Windows 7 connector is not a software that many people would be typically interested in. However, if you're someone who uses a Windows phone or who likes everything portable and accessible, you might find this interesting. Windows 7 connector is a package for your phone and Mac desktop. The application is a free 2.6 MB file and can be downloaded here. It helps you to backup your data, manage users as well as view alerts and also helps you to sync your Windows phone and Zune media player to your Mac.  Windows Phone 7 syncing now on the Mac OS X Windows phone 7 connector has also been made available in the iTunes app store, however, only for computers running on Mac OS X 10.6.6, or higher. With this application you can retrieve pictures and videos from your mobile phone and import it to your iPhoto or iTunes. Although, you cannot copy files from your PC to your phone, you can import them onto your computer wirelessly. This software can be downloaded on your Windows phone at the market place app on your handset. |
Showing posts with label WINDOWS MOBILE. Show all posts
Showing posts with label WINDOWS MOBILE. Show all posts
Windows Phone 7 Connector Allows WP7 Syncing on Macs
Windows Phone 7 Connector Allows WP7 Syncing on Macs
Windows 7 connector is not a software that many people would be typically interested in. However, if you're someone who uses a Windows phone or who likes everything portable and accessible, you might find this interesting. Windows 7 connector is a package for your phone and Mac desktop. The application is a free 2.6 MB file and can be downloaded here. It helps you to backup your data, manage users as well as view alerts and also helps you to sync your Windows phone and Zune media player to your Mac.
Windows Phone 7 syncing now on the Mac OS X
Windows phone 7 connector has also been made available in the iTunes app store, however, only for computers running on Mac OS X 10.6.6, or higher. With this application you can retrieve pictures and videos from your mobile phone and import it to your iPhoto or iTunes. Although, you cannot copy files from your PC to your phone, you can import them onto your computer wirelessly. This software can be downloaded on your Windows phone at the market place app on your handset.
Rumour: Samsung Prepping a WP7 Version of the Galaxy SII
We were left thrilled with the Galaxy SII from Samsung, so much so that we believe it’s the best Android handset out there. Probably building up on this fact, Samsung is trying their luck on running the same hardware, on a different platform. The latest about the Galaxy SII is that the company is possibly prepping a Windows Phone 7 version of it.
Look! The Galaxy SII running on WP7!
The rumours are based on the suspicion that sources have spotted a Bluetooth profile of the Samsung SGH-i937. They feel that the profile that this handset boasts of is exactly the same as the Mango Windows Phone 7 stack. Also the handset was seen on an Occasional Gamers list of Windows Phone 7 handsets running its games.
From what we can make out, Samsung is possibly preparing a WP7 smartphone. Another thing is that the Galaxy SII possibly has the most favourable hardware for running Windows Phone 7 and thus the rumours. What do you think? A Galaxy SII running WP7, or a completely different device doing the same? You can give us your opinions in the comments section below.
HTC HD 7 - Tremendous Potential
It’s HTC in the lead, bringing us yet another Windows Phone 7 handset - enter the HTC HD 7. I wasn't altogether too pleased with their initial offering, i.e. The HTC 7 Mozart. While the handset proved to be mediocre at best, the new look and feel of the Windows Mobile UI didn't really do it for me either. Having said that, their latest offering had the community wanting more and I was hoping that that's just what HD7 would offer. Here’s a closer look.
Form Factor
Taking its cue form big brother HTC HD2, the HD7 is pretty much just an upgrade in some instances and a downgrade in others. For instance, while the HD7 is a classier, more elegant and refined looking handset, it’s a tad heavier than the HD2 but not enough to hamper portability or usage. Like the Mozart, the HD7 doesn’t have support for external memory. It’ll be available with 8GB or 16GB internal storage. It’s big phone to say the least, with display size and resolution almost identical to the HD2 – 4.3-inches, 480 x 800 pixels, only the HD7 features 16million colors while the HD2 could only handle 65,000.
Large as heck, but what a looker
The physical keys under the display of the HD2 have been replaced with 3 simple touch sensitive options – return, a Windows key to get to the Home Page and search. A micro USB connectivity/charging port is located at the bottom right next to the 3.5mm handsfree socket with the volume/zoom keys on the right side above the camera activation/shutter release key.
At the rear of the handset is a neatly engineered kickstand to prop the handset up in landscape making it really easy to view while watching videos. The bundled handsfree, while extremely comfortable and able to provide excellent quality audio, has the microphone built into the control pad which is situated too far. This makes it harder for the person on the other side of a call to hear you too well.
Features and Performance
Interface
There’s really no difference or changes made to the HD7’s UI as compared to the Mozart’s. It’s still as smooth as ever thanks to the 1 GHz Scorpion processor, Adreno 200 GPU and Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset which incidentally was also available on the HD2. At least with HTC’s Windows Mobile version of Sense UI, functionality was a lot better even if the layout wasn’t so simple. The little drop down menu from the top of the screen doesn’t any more information other than battery power, time and signal strength. A few more details would have helped. New messages and a small music player UI shows up when necessary but doesn’t stay there too long.
The older Windows Mobile edition looked cluttered and too much like most other smartphone UIs at the time, WP7 is far more refined. From accessing menus to animations that happen while the accelerometer is in use and even pinch zooming, it’s all very iPhone-esque. It’s a fluid UI and the large virtual QWERTY keypad even in portrait mode makes for quick and comfortable typing. Multi-tasking on the WP7 platform isn’t very well thought out since there’s really no way you can access apps running in the background other than the music player.
WP7, smooth as silk but far from complete
The Tile system and side scrolling for most menus is easy to navigate but the lack of an actual ‘homescreen’ could take a little getting used to. There’s no way to adjust the background except with a light or dark (white or black) theme and tile color options. Almost anything can be pinned to the desktop making it somewhat easy to access. However, with platform like iOS or Android with their smaller icons and widgets, you have slightly more options per screen. Nevertheless, the Tiles are large and clear for viewing and access. Sadly though, the entire menu system does not switch to landscape, so if your handset’s neatly propped up on your desk, you’ll have to manage viewing the desktop, menus page and a few others in a sideways angle. Settings are minimalistic and that’s not a bad thing.
Media
There’s just one thing wrong with the handset’s media set up – Zune! The fact that I have so much space to play around with but restricted to using a proprietary system of data transfer is just annoying, pure and simple. There’s absolutely no issue whatsoever with the audio quality or decibel level in this device. With Dolby Mobile and SRS sound enhancement technology for both audio and video, the HD7 handles audio out put really well. EQ presets are not available from within the players interface. A separate app has been provided (Sound enhancer) for it and that includes a few preset options. The FM radio worked out quite well providing a decent amount of reception in most places even while on my daily commute and that’s something to be a little impressed about.
Dolby takes quality up a notch but Zune has got to go!
Unlike iTunes that has issues with conversion of all kinds of files for the ‘i’ products, Zune manages to accept all formats but takes an insanely long time to convert them to the appropriate size and resolution for the device. My advice is, convert them to iPhone size MP4 files using any converter software available and then transfer them through Zune. The process is much faster. It’s a pity a device with such a fabulously large and clear display has no support for DivX or XviD codecs.
There’s also no option for stretching videos to fit the screen or viewing them in their actual resolution. Sometimes videos that I converted from a 16:9 aspect ratio got unexpectedly stretched to the size of the HD7’s screen. While clarity was not an issue, it did bother me to see Bruce Willis’ bald head look more egg shaped than usual. A photo enhancer app is also available for adding a few choice flavors to your photos.
Connectivity
The WP7 platform seems to be the only one that automatically captures and stores my Loop Mobile EDGE settings without any manual intervention. The HD7 supports 3G, EDGE and Wi-Fi with no frills. At least the HD2 and its much older Windows Mobile system allowed you to use the handset as a Wi-Fi router. The platform also doesn’t allow for tethering. Bluetooth connectivity is still limited to just A2DP with no file transfer options. Images can be shared only via Wi-Fi/EDGE by uploading them to Facebook, or Microsoft’s SkyDrive server for storage. They can also be emailed or sent via MMS of course.
No Flash but not even Sliverlight? C'mon!
Setting up email accounts is as simple as it is in any new Smartphone platform. Basic details are required, a verification protocol is run and that’s it. The UI for emails is neat and designed for comfortable viewing. WP7 also comes with a preloaded Stock market app which, once again, is oddly similar to what Apple used to do for iPhone customers. HTC’s Hub interface is more like an immersive weather application where you can also add a few shortcuts to various apps. It could have been an option for a secondary desktop but instead it’s an additional app that you’ll need to activate each time you want in.
The IE browser, as brilliantly as it performed while browsing, does not support Flash or Silverlight making the over experience a little underwhelming, all things considered. The App market is not yet available for India so it’s quite an offset for HTC to have launched two WP7 handsets in the country without app support. There are work-around methods of accessing the store via a PC but apps are a little pricey and the ones that are free just didn’t seem all to impressive. App development for WP7 is still a work in progress, as is the platform itself. Good luck Nokia.
Bing could be big
One of the perks to the WP7 platform is Xbox Live integration. Though the Windows Phone 7 Games Hub you can access titles from Xbox LIVE, Microsoft Game Studios and other publishers as well as your stats and other account related information. It even allows you to play online. Facebook, Google, Windows Live and Twitter account integration with your contacts is quite well fashioned. The absence of any preloaded chat applications and the extremely limited availability of the same on the App Market is another peeve one has to deal with on the WP7 platform for now.
Bing is the native browser of course and Bing Maps handle the handsets GPS (with A-GPS support) capabilities. They’re no match for Google Maps just yet but you never know. As is though, they’re not a bad option even when it comes to navigation (no voice guided option).
| Misc. Features With some mobile standard apps like a unit converter, calendar (that does not sync with your Facebook account), alarm, calculator you’re good to go as far as basic features are concerned. What’s missing is a Notes application and Facebook or Google integration with the calendar. Then again, this is a Microsoft enabled handset so Google really isn’t given too much priority. The suite of Microsoft Office functions with OneNote and SharePoint adds quite a bit of value to the device but still not enough to cover all that's missing from the OS.  Good stuff but we want more... Camera The HD7’s 5 megapixel autofocus camera is provided with a dual LED flash and features a few scene modes. Effects, flicker adjustment, metering and of course geo-tagging. Image quality isn’t as sharp as some of HTC’s previous offerings and does appear a bit on the dull side with colors looking just a tad washed out. In native resolution details are not really as clear as you’d expect either.  Not the most clear of them all Battery Battery life proved to be a big drawback. With silly Tiles being unnecessarily animated, FB and emails on Push and the large LCD sucking up power, I found the HD7 doesn’t offer too much usage without needing to be charged each and every day. On an average talk time ran into the 3 hours 30 minutes span which is not really too great. The Bottom Line With a price tag of Rs. 28,990 (MOP), the HTC HD7 might seem like a great handset but do keep in mind handsets with far superior capabilities and operating systems that provide you with more functionality exist. The HD7, while a classy piece of hardware is saddled with an OS that is not yet full functional and, like I said before, a work in progress. For the record, the HTC HD7 is a handset to keep your eyes on. It’s quite future-proofed, however there’s no telling just how frequently the updates will come though. This means you’ll be stuck with a handset with tremendous potential that’s just waiting to be unlocked to its optimized capability.  Prop it up and sit back If you’ve got the patience, I say go for it, but we’ve been though this before with the iPhone and even the Android OS. Let’s not forget handsets like the Hero were seriously flawed but new age handsets like the Desire models have unlocked a whole new realm of mobile usability. It might be better to simply wait and see what the next update brings to the table and then decide. The only big hurdle you’ll have to conquer is the poor battery life. |
Dell Venue Pro - Stylish review
As we saw with the HTC HD7, there were some issues with the OS. The Dell Venue Pro however may have just set a benchmark where Windows Phone 7 devices are concerned. Even though I didn’t think it is possible, the Venue Pro does manage to showcase a slightly smoother UI as compared to other WP7 devices we’ve tested.  A new a'Venue' from Dell Design and Build Quality The Dell Venue Pro can pretty much be considered the WP7 version of the Dell Venue Android handset that came sans QWERTY keypad. The Pro manages to out shine its competition with other WP7 devices when it comes to looks, but not much else. The slightly curved full screen display adds a touch of class to the phone. The sides of the phone and the Dell logo are finished in chrome. The back of the phone is also finished with a stylish patterned design. To say that I am completely awestruck by the beauty of this phone is an understatement. The Dell Venue Pro features a 4.1-inch AMOLED display with an 800 x 480 (WVGA) resolution (Gorilla Glass). This handset comes with a portrait side QWERTY pop slide keyboard which has elegant hard plastic keys. The spacing of the keys is made to precision and typing is not a problem at all. The keyboard however would have been much better if it was in landscape mode thus fully utilizing the massive size of this device. On the face of the phone are three capacitive buttons - back, home and search, which light on contact.  27,900 The top of the phone sports the circular power/ sleep button to the right and on the left is the 3.5 mm audio jack. On the right side of the phone are the volume keys and below them is the camera shutter release. All these are flushed along the side of the phone and made with the same chrome finish that adds to the elegance of the device phone. The bottom of the phone features a set of stereo speakers with a micro USB port for charging or syncing with a computer in between. Features and Performance Interface The Dell Venue Pro operates its WP7 UI with a 1 GHz Scorpion processor and a 512 MB RAM. Even first time WP7 users should have no problems navigating through the new OS. The responsiveness of the interface is as smooth as an iPhone’s with no lag. The designated search button allows you to connect easily to Microsoft’s Bing search engine through either 3G, Wi-Fi, GPRS or EDGE.  Bulky in design The ‘Start Screen’ is customizable to an extent and just about anything can be added to it. This can be an interesting feature to have all your most used items on the main screen. The Tile system of the Home screen is very attractive in a ‘modern art’ sort of way with the tiles being either square or rectangular in shape. Navigating through the main menu is only available in portrait mode. UI auto-rotation is possible while texting, web surfing, emailing or viewing images. Social networking on the Dell Venue Pro is seamless as it connects your phone contacts with your Facebook, Windows Live, etc. accounts. Automatic social updates, Facebook style, can be viewed through the ‘What’s New’ tab in the People hub. Through this feature you can also update your Facebook or Windows Live status while also being able to comment on posts. There is no Twitter integration but a third party app can be used to post your tweets.  Patterned back with chrome Dell logo One feature where iOS (now) and Android are ahead of WP7 is multitasking. Along with Office, People, Music & Videos, Internet Explorer hubs there is also an Xbox Live Games hub; where Xbox Live games can be downloaded on to the phone and played. Overall the interface of Microsoft Windows Phone 7 is sure to be a force to be reckoned with in the future. Multimedia WP7, being a closed interface like iOS, multimedia can only be transferred by syncing with the Zune software on a PC. The audio/ video playback on this device truly does provide a sensory feast to the user. There are five different options in the media hub – music, videos, podcasts, radio and the marketplace for media related content. The handset supports - MP3, WAV, WMA and eAAC+ audio formats. The music hub interface is very smartly designed - not only does the album art show but also a picture of the artist as well in a sort of wallpaper layout. There audio playback was excellent even at high volumes, no distortion noticed whatsoever. Tones were well balanced however, the lack of any presets negate any personal customization, which not everyone will be ok with. The Dell Venue Pro also has an inbuilt radio, something that is lacking on the iPhone. The radio reception was good and no signal loss was noticed. A variety of video codecs like - H.263/H.264, 3GP, MPEG4, WMV and VC-1 are supported. Viewing videos on this 4.1-inch AMOLED screen was a delight. The performance of the video was tested by using a file converted by the Zune player whilst syncing it to the device. It was encoded at a resolution of 1280 x 720p which fit the entire screen of the phone. The Venue Pro features a 1400 mAh lithium Ion and comes loaded with 8GB or 16GB of internal storage with unfortunately, no expansion option. A big issue with WP7 devices. (Apple anyone?). As opposed to the Venue’s 8MP camera, Dell has downsized and equipped the Pro with a 5 megapixel auto-focus camera and LED flash. Dell went to great lengths to manufacture a phone that could live up to our ever increasing high standard in terms of design and build quality. It looks like it could take a couple of knocks and still come out on top. It weighs in at a whopping 192.8g. Size and weight apart though, this is one beautiful looking handset.
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Camera The Dell Venue Pro sports a 5 megapixel, auto-focus camera with an LED flash it is also able to record videos at 720p. Settings include white balance, a few scene modes and geo-tagging, ISO levels (up to 800) which are quite limited when compared to others available in the same price bracket. The outdoor images were decent with a fair amount of detail and no color supplementation was noticed. All the natural hues are visible and no pinkness was seen in sunlit areas. Overall the outdoor picture quality is good.  A lot of detail is visible with outdoor pics The same cannot be said about the indoor image quality with there being a lot of color supplementation and even with the LED flash on, the area photographed could not be lit up enough. Further to this, in low light environments the images came out quite grainy.  Indoor pictures are grainy The performance of the auto-focus fluctuates and can frustrate a bit when it sometimes captures blurry images. However, when macro images were clicked using the Dell Venue Pro the outcome of the same was quite sharp. To sum it up, the quality of the camera on this WP7 handset is decent.  Macro pics are crisp Battery The 1400 mAh battery of the Dell Venue Pro is decent where normal usage is concerned that is making calls, browsing the net over Wi-Fi, listening to music, watching videos or playing games all in moderation and had lasted around 17 hours. Under somewhat heavy usage (playing music continuously) the battery got fully discharged in just over 14 hours. Verdict At a market price of 27,900, this may not be the most ideal phone to purchase. With the size and weight of the Dell Venue Pro being a major issue there is also no proper weight distribution when the keyboard slides out. The Pro has some great features and it's fitted with an operating system that is surely going to do well in the future, right now though, there's plenty of room for improvement. The Zune Marketplace is not available in India thereby, making it difficult to download apps. Though the Dell Venue Pro is a good looking phone, with a price tag of 27,900, you would be better off with the HTC Mozart or a phone with another operating system that can offer better specs and at the same time be easier on the pocket. |
Windows Phone 'Mango' search offers location-specific results, app integration (video)
Windows Phone's latest iteration (codename Mango) is all about keeping it in the hood. We had a chance to sit down with a Windows Phone rep before today's big reveal, and they let us in on a couple of new features that will most definitely set the OS apart -- at least when it comes to navigating the tangled web that is the internet. We did get a quick glimpse at IE9, but the new browser isn't much of a game changer -- it supports HTML5, but still won't deliver Flash or Silverlight compatibility. The real news here is in theBing-powered search function, which lets users surf the vast expanses of the web four different ways, with a focus on the local.Clicking the dedicated search button from the Windows Phone home screen takes you to a familiar Bing page, offering the visual, audio, and voice options we heard rumored earlier this month, along with a city scape icon. That skyline represents Local Scout, a function that focuses your queries on the neighborhood you're in, providing location-specific results that highlight important information about establishments and events in your immediate area. Clicking through on any link brings up general information as well as reviews gleaned from popular user-generated sites. That's not all that's new, however, as Mango also offers some nifty tricks in its visual search. Instead of just snapping a barcode, you can actually use a shot of the product itself to bring up information about pricing, availability, and relevant apps.
The demo we saw used the cover of The Girl Who Played With Fire, and supplied among the search results a link to the title in the Kindle app. This isn't exactly groundbreaking technology -- Google Goggles does much the same thing -- but what's truly different here is the tight integration of such functions in the operating system, as well as links to outside applications. Thus, the experience is a bit unlike any other in the OS atmosphere, upending our idea of what it means to search the internets without resorting to standalone programs. Whether it's something users will take to is anybody's guess, but we're certain it's enough to get folks talking. For a deeper (and very vertical) look at Local Scout, hop on past the break.
Windows Phone 'Mango' will be used on first Nokia WP devices
Nokia has noted Microsoft's announcement of the new Windows Phone 7 (aka Mango) with word that the software being demonstrated today will be the one we'll see on the first Nokia with Windows Phone device.
Update: Microsoft just concluded its keynote with word that it already has Nokia phones running Mango in its labs. And none have leaked out yet, amazing!"Today Microsoft has announced the key new ingredients of the latest 'Mango' release of the Windows Phone operating system. This is the software that will be used on the first Nokia with Windows Phone device, and so should be of keen interest to Nokia-watchers everywhere."
Update 2: We were just contacted by a Nokia representative indicating that there was a mistake in the original announcement the company distributed. It wasn't supposed to read device, it was supposed to be devices. More than one!
Windows Phone Mango and Bing Vision hands-on
First of all, Mango is not necessarily Windows Phone 7.1. Microsoft simply had to get the SDK ready to go and, well, they "had to call it something." So, 7.1 is that something, a number applied to the SDK that we have a feeling will stick to the OS as well, but Microsoft is still far from carving that version into stone.
We also got a little more information about the Dell situation, that simply the company wasn't quite ready to commit to being on the Mango bandwagon. So, don't try to read too much into the company's omission from the slide deck here: there's no reason to think the company won't be there with bells on once the leaves start turning, joining the confirmed partners: Samsung, LG, HTC, Acer, Fujitsu, ZTE, and of course Nokia. Oh, and if you're hoping for tethering in this release? No such luck -- it'll have to wait for a future release.
But, onto more important things. As you can see in the videos here the revisions and augmentations in Mango are tightly integrated into the OS, such that if you don't know where to look you'll probably miss them. The new Groups feature in the People Hub gives you a quick view into what's happening with your friends, pulling in photos and updates and really augmenting the social aspects of the device.
In fact, you could say that Kin lives on, its social DNA now imbibed by Windows Phone and, honestly, looking pretty great in its new digs.
We also tried out the new Bing Vision feature, which allows you to search for things using the camera. Unlike Google Googles or the like you can't take a picture of any old thing -- only visual codes (bar, QR, etc.) will be recognized along with book, movie, and album covers -- but things are much more responsive because of it. You don't need to take a pic and wait: the results just pop up. The OS can even identify and translate text in real-time, something you can see toward the end of the video above. Naturally, though, all of this relies on an active data connection.
Ultimately Mango is not a groundbreaking update, but it is definitely shaping up to be a great addition to the world of Windows Phone, adding the seamless integration other smartphone platforms lack, tying loose ends together to create a nicely woven final package. The only problem? It won't be ripe until fall, and while there will surely be a suite of new devices that ship with this software it remains to be seen just how long it'll take this juice of this fruit to trickle out to all the existing WP7 devices. It also remains to be seen just how much further we can take these mango references, but rest assured we aren't finished yet.
Microsoft CEO promises Windows 8 in 2012, 500 new features for Windows Phone 7
Windows 8 for desktop computers and tablets will ship in 2012, and an upcoming Windows Phone 7 update will include 500 new features, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said Monday at a developers conference in Japan.Ballmer made the announcement in a speech, shortly after expressing his condolences to Japan about the earthquake and tsunami that struck the nation in March.
"It's been 18 months since my last trip in Japan, which in my whole 30 years of working for Microsoft is the longest period of time between visits in Japan," Ballmer said in his speech. "Microsoft is very committed to Japan. We're celebrating 25 years this year, 25 years of Microsoft business in Japan. And to all of the developers in the room, I say: Thank you very much for the support and for the partnership."
Ballmer said that Japan is home to Microsoft's second-largest subsidiary and that Microsoft is looking to Japan to help the company be competitive in areas where it "is committed to investing and innovating and leading."
One of the areas Microsoft wants to lead is "natural user interface" -- using speech, gestures and touch to control computers. Microsoft has had success with its Kinect motion-sensing camera for its Xbox 360 video game console, but it has yet to release a major consumer tablet offering, which would rely on a touch-screen-oriented version of Windows.
Ballmer expressed frustration about having released Windows Phone 7 to the market last fall.
"Another big sort of effort for us in terms of transforming the future of communication is the Windows Phone," he said. "We came to market with Windows Phone about a year later than I wish we had, shame on us.
"But we're moving forward very actively. We launched Windows Phones last November. We've done a set of upgrades. We have a release that will come to market later this year in Japan. Not only is it a new release that is now much more global, but we've added over 500 new features to Windows Phone."
Not long after that, Ballmer turned his attention to what Microsoft is doing on Windows 8.
"Windows 7 PCs will sell over 350 million units this year," Ballmer said. "We've done a lot in Windows 7 to improve customer satisfaction. We have a brand-new user interface. We've added touch and ink and speech. And yet, as we look forward to the next generation of Windows systems, which will come out next year, there's a whole lot more coming. As we progress through the year, you ought to expect to hear a lot about Windows 8. Windows 8 slates, tablets, PCs, a variety of different form factors."
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