Just when you thought the Dell Venue Pro was being relegated to being a Wikipedia page, it looks like the Windows Phone with a bottom slide keyboard is making one more swan song. We received a tip that the unlocked, unbranded Dell Venue Pro was getting updated to Windows Phone 7.8 and sure enough, it is! It was a pleasant surprise seeing this old, no longer in production, Windows...
It’s been a little over two years since Windows Phone landed in the market. One of the first devices at that time was from Dell. The Venue Pro was one of the most unique handsets at launch, it was the only device with a portrait-oriented slide out QWERTY keyboard. That device had a small, loyal fan base for being really great at pounding out emails the old way. If you were hoping for...
TechSoup, a nonprofit organisation offering technological assistance to other nonprofits, is offering the discontinued Dell Venue Pro Windows Phone to nonprofit organisations for just $31 through the Dell donation programme. The device itself is locked to AT&T, but TechSoup have since enabled those who make a purchase to unlock the device for use with other operators with GSM...
While the Dell Venue Pro has been discontinued, we were surprised to see the Windows Phone receive the 8107 update pushed out to the phone. It was equally surprising today to see the Tango update hit the unlocked Venue Pro. While forcing the Tango update on the Samsung Focus S, we connected the Dell Venue Pro up to the computer and sure enough, the update notices appeared on the screen...
For those hoping for a sequel to the Dell Venue Pro Windows Phone, the stars don't seem to be in your favor. In a recent interview with Forbes, Michael Dell re-affirmed his companies position discontinue smartphone sales and development. But what would it take to get Dell back into the smartphone business? When asked, Dell's response was, "If the market changes so that a vendor like...
Fare thee well, Dell Venue Pro. That's right, Dell has discontinued sales of the vertical-sliding Windows Phone handset in the United States, along with the rest of its smartphones, effective immediately. The smartphones have been removed from the website for users in the U.S., but will continue to be sold in Japan, India and China. PC World reports that Dell has decided to shift its...
Looks like Buy.com merchants are starting to get a little WP7-happy. First, we saw the Samsung Focus on sale for a cool $215, and now you can find the unlocked Dell Venue Pro for a low $269. This is nearly 30% less than its usual $379 and $30 less than Dell's own website. The DVP is the only Windows Phone with a vertical-sliding QWERTY keyboard. And...Dell just released the 8107 OS...
In what is undoubtedly a very pleasant surprise if you're an owner of an unlocked Dell Venue Pro, you can now reportedly upgrade your device to OS 8107. For those unfamiliar, OS 8107 addresses the disappearing keyboard issue as well as other security fixes and patches. In addition, prior to receiving 8107 the user will be prompt for 7740, a previous update which also addresses some bugs...
The Venue Pro, Dell's poor first generation Windows Phone, has found itself in trouble being plagued by issues (as well as lagging behind OS updates), been at the front of some good deals, and is tagged as Dell's only contribution to the platform for the foreseeable future. Should you be after the handset which sports a 4.1" AMOLED display, 1Ghz processor, 5MP camera, and a vertical...
While Dell gets (and deserves) much criticism for some aspects of the Dell Venue Pro, the unlocked version gets pretty decent update schedules. We were just told by reader Clifton Thomas that the DVP was getting 7740. Sure enough, we fired up our ol' trusty slider, plugged her in and 7740 was waiting for us. It does not, however, add tethering or fix the compass, so don't expect any...
Although just about everyone in the world has managed to get the Windows Phone 7.5 "Mango" update, there was one straggler left: the AT&T Dell Venue Pro (see review) While not a significant share of the Windows Phone market (the DVP was never sold directly by AT&T), it was still a black eye to those who own that phone, as one could argue that Mango greatly improves the Venue Pro...
The website Daily Steals is offering the T-Mobile compatible Dell Venue Pro with 8GB of storage for $229 for the next...oooh 18 hours. Though the DVP gets some criticism, including no compass with Mango, it is still a solid phones in many ways and if you have some extra cash, $229 ain't so bad. Or you could go to Dell and just buy the 16GB version for $299, making this an okay-but-...
Bad news for you die-hard Venue Pro users, Dell has seemingly confirmed that no compass-support will be coming to the device. It was about a month ago after the unlocked and T-Mobile versions of the DVP received their Mango updates did we noticed that no compass support was on board. From Lionel Menchaca, Dell's chief blogger: "@HotmailAlias The update hasn't yet happened on the AT...
Not the best news in the world for AT&T Dell Venue Pro owners but it's a start. Microsoft has updated its "Where's my Phone Update?" page and it indicates the Mango update for the Dell Venue Pro has joined the Focus 1.4 by entering the testing phase. There is no telling how long it will take for testing to be completed. It is solely dependent on AT&T but we can only hope the...
In order for our Windows Phones to ever tether via WiFi, it needs at a minium specific hardware--a BRCM 4329 chipset. A few days ago, via XDA, it was reported that the Dell Venue Pro had a BRCM 4325 chipset and therefor was completely out of the running for ever having Internet Sharing/tethering even hacked on, let alone officially granted. Now some contradictory information has...
Anyone who's used the Dell Venue Pro know its a love-hate relationship. And just as things were looking up for the device with Mango and some new firmware, a new issue has cropped up, one that has been bothering us too. The compass doesn't work. For any app. No Stars 3D, no compass, no augmented-reality, nothing. The compass drive and API are up to the OEM to provide which is why when...
There has been some confusion surrounding tethering (Internet sharing) in Mango, but a list of supported handsets has been compiled over at the XDA Developer forum. OEMs and carriers have the choice to enable tethering for customers should firmware allow it, for example Orange has recently alerted customers to a tethering add-on, but work has begun for workarounds in enabling the...
Earlier we reported that the HTC HD7S has received the Mango Update ahead of schedule. We are now learning the Dell Venue Pro wasn't too far behind and is also receiving the official Mango update. The update process, in my case, was a three step process. First the Mango Update was applied, then the Beta Cleanup was applied and finally a Dell Update was applied. As with the HD7S, I...
We can't believe we're writing this because for some odd reason we thought it already happened. But evidently, those on AT&T with a locked/branded Dell Venue Pro are finally getting the v2.12 firmware update aka the one firmware to fix 'em all (seriously, it does make the phone a winner). We've had two reports now from readers telling us they've plugged in their DVPs to Zune and got...
Dell has finally released some information about the upcoming Windows Phone Mango update and their Venue Pro. In a nut shell all unlocked handsets (in supported countries) will be updated when the roll-out begins and those with T-Mobile and Cincinnati Bell SIM-locked units will also be supported. There's no word on AT&T SIM-locked while plans are still being finalised, hopefully...