Here in the states we’ve been enjoying Windows Phone 7 for about a year and a half now.  When doing phone comparisons it is very common to refer to the “Big 3” mobile operating systems as the only ones who really matter, discounting BlackBerry OS, Symbian, and other seemingly anachronistic and obsolete systems.  The war for mobile dominance seems to be between Android, iOS, and WP7.

In China, however, this has not been the case.  One of the biggest world markets has not had any WP7 devices as of yet, and HTC is looking to rectify that when they drop the Kaixuan (meaning “triumphant return”) on mainland China later this month.  HTC is taking pre-orders for the phone on it’s online store for what comes out to $698 in USD.

The Kaixuan comes loaded with similar specs as the Titan, loaded with a 1.5GHz processor, 4.7″ screen, and 8MP rear camera.  It is powered by Windows Phone 7.5 with more localized versions of apps made specifically for Chinese consumers.

MS is trying to get their foot in the door in China, a market share of 56% Android in 2011 and Apple obviously being another key player.  The entrance of WP7 into China may boost the still new OS into better sales and more world-wide acceptance as a major player in the mobile wars.

So it seems our friends over at HTC have made quite the move of their stock. It appears that HTC has actually seen the best time yet as they report a 88% increase of sales over the last year. This really does not surprise me as they are manufacturing several Android phones, as well as Windows Phone’s for all over the world. They have officially beaten RIM and just shy of Apple in the cell phone manufacturing of the world. Coming in the 5 top makers of mobile devices.

But not all news is good news – it appears that despite their awesome sale numbers their stock has actually dropped 19% since June 7th. The stock did however rebound slightly following news that the company’s sales for June were at a staggering 87.8% higher than the same time last year. What is even more shocking is that May’s figures were a whopping 116% higher than the same month in 2010! It seems that analysts are still skeptical about HTC and they don’t think the company is quite out of the woods yet!

What do you think is HTC out of the troubles? How is the quality of your devices? I know mine for the Arrive seem to have gotten better since the TP2 days, but it is still now what I consider “top-notch”. Tell me below Geeks and lets hope HTC is watching because it is the users that make that fantastic sales figure for them!

Source: engadget

The leaked video footage shows that Nokia CEO Steven Elop revealed the company’s first Windows Phone 7 handset. Essentially a Nokia N9 looking phone bearing the code-name ‘Sea Ray’, (possibly the W8-00).

A lot of mobile news comes in the form of leaks, crafty and often blurry taken photos of upcoming devices, tweets, whispered exclusives from disgruntled employees, forum discussion, and those who just can’t resist the temptation to spread new news. It would seem as though Nokia wants us to believe that this revealing of the first Nokia Windows Phone 7 handset is also a leak. We don’t know if Stephen Elop is really so naive as to believe that no one would take a shot of one of the most highly anticipated devices of the year, at least for Windows devices. Well, we have our doubts about that. Was this just another clever way to gain some extra publicity?

Check out the leaked footage and photos below:

“This is something that’s super-confidential and we do not want to see it out in the blogosphere, wherever that is,” Elop said very seriously.

If the Sea Ray looks familiar, it’s because Nokia introduced a similar phone, the Nokia N9, earlier this week. Some differences include a dedicated hardware camera key, different LED placement and as you know, it is running Windows Phone 7 with the yet to be released Mango update. But while the N9 is based on Nokia’s MeeGo operating system, a platform that Nokia will treat as a “learning experience”. Sea Ray however, represents Nokia’s future as the company adopts Windows Phone for its’ main smartphone platform.

Nokia didn’t reveal many specs for Sea Ray, except for:

• the same 8-megapixel Carl Zeiss lens that the N9 sports
• an added side camera shutter button

We can guess Sea Ray to have, (based on N9 specs):

• processor – (more about this below)
• 3.9″ AMOLED display with 854×480 pixel resolution
• scratch-resistant curved glass
• a polycarbonate body
• 16 GB or 64 GB of storage

That last point would be a big one it seems. As so far, all Windows Phones come with either 8 GB or 16 GB of storage, which can be a deal-breaker if you listen to lots of music or watch lots of movies. It’s still unclear if Sea Ray will bring Dual Core to Windows Phones, but that is something that will come. As we do have some details from conversation with CEO of ST-Ericsson(semiconductor supplier) and Forbes late last month, stating that Nokia’s Windows Phone 7 devices will be powered by the U8500 dual-core CPU and its successors will go on to power Windows Phone 8 phones too. Windows Phone 7 devices have been exclusively powered by Qualcomm chipsets (due to Microsoft’s limiting guidelines, which were revised recently). ST-Ericsson’s CEO however says that they will be one of two chip suppliers for Nokia’s WP7 phones (he didn’t mention who the other one was). The first Nokia devices may well use the dual-core U8500 chipset, which has been seen running at 1.2GHz. Things might change by the time these devices actually come out, but they could well be the first dual-core Windows Phone 7 handsets.

The CEO also said that over the course of 2012 Nokia will release 12 Windows Phone 7 devices that will be based on future versions of the U8500 chipset. He also believes that ST-Ericsson will be a key supplier for Windows Phone 8, yep that’s 8.

So wait a minute you say. I don’t understand why Nokia chose Windows Phone as their new focus as a main platform. What happened to cause this, you ask. Many of you know, but here is a slight breakdown of some main points, just as a little refresher.
Nokia worked on a ‘hobby’ OS on the side, called Maemo. Originally it was built for Nokia’s ‘internet tablet’ line. The only phone that Maemo ever made it onto was the N900 (in late 2009), which was a device created for developers featuring top of the line specs and a shell enabled right out of the box. Maemo was a true desktop-class Linux OS originally created in 2005 and was clearly what Nokia should have been focusing on to replace Symbian all along. It wasn’t until early 2010 however that they realized this and partnered with Intel to create the MeeGo project, a fully open-source Linux-based post-PC (smartphone, tablet, TV, in-vehicle) platform for ARM and x86, essentially the successor to Maemo.

Fast forward a year, and MeeGo still is just not ready. It’s absolutely filled with worlds of potential, but it’s still a good six months to a year away from being shippable on a consumer’s device.

However, one of the biggest reasons that lead Nokia to dump Symbian in favor of Windows Phone 7 from Microsoft is to really try to win back some market share and mindshare in the U.S. But it looks like it will try out its first WP7 devices in markets where it is already strong. In the last quarter, Europe remained Nokia’s biggest market, with revenues of $2.9 billion out of a total $10 billion. Greater China was second with less than $2 billion. Currently 65 percent of all smartphone users in Europe have Nokia devices, with overall smartphone adoption at a hefty 40 percent of total mobile subscribers. In a speech at a conference in Amsterdam, a Nokia executive leaked out the fact that the first countries to see their new Windows Phone devices will be France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK.

In this latest sneak peak at the first Nokia WP7 handset, Elop also told his employees that Nokia has other Windows Phone devices in working condition, so Sea Ray may not be the only handset we’ll see from the company this year. But for Windows Phone 7 fans and users who saw the N9 and hoped for a Windows Phone version, Nokia has granted your wish.

We gotta admit, the device looks impressive.
What are your thoughts on this leak? Intentional or no?
Do you think this device will be the first dual-core Windows Phone?
Will this fresh breath of Windows Phone on Nokia handsets save this long time manufacturer?
Are you looking to get yourself one of these when they arrive stateside?

source: technet

Today Nokia announced that its annual Nokia World Conference would be held on October 26-27 in London…Leading many to the conclusion that this will be when they “kick-off” their Windows Phone 7 devices. However, there is nothing that gives us 100% truthfulness to the agenda. Right now we don’t even know who the keynote speakers will be for the 2 day event.

What is known is that Nokia World Conference has historically been where the Finnish phone maker makes big announcments. At Nokia’s N9 today Communiasia in China, CEO Stephen Elop also lent credence to earlier rumblings that WP7 devices would arrive Q4 this year. If this is in deed true then this conference in October would fit nicely for the announcement, and showing of these Windows Phone 7 devices. Plus lets not forget that Mango (Windows 7.1/7.5) is due out this same time frame. So what a better time than not for releasing something new and fruitful.

Tell me PPCGeeks – does this partnership with Microsoft + Nokia have you wondering what to come? Is a Nokia device calling your name, but the current OS is holding you back? How about a N9 with WP7 on it? Tell us below what your dream Nokia Wp7 device would be like…

Source: WPcentral

The HTC HD7 is a Windows Phone 7 handset designed to bring what you care about, to one central place. The most noticeable feature about this device is the large 4.3” display screen. The capacitive touchscreen display, which is the largest screen on a Windows Phone 7 device, is great for viewing movies, pictures, TV or videos on the go. The HD7 also comes equipped with a kickstand for easy, hands-free viewing.

The HTC HD7 runs on a 1GHz Snapdragon Processor, which enables robust multimedia and gaming experiences. You will be able to watch movies through the Netflix app, game on the go with Xbox Live or tune into T-Mobile TV with pretty good speeds. Other ways of staying connected is with the People Hub, a Windows Phone feature that lets you easily stay in touch with friends and family. The HD7 is all about bringing together what you care about most. With a customizable start screen, you can pin people, apps, playlists, and other favorites to the main page so they are always at your fingertips.

Some other well known features for the HTC HD7 include a 5MP camera with dual LED flash and automatic zoom for taking sharper pictures, Micorosoft Office Mobile for taking your work with you on the go, video capture/playback for capturing those special moments and GPS, Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities.
The HD7 is pretty much a redesigned HD2 with a Windows Operating System, instead of Android. It has that same 4.3-inch blueprint that HTC has been focused on with the HD2 and EVO 4G.

The first question you may want to ask yourself is whether or not you want to be aboard the WP7 gravy train.
Is the HD7 still current enough to make this a tempting deal?
Will the upcoming Mango update be enough of a refresh to make this device stay relevant for a while longer?

HTC HD7 (T-Mobile)
Known Specs:
• Windows Phone 7 OS
• Large 4.3″ Capacitive Touch display
• 5MP Camera with Dual LED Flash
• 1GHz Snapdragon Processor
• 720p HD Video Capture
• Kickstand for ultimate viewing experience
• Netflix Movie App
• Xbox LIVE
• Microsoft Office Mobile
• View/edit Word, Excel, PowerPoint
• GPS, Bluetooth, Wifi
• 3.5 mm Headset and MicroUSB Data/charging port

source

Apple delayed the launch of the Iphone for fear of it killing their iPod sales.

 When Apple was originally founded it was built to sell computers. Computers remained the company focus for over thirty years, but no longer is this the case. Apple computers have taken a backseat to the companies sales of mobile devices.

Microsoft has struggled to keep up with the changing market. And with its main competitor Apple. The new windows phone is definitely better than many of the older windows mobile devices but there is still room for improvement as I’m sure many of you that have the device would agree.

There are strong rumors that Microsoft is looking into purchasing Nokia for the nice round number of about $19 billion. While we don’t have an announcement from either Microsoft or Nokia, there is some strong evidence to back up this rumor.

The ex-Nokia chief’s vision for the company did not follow the path of being a device company but rather a transition to becoming a software  company. They did launch their own software, but it was overblown by Android and similar iOS devices. The new CEO of Nokia shares the same vision of making the switch from devices to software. Some believe that the new CEO was put into his office to assure the change would happen. When Nokia agreed in February that it would adopt the Windows Phone as its future smartphone those rumors appeared to be true.

But where will Microsoft go from here is the question on all our minds. For so long they have been the forefront runners in the PC business, can they make the switch over to focusing on being a mobile company? It will be interesting to watch this unfold. For so long Microsoft has paved the way with  their breakthroughs in technology, when it comes to computers, but their technology in the mobile area is a bit behind.

Apple broke from tradition in 2007 when they launch their series of mobile devices (the iPhone, the iPad, the iPod Touch, etc.) Now Microsoft is having to play catch up.

Will Microsoft be able to make up for their somewhat lost time and recapture their spot in leading technology? Only time will tell…

Source: BGR

There are many GEEKsters out there looking for some numbers from MS to help them make a decision on their next smartphone. Judging by some of the numbers released by MS, things are moving in the right direction. The number of developers downloading the needed tools to develop apps are great considering this is a new platform.

What’s very interesting is the number of apps MS has released does not include the lite versions, ebooks, wallpaper and the apps that have multiple languages count as 1. We all know that the Android and Apple market counts each one of these apps as a seperate app.

Last year many were calling WP7 the new Kin. The numbers are proving many of the nay sayers very wrong.

What do you GEEKmeisters think about this development?
What will the other platform fans say?
Inquiring GEEKS want to know..

Read more here: Intomobile

Microsoft’s DRM for Windows Phone 7 Marketplace Apps apparently has a few holes they need to address.

Recently a white hat hacker successfully made an app that can get into the Marketplace, find any app (paid or free), remove its DRM, and either directly install it to the phone, or save the XAP file.  And he did it by himself in just 6 hours!

Of course this will not be publicly released in any form, and he has notified Microsoft of this and how he did it, so that they can fix this as fast as possible.  This has also come up on developer forums and Microsoft really needs to get on the ball with this and fix these holes sooner rather than later.

Stay tuned for any updates on this matter, but for here is a video of the white hat hacker demonstrating how easy it would be to use his tool to pirate apps easily from the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

(note: PPCGeeks does not condone any form of piracy)

via –WPCentral

So you have decided to download the Windows Phone Developer Tools in order to start developing applications for Windows Phone 7. You spend hours upon hours coming up with the greatest app ever developed to date. You decide to release it as shareware with the best licensing key algorithm that no one could ever crack. You start up a new website, spend hours making it look professional, and once you are happy with it, you decide to finally post your application. Within the first hour, 3000 people have downloaded your application, so figuring that 5-10% of those people will register the application; you start doing the math, and realize that it was all worth it. [Ed’s Note- Some MightyMike Rom’s experience 3ooo people downloading per second.]

The next day you decide to do a Google search on your application to see if Google has indexed your site correctly, but to your surprise, the top hit is a crack for your application. How could that be? You have spent way too many hours coming up with algorithms that would make NSA jealous for it all to be for naught.

This could and has happened to a lot of developers out there, but how does this happen? Well, this has to do with how Microsoft Visual Studio compiles .Net applications. In .Net applications, they are not really compiled to what you and I would consider a true .EXE file; instead, they are compiled to Common Language Infrastructure (CLI). So what is CLI you ask, CLI is a byte-code, like Java uses, so when you run the .Net application, it first uses a Just In Time (JIT) compiler to compile it for the computer or device it is being run on.

So know you’re asking, what’s wrong with CLI code? Well, with the correct application you can re-create the original code from the CLI. The code turns out to be very close to the original, with only minor differences. The application in question is .Net Reflector.

Your next question is why anyone would use this for good and not evil. Well, I had made quite a few changes in a program I maintain while deployed, compiled it, installed it on many machines, but forgot to back up the changes. My laptop was stolen after that, so I figured I had lost all that hard work, but I still had the install file. While developing ZURN for MightyMike, I was having wait cursor issues, and started researching why; well it had to do with the JIT compiler compiling the program prior to running. I kept reading about it, found .Net reflector, but that didn’t help me with Zurn at the time. However a few months later, someone needed me to fix a few problems in my application, so I had to go back to an earlier version, made the changes, but then remembered .Net Reflector, so after a few hours, I had all my other changes back in. It really was a life saver for me.

Now, how can you protect yourself from this very thing if you’re a programmer? Well, there are other applications for just that, they are referred to as Obfuscators. What they do is go through the CLI code, and rename every function and variable to simple names. For example, if you have a function called HelloWorld(String strText, String strTitle), it might change it to A(String a, String b). This does not change the actual function; it just makes it really difficult to follow. A really good example of one of these programs is Obfuscar, and it is open source, which always makes me happy.

Apps, apps, apps! With Google’s recent announcement that the Android Market has reached 38,000 applications, I decided to find out how many applications are in each of the major smartphone app stores. Remember that these figures are only for the number of applications in the official application store and do not include the total number of applications for a platform.

With no surprise, Apple leads the count with just shy of 160,000 applications at last count, while the aforementioned Android Market has 38,000. Claming a distant third in this size-only contest is Blackberry’s App World, which has 6531. Symbian is fourth with just over 3400 apps while following behind in fifth is the Palm App Catalog with 2169 applications. Falling dead last is Windows Marketplace For Mobile, with only 840 approved applications. For posterity sakes, the morbid Palm OS App Store has 2393 applications.

If the non-approved applications were to be included, my best estimate is that Apple would still be leading, with Android, Windows Mobile and Symbian vying for second place, and the rest of the field falling well back. It will be interesting to see if Apple can maintain this gargantuan lead as Android’s growth has been absolutely torrid. Also, will the paltry number of 840 increase to several thousand with the looming Windows Phone 7 launch later this year? Only time will tell!

Please note that for the Microsoft, Blackberry and Palm OS figures, I used a calculator to add up the total as they each give a break down of how many applications are in each genre, but not the total amount of approved applications. Also, as these stats are not officially given by the various companies, they are what I have found to be the most reliable count.

Special thanks to Mr. X, Mikee4fun, and psycho_maniac for helping with this post. Image from thewebsquad.com.

Looking to develop applications for Windows Phone 7 but not sure of where to start? Microsoft recently released several free resources that will help any aspiring  app developer start in the right direction. With Windows Phone 7, XNA, Silverlight and .NET are the supported runtimes that developers will be working with.

The current list of WP 7 development resources are:

• Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone 7 Series (Link)
• Windows Phone 7 Series eBook (Link)
• Windows Phone 7 Series Developer Documentation (Link)
• Windows Phone 7 Series Icon Pack (Link)

Additional Windows Phone 7 developer documentation can be found here while the main portal for Windows Phone 7 platform development is located here. Now get to building those great mobile applications!

Source- Mobile Jaw

Via the official Bing Twitter account, Microsoft has announced that the Bing mobile application for Windows Mobile has been updated to version 5.1.2010. No major changes are apparent in this update. To download the update, go via your mobile browser to m.bing.com/download or going into the application and selecting “Update Available”. Interestingly. this update is only for Window Phones that operate on the Sprint, T-Mobile, and AT&T networks. If you are a Verizon Wireless user, this update appears to not be for you.

Have you played a game called “3D Anti-Terrorist” lately? If you have, you may have a virus. This trojan, originally found on XDA-Developers, will instigate random international dialing spontaneously during the late hours of the night. The list of fixes for this annoying issue include deleting certain files to completely hard resetting the device, with the latter option being the best bet.

Source- WMExperts

today’s release we have added search query suggestions, ‘My Account’ support, and a new homescreen user interface that is optimized for larger screens. Now when you log into your YouTube account on our phone, you can view your favorites, subscriptions and playlists from wherever you are. Let’s say you have recently found an amazing basketball shot video and favorited it on your desktop PC. When you’re at the basketball court with your friends, all you need to do is launch the YouTube app and go to your “Favorites” to show it to them.

Another feature that we have added is query suggestions. When you type into the YouTube search box, you get relevant suggestions. This saves on typing, which is especially useful for mobile phones where text input may be difficult.

To download the app on your Windows Mobile or Nokia S60 phone, simply visitm.youtube.com/appin your phone’s browser. For more information, please take a look at the YouTube Help Center.

HTC and T-Mobile are teaming up for their latest campaign to sell you phones, and this one is a dandy folks. Anybody who signs a new 2-year contract with T-Mobile between January 20th and March 23rd of this year and decides on getting either a HTC Touch Pro2, a T-Mobile Dash 3G, or a T-Mobile Shadow is eligible for up to $500 in rewards. But instead of the usual “blah-de-bleh”, these rewards are worthwhile (for some at least).

As seen below, one reward is awarded each month. It begins in April of this year and continues on until March 2011. Some of the rewards include-

• April (2010): Buy one night, get one night free at participating IHG properties (including InterContinental® Hotels & Resorts, Crowne Plaza®, Holiday Inn®) in the US and Canada (up to $350 value)
• June (2010): 40% discount on phone accessories at HTC.com (up to $32 discount)—US customers only. Puerto Rico customers eligible to receive a $25 flight discount on any airline.
• January (2011): $10 off purchase of an EA SPORTS video game at www.eastore.com (up to $10 value)

Does this entice you enough to switch to T-Mobile? Or are you waiting for the HTC HD2 to come out before making the move? Either way, this is a creative way to get new customers.

If you are interested, go here for more details!

Full list of rewards after the jump!

You can go here to download via your computer or go to http://wl.windowsmobile.com/ via your phone to download the update.

*Please note that WindowsLive_0409.PPC2005_arm.cab is English-only. ]]> https://www.ppcgeeks.com/2010/01/09/windows-live-for-windows-mobile-updated/feed/ 25 https://www.ppcgeeks.com/2009/09/03/the-new-toshiba-tg01/ https://www.ppcgeeks.com/2009/09/03/the-new-toshiba-tg01/#comments Thu, 03 Sep 2009 23:36:37 +0000 http://www.ppcgeeks.com/?p=153 As most of know, Windows Mobile has been reborn in 6.5 as Windows Phone. Today, Toshiba went a little further by announcing the new TG01 Windows Phone, a spin off of the TG01. The Difference? It comes with Windows Phone 6.5.

The updated TG01 Windows Phone will go on sale in stores across Europe on October 6th. Customers who already own the TG01 will also receive an upgrade to the Windows Phone 6.5 platform for free.

Without going into all the benefits of Windows Phone 6.5, I will say that this upgrade is something to look forward to. The new Home screen and a finger-friendly start menu are just a few goodies to forward to. In addition, Windows Marketplace for Mobile is expected to launch very soon (finally). The marketplace will bring together applications from games, office-tools, and WiFiRouters to a central place – your mobile device. The newest Pocket Internet Explorer makes it faster and easier to browse the Internet, and the free Microsoft My Phone makes it easy for users to backup and share their data.

The TG01 Windows® phone also comes with the Snapdragon 1GHz processor. Need I say more? This means smooth video playback, super-fast gaming and detail-rich browsing. The same high-resolution 4.1” WVGA (800 x 480) touchscreen is present – just like the TG01. All this in the same 9.9mm body as the previously-launched Toshiba TG01.

Storage Card support is up to 32GB SDHC memory, with an 8GB microSD card bundled. Integrated GPS technology allows the TG01 Windows Phone to double up as a GPS navigation system.

An update to the new Windows Mobile® 6.5 operating system for existing owners of TG01 will be available for download from Toshiba’s website: www.toshiba-europe.com/mobile
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