Hands on with Windows Mobile 7 Series
Engadget managed to get some face time with Microsoft’s latest creation. Enjoy.
Update: MSDN have posted a 22 minute video of Windows Phone 7 Series goodness. Check it out here
Search Results for 'Wave'
MWC: Microsoft Announces Windows Phone 7 Series, Comes with Zune
Microsoft today finally revealed its latest mobile OS, Windows Phone 7 Series. Yes its quite a mouthful but represents a complete overhaul of its mobile OS and the last chance it has to revitalize its WinMo platform before its left behind by the likes of iPhone and Android.
It is very different from what came before and different from any of the other UI out in the market today, has a new version of Microsoft IE for Mobile, 4-point multitouch and pinch to zoom, so far so good. The home screen has been completely reworked, as has the whole OS and starts with a set of tiles that are active and allow you pull together all your information, contacts and content through a series of panoramic hubs called ‘People, Pictures, Games, Media, Office and of course Marketplace for apps. You can get an idea of how you might scroll through these hubs from the pictures below.
Of most interest to some will be the integration with Xbox and the Zune like interface for media. Every 7 Series phone will be a Zune, its not exactly clear yet how 7 Series interacts with Xbox Live but those that have played with the ZuneHD will feel at home and interface has been quite a success for Microsoft, so its good to see it implemented here.
Business users are not left out, integration with Office and Exchange has always been WinMo’s strong point and 7 Series should be no different.
Unfortunately you wont be able to use your old application’s as its not backwards compatible with WinMo 6 and Flash is unconfirmed, as is multitasking. Suggestions are that it will pause applications when not used directly, which could cause problems for some. More on this soon hopefully.
There will be a single Windows Phone identity regardless of carrier or device brand. Microsoft have dictated what type hardware 7 Series can run on, which includes capacitive screens and multitouch, so expect a powerful hardware and a robust experience. Those new phones will likely look similar at first, featuring a high res touchscreen, cameras, three front-facing buttons (back, start, and perhaps not shockingly, a Bing key), and little else but expect to this expand to more innovative devices in 2011.
Carrier partnerships are far and wide, including AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telefónica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, while hardware partners include Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC, HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm to name a few.
To show off the OS, Microsoft have thoughtfully provided a nice video;
Lots more information to come in the days and weeks ahead, but expect to see handsets with the new OS in Q3 2010 with rumored handsets from Acer and LG in September 2010. We hope to see some hands on time with development devices later today as MWC rolls on.
Windows Phone 7 Series Features Video
The new Windows Phone 7 Series user interface features a new holistic design system that brings together form and function based on key principles.
Check out the video below:-
Samsung i8520 Halo looks a bit of alright
It looks like someone from the Samsung camp may have let news of the Samsung Halo slip!
Although not officially announced yet we believe it will be, later on today, and as far as I can see it may well steal the limelight away from The Wave that was revealed yesterday.
The word on the street is that the Halo has a projector built in to it. Yes, built in!
As well as this cool feature it will run Android 2.1 with Bada over the top, have a 3.7 WVGA Super AMOLED display, 8 megapixel camera with autofocus and flash, 720p / 30fps video encoding / decoding, DivX and Xvid playback support, Bluetooth 2.1, standard 3.5mm headphone jack, 802.11b/g/n WiFi, A-GPS, 16GB of internal storage, microSD expansion and stereo speakers.
Doesn’t sound too shabby does it?
As soon as we have the confirmed details we will let you know, and hopefully some video to go with it!
Posted by: James
Nokia shows off Symbian^3 UI
For those of you waiting for Nokia to hurry up and make Symbian usable and generally rocking, the road to glory took a step forward recently with this preview of Symbian ^3, whilst not completely rocking the cross platform code that is QT which also powers Maemo 6, it still never the less looks pretty nifty and will be seen on handsets later this year.
If this video is anything to by, its going to please Symbian fans no end. It even has the mythical ‘pinch to zoom’.
The first devices running the new platform are expected to ship as early as Q3 this year. Along with more efficient memory management, allowing more apps to run in parallel, Symbian^3 also includes support for HDMI, so users can plug their device into a TV and watch a 1080p movie. The new graphics architecture will use hardware acceleration to offer users a much improved user interface, with a refresh rate of 60fps as opposed to the current 15fps.
The new homescreen supports multiple pages for widgets, enabling the user to just flick between each one. Across the board we’ll also see a range of network improvements, including the ability to automatically switch from cell network to WLAN automatically, without user interruption. The platform is also ready for 4G networks.
How to add internet radio stations to the Nokia N900 media player
The N900’s media player application has an internet radio section which contains lots of radio station bookmarks, but no obvious way of adding more. The video below by All About Maemo gives an example of how to add more stations to the list, and how to remove stations too.
The video uses Shoutcast as an example, but there are other sites that will work with this method too. Unfortunately there are many technical and legal reasons why some sites work and others don’t, so perhaps the best thing to do is simply try radio station streaming links to see if they work. Any station which streams successfully can be saved as a bookmark using the method in the video.
Incidentally, if the Shoutcast site asks about player types, choose the option for using your own player.
How to install MSN, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, ICQ etc on the Nokia N900
The N900 has instant messaging and VOIP totally integrated into the interface, but officially it only supports this integration with Skype, Google Talk, Jabber/Facebook and Ovi. However, by installing a plugin you can actually add integrated support for many more services including MSN / Live, AIM, Yahoo Messenger, ICQ, QQ, Gadu Gadu, GroupWise and Sametime.
This excellent video below by All About Maemo shows the complete installation process for this plugin:
Once you’ve installed a service your service’s contacts may be added your N900’s Contacts application. If there’s duplication, you can merge contacts by selecting them until a “Merge” option appears, then select the contact you want to merge it with. If it talks about naming conflicts during the merging, just enter the name that you want the contact to be known as.
Sony Ericsson press conference live from MWC
Well you might think that MWC doesn’t start until tomorrow but that’s not going to stop Sony Ericsson! They’ve scheduled a press conference this evening and it’s all set to start at 6PM UK time – 7PM in Spain.
We’re expecting to see a number of devices officially announced. The Sony Ericsson Aspen, the Sony Ericsson Xperia X10 and the Sony Ericsson Vivaz. I’m sure that there will also be some comments about the GreenHeart philosophy too.
The live video steam starts at 6PM (or probably a little before) and you can find the video embedded after the jump below. I’ll also be monitoring the event and will post any press releases etc. that Sony Ericsson send me, I’m pretty sure there will be something official about the handsets.
James also has a one-to-one meeting with someone from Sony Ericsson tomorrow so please let us know if you would like him to ask any specific questions!
SanDisk Sansa Clip+ unboxing video
I think that we’ve probably reviewed all of the Sansa MP3 player models from SanDisk’s range from the Sansa e200 series a few years ago and now to this latest Sansa Clip+ model.
In the past the Sansa models have impressed us, offering good sound quality and stunning battery life. What’s more they are all quite inexpensive and, I think, a good alternative to the likes of the iPod as long as you can do without iTunes integration.
The SanDisk seem to be making these little players to last too as I first reviewed the Sansa e270 back in 2006 and the little player still works perfectly and the battery life is showing no signs of diminishing!
The Clip+ is basically an updated version of the Sansa Clip that we saw back in 2008. This new version is smaller and lighter than the earlier model and also now has a microSDHC memory card slot that can take up to 32GB memory cards which, coupled with the 4GB internal memory gives you a whopping 36GB, plenty of space for a tiny player I would think!
Have a look at the video after the jump for a quick tour around the player and a brief look at the menus.
Nokia N97 Mini unboxing video
It’s been a long time since we reviewed the Nokia N97, August 2009 in fact. The N97 was pretty popular but it was widely reported to have some stability and performance issues. The N97 Mini, as the name suggests, is a smaller version of the N97. Released at the end of 2009 it offered much the same as its bigger brother and virtually the same specification in a more compact package, having a 3.2″ screen versus the 3.5″ of the N97 and some 12 grams lighter.
Control.
Stay in control of your email, calendar and music with dedicated widgets for your home screen. Move content around your home screen and place it anywhere you like by dragging your finger across the touch sensitive display.Style.
The N97 mini feels as good as it looks with its wide-screen multi-sensory display, QWERTY keyboard and sleep metal finish. View web pages , videos, photos and maps at a natural 35-degree angle on the innovative 3.2" tilting display.
As you’ve come to expect from us by now we have an unboxing video below which tours the hardware and takes a quick look at user interface. It’s essentially the same user experience as the original N97. We’ll have a full review for you over the next couple of weeks but feel free to ask your questions in the mean time.
You’ll find the video after the jump.
Connect
Connect with us on the following social media platforms.