Windows Phone Summary of the Week: September 19-25, 2011

News
By Rich Edmonds
last updated

This week has been entirely Windows Phone Mango-orientated as we await for the upcoming major update to be rolled out on a global scale. We have a special edition of the weekly summary today with the inclusion of a special Mango section that's split up between operator rumours and apps being updated to Mango. Head on past the break for this week's breakdown and the list of links.

Kicking off the summary we have the official announcement posted by Eric Hautala detailing that Mango will be released in the next few weeks. Microsoft is invading Nokia World next month with a number of personnel from the Windows Phone team in the speakers lineup. Connected Intelligence has released some data showing Windows Phone being considered by 44% of current and potential smartphone owners.

Over some Nokia handset tweets published by Joe Marini, Microsoft has since let the Windows Phone manager go from the company. Swedish WP users can now rejoice with the Zune Marketplace being made available for use as well as more countries being supported as we plough on. There was a mix up and misunderstanding over a tweet from Three UK that contained a mis-type. The network is supporting Windows Phone for now and no decision has been made about the future.

Nokia has appointed Henry Tirri as new CTO who will be reporting directly to Stephen Elop. Finally, Millennial Media has published some interesting data that Windows Phone advertisement impressions has increased by 48% month-on-month.

Moving onto our Mango breakdown for this week. First, we have the carrier news and rumours:

For the second half, we have Mango updated apps:

  • RemoteDesktop updated to 1.5 with Mango support and more [Mango]
  • PhotoWeather Live in the Marketplace forecast [Mango]  
  • Tentacles gets a Mango update, Doodle Jump not so much
  • Parachute Panic also got a Live Tile. Wait, what?
  • SSH Client released [Mango]
  • ...I'm a WP7 updated for Mango and even bigger plans 
  • Tiki Towers receives Mango update
  • Pinball League: The Juggler, Impossible Shoota & Krashlander games get updates [Mango]
  • Xbox Live: Zombies!!! Mango update unleashed
  • Doodle Jump gets 2nd update this week--strictly for the Mango kids 
  • Hydro Thunder GO has gone all Mango on us
  • WhatsApp now available [Mango] 
  • Official eBay app gets a Mango makeover --> 

In the gaming realm we have three Namco Bandai titles being updated - Pac-Man, I Love Katamari and More Brain Exercise. Deer Hunter 3D is this week's Xbox Live Deal of The Week. We've had a recent explosion on the Makretplace as Implode! makes its way to a screen near you. If you're an Angry Birds fan, you'll love this title.

Trine's Hangman receives a quiet update that fixes a few bugs, improves performance and merges the high score page and sharing page to give the game more of a metro feel. Finally, Plants vs Zombies is updated to version 1.2 killing a nasty bug.

gMaps Pro receives an update that includes support for Google Latitude and is available for NoDo users to enjoy too. A backdoor has been uncovered which will allow for a more powerful home brew community with Mango and will make the likes of Chevron Labs more appealing. While we wait for official Lync support, we have got word of an unofficial solution heading for Windows Phone.

After Microsoft defended itself against claims that the company is collecting location data via the camera, Rafael Rivera over at Within Windows has ran some tests that does show the camera app connecting to Microsoft's Location Interference service. Damian Mehers, from Evernote, uploaded a video that showed a sneak peak at Evernote 2.0 and what we can expect to find. Nokia has released their first Windows Phone app that... highlights other apps.

HTC has said that they are looking to reduce the number of devices using metal chassis by 30% in 2012 with plastic being used instead. We see some potential new handsets from some stats collected by the developer of the 'I'm a WP7' app. We see two new adverts it the screens, one for the HTC Titan and the other for the HTC Radar.

Good news for those who want the Dell Venue Pro still, it's available on contract should you dig a little on the website. We're able to confirm that T-Mobile will be getting the 4G HTC Radar, good news for those on the network who are awaiting Mango handsets. HTC may also look to push the boundaries even further with working on a Windows Phone sporting Beats audio.

The only fun we've had this week involves some awesome looking superhero wallpapers that are all created to achieve a minimalistic finish.

Developers, you are all being called to update your apps to Mango now and submit your 7.0 updates later. We've come across a WordPress starter kit to effectively create an app for a blog and doesn't require much programming experience/knowledge. An official Microsoft SharePoint Conference '11 app has been released should you be attending in early October.

Microsoft is reaching out to Nokia developers with API mapping tool and resources, while AdDuplex starts a developer interview series that focuses on marketing and revenue. A startup called Buddy has launched with services that include Windows Phone push notifications and live tile and lastly Mike Ormond from Microsoft has published a Windows Phone app developing ebook.

Highlights

Mango

  • RemoteDesktop updated to 1.5 with Mango support and more [Mango]
  • PhotoWeather Live in the Marketplace forecast [Mango]  
  • Tentacles gets a Mango update, Doodle Jump not so much
  • Parachute Panic also got a Live Tile. Wait, what?
  • SSH Client released [Mango]
  • ...I'm a WP7 updated for Mango and even bigger plans 
  • Tiki Towers receives Mango update
  • Pinball League: The Juggler, Impossible Shoota & Krashlander games get updates [Mango]
  • Xbox Live: Zombies!!! Mango update unleashed
  • Doodle Jump gets 2nd update this week--strictly for the Mango kids 
  • Hydro Thunder GO has gone all Mango on us
  • WhatsApp now available [Mango] 
  • Official eBay app gets a Mango makeover --> 

Gaming

Software

Hardware

Fun

Developers

Rich Edmonds
Rich Edmonds
Senior Editor, PC Build

Rich Edmonds was formerly a Senior Editor of PC hardware at Windows Central, covering everything related to PC components and NAS. He's been involved in technology for more than a decade and knows a thing or two about the magic inside a PC chassis. You can follow him on Twitter at @RichEdmonds.