Finally! Finally you start to see some proper integration between Microsoft products. I am not going to give them a good job on this announcement. I am only going to give Microsoft, it’s about time. On the Windows Home Server Team blog, they detailed out their plans for Windows Home Server Vail and Windows Phone 7 integration. Apparently they demoed the functionality at CES this week and are now announcing it to the masses. I have already switched from Home Server to Media Center as my media server, but I do intend on using the new Home Server for a few things. So I find this integration very interesting. Basically you will be able to view your Home Server alerts from your Phone 7 device as well.
Microsoft finally talked about the first update for Windows Phone 7 last night. During the CES keynote speech, Steve Ballmer confirmed that Copy and Paste, Faster apps and Games, and Better Marketplace search. I was hoping that the updates would have come more often and faster but I have to admit that 4 months after release is not really that bad. Hopefully Copy and Paste is implemented well. It always worked on Windows Mobile but was horrible on Android.
The apps for Windows Phone 7 are ramping up. We talked about Bank of America for Windows Phone 7 coming and now there is Flickr. One thing you have to say about any app that is properly built for Windows Phone 7, they look beautiful with the Metro UI. And Flickr is no exception Just watching the video makes me want to use Flickr. I have an account but don’t really use it that often. But this app will definitely change all of that.
Steve Ballmer was the keynote speaker at CES.He opened the show talking about some of the current technologies and where they started. Things like Kinect, Xbox Live, Windows Phone 7 and the Xbox. They announced today that Kinect will now support Netflix. This means you will be able to do gestures and voice commands when watching netflix. They also announced Hulu Plus will be coming to the Xbox too. And it will suport the Kinect voice Commands. [click to continue…]
If you missed the buy one get one free option for Windows Phone 7, AT&T has a new deal for you. On the AT&T website you can now get the Samsung Focus or the LG Quantum for 99 dollars. I own the Focus and love it. I had a recent opportunity to play with the LG Quantum and ended up liking it too. The deal includes waived activation and free overnight shipping. Of course a two year contract is required.
I personally have not experienced this but a few sites are reporting that some Windows Phone 7 users are seeing higher than normal internet usage. The main concern here is that the usage is present even when there is Wi-Fi available. No one has been able to track down the cause 100 percent but some are speculating syncing with Yahoo or Customer improvement data. I know I user my internet heavier than my wife. However, looking at our data usage last month she had more than me. I hope that this is some app not working properly. I know this is a new platform and bugs are expected, but I can see how this one could be annoying and costly.
Like a lot of software in the world people find ways to hack it. The difference is some of the people who do it, have the best intentions in mind. In a report done by wpcentral.com, a demo video was done showing how Marketplace Apps could be cracked. Thankfully the information has been turned over to Microsoft so that they can fix the hole. You would think that anyone using a Windows Phone 7 device would be happy about the way the crack was handled. Unfortunately, there are still way to many people who think stealing people’s hard work is OK.
Microsoft is continuing to run promotions around Windows Phone 7. With the Xbox being so popular it is perfect for them to do deals that work together. Right now there is a buy a Windows Phone 7, get a Xbox 360 game for free. All you have to do is go to an AT&T or T-Mobile store and take advantage of the buy one Windows Phone get one free offer. Step two is to go and choose your free game.
One of my highly anticipated games for Windows Phone 7 is Crackdown 2. I am a huge fan of the Crackdown franchise on the Xbox and couldn’t wait for it to hit Phone 7. The days of waiting are over. The really cool feature that they use in this game is Geo Location. This fills the game board with actual streets and buildings based on your location. The app is only 2.99 in the market place so go ahead and grab a copy
I will wait until Paul Thurrott says so but Mary Jo Foley at ZD Net is usually not one to post false information. Mary is writing that there is a big update coming in the Fall of 2011. This update is apparently code named Mango. This update is supposed to add Silverlight support along with HTML5. This makes more sense than a huge update coming in February. The big question is, will an update in January and one in August or September be often enough? Or, do you think Microsoft should have more frequent updates for Windows Phone 7?
