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Dark Forces Team release a fully unlocked ROM for 1st gen Samsung Windows Phones

February 7, 2012 | By Surur

DFTSummyRainBow

Cotulla has announced a fully unlocked ROM for the Samsung Omnia 7 and Samsung Focus v1.3 and 1.4.

The DFT ROMs have so far been confined to HTC handsets.

A fully unlocked ROM allows the installation of native software, such as the Windows Mobile Opera 10 browser.

Cotulla warns this release may have some issues with USB and that Over the Air updates should not be installed, as it may overwrite the new boot loader. The ROM is however the latest version of the OS, 8107.

Read more about the ROM, which will likely invalidate your warranty, at XDA-Developers here.

via XDA-Developers.com

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Chuck says good bye with an LG Quantum

January 28, 2012 | By Surur

chuck

Professeur Thibault has noticed in the latest and last episode of Chuck, the LG Quantum makes a surprise appearance, in the place of the usual iPhone product placement.

The Professor however notes the product placement was not used to best effect, with no tiles even being shown off and no picture being attached to the caller ID, making it difficult to identify the OS. However nothing gets past sharp-eyed Windows Phone fans

LG Germany announces new firmware for unlocked devices with Internet Sharing

January 27, 2012 | By Surur

lgoptimus

LG Germany has announced on their Facebook page that they have now made new firmware available for unlocked LG Optimus 7 handsets which enable Internet Sharing. Many uses from numerous devices have been complaining the 8107 update does not enable this feature on their current handsets.

The firmware in version V11h (1.1.8.10), with the current version being V11g (means: 1.1.7.10) .

Hopefully we will see this update roll out to carrier devices soon also.

Thanks Manu for the tip.

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Telus announcing availability of 8107 update for HTC 7 Surround and LG Optimus 7

January 25, 2012 | By Surur

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Telus has posted a support page advising users that the 8107 “disappearing keyboard” update for Windows Phone 7 is now available, fixing a number of issues.

The updates are available for the LG Optimus 7 and the HTC Surround and can be accessed by connecting your phone to your desktop via USB and using desktop Zune to check for updates in settings.

See the page here.

Thanks Tommy and Patrick for the tip.

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Nokia Lumia 710 – Software and Battery Life Review

January 22, 2012 | By andrewbares

How does the Nokia Lumia 710 stack up against the HTC Radar in terms of software and battery life? Find out by watching the video above and reading our review!

Software

The Lumia 710 is your typical Windows Phone… it has a butter smooth, crash-free, and elegant operating system. What makes Nokia phones unique is their Nokia Collection of apps. When you buy any Nokia phone, you get Nokia Drive (Turn-by-turn GPS navigation), Nokia Maps, ESPN, and more, all for free.

Nokia Drive is extremely accurate, as seen in our driving demo of the app. It’s still not fully-functional compared to other GPS navigation software (lacks some features and doesn’t work completely offline), but for the price of free it’s a nice bonus.

Nokia Maps is also a nice addition, since it is typically more accurate and up-to-date than Bing Maps (in my city, that is).

HTC phones used to have an advantage in that HTC provided a free flashlight app, but now thanks to developer Gregerly, we have a free flashlight app that uses your LED flash and doesn’t flicker!

The Lumia 710 on T-Mobile is lacking internet sharing (maybe an update will unlock it?) and video chat (no front-facing camera), but the Lumia 710 does have a compass and gyroscope, which means you can use augmented reality apps.

The Lumia 710 runs on Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, which, in my opinion, directly compares to the iPhone’s ease of use (miles above Android). In summary, you should buy Windows Phone if you want a phone that works and doesn’t require constant rebooting. WP7′s app Marketplace is lacking some major apps right now, but Microsoft and Nokia are greatly committed to bringing all the apps possible to Windows Phone, so that shouldn’t be an issue for much longer.

Battery Life

The Lumia 710′s battery should last you through your day, only requiring a charge when you’re sleeping. In my real-world use, my Radar seemed to last a little longer than the Lumia, which makes sense because the Lumia only has a 1300 mAh battery while the Radar has a larger 1520 mAh battery.

I performed two battery tests on each phone. In the first test, I played music on both phones for 2 hours, with volume on 15 out of 30, phones in airplane mode, screens off, using the same pair of headphones. After two hours, the Radar drained from 100% to 99% battery, while the Lumia drained to 93%. If you factor in battery sizes, the Radar gets about 7.5 minutes per 1 mAh of battery, while the Lumia only got about 1.5 minutes per mAh of battery.

The Lumia and Radar both have a second-generation snapdragon processor, but the Lumia’s is clocked at 1.4 GHz while the Radar is at a slower 1.0 GHz, which could be giving the Radar the extra boost in battery life.

My second test involved playing the same movie on both phones for an hour, with brightness on medium, volume on 30/30 using headphones, and with the phones in airplane mode. This test confirmed the audio test results, since the Lumia drained down to 75% while the Radar only drained to 90%. If the Radar and Lumia both had 1520 mAh batteries, that would mean that the Radar could play movies for 10 hours while the Lumia would only be able to play for 4.7 hours.

These tests aren’t scientific by any means, but they do seem to confirm my guess that the Radar lasts longer than the Lumia. However, the Lumia’s battery life isn’t bad by any means and is acceptable by smartphone standards!

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Nokia Lumia 710 – Camera Review

January 20, 2012 | By andrewbares

How does the Lumia 710′s camera and video capabilities compare with the HTC Radar? Read and watch our review to find out!


Lumia 710	HTC Radar

Pictures


Lumia 710	HTC Radar

The Lumia 710 easily defeats the HTC Radar. The Lumia manages to capture far more accurate colors in pictures, as can be seen in the video and in the pictures above. The HTC Radar consistently has a blue tint to everything. Detail-wise, both phones are equal.

Indoors, the Lumia also wins. When taking dark pictures, the Lumia will shine its LED flash to focus the picture first, and then it will actually take the picture. The Radar skips this step and therefore the Radar’s pictures are often out of focus. The colors of the Lumia’s pictures are also once again far more accurate compared to the overly-bright Radar. My only complaint is that the Lumia always has darker edges on the pictures with a flash, but otherwise the pictures are clearly better.

Videos

The Lumia 710 once again easily wins against the HTC Radar. The biggest issue with HTC phones is that you cannot record decent videos indoors, since their frame rate is terrible in low-lighting conditions. The Lumia is butter-smooth even when it’s extremely dark.

The detail on videos from the Lumia is also significantly better. You can zoom in using the camera app and things still look crisp!

HTC better take note, because Nokia is kicking their you-know-what in terms of camera quality.

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New pictures of ‘new’ Sony Ericsson Windows Phone confirms it is the old one

January 19, 2012 | By Surur

se7 NokiaWP.net have released some more pictures of their Sony Ericsson Windows Phone prototype, and the pictures confirm the handset is the same as the cancelled device which first leaked in March 2011.

A picture of the device booting up also proves the handset is not running Mango, but an older version of Windows Phone, as it still has the round Windows Phone logo. This should disabuse people of the notion that the device is still under development.

The Sony Ericsson Julie would have been one of the better keyboarded Windows Phone 7 handsets, with 16 GB storage and a reasonable 4 inch screen, which makes it a pity it was never released.

By today’s standards however the handset will at the very least need a thinner form factor.

Sony Ericsson (now just Sony) has just suffered a 20% YoY drop in phone sales in the 4th quarter due to intense competition in the Android sphere, where only Samsung appearing to be doing very well. Maybe it is time for Sony Ericsson to rethink their Android-only strategy.

See more pictures at NokiaWP.net here.

Thanks Juddy for the tip.

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Nokia Lumia 710 – Call and Sound Quality Review

January 19, 2012 | By andrewbares

The Lumia 710 unfortunately falls short of the HTC Radar in both call quality and sound quality.

Call Quality

On my Nokia Lumia 710 from T-Mobile, recipients of my phone calls complained about the quality of the sound. To them, I sounded muffled, distorted, quiet, and simply not as good as what they consider normal. I typically use my HTC Radar, and my parents could instantly notice the significant drop in quality when I called them from the Lumia 710.

When I had my parents use the Lumia so that I could experience the call quality myself, I too noticed that everything simply sounded worse than the HTC Radar. The Lumia 710 sounded like a bad cell phone, while the HTC Radar was quite clear and close to landline quality.

Using the Lumia 710 on speakerphone also received complaints, since the sound quality was once again worse. The HTC Radar’s speakerphone faired much better. However, everything sounds fine for the person who is using the Lumia… the speakerphone is loud, the earpiece is loud, and the quality sounds good from there.

So far I haven’t seen any other users experiencing the call quality issue, but I doubt many people will recognize the poor call quality since it actually requires the person on the other end of the phone to say something… Everything sounds perfect from the point of view of the Lumia owner.

Overall, the HTC Radar easily wins in call quality.

Sound Quality

The speakers on the Lumia 710 play music at a very similar volume to the HTC Radar… they’re decently loud, but could be a little louder if anything. The Lumia and Radar’s speakers also sound pretty equal in terms of sound quality. If anything, the Radar sounds slightly better and less distorted at higher volumes.

Through a pair of headphones, the Radar was able to play music significantly louder (23/30 volume on the Radar was about the same as Max volume on the Lumia). The Radar also sounded crisper and less distorted. Plus, with the HTC Radar, you can use HTC’s Sound Enhancer app to tweak your sound, which once again gives HTC an extra boost to victory. For my review purposes, I left the Sound Enhancer disabled, and the Radar was still slightly better.

Overall, the Lumia 710 lacks some extra volume through the headphones, but otherwise sounds good. Dedicated MP3 players will still sound better, but for a phone the Lumia sounds good.

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Nokia Lumia 710 – Hardware Review

January 17, 2012 | By andrewbares

The Lumia 710 is currently T-Mobile’s most powerful Windows Phone in terms of specs. It has a 1.4 GHz second-generation single-core Snapdragon processor, a gyroscope, Corning Gorilla Glass, and a compass.

However, the Lumia 710 lacks a front-facing camera and is of course limited with 8 GB of storage space. It also doesn’t look as sexy as the HTC Radar, nor does it feel as expensive as the Radar.

The screen on the 710 is a nicely sized 3.7″ ClearBlack LCD display, which is perfect for texting with one hand. Colors are possibly a little more vivid on the 710 when compared to the S-LCD on the HTC Radar, but the ClearBlack display doesn’t preform much better out in the sunlight compared to the Radar. A big disadvantage to the Lumia 710 is that there’s a very noticeable black border around the screen, whereas on the HTC Radar, the screen perfectly touches the rest of the phone seamlessly.

Instead of touch-sensitive buttons, the Lumia 710 has physical buttons on the front of the phone, which prevent you from accidentally hitting the back key while playing games on the phone. My only complaint is that these buttons look quite cheap when lit up at night time.

The camera button can be a little tricky, because there’s hardly any travel space between pressing the button halfway down to focus it and actually pressing it all the way down to take the picture. Otherwise, the volume buttons and power buttons feel nice.

The Lumia 710 has a 5 MP camera and a single-LED flash, but we’ll go into the quality of the camera later in our review section dedicated to the camera.

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O2 Germany getting ready to roll out the 8107 update also?

January 17, 2012 | By Surur

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WP7App has been able to confirm via O2 Germany’s twitter account that the carrier has completed testing for the HTC HD7 and will also start rolling out the 8107 update soon.

Unfortunately they were not able to give information on the status of other Windows Phones on the network, but it may be a case of Microsoft updating each Windows Phone one at a time.

See more of our 8107 update coverage here.

Bell HTC HD7 and LG Quantum getting 8107 update starting tomorrow

January 17, 2012 | By Surur

Screen-shot-2012-01-17-at-12.45.06-PM-e1326823404504

According to a leaked internal memo Bell will start pushing out the 8107 Windows Phone 7 update, which famously fixes the “disappearing keyboard” issue, amongst others.

The update will be pushed out in two waves, the first tomorrow and the next on the 25th, a week later, via on-device update notifications.

Interestingly the term “commercial refresh 1” suggests there may be more “commercial refreshes” on the way.

Via MobileSyrup.com

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