Windows Phone Thoughts.com

Positive Windows Phone News From China?

Brad Wasson — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:00:00 GMT

http://www.engadget.com/2012/05/19/...phone-in-china/

"Going by Microsoft's Greater China COO Michel van der Bel, the launch of Windows Phone in China is off to an auspicious start -- enough to give Apple the shakes. He claims that devices like the Nokia Lumia 800c have helped Windows Phone reach seven percent of the Chinese market, or just enough to get past the six points of the iPhone."

The tricky part of this news item posted on Engadget, as they point out, is confirming the market share numbers. That being said, it has to be somewhat encouraging for the Microsoft team. Could 2012 turn out to be a stellar year for Windows Phone? Only time will tell.

A Sign Of Improving Times For Windows Phone?

Brad Wasson — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:00:00 GMT

http://www.bgr.com/2012/05/17/windo...re-2012-kantar/

"Microsoft's mobile platform has not been the blockbuster success the Redmond, Washington-based technology giant was hoping for thus far. Google's Android OS and Apple's iPhone are still dominating the smartphone space by a huge margin in the United States and abroad, while Microsoft's share of the global smartphone market has continued to decline. According to a new report from market research firm Kantar WorldPanel, however, Windows Phone is finally showing signs of life in several key markets."

While Android and/or iOS are continuing to gain market share as reported in most market share analyses we have been reading for the past year or so, we certainly haven't seen much progress from Windows Phone. Until now, it seems. The bottom line is that Kantar's research indicates that since Nokia's Lumia smartphone launches Windows Phone’s market share has doubled to 6% in Germany, and the platform’s share has increased in the U.S., U.K., France and Italy to between 3% and 4%. These numbers are unlikely to scare the market leaders, but they have to be encouraging for Microsoft and its partners as they battle to maintain and expand a market presence. The Read link has additional details.

Illuminating the Lumia -- The Nokia Lumia 900

Don Tolson — Tue, 15 May 2012 08:00:00 GMT

Product Category: Windows Phone 7 Smartphone

Manufacturer: Nokia

Where to Buy: Expansys [affiliate]

Price: $765 USD (unlocked, no contract)

System Requirements: Comes with Windows Phone 7 Mango+ (8107) installed.

Specifications: 1.4Ghz single core CPU, 16Gb internal storage, 512Mb SDRAM; 4.3in WVGA (480 x 800) Super AMOLED screen; Quad band (850/900/1800/1900) GPRS, Tri band UTMS (900/1700/2100), HSPA+, LTE 700, 1700/2100; GPS; 8mp rear colour camera w/autofocus + LED flash, 1mp front-facing camera, 720p HD video recording; BT 2.1 EDR; 802.11b/g/n; 3.5mm stereo audio jack; microUSB 2.0; G-Sensor; 128mm (5.03in) x 69mm (2.7in) x 12mm (0.47in); 160g (5.6oz). Full specs are available at the Nokia site.

Pros:

Rogers first LTE-capable WP7 phone!
Solid construction and feel;
Call quality is excellent.

Cons:

No replaceable battery;
Access to the microSIM card is difficult.
Wi-Fi doesn't see the 5Ghz band;

Summary: There has been a lot of buzz (and sales activity) about Nokia's introduction of their premiere WP7 phone to the US marketplace, the Lumia 900. I was fortunate to pick one up the second day they came available through Rogers here in Canada. Now, after a week or two of working with it on a day-to-day basis, let's see how it stacks up.

Introduction

Ever since the introduction of Windows Phone 7, I've been using AT&T branded phones that I acquire from various places, then unlock and use here on the Rogers network in Canada. This means I get to play with phones that most people never even see here in Canada, but the downside is that I'm at the mercy of AT&T with regards to updates and I'm on my own as far as technical support. My most recent purchase was a Samsung Focus S which worked great, but I got tired of waiting for AT&T to finally release the 8107 patch. So, when Rogers announced they were going to bring in Nokia's Lumia 900, I jumped at the chance to get back on a 'supported' phone and pre-ordered it as soon as the form became available on the Rogers. They notified me of shipment on April 7th and I picked up the Lumia 900 from a local store on the 14th.

What Comes in the Package

The Nokia Lumia 900 comes in a nice sturdy slide-out box which looks good, but what comes inside is pretty much the standard fare now.

Figure 1: Here's what came in the box. From left to right are: The Lumia 900 unit, a white USB to microUSB charge/sync cable; black earbuds with built-in microphone (Apple must have some sort of patent on white earbuds); a tool to access the SIM card drawer (behind); a button wall charger; and documentation, including quick start card, booklet and safety manual.

Nokia's Ready.Set(){Code}Challenge Kicks Off On 5/12

Richard Chao — Wed, 09 May 2012 20:07:00 GMT

http://nokiadeveloper.eventbrite.com/

"Headphones on. Tilt the seat back. Just steady codin' as the keys get tapped. Get ready, because Nokia Developer is about to turn your town into Dev City with its Ready.Set(){Code} Challenge."

Nokia's Ready.Set(){Code} Challenge will be kicking off on 5/12/12 in Ohio and continue through 6/15/12. The challenge will be held in 13 cities through out the U.S. and Canada.

The event will include hackathons and app creation. You can compete either individually or in a team. The opportunity to win prizes are pretty good since they will be awarded at each of the 13 challenges.

Prizes will be awarded for the following categories:

- Top 3 created apps

- Top student created app

- Most Nokia-branded developer

App winners will be judged on creativity, usability, technical difficulty and app presentation.

The prizes are:

- 1st place: $500 gift card & Nokia Lumia 900

- 2nd place: $250 gift card & Nokia Lumia 900

- 3rd place: $100 gift card & Nokia Lumia 900

- Student Winner: $150 gift card & Nokia Lumia 900

- Most Nokia-Branded Dev: $100 gift card & Nokia Lumia 900

Create Your Own Live Tiles From Any Web Page

Brad Wasson — Wed, 09 May 2012 07:30:00 GMT

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/a...8a-f008eea42d7e

"Web Tiles enables you to create live tiles out of any web page. You can select the area of the page that will be shown on your live tile. You can also choose how often your tiles will be updated. This is great for example for weather or stock graphs and image feeds."

Here's what appears to be a very effective app for WP7. Do you really like live tiles? I bet you do and now you can create a tile from any web page. You can configure the tiles to update in a number of ways, or force one to update every 15 minutes by tapping on it. A trial version is available, which limits you to three fixed addresses, but that should be enough to win you over. Give it a try!

Smoked By Windows Phone Challenge Current Numbers

Richard Chao — Tue, 08 May 2012 22:27:00 GMT

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_...nd-new-ads.aspx

"When I kicked off Smoked by Windows Phone at CES in January, I did it with one thing in mind - show the world that Windows Phone is simply faster at the everyday stuff that people do on their smartphones."

Ben Rudolph has posted some updated numbers for the Smoked by Windows Phone challenge on the Windows Team Blog. A few notable numbers cited include 8,000,000+ views of the videos, 95% like rate on the videos, 36 countries that are currently running Smoked challenges, 50,675 wins with 638 losses and 2 videos that are in YouTube's top 5 most viewed list.

In the same blog post, Ben also announced the release of new Smoked by Windows Phone ads. Click through to see the new Android/Windows Phone photo speed challenge.

Windows Phone Developer Summit Set For June In SF

Richard Chao — Thu, 03 May 2012 09:15:00 GMT

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft...-for-june/12631

"Microsoft has begun sending "Save the Date" invitations for an upcoming developer summit to select Windows Phone programmers."

Microsoft's Windows Phone Develop Summit invitations are now going out to select individuals. The Developer Summit is scheduled for June 20 and 21 in San Francisco. Topics will include Windows Phone OS 8 Apollo, XNA and Silverlight support for WP8 among other program developer issues. Details about formal registration for those that do not receive invitations will be available in the coming weeks.

SnapCrowd Provides Effective Cloud Storage

Brad Wasson — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 17:00:00 GMT

http://www.wp7connect.com/2012/04/1...ic-videos-docs/

"SnapCrowd is the most advanced DAM (Digital Asset Management) platform on the market and we plan to keep it that way. Whether we like it or not our lives are now digital in some way or another, so why not keep it simple and secure. At SnapCrowd a user can store photos, video, documents, audio and even contacts, all in their original form protected behind SSL / TLS and HTTPS protocol layers."

Cloud storage has hit mainstream, and in the past week or two you may have noticed a number of reviews of Google Drive, Microsoft SkyDrive, Dropbox, and Apple iCloud. These services offer a number of unique and competitive features, and are worth checking into. I would definitely add SnapCrowd to your list though. It has a some compelling features and very competitive pricing, and may just facilitate your computing and mobile life in ways you might not expect.

The SnapCrowd developers state they allow larger file upload sizes than their competition, like 200 MB for photos, 4 GB for video, audio and documents, and allow RAW files from all the major camera manufactures. Their proprietary user interface allows all user functions even while uploading files. What's more, if for any reason your file gets interrupted in the upload process, you can just log back into your account and queue the file back up and it will continue where it left off.

The SnapCrowd WP7 app looks well designed and is very functional (see the demo on the linked page). The user-interface directly guides you to manage specific file types (like documents, music, photos and video). Meta data about your files is clearly presented, and interactions seem very straight-forward. Hit the Read link for additional information and a demo of how the WP7 app works.

Verizon WP8 Devices To Come Before Holiday Season Per CFO

Richard Chao — Sat, 21 Apr 2012 09:45:00 GMT

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-...med-for-verizon

"Shammo also told Reuters that Verizon plans to make its new Windows Phone 8 handsets available later this year, in time for the holiday season, which should see the devices on sale shortly after Microsoft publicly launches the new mobile OS in the fourth quarter."

During Verizon's quarterly earnings report, CFO Fran Shammo voiced strong support for the Windows Phone 8 platform and believes it to be the third ecosystem along with iOS and Android. Also stated was that devices will be available from Verizon before the holiday season. Unfortunately this means there will be no WP7.5 device to supplement the HTC Trophy on Verizon's shelves.

Herocraft Yumsters

Nurhisham Hussein — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 19:30:00 GMT

http://www.windowsphone.com/en-US/a...c3-a0b4266feba0

Yumsters is a casual strategy game involving what I can best describe as guiding the diets of fruit-eating worms. The more they get to eat, the more points you score, and there's even a global leaderboard. Worth a look, especially at the decent price of $1.49.

Ars Technica: Challenges Getting Windows Phones Updated

Brad Wasson — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 07:30:00 GMT

http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/ne...=1#comments-bar

"If these rumors are true, buying a Lumia 900-or any other Windows Phone handset-is a risky proposition. If you buy subsidized, on-contract handsets, you'll typically be eligible for a new subsidized upgrade every two years. A reasonable expectation, then, would be two years of software support in the form of bugfixes and updates. But if current handsets can't run Windows Phone 8, they'll essentially be cut off from future support in about six months. Developers might still target the older handsets to some extent, but many more will be targeting Windows Phone 8's extended capabilities and richer APIs."

If you are contemplating buying a Windows Phone it will be of interest to you to understand the update strategy from both Microsoft and the carriers proving the phones. As is outlined in this article, it is clearly an uneven playing field and playing strategy from the participants. Ars Technica goes so far as to warn you that buying a Windows Phone like the Nokia Lumia 900 could lead you down a path where you cannot get your phone software updated, depending on which partners are involved. Note that the Android world also has some of these types of issues. It is an in-depth article, but well worth the read, and only takes one click to get there.

HTC Titan II Camera Samples

Adan Galvan — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 17:00:00 GMT

http://www.wpcentral.com/playing-ht...nd-maco-samples

The HTC Titan II has a few differences when compared to the Lumia 900. Custom HTC software and a larger 4.5 inch screen are two of the big ones. However, the stand out feature for the Titan II has to be the 16MP camera. While many may feel this is overkill for a smartphone camera, you have to appreciate the fact that HTC went all out in hopes of making the phone unique. For most, the quality of the camera will determine whether or not spending $199 (vs. $99 for the Lumia 900) is worth the extra expense. Luckily, WPCentral has stepped up and provided some great low-light and macro shots to help us make a decision. Hit the link for the samples and let us know what you think.

HTC Titan II

Richard Chao — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 01:00:00 GMT

http://www.slashgear.com/htc-titan-...eview-11222465/

"Over at AT&T you've got two giant choices for hero phones if you want to run with Windows Phone Mango - the Nokia Lumia 900 and the HTC Titan II."

Most of the attention in the Windows Phone world these past few weeks have been on the Nokia Lumia 900 and not on the other WP7.5 phone that was released that same day, the HTC Titan II. If you are still on the fence between the Lumia 900 or Titan II, Slash Gear has an in depth review of the Titan II. They look at the hardware, software, camera and battery life.

Not to spoil the review but it seems you really can't go wrong with either phone.

Fix For Lumia 900 On The Way

Nurhisham Hussein — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 23:00:00 GMT

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news...data-glitch.ars

"Some Nokia Lumia 900 customers have been experiencing a loss of data connectivity-both LTE and 3G-on their new handsets. Nokia has identified the problem and devised a software fix, which will be rolled out on or around April 16th. Customers not wanting to wait can have their phones swapped for updated versions in AT&T stores. The company will also give any AT&T customer buying a Lumia between now and April 21 a $100 credit on their next bill."

At the price AT&T are retailing the Lumia for (with contract), that $100 credit means you're effectively getting the Lumia for free. If you aren't afraid of hooking up with AT&T, that's a pretty good deal for what looks like one of the better Windows Phone 7 devices out there. And kudos to Nokia for the fast turnaround.

HTC Titan II

Richard Chao — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 09:30:00 GMT

http://www.wpcentral.com/att-htc-ti...irst-impression

"The FedEx truck dropped of AT&T's latest Windows Phone from HTC earlier today. While Nokia's Lumia 900 is getting most of the spotlight, the HTC Titan II is quietly landing on AT&T's store shelves on April 8th and it makes a very impressive first impression."

Don't forget, the Nokia Lumia 900 is not the only Windows Phone 7.5 device being released by AT&T this week. WPCentral has published their first impression report and video of the HTC Titan II. The HTC Titan II is the updated version of the HTC Titan. It sports a 4.7 inch screen and an improved camera shooting at 16MP.

Did you pick up one of these two devices? What are your impressions?

Updated Version Of Windows Phone Connector For Mac Now Available

Richard Chao — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 09:13:00 GMT

http://pocketnow.com/windows-phone/...(pocketnow.com)

"For those of you who combine an Apple computer with a phone powered by Windows Phone, there's a new version of the Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac available to download from the Mac App Store."

An updated version of the Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac is now available in the Mac App Store. In addition to numerous bug fixes, the updated version brings support for 13 new languages and other additional features. If you are the owner of a Windows Phone 7 device and run it on a Mac, make sure to make a visit to the app store and download the update.

Bing's Nokia Lumia 900 Sweepstake

Richard Chao — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 17:46:00 GMT

http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_...-from-bing.aspx

"Bing yesterday Kicked off a new sweepstakes through its Bing Rewards program."

Microsoft is holding a sweepstakes through its Bing Rewards program. Each entry will cost you 10 reward credits. Five Nokia Lumia 900s along with $200 each will be awarded at random. The sweepstakes end on May 1st.

Nokia Lumia 900 Accessories Are Now Available From AT&T

Richard Chao — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:09:00 GMT

http://mobilitydigest.com/lumia-900...lable-from-att/

"They're gearing up and they already have 9 accessories available for the Lumia 900 from Gel cases to bumper guards, to a Case-Mate hard shell and Zagg shields."

One of the downsides of buying anything other than an iPhone is the lack of accessories and cases. Accessories availability is also an indicator of a carrier's and aftermarket's faith in the product and it's potential for success. Hopefully the indication of these accessories from AT&T's web store is just a sliver of what will be available once the Lumia 900 launches.

Foursquare Client "4th & Mayor" For WP7

Brad Wasson — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:00:00 GMT

http://mobilesyrup.com/2012/03/26/w...quare-checkins/

"In the case of 4th & Mayor, an app that ties into location service Foursquare, there is already a native app, but that hasn't stopped Jeff Wilcox from trying to improve upon it. A year after its release, 4th & Mayor is sitting at version 3.3, and the app has been run over eight million times in that period. There have been over 7.5 million Foursquare checkins using the app, too. Wilcox says that the app is by over 60,000 people every day, with 35k enabling push notifications on their Windows Phones."

If you are a fan of the Foursquare service, which helps you find new ways to explore your city by checking in to places that you enjoy, you will want to "check out" this client app for WP7. Developer Jeff Wilcox is also intending to develop this app for Windows 8 tablets down the road.

WeatherPro 2.0 For WP7

Nurhisham Hussein — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 02:30:00 GMT

http://www.weatherpro.eu/wp7/weatherpro.html

WeatherPro is an app from European based MeteoGroup, covering the weather for over 2 million locations worldwide. The app can be configured to show a live tile with the current weather and a two day forecast, while within the app itself you can access radar and satellite imagery, as well as view a 7-day forecast. WeatherPro is going for about ₤2.29 in the Windows Marketplace.