After Windows Phone 8 leak, Microsoft needs to reassure Windows Phone 7 buyers their phones are upgradable
Some have speculated that the recent Windows Phone 8 information was a controlled leak, to reassure the market that Microsoft was still in the game.
I am however relatively sure it is not, due to the very real Osborne effect the news is having on Microsoft’s current handsets. I have come across many comments over the last 2 days of people saying “I was going to buy a Nokia Lumia 900, but now I am going to wait to see what Nokia can do with Windows Phone 8”.
The danger is seriously disappointing sales which suck the momentum that is slowly building in Marketplace and with Nokia’s new offerings.
The damage is already done for those who insist on waiting for HD screened handsets, but for the majority who are merely not wanting to buy a handset which will not run the latest OS in a mere 9 months Microsoft can do a lot simply by announcing that current generation handsets will be upgradable to Windows Phone 8.
As long as the silence continues doubt will grow, and sales will suffer.
Are our readers hesitant to upgrade to pre-apollo handsets, and would you be reassured if you knew they were upgradable? Let us know below.
AppDeals : Get great deals! Plus we offer to 5 developers to have their app featured for FREE in February!
For its 1st month anniversary, AppDeals app offers the opportunity to 5 developers to have one Windows Phone app featured for FREE on AppDeals.
Those developers will be chosen in February among the first 100 developers than SUBMIT THEIR WINDOWS PHONE App on our new AppDeals web site!
With the number of AppDeals users growing up fast, we will be able to provide users with more and more exclusive deals. So don’t hesitate to tell your friends about this app and hopefuly you will discover some great apps you’ll love and use!
At Ahead Solutions we want to build up great mobile services. AppDeals is one of them. We will be happy to welcome Windows Phone developers that care about their apps and either want to publish news or propose a deal to Windows Phone users like Utlimate Poker Manager, MyThings Pro, AlcooloTest, GeoMemory, Measure Note, Intrusion Alarm, AlterEgo and many more already did…
Don’t hesitate to contact our team anytime you need it.
AppDeals is a unique service that now helps users and developers!
Sebastien.
CEO & Founder, Ahead Solutions.
Follow us on twitter: www.twitter.com/appdealswp
Download AppDeals for FREE here.
Cloud Music SkyDrive Music Client Now V1.1, fixes all the bugs
Cloud Music is a music player that accesses your SkyDrive account and will look for any music collection you have stored on SkyDrive (based on Zune folder structure). Cloud Music is one of the first SkyDrive true music players offering true integration with SkyDrive key features include
• SkyDrive Integration
• Stream or Download Music Playback
• User Selectable Artist and Album Images
• .mp3 and .aac playback formats
• Custom Playlist
• User selectable Playlist album images
• Background Audio Playback
• Offline Mode for Albums and Playlist
• Zune Music Hub Integration
• Shuffle Playback
• Repeat Playback
• Pin Albums and Playlist to Start
• Recently Played and New Music View
New in Version 1.1
Version 1.1 has added a few new features to better manage your music collection, now you can sync an individual artist’s albums or even just one album can be synced without re-syncing the entire collection. We also added the ability to “Reset your Music Collection” this feature will remove and restore your music collection if something was to go wrong while syncing your music.
This update has also improved the syncing process and other small problems have been corrected. Stay tuned for version 1.2 which will include adding music from your local and remote networks, adding additional music to “Now Playing”, better playlist management, Background Download of music for offline access, and more…
Cloud Music is $1.29 and has a 14 day free trial it can be downloaded from the marketplace here.
Apple’s education event has huge ramifications for the Windows 8 tablet
I hate to admit it, but I was very impressed by the Apple’s education event today. Following along the event via the Verge.com live blog, it was clear that the guys from Cupertino have created a compelling set of products with iBooks 2, iBooks Author and a revamped iTunes U app that will indeed change the education landscape. Its not that these ideas are new, Apple has just found a way to offer them to the masses in a more user friendly format that millions of users will flock too. Apple, in one fell stroke has just outmaneuvered their rivals by creating a new lucrative and integrated ecosystem in the learning field that neither Microsoft or Google posses a completive alternative. What’s more as is customary with Apple, the products are available now rather than a few months down the road giving them an enormous first mover advantage.
So how does this affect the Windows 8 tablet? Even with the success of the iPad and iPhone, Microsoft still dominates the education field whereby a majority of the PCs being Windows based in conjunction with Microsoft office products.This announcement turns the whole paradigm on its head. If more schools decide to adopt the new Apple system, why would any student need a PC when all their textbooks and school assignments are accessible via iPads? Furthermore, with a version Microsoft Office for the iPad in the works, its evident that the long running PC advantage finds itself on shaky ground. Imagine also a student getting their project done and presenting it to whole class wirelessly via airplay (via a compatible projector or simply an Apple TV connected to a regular projector. The possibilities are endless!
Prediction: 2012 Will be the Year of Windows Phone
Windows Phone 7.5 is running fast out of the gate for 2012. The stunning mobile operating system from Microsoft was the talk of CES in Las Vegas this year. The accolades streaming in from the world’s most influential newspapers, magazines, reviewers, and tech bloggers are unprecedented.
The Nokia Lumia 900 won the Best of CES award in the Smartphone category and it’s no surprise. Before listing off the impressive specs, just look at this gorgeous piece of hardware. Looks matter…trust me. Windows Phone is already the most elegant mobile operating system. Breathtaking industrial design is the other half of the equation. When paired with iconic hardware, it’s like pairing your favorite Walla Walla Cabernet with your favorite steak.
I can’t count the number of reviews and comments stating that Windows Phone on the Lumia 900 has surpassed the iPhone. If you follow the U.S. wireless market, then you know that things like 4G LTE network speeds, large screens, front-facing cameras, and dual-core processors are the current drivers of smartphone sales. The Lumia 900 addresses three of those drivers with support for AT&T’s 4G LTE network, a 4.3-inch AMOLED ClearBlack display, and a front-facing camera for video calls. It’s powered by a single 1.4 GHz processor and if you’ve paid attention to all the reviews in the press, you’ve heard that Windows Phone runs circles around its dual-core competitors. Better software design, better engineering, more efficient algorithms, and optimized coding techniques means you can do more with less. Last but not least, the Lumia 900 comes with an amazing 8MP camera with Carl Zeiss optics.
The HTC Titan II came to the CES party guns-blazing with a monster of a smartphone. It tics all the required boxes needed for sales by delivering a massive 4.7 inch screen, support for AT&T’s 4G LTE network, and a front-facing camera. The 1.5Ghz Snapdragon 2 processor gives this superphone all the horsepower it needs.
Joining the camera arms-race with the Lumia 900, the Titan II comes equipped with a whopping 16 megapixel camera that can capture 720p video. If you’re looking for a giant phone that can go head-to-head with the Galaxy Nexus, this is your device.
2012 is already shaping up to be a great year with compelling hardware matched-up with Windows Phone 7.5, but what else does this platform need to make my prediction come true? Oh yeah, apps. Do you remember back in the 80′s when DOS-based PCs from IBM and Compaq gave Apple IIs and Macs more than they could handle? It might not have been eye-catching, but DOS had more apps that allowed consumers and companies to be successful. In the 90′s, Windows ran away with the computing market with the Mac, Linux, NeXT, and OS/2 unable to compete in the app department. Why do you think this was the case? I know a big reason was because Borland and Microsoft made better and easier-to-use development tools for Windows.
With 50,000+ apps in the Marketplace, Windows Phone is surging forward and now sits in third-place behind the iPhone App Store and the Android Market. Aside from developers betting on the success of a platform, they need development tools, emulators, and programming languages that make it easy for them to be productive. When I look at the velocity at which new apps are being added to the Windows Phone Marketplace, it tells me that Visual Studio is making a big difference.
In my job, I have to work with the development tools for all the major smartphone platforms and I can tell you without drinking any Kool-Aid that the competition isn’t even close. Most iPhone developers I know find that learning Objective-C from the NeXT operating system to be a daunting task compared to modern, high-level languages like C# and VB. While the world is full of Java developers, the complexity of cobbling the necessary tools together needed to build for Android apps is a real productivity killer. Just running Eclipse on JDK 1.6 sucks the life and performance out of my fast Windows 7 laptop. Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone is free and the emulator + SDKs all download and install together making the whole process fast and simple. Apps get access to all phone sensors, a local database (SQL Server Compact), and Metro design.
Better productivity means faster time-to-market which means more apps for Windows Phone.
If you’re a web designer/developer, Internet Explorer 9 is alive and well on Windows Phone 7.5. This means you’re no longer held hostage to the highly-fragmented WebKit mobile browser platform. You get a hardware-accelerated, amazingly fast browser with support for more “fully-baked” HTML5 standards like Web Storage, Geolocation, Canvas, Audio and Video.
The lightning fast-Chakra JavaScript engine supports ECMAScript 5 which means your DOM interactions and Ajax web service calls will blur the lines with native apps. When you retrieve data from the cloud or your on-premise servers via Ajax, you’ll now be able to persist it offline in Web Storage. Support for CSS3 means things will be beautiful, 2D transforms will occur, and media queries will give you responsive design.
So here we stand with the best smartphone operating system, best hardware, best development tools and the best mobile web browser. I’m certain that Windows Phone with its army of app developers, OEMs and Mobile Operator partners will be marching to victory this year.
Be fearless,
Rob
What if #smokedbywindowsphone came to retail stores?
Most of you have probably seen the “smoked by Windows Phone” campaign by now, in which Windows Phone evangelist Ben “The PC Guy” Rudolph challenges people to perform various everyday tasks on their smartphones and compares the time it takes to to do the same thing on a Windows Phone. It’s really a clever marketing campaign, but, first and foremost, a great way to demonstrate the real advantages of Microsoft’s mobile OS.
While this has probably helped raise some much-needed awareness, it’s not enough, of course. Actually, nothing is enough until Windows Phone reaches the sales numbers it deserves, which is still a few months off at best. However, as Mary Jo Foley noted on Twitter, what if some sales persons were trained to do the same thing in actual retail stores, to demonstrate the speed advantages Windows Phone has, not in benchmarks but in real world tasks?
Sure, this would cost a lot and thus may not be viable, you’d say. But then, Nokia alone has a marketing budget of $200 million to spend in the US, and some of that money could be put to good use by demonstrating the real advantages of Windows Phones in retail stores. Sales incentives and advertisements are one thing, but something like this, which would give people an immediate reason to consider and even choose Windows Phone over rival platforms, should undoubtedly be the most effective and convincing, in the long term.
Of course, we are no retail experts, and if Microsoft saw potential in this idea, maybe they would be considering it already. However, it’s no secret that Microsoft isn’t the most effective company when it comes to advertising, so this might actually be a very worthwhile idea. What do our readers think?
Editorial: If Microsoft wants to tout the 25 GB on Skydrive as storage they need to make it more useful
This editorial is pretty much encapsulated in the headline. Most Windows Phone 7 users are stuck with 8 GB (6 GB available) of storage, and a lucky minority with 16 (14 GB available).
Having 8GB of storage on your phone is pretty 2008ish, and it seems the state of the art has pretty much decided to stand still on Windows Phone. Even if you wanted to pay for 32 Gb of storage the option is not available.
Many OEMs are now advertising the 25 GB of storage on Skydrive as the solution and a reason why even less built-in storage, such as the 4 GB on the ZTE Tania, is acceptable and it is of course a justification raised very often in our comments if one were to dare complain about the restriction.
I have however pretty much run out of storage on my 8 GB HTC 7 Trophy, and each morning when I try and sync my podcasts I am faced with the dreaded”Not Enough storage” error and asked to edit my sync groups and basically trim my playlists and remove music I would prefer to keep on the device. I had 2.5 MB free this morning.
(And no, Zune Pass is not the solution – I buy maybe 2 tracks per month. No way am I paying £108 per year to rent music I own already.)
If Microsoft is going to insist on allowing such limited amounts of storage they need to make the difference between cloud and local storage transparent. In particular this means they need to make it easy to both load music on Skydrive and stream this music from SkyDrive. Podcast streaming should be indistinguishable from playing local content. Photos need to upload at full resolution. Documents should be saved by default to SkyDrive.
Microsoft concentrated on removing the need to micro-manage your smartphone with Windows Phone 7. Now they need to remove the need to micromanage your storage also. If they can do this, and succeed, it could be their killed advantage.
Are any of our readers stuck on 8 GB troubled by limited storage? Let us know below.
Xbox Live Games Coming To iOS: Has Microsoft Really Lost Faith In Windows Phone?
Back in December, Microsoft released a slew of mobile apps for iOS – including Lync and SkyDrive, which were always promised to be cross-platform, but also apps like Xbox Live, Kinectimals and Halo Wayoint, apps that were previously thought to be exclusive to Windows Phone. And, at that time, we wondered whether Microsoft had lost faith in Windows Phone and was executing a fall-back plan, to release their most important apps on rival platforms in order to stay relevant.
Well, at that time, you could argue that those were just a few minor apps, companions to existing game franchises and nothing big. But now, LiveSide has spotted a job posting on Microsoft Careers in which the the Xbox Live team is apparently looking for developers to bring “the latest and greatest gaming and entertainment experience to mobile platforms including Windows Phone, iOS and other mobile platforms”. Yes, you read that right: “Windows Phone, iOS and other mobile platforms”.
That is, Microsoft is looking to develop Xbox Live enabled games not only for Windows Phone, but also other platforms, and the job posting explicitly mentions iOS. The Xbox Live integration was one of the last things we thought would stay exclusive to Windows, but it seems that won’t be the case anymore.
Of course, it could be that we’re reading too much into it, but the job posting is pretty straightforward. And, considering that Microsoft definitely wouldn’t develop Xbox Live enabled games for the PlayStation 3, what other conclusions can you draw from this?
Read the full job posting here (via LiveSide).
Apps still don’t use Mango multitasking… what gives?
Fast Application Switching, otherwise referred to as multitasking, was a new feature added in Mango. Three months later, and you still can’t use this feature most of the time!
The sad truth is that only 30% of the top 20 apps in the Marketplace support multitasking. To make things worse, 19 of those 20 games are endorsed by Microsoft themselves. The top 20 free apps are quite better, but still not acceptable, with 20% not supporting Mango.
With so few games supporting Mango, responding to text messages is always a pain. The entire Windows Phone experienced is ruined for me when I have to sit there for 10 seconds waiting for a game to resume. For those who think: “10 seconds, quit whining”, consider that many people will respond to a text, go back to their game, play for maybe 60 seconds, respond to the reply, play again, respond…. those 10 seconds add up quickly.
Microsoft needs to get their act together and start forcing Xbox Live titles to support Mango.
The best solution (in my opinion) would be to simply require that all future apps and updates be Mango enabled. Mango has been out for a solid 3 months, and the dev kit has been out even longer! Developers have no more excuses. Share your thoughts below in the comments.
Microsoft needs to leverage their assets to sell Windows Phone in 2012
The iPhone is the best iPod and the best client to the iTunes music store, which sells the vast majority of digital music, and is the biggest music store.
Android devices have the best Gmail app, the best Google Maps client and gets promoted on the Google home page.
We have said it before, and we will say it again – to sell Windows Phone Microsoft will have to make Windows Phone the best device to work with Windows, Office, Xbox and their other strong assets.
This means less emphasis on the cloud and enabling age-old Windows features such as drag and drop and direct sync with Outlook. It means exclusive Xbox features, not ones shared with iOS and Android devices. It means a real effort to move those fading Windows Mobile user base to Windows Phone, and to provide the business management features such as VPN and full Exchange support. It means simple things such as synching browser bookmarks, as they used to do with Windows Mobile.
If Microsoft is to win market share with Windows Phone in 2012 they need to play hardball, and that means reminding buyers why Windows Phones have Windows in the name.
AppDeals : a unique and great app for Windows Phone users and developers
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AppDeals allows developers and publishers to publish news or great offers such as price drop or apps getting free.
Get deals straight from developers, and as a Windows Phone user:
- receive at most one deal a day via push notification
- pin AppDeals to your phone screen to view the current deal at a glance
- subscribe to AppDeals newsletter
- follow AppDeals on Twitter: twitter.com/appdealswp
Don’t miss exclusive deals, available for a limited time only, plus get news from developers.
AppDeals build a bridge developers that want their apps to be known and users that want to get Windows Phone great apps or games for discounted prices.
Launched very recently, AppDeals already has many subscribers.
Join the move!
Download AppDeals for FREE from Marketplace here.
DEVELOPERS FREE LIMITED OFFER:
We offer a limited number of FREE campaigns within AppDeals app.
Contact us: appdeals@ahead-solutions.com. First come, first served as soon as the app is approved. You can book a day to communicate about your app for FREE and get some visibility for your Windows Phone app!
Another Sign Of Metro UI’s Appeal: Kid Chooses Windows Phone Over iPhone
WPCentral reported on a blog post written by Christina Tynan-Wood, in which she describes how her son, who originally wanted an iPhone, eventually came to prefer a Windows Phone, the Samsung Focus Flash (pictured right).
That the boy took such a liking to Windows Phone to even overcome the peer pressure, since most of his friends had iPhones, really speaks to the appeal of Metro UI – its quality, simplicity and approachability. Despite being anecdotal evidence at best, this is certainly a very encouraging sign for Microsoft – if people get to really experience Windows Phone, with its beautiful and immersive user interface, they’ll mostly like it.
That is, if.
In her post, Tynan-Wood wrote this:
I had given up — years ago — on seeing a Windows mobile operating system that I would want to live with. I’d been hearing good things about the new Windows mobile but wasn’t really buying in.
The fact that she still calls it Windows Mobile, to the point where she thinks of the “Mobile” as a descriptor rather than part of the brand name (by not capitalizing it), is a clear indication that Windows Phone severly lacks awareness. And, most damningly for Microsoft, that people still confuse Windows Mobile with Windows Phone, and thus don’t give it a second chance even if they heard “good things” about it. There still is a lot that needs to be done in this regard.
Of course, Tynan-Wood points out the app marketplace as a weakness, which is definitely true. 50,000 apps just doesn’t cut it, yet.
You can read the full blog post on Momster. Oh, and psst: Don’t tell her that Microsoft has released an Xbox Live app for iOS, ‘mkay?
MyThings Pro !! One of the most advanced task management app released
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Discover MyThings Pro. One of the most useful app on Windows Phone.
Some of you may already know about MyThings, one of the first Windows Phone application and most recommended application ever developed for this platform. Ahead Solutions is now proud to announce the brand new release of MyThings Pro with great Mango features.
Like thousands of MyThings users, we invite you to enjoy the following features:
- Extensive integration with Windows Phone Mango
- Automatically imports meetings and addresses from Windows Phone calendars and locate your tasks within MyThings!
- Pin individual tasks to Windows Phone screen
- Dynamic and advanced live tiles / individual tasks
- Repeating tasks (weekly, daily, monthly…)
- Reminders per task
- Task localization on bing map with directions to go to your meetings or places on time
- Online tasks backup using your free member account
- Live tiles and notifications and much more…
Last but not least: a fully redesigned application and a great user experience.
MyThings Pro is one of the most advanced and integrated third party windows phone Mango application. Manage your personal and professional tasks like never before.
Feel free to contact us if you have any question: support@ahead-solutions.com . Again we thanks all our users for their support since the first release of MyThings and hope you will enjoy using this brand new version.
Download the app for FREE (free trial up to 5 tasks) from Marketplace here.
Get the full version with unlimited usage for $3.49.
Scan QR Codes, UPC, EAN, Code 39/128 or ITF barcodes on your Windows Phone 7 to find best prices online.
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#1 FREE Solitaire on WP7
If your a fan of Pong then you will love this game. Heavenly Skies. Save the universe! Are you ready?
A rewarding mix of match 3 and tetris gameplay
Free, Live Tile support for Word Of The Day and so much more. Why NOT try it out?
Set up reminders with only two taps. Supports also text reminders and voice reminders.
Download the best puzzle game in WP7 Marketplace for FREE!
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Use your brain to discover Atomic Energy, Chuck Norris, Angry Birds and 1400 more !
Fun puzzle game with over 150 levels!
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u.n.i MEGA PACK (FREE), the ultimate addictive top GAMES bundle for Windows Phone 7! 7+ and growing!
Highly addictive word game designed for adrenaline junkies. Practice locally, but then are you fast enough to compete online?
Livescape is an activity and nutrition journal that features GPS tracking and the ability to count steps!
The smartest Google reader app.
Air Soccer Tour - Addictive FREE swipe soccer game. Win the world cup.
Beat the Story Mode. When your done Bring your skill online. Rank up by winning online matches. Have 1 on 1's with anyone! Global Online Multiplayer!
Never miss a bill again, now with a double-sided Live Tile and pop-up reminders.
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Every day, get great app deals from Windows Phone developers pushed to you!
Quick Tiles, a fully featured live tile editor for Windows Phone.
Great sports app for NFL, NBA, MLB, NHL. Pin scores/games to live tile on your home screen.
Local 1777 Ringtones , Zedge , Record and Save Ringtone ,Secret Voice Recorder and 7 Different Piano and Xylophone..Try Now..
MobileFax gives you the opportunity to send fax pages from your mobile phone anytime, anywhere !
Wheel of Wealth is a multiplayer turn based game based on the hit TV show Wheel of Fortune.
Embark on an adventure to locate the long lost Golden Chalice!
Enjoy a better WP7 experience with better & simpler apps
The most engaging weather experience with gorgeous live animations, simple intuitive Metro UI, live tiles, detailed weather data and much much more.
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