune Desktop client quite a bit, sometimes finding apps or browsing for them can be a little sluggish. Luckily, a new website has launched that helps to cut all the fluff out and get right to the point. Marketplace Browser is a streamlined site that references all the apps in the Marketplace, allowing you to search or just browse apps, including the Top 100 or...
The lack of Cut and Paste in Windows Phone 7 has been tossed around quite a bit, and Microsoft's response was that they wanted to try and create shortcuts that minimize the need for such a workaround. Features such as being able to tap on a phone number or address in a web page or email are obvious ways that they've accomplished their goal, but we've come accross another shortcut that...
yellow_tweety_64 sent in the following question concerning photos tagged with GPS coordinates: "If I posted a picture on Facebook that was taken with a GPS enabled camera, would a person be able to lift the coordinates off of it?" While we had our suspicions as to what the answer was, we did a little field test to confirm our initial thoughts. To see how it turned out and if the GPS...
One complaint we've seen in regards to Windows Phone 7 is when people have tried to set up Wi-Fi on their secured home network. In short, there is no easy easy way to grab your MAC address for configurations that require it. Luckily in this case, the Samsung Focus is different from the others by having a diagnostic screen that reveals this info. The directions are easy enough, as...
Here we'll try to keep a running log of all t great deals around the web for Windows Phone 7 devices. Turns out, there are a lot and they are changing often. Have a deal not listed? Send it in and we'll add it! LG Quantum $99 (pre-order) from LetsTalk; regular is $199 from AT&T HTC Surround $75 (!) from Dealnews, $99 from LetsTalk (click for price), $150 from Wirefly; regular...
There was a pretty cool announcement yesterday over at the Windows Team Blog by Microsoft's GPM, Dick Craddock, on how to set up any existing e-mail account from any service to work in tandem with Hotmail. Just as the suite of free software packed in the set of Windows Live Essentials has become better and better over time, so too has the feature set of the Windows Live service. The ...
We’re all going to be adjusting and warming up to the new Windows Phone 7 OS but the Xbox 360 has been around for five years now. If you don’t know anything about Xbox or Xbox Live than it’s about time that we get you up to speed. The phrase "game console" is typically the first thing that comes to mind but what about social device? Or media hub? How about online entertainment...
While the Windows Phone Marketplace is available in many countries at launch--17 in all to be exact--last we checked the world is still a bit larger. If you're one of those with no access to the Marketplace, but are able to import an unlocked GSM device, then you may be interested in this ability to switch your Marketplace region documented by E's Phoneblog. We'll post the directions...
A few days ago we had covered how to create and combine an Xbox Live account and Zune account by using one powerful all-encompassing Windows Live ID - the ringleader that ties all of these services together. We've noted that if you don't currently use any of these services, or use just one of them, that you should create a Windows Live ID first. Yes, the term Windows Live ID is...
We're starting a new column here: 'Ask WPCentral' where we once or twice a week pick one of the many questions we get here.We often take these on the podcast (coming back soon, don't fret), but sometimes they're so good, we figured we would feature them on the site. The first one goes to Jerry King who tweeted me a question regarding his HTC HD2 and it's pretty straightforward. It's...
Windows Phone 7 has made an appearance on the Xbox Live website as a showcase of things to come this holiday season. Microsoft certainly has all of their ducks in a row but what about you? Have you already prepared yourself for when you’ve actually have one of the new devices in your hands? If you’ve already have a Windows Live ID or are already a member of the Xbox Live community than...
Editorial Note: Microsoft Points are going to be more and more important to you future Windows Phone 7 users, which is why you may want to pay attention to today's tip! Even though Bing Cashback was cancelled a few months back (shame as it was a great program), Microsoft has returned with a new, similar program called Bing Rewards. It's technically in "preview" right now but you can...