Microsoft may be charitable enough to allow all consumers of Windows Phone 7 hardware to get the Mango update this Fall for free, as if anyone should expect otherwise, but users of Windows Mobile 6.5 were never supposed to be so lucky.
Until now.
Hackers, under the website, moniker, or both as Dark Forces Team (DFT) have ported the Windows Phone 7.5 Mango update to the old Windows Mobile HTC HD2 device. It seems they obtained an early beta build of the software and built a custom ROM for the older phone. As such, it’s not without its disadvantages; It “was never meant for daily usage. Marketplace access does not work, for example,” as stated via the XDA-Developers forum.
Microsoft was all too amused about the event, metaphorically shrugging it off — even encouraging, some might say.
“We say tinker away with Mango and enjoy the juice,” Microsoft spokesman Bill Cox said to AllThingsD. “But beware the fine print — unlocking phones may void your warranty.”
The elusive Zune Video Pass has been desired ever since the $15/month all-you-can-eat subscription for music debuted years ago — long before Microsoft made the deal practically irresistible by offering 10 songs per month to keep. So much so that our 2010 April Fools’ Day prank did not go over so well, either, when people realized it was just a joke.
The Daily, known as the iPad-only newspaper yes, is reporting (via LiveSide) that there is talk internally at Microsoft about bringing what we have essentially named a Zune Video Pass to the Xbox: the service would basically be a video subscription offering, allowing you to watch an unlimited amount of videos via streaming à la Netflix. And the most wildly unfound part is that they would do so under the Zune brand, which has been dead again, alive again for several weeks now.
But The Daily underscores that it’s unclear whether or not “this new video offering could be similar” to the current Zune Pass for music, or if it “could be folded into the existing Zune Pass itself.”
“Or it could be a premium feature for those with Xbox Live Gold memberships, likely as an add-on to recurring subscriptions already in place,” they state.
Microsoft’s new Xbox Dashboard, due out this Fall, is already coming with a video service codenamed Diamond and branded as Xbox Live TV (which does just that, feeds live television to the Xbox). It’s also not clear what this new service could bear to that one or any of the third-party apps already available on Live.
Windows Phone Mango, the latest version to the mobile operating system, has been gaining good press and traction ever since its announcement almost a month ago. The media has summed up Mango as an update worthy of making Windows Phone feel complete, even if it’s not due for about a year since its debut. Here at Zunited, we welcome Mango with open arms since the update brings a couple of features we’ve been longing for… and ones we’re pleasantly surprised about.
We decided to name our own most anticipated features, respectively per writer, here at Zunited. The result is the following list with Zunited’s most anticipated features coming in Mango, in alphabetical order by writer (and make sure to tell us yours after you’re done):
Better SkyDrive integrationOne of the best features I outlined in our review of Windows Phone when the operating system first came out was the SkyDrive Camera Roll. No longer did anyone have to worry about accidentally deleting that one-in-million shot; you could trick your friends into thinking you deleted that embarrassing picture of them. You always had a backed up copy in the cloud, and it all happened without you even thinking about. (The best part, perhaps, is that if you wanted to transfer pictures to your computer, you could just download them from online.) SkyDrive integration gets even deeper with Mango.
Now you can save and work on documents in SkyDrive on your Windows Phone device. And in combination with Office 356, there’s no need to worry about where that document is saved and if you have a copy with you. It’s brilliant. Pictures also get a bit of an enhancement, since now you can send pictures to people from SkyDrive via instant message, email, or text. And even better is that you can finally send, share, and whatever else videos as you can images.
Microsoft has stated you can search through SkyDrive folders, but they have yet to say if it officially works with music. When, or if at all, it does, SkyDrive (and Windows Phone) will be unstoppable.
MultitaskingAfter months of waiting, Multitasking has finally arrived to Windows Phone. Now with the Mango update, third party developers will be able to add functionality for downloading something when an app is closed or update an app at a set time so that when you open it, it’s already updated. The potential is huge. But with Windows Phone there’s even better ways to multitask; compared to others like iOS, third party developers will now be able to make live tiles, showing live updated information, which is huge for the glance and go philosophy. And last but not least, the implementations is awesome, the cards view is useful and very well designed, making app switching super fast in Windows Phone Mango.
Internet Explorer 9Internet Explorer 9 on Windows Phone will be bringing much more to the table than just better speeds: it’s also bringing HTML5. Microsoft has claimed that it will be much faster than before, it will make way for you to view the web pages better with more animations, and just simply get more out of your browser. Perhaps the best part about HTML5 in Internet Explorer 9 in Mango is it negates the requirement to have an audio player or video player. That means you can now stream music and watch videos from your WP7 browser, not having to leave to open an application.
Threads (or integrated chat)If there is one thing that Microsoft wants you to understand about Mango it’s this: Social Integration. One way or another, Microsoft has embedded some form of social group based integration into the fold of WP7.5. Whether that’s accessing your Twitter and LinkedIn accounts from the people hub, or allowing a much more integrated experience of Facebook throughout the phone experience.
This goes for messaging as well, and this is one of the reasons Mango has me excited about the platform. The movement towards a unified messaging system is welcomed by yours truly. With Mango, the ability to receive messages from IM, SMS, and Facebook chat will bring a level of cohesiveness not found on any other smartphone right out of the box. It’s simplicity and convenience at its best. Having one messaging thread that spans through different social group mediums and keep it nice and tight is wonderful. No more rummaging through different apps to keep a single conversation stream. It’s all unified, and all a click away. It’s what the Kin (rest in peace) wanted to be, but it’s what will set WP7.5 apart from the competition.
Games Hub enhancementsMost of us who game on our Xbox also participate in the online gaming network known as Xbox Live. For many people, Xbox Live is one of the main reasons that they even purchased an Xbox. Mango is offering a Myriad of new features designed to not only get you in your game faster and easier, but to make staying connected with all of your gaming friends much more natural as well.
Besides a revamped, cleaner look at your games list and an updated 3D avatar, the entire Xbox Live communication system has been revamped to promote more Xbox to Windows Phone interaction. All of the features that were once a part of the Xbox Live extras app are now fullly integrated into the game hub. You may now send and receive messages from other Xbox or Windows Phone users, view which friends are online at any given moment while being able to tell what game they are playing too, you may accept, reject, or initiate any friend request as well, all with side-by-side game achievement comparisons with your friends right in the palm of your hand.
Lastly, you can respond to multiplayer game requests right on your phone. Since accepting a hardcore game, like Call of Duty, request isn’t possible currently, we can assume that these request notifications go deeper within the Windows Phone Windows Phone interaction category. With this little hint, I don’t think it is wrong to assume a completely revamped multiplayer option will be coming with the Mango update.
Smart DJYou want to know what I am most looking for from this whole Mango update? Smart DJ. The reason is simple, Pandora is not making a WP7 app as of this article. I have used Slacker and Last.fm, but there is always a pro feature to buy and do I really want to pay more to enjoy the music I already pay for with Zune Pass? Slacker’s Premium subscription is $9.99 a month which includes all “Pro” features and the feature to play songs on demand) while its Pro subscription is $3.99 a month with No-Ads and the ability to skip songs. Last.fm has similar options but none of them really hit me like Smart DJ away from my house; Last.fm offers a $3 a month model that allows: no ads, gives you server priority, and more of the same.
Now, with Smart DJ you are your own personal Internet Radio Station. The Zune HD has had Smart DJ for a while but now coupled with an unlimited data plan, you can rock whenever you please.
Microsoft is in no way uncharitable (well, for those that are hoping for a smartphone…). The company continues to lineup giveaways; this latest one gives you the chance to win one out of one hundred potential Windows Phone devices — but that’s not all, if you win, you also get tickets to any concert (actually the promotional nomenclature is “show,” so if there’s a circus, a Broadway performance, or a standup comedian you want to see: we’re guessing that is applicable) of your choice.
Microsoft has teamed up with radio show On Air With Ryan Seacrest for this latest giveaway, so this is how you enter: You have to go “like” Ryan Seacrest on Facebook and then enter to win by giving your name, email address, and birth date. You can do that in one shot by clicking here to go directly to the contest section of his page.
The promotional image for the contest reads:
Win hot seats and a free Windows Phone!
Windows Phone is giving away 100 Windows Phones in 100 hours…plus your chance to score premium seats to any show you want this summer!
Windows Phone connects you to the hottest shows. Name the show and Windows Phone will get you there.
Good luck!
Perhaps he was a bit more eloquent than that.
At a lunch for the Seattle Rotary Club at the Westin Hotel earlier today, Ballmer defended himself and Microsoft when asked what he thought about the naysayers that think he should step down as CEO of the company.
“You tell me if I lack the energy, conviction… or drive,” he said to the audience according to The Seattle Times. “There’s a reason why we’ll almost do $70 billion in revenue this year and we’ll make over… $26, $27 billion in profits.” We don’t want to make assumptions, but we’re pretty sure Ballmer was referring to himself when he stated that there’s a reason Microsoft’s revenue and profit is on a steady rise.
That most likely means he has no plans to step down.
He went on to state that the three key components of tech innovation is: recognition, understandability, and the cloud. He compared a computer to his assistant, saying if he asks his assistant to setup a business trip, she can, but computer “has no idea where to look… that’s why people fall in love with search engines. It’s why we’re investing so much with Bing.”
But what the company is much more invested in is Windows 8.
“How important is Windows? Very. ‘Very’ would be a fair answer,” he stated.
It’s finally been a pretty newsworthy day ever since it seemed things may have simmered down for a while. Microsoft officially released Windows Phone 7.5 Mango for developers today — practically a week after the press was actually invited to test out the same exact software.
In a blog post, Microsoft asked developers from all around the world to try out the latest version of their software, but admitted they’re also still working on some problems with distribution. Registered developers would get an invite to Microsoft Connect where they can access Mango; the company stated they should view this as a beta version of the software, however.
With the access to Mango also came the second beta release of Windows Phone Developer Tools for Mango. Student developers who signed up through DreamSpark could be one of the lucky recipients of fifty free Mango phones.
But strangely enough, Microsoft has made developers agree to a non-disclosure agreement regarding any Mango information that comes with the software. The peculiar part is that the media and press were allowed access to the same software without having to go under an NDA. However, it should be noted that Microsoft could potentially offer more advanced versions of Mango in the near-future with features the press has yet to learn about.
Earlier today, it was announced through the Windows Phone Blog, that Mango will now let users add custom ringtones through the Zune software. They also announced that third-party developers could add ringtones via an app.
Ways to get Ringotnes on Mango:
Through Apps – App developers will now get the option to save sounds, music, voice recordings, etc, as ringtones, which will be accessible through the settings.
With Zune Software – You’ll now be able to sync via the Zune Software ringtones you have from other places, unique sounds, whatever you want. Just by adding the MP3/WVA file to the Zune Software, and marking the genre of the file as “RINGTONE,” that way when you sync your device, those files will be on the ringtones settings, and not on your library.
New Built-in Ringtones – In addition to all the new ways of getting ringtones, Microsoft will be adding 9 new custom made ringtones.
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| The device feels substantial and quite smooth, and welcoming for that matter, to the touch. Its full-spaced, physical QWERTY keyboard should garner positive critiques from those who can do without it and for those who love physical keyboards, alike — it seems rather fitting for people who have large hands, as well. Its design should please both the text messaging crowd and the moms who want to seem just trendy enough. And while it may be bulky, it doesn't exactly feel like a brick. | Sadly, many of the features that are made to acclaim the phone serve to its detriment, its material and its keyboard really pack on the weight at more than 6 ounces. This is one heavy phone. I don't exactly get the layouts of buttons on the phone and at times buttons feel too subtle and on the surface rather than protruding. The camera could be much better, specifically for video; and the audio quality for the speaker is a bit lacking. |
| Verdict | Texters, emailers, those who cannot find themselves using an onscreen keyboard, your parents who might even find the Quantum's design adorable, and anyone scattered in between will very much find themselves enjoying the LG Quantum. It may be a tough sell, considering Fall — and thus, new devices — is just around the corner, but if you just need to have the physical keyboard, you might just need to have the Quantum. |
| Rating |
Note: We have been offered no compensation from LG or any other parties for writing this review. LG allowed us the opportunity to review their device and we accepted graciously as a way to build our review portfolio. We accepted a test device from the company and will soon have to ship it back to them, other than that short period of time in which we were able to use the device (no services, just the hardware) without pay, as mentioned, we received no compensation. If that deal is to change or happens to change, we will update this post immediately with new terms of our agreement.
I currently use an iPhone 4 and have previously owned a Samsung Focus as my Windows Phone of choice. As such, I may refer to, compare, and contrast those other devices with the Quantum.
This Fall will mark a year of when Windows Phone 7 was released worldwide. Here in the United States we were mainly given three phone choices, around the time WP7 started becoming available, from AT&T: the Samsung Focus, the HTC Surround, and the LG Quantum.
The LG Quantum separated itself from the Focus and Surround by being the only offering available on AT&T to have a full, physical QWERTY keyboard, its design looked (and still looks, for that matter, it obviously hasn’t changed) a tad bit like a tween’s messaging phone á la Kin, but other than that it may have fallen flat to the critics’ eyes. That is to say that most were clamoring about the Focus and Surround before they even began noticing the Quantum.
I am quickly beginning to realize, however, that critics may have been all too quick to disregard the Quantum. And that comparing it to the Kin is already a grave mistake.
Initial look and feelWhen you first open up the box to your Quantum, you’ll be met with the phone’s circular-rectangle shape; its design can only, and most fittingly, be described as a squircle. Though, it’s not squarish like the Kin One (remember: don’t compare the phone to the Kin), it’s as aforementioned a rectangle. You’ll probably quickly forget that, though. The phone has not one sharp corner, it has not one edge, every taper will make you question exactly where it ends or begins.
And despite how smooth it is from the rubber material, LG didn’t use it gratuitously, even if it feels that way. The material only goes around the edges of the phone; the front is mostly screen, and the back is mostly what I’m assuming is some sort of brushed metal. Because of that, the phone feels substantial. If this fell without a case on, I wouldn’t be all too worried.
Regardless, it is quite heavy. At more than 6 ounces, it makes my iPhone 4 feel like a Samsung Focus, and it makes the Samsung Focus (which feels like a feather on its own) feel as if it’s not even in your hand. Though, I can’t say that my iPhone feels invincible: this past week I noticed it had a horizontal crack from one side of the phone to the other through the Apple logo. I know that could never happen to the Quantum. It feels chuck-secure, rugged, yet smooth. (On the contrary, perhaps tweens can use this phone, since they tend to have quite the clumsy hands, speaking from personal experience.)
The Quantum is also quite sizable in terms of depth. The height and width are comparable to an iPhone, but it would probably take two iPhones stacked screen up to size up to the Quantum, if placed in the same fashion. Once again, though, that’s because of its physical slide-out keyboard.
Keyboard
Speaking as someone who doesn’t terribly understand the praise over physical keyboards, I can see using the Quantum’s in a very natural way. The keys aren’t fairly spaced out, but they’re quite large. Now, keep note that I have relatively small hands, and it was easy for me. My thoughts are that someone with large hands should have an easy time using it, as well. It felt a bit awkward and I was unsure if I was pressing the right keys or not, but I chalk that up to the fact that I’m not used to physical keyboards.
The portrait soft keyboard was equally as easy to use. For some reason, the Samsung Focus’, which has a larger screen than the Quantum, keyboard wasn’t as easy to use. I believe there was an actual bug with the Focus but another reason could be because it was so large, who knows? The landscape keyboard on the Quantum, however, is a mess and a half. It’s better to use the actual, physical one. However, since Windows Phone 7 predicts what you’re going to type, I find it easier to use the onscreen keyboard, allowing you to select an entry quickly. The same is true for the emoticon button, which brings up a selection onscreen.
That said, you’re probably not going to buy a phone with a physical keyboard to never actually use it.
Screen
The Quantum’s screen size is smaller than most other Windows Phone devices, if not all other ones, but it’s actually the same as the iPhone’s (lest I stand corrected). In that regard, it’s easy getting used to how much screen real estate is lost on a smaller screen like the Quantum’s, or iPhone’s, but when comparing vibrancy and such: it’s a mixed bag.
The way I described contrast between the Samsung Focus screen to the iPhone 4 screen was that they’re both beautiful in their own ways. I was very earnest about that statement. The Quantum’s screen isn’t like the Focus’ super AMOLED beauty (and its ridiculously amazing true blacks), but it’s quite vibrant… perhaps too vibrant at times. As opposed to the iPhone 4, which when I compared both screens, I feel is actually quite dull now. But again, that’s in terms of vibrancy. The iPhone 4 has, barnone, the better quality. Photos and videos look much crisper and cleaner on the Apple device, but the Quantum does a fair job in displaying that type of media too.
Even the blacks on both screens were a bit different. The iPhone has this blueish, mostly screen, hue to it (not unlike the Focus, but still the Focus is much better at this) while the Quantum was hovering towards a grey, but not much.
If I had to choose between the saturation of the Quantum’s colors or the iPhone’s lifelessness in comparison, I’d have to honestly go somewhere in between. The Quantum can be so vibrant at times it makes people look cartoonish. A picture of me, including my bare lips, looked as though I had eaten a cherry Italian ice or slabbed on lipstick. But in many ways that can be pretty beautiful (read: not me in lipstick, that would be horrific.)
Buttons
The Quantum’s power button sits on the top left side of the phone, and actually is fitted with the groove of the curved back. Now, I never actually failed to power on the device or to turn it on from its sleep state, but it did feel as if though I was just pressing down on the top of the phone with no actual button. I don’t know if that matters to anyone, to me it doesn’t; as long as I am able to turn on the phone, all is well.
The same is true for the volume rocker and the camera shutter button. The phone’s mini-USB jack is hidden behind a piece of plastic that can turn 360 degrees but never actually be removed from the phone itself (hopefully you know what I’m talking about) and I’d rather do away with that.
Something else that ticks at me a bit is that the back and search buttons are capacitive touch, but the start screen button is a physical button. Now, I suppose that’s all right, if not seemingly half-baked, but there’s no haptic feedback when you touch the other buttons, which I would prefer. And quirky enough is that the start button actually sits below the other two buttons; an LG logo sits between the back and search button instead. It’s this weird triangle of buttons down there.
I can commend LG, though, for having one button be physical since I’m sure touching those capacitive buttons by mistake happens often (it happened a couple of times on the Focus for me) but still I’m bothered by the nonlinear button placement.
Click to the second page for Photo and Video quality, Audio quality, What’s In The Box, and final tidbits and Conclusion.
The audio streaming happens around the 1:25 minute mark. Though we can’t understand what the man in the video is saying, it appears as though the audio works while you turn off the screen, while on the lock screen, and you can even control the audio with the volume rocker. Pretty cool.
Source: WindowsPhoneFR
Famous music producer Timbaland updated his Twitter status on Thursday with the following message: “xbox live on a phone? Really? dope. check out the new htc trophy windows phone at verizon [sic].” He followed that tweet with a link to the promotional Verizon HTC Trophy page. (Update: Just in case this could get lost in translation, “dope” is vernacular for describing something in a good way, or describing how “cool” it is.)
The producer, who has worked with such talents as Jay-Z, Jennifer Lopez, Madonna, and Justin Timberlake, ended the tweet with the hashtag “#ad.” While mostly hashtags are used for comedic effect, the #ad hashtag is usually used because the person is posting an advertisement. But perhaps Timbaland just doesn’t know and wrote “#ad” to be jocular about how bluntly he was expressing the ‘dope’ness of Windows Phone.
Or not. We don’t know for sure. If it’s true that he was paid for posting the advertisement, our first question would be “why?” We have yet to see Windows Phone nor any other Microsoft product ads like this. And we hardly think that Timbaland needs the money for tweeting out an ad.
Timbaland also replied to another Twitter user who, referring to Xbox Live on Windows Phone, was amazed at how far along technology has come. “Yea dats what i said [sic],” he stated.
Perhaps a deep relationship between HTC or Verizon and Timbaland exists. He was, after all, the one who produced an entire album for Verizon’s VCAST network (three years ago).
But for now we’re just going to say that he thinks Xbox Live on Windows Phone is pretty dope.
UPDATE: It appears as though Verizon is actually paying various celebrities to post this HTC Trophy ad on their Twitter profiles. A simple search reveals that Fox Sports Radio Host Kirk Morrison, Actor Wilmer Valderrama, Arizona Cardinals’ Kerry Rhodes, San Diego Chargers’ Shaun Phillips, and MTV Correspondent DJ Clue have all tweeted out variations of the same advertisement.