Cell Phones » microsoft

Vodafone’s Microsoft Surface: like Go Fish for phones

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:55:54 +0000

Microsoft worked with Vodafone late last year to deploy IFA booth this week. The basic idea here is that each available model appears as a card that can be twirled, resized, and flung around the screen. When the software first starts, the cards start in a deck from which you can “deal” onto the table — but when we first approached it, the Surface had obviously already been played with because the cards were in complete disarray. Not too helpful when you’re a befuddled buyer trying to browse models and make a choice from a dizzying selection of handsets, but that doesn’t mean it’s not cool — if nothing else, parents, it’s something to babysit the kiddies for a few minutes while you go about your business in the store. Follow the break for video of the Surface in action.

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Windows Phone 7 ad promises ‘the revolution is coming’ (video)

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 15:31:54 +0000

Usually we’d advise you not to read too much into this — we’d point out that this was a themed ad served up before the showing of Lawrence of Arabia at London’s Secret Cinema event — but what the hell: Microsoft says the revolution’s coming. It’s on now!

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SOURCE:windowsphoneuk (YouTube)

LG Optimus 7 Windows Phone 7 prototype flicks photos to TVs, launches October

admin — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:56:54 +0000

We were a bit surprised to find LG’s prototype Windows Phone 7 device for developers, soon to be unveiled officially as the Optimus 7 when released in its production form, hanging out in the wilds of IFA. Nevertheless, there it was, streaming DLNA content to a WiFi enabled TV. LG worked with Microsoft to develop a custom DLNA media sharing capability for its GW910 handset. Just one of the ways hardware partners are able to differentiate themselves on the otherwise locked down Windows Phone 7 platform. It certainly makes sense that LG would play to its strengths in the television industry as it moves to market with the device as early as next month according to our sources. Watch the trick flip-to-TV photo sharing interface in action after the break.

Show full PR text

BERLIN, Sep. 6th, 2010 — LG Electronics (LG) is showcasing a major breakthrough in mobile and home convergence at this year’s IFA trade show in Berlin. The new technology makes it possible to share multimedia files on LG’s upcoming LG Optimus 7 and all DLNA* compliant digital devices at the touch of a finger.

LG’s unique multimedia sharing technology on LG Optimus 7 allows users to enjoy content on the phone across today’s digital platforms with a simple finger flick. This preinstalled feature allows users to send files directly from the phone’s media galleries, without having to leave for another application. The phone will automatically display compatible devices in the same Wi-Fi zone and let users literally flick media files to the targeted device. Users can transfer multimedia saved on their phones — 720p HD videos, high-resolution photos and high-quality music files — wirelessly to their TV or home theater system.

“This unique feature is a direct response to the growing need for technologies that empower users to share multimedia content across electronic devices,” said Mr. Seong-jin Park, Vice President of Mobile Handset R&D Center at LG Electronics Inc. “LG Optimus 7 smartphones will be at the center of a complete entertainment experience, representing LG’s leadership in mobile convergence.”

This unique media file-sharing technology will be embedded in upcoming LG Optimus 7 smartphones, which go on sale early in the fourth quarter of this year. With more than 240 leading consumer electronics brands adopting the media sharing technology, DLNA is expected to set a new industry standard for home entertainment.

LG is demonstrating this DLNA-based multimedia sharing feature at the LG booth at IFA in Berlin, Germany from September 3-7, 2010.

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Samsung: ‘we are prioritizing our Android platform’

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 20:50:20 +0000

Samsung may be one of the big players that Microsoft is pinning its hopes on for Windows Phone 7, but you wouldn’t know that from listening to the company at IFA. Speaking to Reuters at the show, Samsung’s head of marketing for its mobile division, YH Lee, said flatly that “we are prioritizing our Android platform,” adding that, “Android is very open and flexible, and there is a consumer demand for it.” Lee further went on to note that the company will continue to focus on its own Bada platform (at least outside of North America), but seemingly downplayed Windows Phone 7 when asked about it, saying only that “there is still some professional, specialized demand there.” Ouch. Oh, and in case you’re wondering, Samsung also says it’s “not seeing visible demand for Symbian.”
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SOURCE:Reuters

HTC HD3 to be named HD7 in honor of Windows Phone 7, launch October 18?

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 16:08:20 +0000

Ooh boy, do we have a good one for you today. We’ve been tipped off that the HD3 — HTC’s mythical successor to the wildly popular HD2 — is not only alive and kicking, but headed for a bright and sunny Windows Phone 7 future, starting as early as October 18. Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, all the evidence we have for now is the above spreadsheet, which we’re told is an internal planning doc from UK carrier O2. It’s not exactly the hardest thing in the world to forge so keep your skeptical wits about you, but as silly as this inflationary renaming to HD7 may sound, we find it strangely believable. After all, why wouldn’t the company that brought us the Incredible Wildfire of Desire jump ahead a few numbers to keep up with the hot new OS’ numbering?

[Thanks, ZaK]
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Windows Phone 7 goes gold master, begins rolling out to partners for final launch preparations

admin — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 15:01:20 +0000

If you’ve been holding yourself back during these early rounds of the smartphone wars in anticipation of Windows Phone 7, your wait just got a tiny bit shorter. Today Microsoft is announcing that its fancy new mobile operating system has been released to manufacturing, making the idea of you holding an actual WP7 device in your hands that much closer to reality. The finished product is now rolling out to partners around the world where it will be getting carrier and manufacturer tweaks and additions, and going through the kind of pre-launch testing you would expect for a release of this scale. If you had any doubt that the Windows Phone 7 onslaught was close at hand, feel free to abandon them now.

Furthermore, the folks on the 7 team have managed to cram a few last minute goodies into the OS, one of which we’re particularly excited about. As you probably know from our in-depth preview of an early version of the software, we had a lot of issues with overflowing Facebook contacts in our phone. Microsoft has now solved that problem by enabling a contact filter system which looks for pre-existing matches to your Facebook contacts. If it doesn’t find a match, it doesn’t pull that contact into your address book (kind of like how Android filters Facebook friends). It’s a welcome addition and should make the Facebook / Windows Phone 7 combo a lot more palatable to a lot of people. Furthermore, Microsoft has added functionality into the People Hub which will allow you to “like” someone’s posts, and you’ll be able to comment directly onto someone’s Wall right in the hub. The company has also made tweaks and fixes focusing on feature discoverability (another issue we pointed out in the early look), along with the expected set of polishing and finish you’d expect from a product that’s gone gold master.
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LG’s C900 Windows Phone 7 handset resurfaces with 1GHz Snapdragon, metal frame? (update: not 1.3GHz)

admin — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 14:38:18 +0000

We imagine that LG’s security forces are combing Poland as we speak, because Android.com.pl has just provided us with yet another high-end handset leak. This LG C900 (last seen combing AT&T trenches) reportedly joins LG’s E900 in housing a 1GHz QSD8650 Snapdragon chipset under its sliding-QWERTY hood. Though our first look at the device suggested a plasticky matte frame, our erudite Polish informants tell us the phone’s mostly metal inside — despite a comparatively teensy 3.2-inch capacitive screen, they say it weighs about as much as an original Motorola Droid. A 3.5mm jack and a miniUSB port will play nice with headsets and charging cables respectively, and the site says it’ll run 1,100 zloty (about $350) if or when LG’s marketers recover from the shock of these leaked details and decide to ship. Find a video after the break and a host of similarly excellent pictures at our source link.

Update: Did we say 1.3GHz? We meant 1.0. As it turns out, Google Translate enjoys adding the letter “A” to acronyms immediately preceding a Polish comma, which made a 1GHz QSD8650 SoC look like a 1.3GHz QSD8650A to our tired eyes. Apologies! [Thanks, Anudeep]

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SOURCE:Android.com.pl

Dell dropping Windows Phone 7 devices from its roadmap?

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 11:10:47 +0000

Now we don’t have much more to go on here than some analyst chatter and a lengthy article from TechCrunch, but if you believe what you read, a major player has just dropped Windows Phone 7 devices from its roadmap. And that player is Dell. According to Jonathan Goldberg, an telecom analyst at Deutsche Bank, the only remaining partners currently working on Windows Phone 7 handsets are HTC, Samsung, and LG. If this is true (and that’s a big if), that means that the seriously awesome looking Dell Lightning that we spied in leaks recently will never see the light of day — as a WP7 device, at least.

We already knew that HP was out of the game (instead focusing on webOS phones), but the casual suggestion that Dell has made for the door here is somewhat suspect. The company itself hasn’t made any statements (we’ve reached out but have yet to hear back), and while Dell has certainly concentrated a lot of effort on Android devices recently, its partnership with Microsoft is long-standing (despite dabbling in the world of open source). If the story turns out to be true, it could spell mixed (if not outright bad) tidings for the Windows Phone 7 launch, which Goldberg alleges may cost Microsoft upwards of half a billion dollars — no small fee. Losing two of the biggest computer-makers in the world can’t feel very good when you’re trying to fight your way back to relevancy, but at least on the bright side, neither HP nor Dell have a track record of making anything other than heroically mediocre handsets. Take this all with a grain of salt right now, however, as the author of the TechCrunch article provides no source for the statements from Goldberg, and… well, he’s an analyst, and they’re prone to making up all kinds of crazy things. We’re investigating, and will let you know as soon as we have more info.
VIA:Business Insider
SOURCE:TechCrunch

LG C900 due to bring Windows Phone 7 to market near September 28th, according to Bluetooth SIG

admin — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 09:55:47 +0000

The Bluetooth SIG has a long history of promoting its members’ “special interests” by leaking valuable tidbits about their handsets before they’re announced. The recently unearthed LG C900 is the latest of these, being pegged for a launch date “around” September 28th by the SIG’s detail page on the phone. The QWERTY slider, which is referred to in C900N, C900k, and C900B versions, will be available in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. Phone Arena conjectures that the launch date lines up with AT&T’s marketing materials timing and the slated Q4 launch of Windows Phone 7, so the C900 probably has a decent chance of being the first Windows Phone 7 phones to market if LG’s own GW910 or some more secretive set doesn’t beat it to the punch. Still, September is a bit earlier than any of the launch windows Microsoft has managed to let slip, and as far as we know Microsoft won’t even be accepting apps in the Marketplace before October.
VIA:Phone Arena
SOURCE:Bluetooth SIG

LG C900 rumored to be ‘Pacific,’ E900 gets hi-res blurry pic, missing link D900 doesn’t exist (yet)

admin — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 18:17:15 +0000

Turns out the Secret Society of Blurrycam isn’t just a group of freelancers. Courtesy of the Windows Phone NL group comes a pretty high resolution — albeit slightly out of focus — shot of the LG E900 / Optimus 7.That ain’t enough for you? Boy Genius Report claims it’s heard from a source that the LG C900 will hit the scene as Pacific, and if that sounds familiar, we kindly point your attention to a Pocket-lint piece from late July where Microsoft product manager Greg Sullivan namedropped a LG Pacific without elaborating. One and the same? Tired of waiting on Windows Phone 7 devices? Us too — one day at a time.
VIA:MobileTechWorld
SOURCE:BGR, @WindowsPhoneNL (Twitter)

Cell Phones » microsoft

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