This little demo from Microsoft has made me evaluate my position on Windows Phone. While the demo itself isn’t perfect (there is a lot of jitter, and the phone display is just a stick figure outline) it looks like it’s at least beta code they’re playing and not just CGI. If this is what Microsoft has in mind for the future, sign me up!
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xe3ksR8zgXg
Symbian is dead, long live Windows Phone. Nokia is now an major player in the Windows Phone ecosystem, and all Microsoft had to do was let of one their people become the CEO. Not a bad deal.
The folks at Coveroo have been kind enough to allow TechVirtuoso to give away three of their custom device covers to our fans! This is an awesome service that Coveroo provides, one we’ve reviewed in the past, and I use one of their custom laser engraved covers on my iPhone all the time.
This is the simplest contest we’ve probably ever run. In order to promote our Facebook fan page, we’re going to give away the covers to three randomly selected fans. Nothing you have to do except “Like” us on Facebook. We’ll be announcing the winners of the give away, exclusively on our Facebook page, these days:
Look for a posting around noon (central time) each day. As we expect more people to become our fans through the course of this contest, your chances of winning early are better than later.
You can easily become our fan by visiting facebook.com/techvirtuoso or just by clicking on the “Like” button on the Facebook widget in the site sidebar.
If you just can’t wait for the chance to win a custom cover of your own, you can also order one from Coveroo using our special 15% code, XMAS15, good from now until Christmas Day. They ship fast and make great personalized holiday gifts.
While you’re at it, be sure to follow facebook.com/coveroo as thanks for offering this great discount and free contest to our visitors! They give away a free cover ever Wednesday!
Google has announced their new platform phone, the Nexus S. Based on the Samsung Galaxy S series of phones, it’s the successor to the HTC built Nexus One.
Beyond the typical stuff, the phone specs/features:
According to Google, starting December 16, Nexus S will be sold unlocked and carrier-independent initially through Best Buy stores in the U.S. and after December 20 at Carphone Warehouse stores in the UK.
Its quad-band GSM (850, 900, 1800, 1900) and tri-band HSPA (900, 2100, 1700) which means it will only have 3G service on T-Mobile in the U.S., and EDGE on AT&T.
(BTW, seriously, don’t watch the video above if you get motion sickness. It made me a little sick to my stomach to try and make it all the way though.)
Microsoft doesn’t want you fiddling with your fancy Windows Phone 7 and its storage. Why? The micro-SD you choose is probably going to suck, at least according to Microsoft. However they’ll let your carrier pick a good one for you… as long as they’ll support it.
From Paul Thurott at Windows Phone Secrets:
The issue, apparently, is the micro-SD card format. The cards are unreliable and inconsistent, even between batches made by the same manufacturer, and in Microsoft’s tests, there was no way to “certify” that any would work properly. “Even with high end cards, we have seen wild differences in IO and performance,” he said. “There is just no standardization there.” Put simply, if you expand the storage in a compatible Windows Phone device, it may work, and it may not. “In most cases, users will have issues,” he told me.
However, at least one carrier, and it’s not one you’d expect, is taking a laissez–faire approach to the whole thing. With AT&T Senior Vice President of Devices Jeff Bradley telling customers:
The devices will support the addition of up to a 32GB class 2 (or higher) microSD card. You need to insert the card before you power up the device the first time so that the operating system can map it as available memory to maximize its utilization. This is outlined in the Quick Start Guide you receive in the box. I encourage you to read this before you launch the device the first time to have the best experience with a microSD card.
So Microsoft says don’t mess with it, and AT&T, of all companies, says go right ahead. The best advise we can give is to pick a card from a solid vendor like San Disk and see what happens… caveat emptor
If the fact that the iPhone and other iOS devices are jailbroken by basically exploiting security flaws in Apple’s programming wasn’t enough to highlight Apple’s lack of security prowess, a Brazilian iPhone hacker by the name of Salomão Filho has found a new and much simpler flaw. This one is in Phone.app, and it allows anyone to bypass the security lock code on an iPhone to access the phone functions, thus allowing them to make calls and access contact information and voicemail.
And it can be done by just about anyone with thumbs, via Neowin:
To bypass any lock screen simply hit “emergency call”, then enter three pound signs, hit the green call button and immediately press the lock button and you will have bypassed the security feature on the iPhone.
According to Tipb this exploit has already been fixed in iOS 4.2 betas. It’s unknown if Apple will release a pre-4.2 update to correct this issue. For now the only known workaround is not to lose your phone. Good luck!
Thanks to @hasanahmad for the heads up.
Microsoft has delivered on a promise to allow Mac OS X users to sync their Windows Phone 7 devices today by releasing the beta of the Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac. This software will sync your WP7 device with your iTunes and iPhoto library, using Apple’s public APIs. According to Tom Warren at Winrumors, Microsoft did not need to consult with Apple in order to implement the connector. Here’s to hoping Apple doesn’t find a way to break it just because. Hopefully Microsoft will deliver a full blown Zune client for Mac users in the future.
The connector requires at least OS X 10.5. You can download the beta, weighing in at a light 1.5MB, directly from Microsoft’s website.
via winrumors.com
From the good people at Engadget:
So, here’s what we know: a Windows Phone from HTC just earned its FCC wings, it’s production (meaning non-prototype) hardware… and it’s a CDMA device. … Anyhow, if we had to guess, this is probably the tilt-sliding HTC 7 Pro, seeing how that’s the only CDMA Windows Phone 7 device to bow so far, equipped with 802.11b / g / n alongside Bluetooth + EDR. Sprint, let’s make this happen.
Microsoft had originally said that Windows Phone 7 would be GSM only at first. Hopefully this will mean a change of heart and that our Sprint and Verizon friends will get their hands on Windows Phone 7 sooner then expected.
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