72 Windows Phone 7 tips and tricks
If you’re new to the OS or thinking about getting a phone with it on, check out our whopping list of 72 tips and tricks to get you started.
1. Using the Windows Phone 7 voice controls
Press and hold the Windows key at the bottom of your screen and you can start talking to your phone. Try saying “Open Calendar”, to see what we mean.
2. Adding apps to the Start screen
When you are in the long applications list on your phone pressing on an icon and holding brings up a contextual menu that gives you a series of options, one of which is “pin to start”. Press on this option and the app will be shown on the Start screen. Read more 
Samsung Focus review
Even though we’ve seen a torrent of Windows Phone 7 devices, we couldn’t leave you hanging on a review of the Samsung Focus. In the last few days, a flurry of new Microsoft-powered devices have hit the market, boasting slight differences, but all looking and acting largely the same. We’ve taken a deep dive on the operating system itself, the Omnia 7, Optimus 7, Mozart, HD7, and Surround (phew!) — now it’s time to focus on the, er… Focus. The device itself has a lot in common with its European brother, the Omnia 7, boasting the same 4-inch Super AMOLED display, 8GB of internal storage, 1GHz CPU, and 5 megapixel camera. The device will soon go on sale in America for $199.99 on AT&T’s network — in fact, it’s the only Windows Phone 7 device you’ll be able to buy on the network when they go public on November 8th. But is it really worth your hard earned cash when there are so many other options in the market? Read on for the full Engadget review to find out! Read more
Windows Phone 7 Marketplace adds YouTube, Twitter and more
They might not have been there at the start of day one, but by the end a number of “flagship” apps hit the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.
Those who’ve picked up a new HTC, LG or Samsung device powered by Microsoft’s new operating system can now watch YouTube videos, tweet on the official Twitter app and chat with their mates via a Windows Live Messenger app.
If you are giddy by the excitement, then brace yourself for the news that Adobe has released Acrobat Reader for Windows Phone 7, allowing you to read pdf files on the go. Whoop!
All the above apps are free.
Sadly the YouTube app is only half the story, as it only allows you to view content on YouTube’s mobile site and doesn’t support embedded YouTube content, like the sorts of videos you’ll find on lots of websites.
Others now in the Marketplace include Shazam and GoVoice – a Google Voice app costing a couple of quid.
The new high-profile additions add to the bevy of big names like Facebook, Ebay and Foursquare, all of which are already available.
HTC Surround review
Of all the Windows Phone 7 launch devices, AT&T’s HTC Surround is likely the most curious. It’s a landscape slider built on the same basic internals as the rest of its platform siblings, but there’s no keyboard under that screen — the quarter-inch slide reveals an aluminum speaker bar and integrated kickstand, which combine to create a tiny little stereo system of sorts. Mix in Windows Phone 7’s heavy Zune integration, add in a dash of Dolby Mobile and SRS Wow “virtual surround” audio processing, and top it all off with 16GB of internal memory, and you have what might be the ultimate phone for on-the-go media consumption. But does the Surround live up to all that promise? Read on to find out! Read more
HTC 7 Mozart review
Out of all the Windows Phone 7 launch partners, HTC’s obviously been the most hard-working kid in Mr. Ballmer’s sculpture class. So here’s the question: which of the five launch devices is the Taiwanese company’s best work? Well, there’s no such thing as a perfect phone, but we dare say the 7 Mozart’s the most stylish out of the lot. Not convinced? Flip the phone around and you’ll see its two main selling points: its aluminum unibody construction (as applied on the Nexus One and Legend), and its 8 megapixel camera with Xenon flash (as opposed to 5 megapixels with LED flash on the other WP7 devices). Will these goodies suffice to win WP7 fanatics over? Join us after the break to find out. Read more
HTC 7 Mozart and Samsung Omnia 7 on sale today on Orange UK
We knew Windows Phone 7 was scheduled to land first internationally, but it’s always a treat to hear the particulars. Orange UK has just (re)revealed that it’ll be the exclusive carrier of HTC’s 7 Mozart across the pond, and it’ll be joined by Samsung’s Omnia 7 as both go on sale tomorrow morning in Orange’s Oxford Street shop — fittingly, at 7am local time. Naturally, the carrier is going to blow out the launch, with each customer buying a WP7 handset to receive a complimentary Bluetooth headset… while supplies last, anyway. You’ll also get a stockpile of Orange applications and services (like it or not), and we’re told that each phone will be offered for zilch with a fresh contract starting at £35 per month (7 Mozart) / £40 per month (Omnia 7). Jealous, North America?
See the new HTC Windows Phones in video
A whole raft of videos have been added by HTC this morning. The HTC 7 Trophy, HTC 7 Mozart, HTC HD7 and HTC 7 Surround are all featured, just click on to view them here.
If you want a closer look at Windows Phone 7 do keep an eye on the site next week because we’ll have some very interesting items relating to the new Microsoft OS. We can’t say too much just yet but, believe me, it’s worth waiting for 😉
HTC 7 Pro arriving in UK and rest of Europe 'early next year'
HTC plans to bring its business-friendly 7 Pro to the UK and rest of Europe in “early next year.” The news comes from Engadget, which also noted it’s too soon to discuss potential carriers. Read more
LG Optimus 7 Review
LG officially announced the LG Optimus 7 at the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 launch on Monday and Pocket-lint was there to grab a hands-on play with the new handset – just to see how it matched up against the competition from Samsung, HTC and Dell. In the UK the Optimus 7 is the only smartphone LG is currently offering and the new smartphone will be exclusively available on Vodafone. It is an all touchscreen affair with the QWERTY variant – the LG Quantum – destined for the US and elsewhere.
Dominating the overall design of the handset is the 3.8-inch, 800 x 480, capacitive touchscreen display that is both bright and crisp when viewed inside. Outside and, as our pictures show, you will start to suffer from that reflective screen – as you do for most phones. Most Windows Phone 7 handsets come with devices in this ball park (3.7 to 4.3 inches), but the AMOLED screen found on the new Samsung Omnia 7 wins out if this is important to you. Read more
HTC 7 Trophy Review
With HTC slicing the pie three ways, Vodafone has its hands on the HTC 7 Trophy as one of its Windows Phone 7 offerings. The other handset that Voda will offer is the LG Optimus 7. With Microsoft keeping a tight handle on things by defining the hardware specs and restricting the level of customisation that manufacturers can do, there is little to pick and choose between the phones on offer. We spent Monday at the launch event playing with the various handsets on offer and this is what we thought of the HTC 7 Trophy.
We’ve seen the HTC 7 Trophy before at a behind-closed-doors preview, but we didn’t get much time with the phone. This time however, we spent a little more time mulling over what this phone has to offer. Naturally, for the full low down on the performance and the quirks the new operating system throws up, we’ll wait until we have a review handset before passing any sort of definitive judgement.
Of the other HTC handsets, the HTC 7 Mozart goes to Orange, the HTC HD7 – the 4.3-inch bad boy – goes to O2. We’re already seeing disquiet about what looks like the flagship model, the HD7, being exclusively tied to O2, but that’s the reality of the Windows Phone 7 landscape at the moment. Read more
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