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Some cried and some cheered when Microsoft revealed that handset manufacturers couldn’t reskin Windows Phone 7 devices wholesale. But as it turns out, at least one major OEM is still banking on software to help differentiate its phones. HTC’s Drew Bamford told Forbes that Sense UI will still appear in the company’s Windows Phone 7 creations, and believes it will live on in Android 3.0 (Gingerbread) as well. “Microsoft has taken firmer control of the core experience,” acknowledged Bamford, who added that Sense wouldn’t be fully integrated into WP7 phones, but that HTC would “augment” the Microsoft experience with as-yet-undisclosed functionality of its own. As long as it doesn’t eat up too much memory and processor time, right?

HTC Sense coming to Windows Phone 7, after all originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 24 Jul 2010 22:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/microsoft/Windows_Phone_7_in_depth_preview’; It’s been a long road, hasn’t it? Well, in some respects, it hasn’t — in fact, it’s only been about two years since development of Windows Phone 7 as we know it today kicked off — but when you consider that this product will be replacing Windows Mobile 6.5, that puts things in proper perspective. In fact, even the very latest maintenance releases of good ol’ WinMo are based on the same rickety underpinnings as version 5.0 was way back in 2005, at a time when WVGA smartphone displays were science fiction, 4G networks were a good two Gs beyond the average American’s comprehension, and Engadget looked like this. Nowadays, it’s a very different game; eight year-olds have access to mobile email, your phone understands German, and “Yelp” is a verb (okay, actually Yelp is a verb). Indeed, mobile devices are the new PCs — and companies like Apple and Google are dominating an industry that had once been practically handed to Microsoft on a silver platter. No one — either inside or outside of Redmond — is arguing that change isn’t desperately (and quickly) needed, because it simply isn’t enough to dominate the desktop anymore.

In light of all that, you could call Windows Phone 7 a desperation move to become relevant in the pocket again. Call it whatever you like, but regardless, brand loyalty isn’t going to save this product — it simply has to be good to sell. Scratch that; it actually has to be nearly flawless in a world where iOS 4 and Gingerbread play. Microsoft still has a few months before it intends to get the first volley of Windows Phone 7-based products to the marketplace, but we’ve recently been provided with reference hardware — a not-for-retail Samsung called “Taylor” that’s closely modeled on the Symbian-based i8910HD — to get a feel for where they’re at as the clock ticks down. Is this shaping up to be a killer platform for the next generation of high-end smartphones? And more importantly, can it win customers? Read on for our first take.

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview

Windows Phone 7 in-depth preview originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Jul 2010 11:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You thought about shipping off to Warsaw for the Imagine Cup 2010 finals, didn’t you? ‘Tis a shame you didn’t, because Microsoft is fixing to hand out Windows Phone 7 prototypes to every last finalist at the show (around 400, we’re hearing). The winning team has already received their handsets after receiving a mighty round of applause from developing Beastware, and while it’s impossible to tell from images so far, the phones that they acquired look to be the same as the Samsung device we toyed with back in June. Funny — we reckoned the finalists at a show like this would be in that elusive Kin generation.

Update: Microsoft just pinged us with a clarification. Only the Rockstar Award winners are getting prototype devices today, with the rest of the finalists on a list to receive “a retail Windows Phone 7 device when and where they become available.”

[Image courtesy of artificialignorance]

Samsung’s Windows Phone 7 prototype slipping out to Imagine Cup finalists originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Jul 2010 15:11:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Here’s the simple truth about touchscreen smartphones: it’s the software, dummy. Just look around at all the flagship handsets… other than a choice of with or without a QWERTY, today’s handsets all look pretty much the same and are built using the same off-the-shelf components with very few exceptions. That’s why we see so much skinning on Android handsets — that’s how manufacturers like Motorola (Motoblur), Samsung (TouchWiz), and HTC (Sense) differentiate themselves with consumers. But how’s that going to work for Windows Phone 7 devices with Microsoft boxing OEMs in with a narrow set of hardware and software guidelines that restrict them from modifying the user interface? Easy, Microsoft is going to help them write unique apps. At least that’s what this June 1st Microsoft job posting for a senior Windows Phone software developer says:

“We are looking for a strong and experienced developer to help the OEM to design and develop applications that make their devices stand out in the marketplace. You will also help them to bring new phones to market.”

The position would be “working directly with a top Korean cellular phone manufacturer, who has made a large commitment to Windows Phone.” Uh, would that be LG or Samsung, we’re guessing the former. It’ll be interesting to see if these apps are enough to differentiate one touchscreen handset from another. Even more exciting will be watching the homebrew community attempt to hack the manufacturer-specific apps into different handsets in order to create the ultimate Windows Phone 7 superphone… or Frakenphone as the case may be. Regardless, it’s clear that Microsoft isn’t leaving anything to chance as manufacturers prepare to launch their first devices running Redmond’s virgin OS.

[Thanks, Abed]

Microsoft helping OEMs develop unique Windows Phone 7 apps originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 11 Jun 2010 05:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Entelligence is a column by technology strategist and author Michael Gartenberg, a man whose desire for a delicious cup of coffee and a quality New York bagel is dwarfed only by his passion for tech. In these articles, he’ll explore where our industry is and where it’s going — on both micro and macro levels — with the unique wit and insight only he can provide.

The buzzword of last week was “market cap.” To those unfamiliar, market cap is the total value of outstanding shares of a company, and on May 26th at around 3PM Eastern, Apple’s market value reached $225.1 billion, surpassing Microsoft’s $222.3 billion. Apple isn’t the largest technology company around, but it’s become the most valuable, and it’s valuation is second only to Exxon in the US. Later that same week, Microsoft announced that Robbie Bach and J Allard, the head of its Entertainment and Devices group and the division’s CTO, were both leaving the company. There’s been speculation that these two events were somehow intertwined, but I don’t think that’s the case. In addition, as good as Robbie and J are, there’s more to the E & D team than two people — as grandpa used to say, the cemeteries are full of people who couldn’t be replaced.

Historically, Microsoft has always been two companies, the parts that made lots of money (Windows, Office, Server) and the parts that don’t make money yet but might someday soon. E & D is the latest incarnation of the latter. Let’s take a closer look.

Continue reading Entelligence: Market caps and dunce caps

Entelligence: Market caps and dunce caps originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 06 Jun 2010 19:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Conflipper is a regular in the underworld of HTC ROM cooking. So when he tweets about unreleased devices and their respective carrier support you really outta listen. First up is the HTC Scorpion (aka, Olympian) which he claims is going to Verizon and Bell Mobility — a device previously rumored to be packing Froyo with WiMax and a 1.5GHz Snapdragon whipped topping. Conflipper also claims to have the inside scoop on a quartet of Windows Phone 7 devices and their respective North American launch partners: the HTC Spark_W (Bell Mobility and Verizon), HTC Gold_W (Sprint), HTC Shubert (Telus), and the HTC Mondrian (Telus, Rogers and AT&T). Note that the “_W” in those handsets signifies a worldphone device with dual-mode CDMA and GSM radios. And in the immortal words of Klaus Meine, “Time, it needs time.” So true.

1.5 GHz Scorpion and quartet of HTC Windows Phone 7 handsets headed to North America? originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 04 Jun 2010 08:20:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft has been all over Computex this week, and we caught a few minutes with the software giant’s OEM vice pres Steve Guggenheimer (aka the Guggs) after his keynote this afternoon. Obviously, tablets were top of mind for us and he reinforced that Microsoft plans to push Windows 7 hard for the category, just as we have recently heard. “People are looking for a premium experience and the benefit of Windows familiarity,” he said. When we asked him about Windows Phone 7 scaling up into the larger-screened devices or even a tablet version of Windows 7, he was quite firm in saying that the current PC offering is the platform of choice. He cited netbooks being the record for the company, and that people want to use slates not only for “content consumption,” but also creation. On the other hand, Microsoft also has its Embeded Compact 7 for ARM-based tablets and devices.

Lastly, we couldn’t let Guggs talk about tablets without answering our questions about the Courier. As we have previously heard, he cited that the dualscreen tablet has always been a concept for the company. To paraphrase, he said that Microsoft’s constantly envisioning new platforms to see what flows. Well, that’s that then.

Microsoft: Windows Phone 7 not planned to hit tablets, Courier was always a concept originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 02 Jun 2010 05:19:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore certainly piqued our interest at MIX by demoing Windows Phone 7 on an unidentified Samsung handset, but our excitement soon faded when we found out it was just a hacked-up Omnia i8910 and not a real phone. Still, the Sammy remains only the third WP7 device we’ve seen other than the ASUS-built test mule and the prototype LG Panther that’s been popping up recently after debuting on the Engadget Show, so these two videos of it running a recent WP7 build at reMIX in France is still quite notable — the OS seems fast and responsive, and we’re told everything on the device was functional, including the GPS and camera. What’s more, there’s a demo of an Xbox Live Arcade / iPhone game port called Twin Blades by Press Star Studio — it was done in a week by one programmer using 90 percent of the Xbox Live code. That’s impressive, to say the least.

Of course, this device may look like an Omnia, but it doesn’t have the Omnia’s OMAP3 processor — as per WP7’s requirements, the internals have been swapped for a Snapdragon-based board. We’re still waiting for Microsoft and its partners to show us some more interesting hardware — let’s face it, the Panther and this Samsung are almost identically boring — but there’s no denying the software itself looks to be coming along quickly. Now let’s just hope it launches with enough heat to save Microsoft from another executive shuffle. Video after the break.

Continue reading Windows Phone 7 pops up on a Samsung prototype device, plays Twin Blades

Windows Phone 7 pops up on a Samsung prototype device, plays Twin Blades originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 26 May 2010 13:50:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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digg_url = ‘http://digg.com/gadgets/Windows_Phone_7_Technical_Tidbits_Exposed’; We’re in an interesting position with Windows Phone 7. We still don’t know what devices will be running the OS nor indeed exactly when they’ll be launching, but despite that we’ve already had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of quality time with not one but two separate versions of Microsoft’s mobile revolution. And now, if that weren’t enough, we’ve gained access to a series of detailed architectural documents about the OS courtesy of tweakers.net and HTCPedia.com, documents that detail everything from ringtones to device drivers. It’s a couple-hundred pages of generally menial stuff, but there are quite a few nuggets of gold to be found in here, and we’ve dug them out just for you. Click on through, and let’s see what we’ve got.

Continue reading Windows Phone 7: technical tidbits exposed

Windows Phone 7: technical tidbits exposed originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 24 May 2010 14:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft Kin Two gets torn apart, reveals Sony image sensor originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 May 2010 15:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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