Microsoft loosens up, enables Windows Phone 7 apps to run beneath screen lock
We felt that Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 was a product that would be perpetually evaluated, tweaked and overhauled as time went on, and sure enough, we're already seeing those winds of change blow yonder. Reportedly, Microsoft has now removed the restriction that prevented developers from writing applications that would continue to operate behind a locked screen (without a user's explicit permission, anyway), enabling a whole host of apps to breathe in a manner in which they simply should.
Categories: Mobile Phone, Other Tags: audio, charlie-kindel, conference, developer, engadget, mobileos, operating-system, permission, permissions, result, the-background, unlock, user-permission, windows, wp7
Samsung Cetus i917 is in this video, automating your homes (video)
Believe it or not, we know most everything about the Samsung's Windows Phone 7-powered Cetus -- what it looks like , where it's going and what's inside , despite never seeing the device invoke a single pane of that Metro UI. Well, that's just changed with a new video from WMPowerUser , who tricked WP7 program manager Charlie Kindel into showing off his personal device -- albeit running a humble garage door opener app and thumbing through the dialer rather than showing a potent program of some sort. Still, that 4-inch AMOLED screen is very much in attendance, as you can see from the saturated orange squares above, and we'll just have to hope the last pieces of the Cetus puzzle -- release date and price -- come together in good time
Categories: BlackBerry, Mobile Phone Tags: cetus i917, charlie-kindel, door, homes, i917, orange, personal, personal-device, samsungcetusi917, smartphone, video, windowsphone
Windows Phone 7 Series will be WVGA only at launch, HVGA later
Microsoft's driving home the point that developers are going to know exactly what kind of hardware they're targeting as they whip up Windows Phone 7 Series apps -- and naturally, a biggie is screen resolution since that affects how UI elements are going to be placed, how cool they can look, and how small they can realistically be. In a session at MIX10 , Microsoft's Charlie Kindel has laid down the law that WP7S will be 800 x 480 -- just 800 x 480 -- at launch, a message we heard at MWC last month , but the new tidbit here is that there'll be 480 x 320 in the pipe for an unannounced later date. All devices will have precisely the same amount of available RAM and the same capacitive touch capability, and as we've already know, manufacturers will be able to tack on a keyboard if they like
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: already-know, biggie, charlie-kindel, developers, driving-home, engadget, entry, kindel, microsoft, same-capacitive, series, windows, windows phone 7 series
Microsoft talks Windows Phone 7 Series development ahead of GDC: Silverlight, XNA, and no backward compatibility
Microsoft is keen on unveiling the meat of its developer story around Windows Phone 7 Series at MIX10 in less than two weeks, but with GDC coming up next week, they're figuring that now is a good time to start dropping hints -- they'll want to be capturing the collective imagination of the gaming industry, after all, what with that Xbox Live integration they've got going on. To that end, Charlie Kindel of WinPho's developer experience team has outed a few key items at a reception in San Francisco this evening. The major points are that Silverlight , XNA , and .NET will figure prominently into the developer story -- not a surprise considering that Microsoft is heavily invested in both, gaming is central to the Windows Phone 7 Series story, XNA is a big deal on Zune HD already, and this all lines up with what we'd heard in the past.
Categories: Mobile Phone Tags: beast, charlie-kindel, clean, down-on-twitter, initial, mobile, operating, result, windows-mobile, windowsphone7series, winpho 7, xna