The official Windows Phone Blog has confirmed that the first Windows Phone 7 update is going to be rolled out starting from today. But unfortunately, don’t expect this update to add new functionality such as copy and paste to your WP7 device. In fact this is just a small update for Windows Phones to prepare them for the first proper update which is due for release in March.

This isn’t the update you’ve probably been reading about or perhaps waiting for, the one with copy and paste (but that’s coming soon).
… this update is a relatively small one.
What’s in this update?
This first update for Windows Phone is designed to improve the software update process itself. So while it might not sound exciting, it’s still important because it’s paving the way for all future goodie-filled updates to your phone, such as copy and paste or improved Marketplace search.
When will I get this update?
We’ll begin sending it out today. But to help ensure the process goes smoothly, it won’t be sent to everyone at once. So you might see an update message before your spouse, co-worker, or neighbor (or vice versa). This is a common industry practice. That said, we understand you’re eager to have the latest software on your phone, and our goal is to deliver it to you as quickly as possible.

In order to update your Windows Phone, you will need to connect it to your PC or Mac via USB cable, start Zune for Windows or the Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac, depending on the kind of computer you have, and then simply follow the onscreen instructions to update your phone.

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Perhaps it bore repeating for the shock value to sink in, but Nokia CEO Stephen Elop missed nary an opportunity to defend his company's choice of Windows Phone as its future smartphone foundation. Nokia, he said, was making "a big bet" on Microsoft and vice versa. However, Windows Phone is only one leg of Nokia's strategy moving forward. Its "next billion" initiative is tied to handsets in which Nokia and Microsoft interests do not meet. And Nokia's third task, creating or planning for the next disruption, will keep the company tethered to the MeeGo operating system.

Indeed, the Wall Street Journal's behind-the-scenes look at how the Microsoft-Nokia alliance came to be, revealed how close it came to not being at all. Nokia seriously considered Android as the operating system of choice for its smartphones, and was only persuaded differently by a big check and an exceptional flexibility to make changes to the Windows Phone 7 operating system. Because, for all the attention around Nokia's selection of Windows Phone, it ultimately neither guarantees Nokia's success nor dooms it to failure in the US smartphone market. Here's what will:

If Nokia wants to change, it will have to differentiate in atoms as well as bits.

Winning hardware. For the past decade, Nokia has been consistently behind the curve in delivering handsets in step with popular trends – RAZR-like thin clamshells, QWERTY-enabled messaging phones, and of course finger-friendly touch screens. Over the past year, the market has become saturated with big touchscreen slabs with occasional sliding keyboards that have been variations on the iPhone aesthetic. Alas, mostly by design, we've seen even less variation in the first batch of Windows Phones than we have in the Android camp. If Nokia wants to change, it will have to differentiate in atoms as well as bits to bring value to its adopted ecosystem.

Cloud services. Though the company may not have followed the fashionable form factor du jour as quickly as could be, Nokia has long understood the power of the cloud. However, despite an acquisition binge a few years ago, the Ovi message has not been communicated effectively, and now there is the chance that -- like Symbian -- it might fade into the shadow of Microsoft's offerings. Nokia has some strong Ovi services, and they could be a key differentiator. With Windows Phone, the company needs to feature them more and integrate them better.

Carrier relationships. There's been a little progress and a bit of hope as Verizon Wireless has switched to Nokia's home court of GSM-derived LTE, but there is still much progress that needs to be made if recent comments by Verizon CTO Tony Melone are indicative of US carrier feelings towards the Nokia-Microsoft alliance. However, Microsoft can be a boon in this regard: Windows Phone 7 launched with four devices on two carriers in the US -- more of a splash than Symbian ever made -- and Windows Phone's predecessor Windows Mobile continues to be sold by all four carriers in the United States. Contrary to what the company has indicated, Nokia's battle here is not one against Android, but fighting for attention versus the Windows Phones of Samsung and LG, both of which traditionally have strong carrier relationships, and HTC, which has been slowly building them.

Nokia has taken on an operating system backed by a company with the financial resources to stay in the fight for the long term, a powerful lineup of integrated products and services (albeit not all equally appealing) and a focus on user experience. Yes, it will have to pay for Windows Phone licenses and work to bring Windows Phone to a wider range of architectures to meet its handset portfolio needs, but Microsoft seems to have more than offset that expense.

Most of the risk in Nokia's choice was not picking the wrong operating system, but continuing not to pick one at all. Now that it has, it needs to deliver on all three fronts to improve its smartphone standing in the United States.

We told you last week about Microsoft’s press conference at Mobile World Congress where the Redmond outfit showed off its upcoming integration between Windows Phone 7 and the Xbox Kinect.

Microsoft showed off a video of a chap playing Rally Ball – a game where a Kinect player has to hit flying balls with their body. The integration with WP7 comes where a phone can be used to actually control the balls being thrown. All very exciting, if fairly pointless. If only we could do the same with our iPhones…



This is where the guys at Supertouch come in. Now thanks to some wizard-like Kinect hackery, it is now possible to play a game very similar to Rally Ball but with an iPhone and iPad being used as the accessories. It’s not quite as flash as the WP7 integration but for a 1.0 hack it’s very impressive stuff. Check out the video for the scoop.




We still question the long-term appeal of such a game and/or mobile integration, but the fact that it’s even possible could open up a world of possibilities for the future.

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Windows Phone 7 is the new kid on the block and nobody can deny it’s one pretty-looking operating system. Now iPhone users can also join in the tile goodness thanks to a new jailbreak theme.

Installation instructions are posted below:

Requirements:

• The iPhone must be jailbroken with Cydia installed
• It requires an internet connection (preferably Wi-Fi)

GUIDE:

1. Launch Cydia and install Backboard (free)
2. Backboard created within a backup of your current theme. You can do this by pushing the "+" at the bottom left of the app.
3. Now with your iPhone, click on the link below, or write it by hand navigation bar in safari:
4. " backboard: / / http://wyndrepo.googlecode.com/files/OS7Beta.zip "
5. Press "Yes" and wait for the download to finish. This may take several minutes depending on your internet connection.
6. Select the theme from the board OS7
7. Press install and wait for the automatic Respring iPhone.

You will, of course, need to have a jailbroken iPhone or iPod touch to install it. Follow our step by step guide posted here to jailbreak your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch with Redsn0w on iOS 4.2.1, or with Limera1n on iOS 4.1, or with PwnageTool on iOS 4.3 if you haven’t already.
Go forth and theme my lovelies! But don’t blame me if the world ends!

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J'accuse... ! Remember the unnamed third party that Microsoft had found to be abusing 3G data on Windows Phone 7? Secret's out, and the culprit is none other than Yahoo Mail. According to a statement obtained by Microsoft guru Paul Thurrott, a fix is expected in the "coming weeks," but in the interim, you can mitigate the pain by going into settings and choosing less taxing options for "Download new content" and "Download email from" -- say, for example, "manually" and "the last 7 days," respectively. At least now you know exactly at whom you should wag your finger.

It’s nothing new that the much-loved HTC HD2 can be hacked in order to install either Androidor Windows Phone 7, but how about dual-booting?

The clever people at XDA-Developers have sussed out a way to install both operating systems onto the one SD card, effectively giving the users the choice of which OS to run at startup, writes PocketNow.
Now before everyone runs out and starts hacking their beloved HD2, be warned. This isn’t a simple process and all manner of nastiness can occur if things don’t go according to plan. If they do though, just think how cool your friends would think you are!
Not that you aren’t cool already, obviously!
Full how-to instructions can be found at the XDA thread here. Video tutorial on how to dual-boot Android and Windows Phone 7 on HTC HD2 is embedded below.


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With the team behind Windows Phone 7 jailbreaking app ChevronWP7 meeting Microsoft earlier this week, many wondered what the future would hold for the homebrew scene. Now though, developers Rafael Rivera, Chris Walsh, and Long Zheng have broken cover to help allay everyone’s fears, writes GeekSmack.
While much of the discussions are understandably under NDA, the team have said that they will be working with the Redmond giant to ensure the Windows Phone 7 homebrew scene continues to develop.

After two full days of meetings with various members of the Windows Phone 7 team we couldn’t wait to share with everyone the results of those discussions.
Although a large majority of the content presented by Microsoft is covered by a non-disclosure agreement (NDA), which we voluntarily agreed to, we can say we’re genuinely excited by many of the forward-looking presentations. We can only hope these features come to fruition as soon as possible.
To address our goals of homebrew support on Windows Phone 7, we discussed why we think it’s important, the groups of people it affects, its direct and indirect benefits and how to manage any risks.
With that in mind, we will work with Microsoft towards long-term solutions that support mutual goals of broadening access to the platform while protecting intellectual property and ensuring platform security.
In the meantime, a forthcoming Windows Phone 7 update will fix a bug that the ChevronWP7 unlocker tool took advantage of; the tool will cease to work thereafter.
To fill this short-term gap, we’re collaborating with Microsoft on an interim solution that will continue to support homebrew developments after the update. We will share details of this when it has been finalized.
In summary, we appreciate Microsoft’s outreach, genuine interest and involvement in this matter and we hope the community can understand we’re working towards a win-win scenario.

It’s refreshing to see a hardware manufacturer be so open when it comes to the hacking of their device. If only Apple was so keen to listen to its users!

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A new player is about to enter the world of Windows Phone 7 jailbreaking according to news blog Winrumors.com.
Developer Julien Schapman claims in an email sent to the site that he has created a new way to hack the fledgling OS to enable unlocking, application side loading and other hackery goodness. He expects to launch the Device Manager after Microsoft’s upcoming OS update, expected some time in February.
“My unlock method is similar to that of ChevronWP7 in the way they both use a fake registration server, but my method is different and more reliable,” wrote the developer. “For example it automatically detects when a WP7 is plugged in and will check if this is a registered developer phone, if not it will register it once and for all, so the device will never re-lock like with ChevronWP7.”
ChevronWP7 was the original jailbreak tool that worked by making the handset believe it was a development device by making it check the application for authorization instead of Microsoft’s servers. The problem though, was that Windows Phone 7 handsets ‘phoned home’ every two weeks. When that happened, the developer license was revoked. This left people having to pay the $99 for a legitimate developer account.
The beauty of Schapman’s app is that this limitation is no longer there, making it a much better proposition for Windows Phone 7 users who just want a little more control over their hardware. Something iPhone owners know all about!
Microsoft already has plans to plug the whole ChevronWP7 uses with Microsoft’s Brandon Watson confirming that ChevronWP7 will no longer function in future. “Yes, the hole ChervonWP7 team found is closed,” claimed Watson.
With that in mind, it makes perfect sense for Schapman to hold off releasing his app until after the February OS update.
All this is good news for Windows Phone 7 users of course. More people joining the jailbreak scene clearly shows there’s life in the platform that many thought would never recover from the debacle that was version 6.5. Version 7 could just turn out to be Microsoft’s mobile savior!
Now, which handset do I get?

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 #geohot if you want to build cool stuff on #wp7, send me email and the team will give you a phone – let dev creativity flourish #wp7dev

Impressed with how Microsoft dealt with the Chevron WP7 (Windows Phone 7 jailbreak/unlock) team, Geohot updated his site today with a small message that read: “perhaps a more appropriate way to deal with jailbreakers I’m going out to buy a Windows 7 phone”.
A few hours later, Brandon Watson, Director of Windows Phone 7 tweeted an open message to Geohot, that read:

I am not sure if what Brandon tweeted was in a direct response to what Geohot posted on his site, but whatever it was, unlike both Apple and Sony, this new and friendly approach taken by Microsoft with hackers looks promising for the community, and it will surely help Windows Phone 7 as a platform to grow more rapidly.
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CES 2011 saw the debut of what could be the biggest challenge to the Wintel dominance of personal computing since Windows 95 cemented its position. The combination of the Android operating system on ARM processors -- ARMdroid if you will -- grabbed most of the attention in the emerging tablet category on products such as devices such as the Motorola Xoom and LG G-Slate. But it was also clear that manufacturers -- unconstrained by Cupertinian notions of what operating system is best suited to what kind of device -- are willing to take the combination in new directions that come much closer to the notebook form factor. A clear example of this was the ASUS Eee Pad Slider. If having the tablet thunder stolen from Microsoft wasn't enough to make the company uncomfortable, clearly encroaching designs like this were.

And so, at Steve Ballmer's keynote, the company announced that the next version of Windows will support not only x86 offerings from Intel and AMD – themselves moving closer to ARM-like system-on-chips – but ARM designs from companies such as Qualcomm and NVIDIA as well. Microsoft noted that the new chip support was requested by its partners, implying that PC companies want to take advantage of the long battery life and thin form factors enabled by ARM architectures, but also bring along Windows' broad driver and software support. Microsoft clearly considers the tablet another PC, albeit one that Windows' hardware and user interface layer needs to support better. However, in striking back at Android evolution, Microsoft risks collateral damage to its own mobile OS. Can Windows Phone 7 co-exist with a ARM-based version of the real thing?

Let's look at the competition. Microsoft's support of both x86 and ARM with its "desktop" OS and support of ARM with Windows Phone 7 represents a contrast to Apple and Google -- even though, as Microsoft accurately pointed out, both have dual OS strategies. Apple reserves Mac OS for notebooks and desktops while using iOS in its tablet and smartphone, although some believe that iOS will eventually replace and not just influence Mac OS later down the road. For Google, it's open season, so to speak, as device manufacturers call the shots, but while Android has been moving to support larger devices with the Honeycomb release, Google's Chrome team has also staked out the notebook. Both operating systems support x86 and ARM, and we will no doubt see notebook-like devices with both of them.

While Apple's position is defensible (and the only one that has been successful on both fronts), Switched On has previously questioned the role of Chrome in the wake of Android's success. Is there, then, a need for the just relaunched Windows Phone 7 in a world where Windows itself runs on ARM architectures? While Microsoft refrained from any discussion of the user interface of the next version of Windows, the company made sure to remind us of its touch expertise via a revamped flat-panel version of Surface, and Windows development chief Steven Sinofsky dismissed the challenge of implementing touch user interfaces, even scaled to a variety of differently-sized screens. The next version of Windows -- and apps developed for it -- may well dynamically adapt their UI depending on the usage scenario, with a traditional desktop mode when used as a clamshell notebook, a Metro-like touch experience when used as a tablet, and a Media Center-like experience when projected onto a television screen for a 10-foot entertainment experience.

Microsoft mentioned mobile devices as candidates for this revamped Windows; there's no telling at this point how small that will go. Confusing the matter a bit more, Intel CEO Paul Otellini noted on Intel's most recent earnings call that the PC chip giant will be able to ride "desktop" Windows as it slims down into the handset market. "[W]e have the ability to put our lowest-power Intel processors, running Windows 8 or the next generation of Windows, into phones." As it stands, we might see both of Microsoft's operating systems compete for the same realm.

However, there is a good reason to draw the arbitrary line between Windows and Windows Phone 7 at devices that are indeed phones. Whereas Microsoft's hardware partners may seek more openness in its tablets than what Apple provides, handset carriers want some degree of consistency and control to reduce support costs. Providing that degree of consistency and control could also help differentiate from Android. Or, much as will be the case with 10-inch notebooks running either Android or Chrome, we may well see 4.5-inch or 5-inch handhelds running Windows or Windows Phone 7 both. Perhaps some embedded version of the former will eventually cause the demise of the latter. For the time being, though, there is a place for Windows Phone 7 even as it shares ARM support with its big brother platform.

Microsoft and HTC made it official that the HTC HD2 won’t be getting the Windows Phone 7Android 2.2 Froyo upgrade although the hardware supports it. But that didn’t stop the hacking community from dumping a Windows Phone 7 ROM on the HD2, yes you read that right! You can now boot Windows Phone 7 on your HD2 alongside Windows Mobile 6.5, Ubuntu, MeeGo, or Android 2.3 Gingerbread.
The unofficial Windows Phone 7 ROM comes to us in courtesy of the Dark Forces Team, but the downside about the whole deal is; Live services don’t work, in other words you don’t have access to pretty much everything that involves using your Live ID, but we have our fingers crossed that in the future this issue will be fixed.
We will have our own guide on how to install it soon. In the meantime, you can follow the instructions posted over at MobileTechWorld here.

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Steve Ballmer did not announce much about upcoming Windows Phone 7 updates at CES this year, except for demoing cut-copy-paste. However, according to Neowin.net, a key Windows Phone 7 employee has revealed some information to them on where the platform was heading. One of the features that were discussed was that Microsoft was working on a FaceTime competitor for Windows Phone 7.

The said application will probably integrate with Microsoft’s Live services, so it could be used on all Windows Phones. When someone asked why Microsoft wouldn’t use something like Skype, the employee answered by saying that FaceTime competitor would “reach beyond the hand of Skype”. Also, Neowin claims that front-facing cameras may be a requirement for Windows Phone 8 devices. Though at this point, it is not yet clear on whether this application will be a part of Windows Phone 8, or come as an update to Windows Phone 7

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Ah, so you've just been given a Windows Phone 7 handset. If that's what you'd been begging for all this time, then many congratulations; but if not, don't hit eBay just yet -- sure, WP7's range of apps is comparatively limited with its recent 5,000 milestone, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? Even at its infancy, WP7 has proven to be a nice alternative choice if you want to stand out from the rest of the smartphone crowd, and don't forget its two powerful weapons: Zune and Xbox Live integration. Until WP7 gets its major upgrade early next year, our holiday guide should keep you and your new phone going for a little longer. Go ahead and read on.


Essential apps


Twitter (free) and Seesmic (free). You won't find many Twitter apps on the WP7 marketplace, but fortunately, Twitter's own app isn't bad at all, and Seesmic stands out too (as usual). The usual geotagging and picture uploading are included in both apps, but there's no classic "comment" retweeting in Twitter's official client. Seesmic has a bit of a leg up since you can add multiple accounts (including Facebook -- nice if you want to avoid jumping into and out of a lot of apps). Unfortunately for both, you'll need to manually check in every now and then for new mentions and DMs, as there's no background notification -- here's looking at you, Microsoft. If you're looking for a better solution right now...

Beezz (free). Try Beezz! It's a really classy looking Twitter app that does proper notifications on your WP7 device. Like Twitter and Seesmic, it still feels slow on updating when you're in the app, but it's a slickly designed piece of software that works as advertised... and it's free! Highly recommended.

Facebook (free). WP7 may have a pretty good Facebook integration, but that only covers the very basic features, so hardcore Facebookers will be needing this official app to get the most of out of Zuckerberg's beast of a social platform. The latest version also comes with Places and photo tagging, if you dig those things.

Flixster (free). If you're residing in supported cities, this handy app can help you decide which film to watch in nearby cinemas. In fact, out of all the Flixster mobile apps, this is probably our favorite flavor here in terms of style and intuitiveness.

The Weather Channel (free). We've been through a handful of weather apps for Windows Phone 7, but the Weather Channel provides the best and most consistent experience for getting basic weather info quickly. We're big, big fans of the live tile, which seems to update with a decent amount of frequency. If we had one complaint, it's that the app is a little on the... er, ugly side, but we can live with it.

GoVoice ($2.99). If you're a Google Voice user, you need to get this app. Not only does it give you a clean, clear interface for checking and managing your Voice account, but if you buy the full version and go through a slightly complicated setup process, you can get push notifications to your device when new voicemail or messages arrive. Well worth the money.

Pictures Lab ($1.99). We had some trouble with this during our review period with Windows Phone 7 at launch, but the app seems to be working fine, and has become a must-have for WP7 devices. Basically, the program provides a set of amazing effects and tweaks for your photos, but the nicest thing about Pictures Lab is the way it integrates with the native photo browser, allowing you to quickly jump into a photo and start messing around.



Netflix (free). If you're a Netflix account holder, you'll want this app. We've actually found that videos tend to start playback quicker than on other mobile devices we've tested, which may be a testament to the company's heavy use of Silverlight. Regardless, getting all of your Instant Queue goodness on the go with your new phone is really, really amazing.

WPTumblr ($1.29). There's no official Tumblr app for WP7 just yet, so here's a third party release that we recommend. It's not perfect, though -- there's no way to browse through each person's own posts within the app; but other than that, all the essential features are there to keep you Tumblring.

Kickbox ($3.99). In case you're not already familiar with Dropbox, it's a popular file hosting service offering 2GB of storage space for free, and then 50GB or 100GB for $9.99 per month or $19.99 per month, respectively. As a third party Dropbox app, Kickbox is surprisingly well made -- you can view many files (PDF, Word, PowerPoint, Excel, text, and audio files; unsupported formats can still be opened as text files), although uploading is limited to pictures only due to WP7 restriction.

Morfo ($1.99). This app is simply hilarious -- get a close-up shot of someone's face, then map the various facial features and you get a 3D avatar that blinks and nods. You can even watch it headbanging to your music collection as well.

Fruit Ninja ($2.99). Until Angry Birds lands on WP7, this is probably the next best thing to fuel your game addiction for the time being. Strike as many fruit combos as possible without triggering the bombs to score.

Bejeweled ($4.99). Classic addictive puzzle game from the PDA era, never gets old. Simply line up three or more gems of the same color to eliminate them before time runs out, or switch to classic mode to work on your score until there are no more moves.

Monopoly ($4.99). This needs no introduction. Perfect time killer despite the price.

Trine's Hangman ($2.99). Hangman! We didn't expect much from this game, but surprisingly, it didn't take long before the built-in leaderboard sucked us in as we progressed up the ladder. The background music (although repetitive) and Wikipedia look-up feature are also nice additions.

Daisy Mae's Alien Buffet ($3.99). Girl, guns, and aliens. Yep, sounds like a fun recipe for an action game. The objective is simple: just run and shoot, so your two thumbs will be hard at work throughout this game. Too bad this isn't an Xbox Live game, but on the bright side, there's no better way to ease your stress than shooting aliens while listening to some funky electronic soundtrack.

Twin Blades: The Reaping ($2.99). We love a good zombie slasher, and Twin Blades doesn't disappoint. There aren't many traditional platformers for Windows Phone 7 just yet, but even if this was a crowded category, we're pretty sure this title would stand head and shoulders above others. A really solid Arcade entry.


Accessories


External battery. You won't find many dedicated internal high capacity batteries and cases for the few WP7 devices right now, but we do recommend getting a USB external battery like the PhoneSuit Primo Battery Cube or a small HyperMac that'll also play nice with your other gadgets. Seriously, you'll never regret having a little backup power source in your bag -- there's no telling how much juice those Justin Bieber OTA downloads might suck up.

Cleaning. There's nothing wrong with giving your phone some extra TLC, so it's totally acceptable for you to buy dedicated gadget cleaning kits. We've already shamelessly confessed our love for the Brasso Gadget Care polish, but even a handy lint-free cloth will do for some post-meal buffing.


Tips and tricks

• In case you haven't already noticed, WP7's camera app captures VGA video by default, so always remember to switch to 720p before you film your precious moments. Hopefully this will be fixed in the next OS update.
• Some people don't realise this, but the back button can take you from the home screen back to the previous running app or settings page or web page. Pretty handy, eh?
• Most of the games on the marketplace let you try before you buy, which is very useful considering not many publishers offer limited-time refunds like Android does.
• You WP7 handset's camera roll is automatically backed up to your Windows Live SkyDrive, which gives you 25GB of storage space for free.
• You can jump right into the camera on a locked device by holding down the camera button
• Like iOS and Android, you won't be charged again for apps that you've already paid for previously.
• Syncing media files with the Zune desktop client can be tedious sometimes, but a simple Windows registry hack can allow you grab or drop media files as if your WP7 device is a mass storage device. Sorry, no hack for Macs yet.

The above selection of apps, accessories, and tips are just a smattering of what's out there. If you've got some picks or tweaks you'd like to share, sound off in comments!

Facebook for Windows Phone 7 has been upgraded to version 1.1, bringing support for Facebook’s Places and Photo tagging feature.

Official change log of Facebook 1.1 for Windows Phone:

New features in version 1.1:
- Places
- Photo tagging

Unlike any other popular smartphone OS in the market, Windows Phone 7 has great deep integration for Facebook. But still there are some features that can only be accessed via the official client.
Compared to iPhone and Android clients, Facebook for Windows Phone 7 is still missing the Chat and Push notifications feature. Also missing is the support for live tile feature which is quite surprising, given that it was touted as one of the differentiating factors of Windows Phone 7 as a platform.
Facebook 1.1 for Windows Phone 7 devices can be downloaded right now for free from the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

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My smartphone is half useless if it doesn’t have quality games or an absence of the gaming concept entirely and I bet same goes for many others. We have already seen how the PlayStation Phone is creating a lot of buzz recently after the much hyped Microsoft’s integration of the Xbox LIVE services with Windows Phone 7 devices. It becomes obvious that manufacturers are bent at giving us more than just a smartphone that lets you browse web, do email, etc. Gaming is an absolutely important element these days!

Focusing on the Windows Phone 7 for now, Microsoft demonstrated the gaming prowess of the Windows Phone 7 back in March and today it goes a step further. Today Windows Phone 7 received its first turn-based multiplayer Xbox LIVE game that lets you play against opponents on your personal computer. Which simply means that I can make a move on my Windows Phone 7 while my opponent can do the same via a Web interface in a browser using a PC or Mac. Sounds awesome right! If you have a Windows Phone 7 device, you can give Game Chest Chess a go by following this link here.

Another game named Full House Poker is currently in private beta and it lets you play games between your Xbox 360 and Windows Phones! This game is slated for release on January 7, 2011 at CES in Vegas. You can see it in action in the video embedded below.

HTC Corporation has released a full-fledged YouTube client for Windows Phone 7 devices. Unfortunately though, this YouTube app is limited to HTC’s handsets only, running the exclusive HTC Hub.

Browse, search and watch all of the videos from the world’s most popular online video community.

Microsoft’s current solution for YouTube on Windows Phones is a mere plugin, which basically opens YouTube web app in browser (not the HTML5 version as seen on iOS and Android devices) and then allows you to playback videos using the native Windows Phone 7 video player. Microsoft’s YouTube plugin also integrates with Zune’s music and videos hub, allowing users to go through their YouTube playback history.
Here’s to a hope that Microsoft or other OEMs such as Samsung will soon come up with a full-fledged YouTube app for other Windows Phone 7 devices.
YouTube for HTC’s Windows Phone 7 devices can be downloaded right now for free from either HTC Hub, or from the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace. 



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Automattic has just released the official WordPress app for Windows Phone 7. You can use this app for writing drafts and publishing on-the-go with support for moderating comments, viewing stats, and offline use.

From the official page of WordPress for Windows Phone 7:

WordPress for Windows Phone is an Open Source app that empowers you to write new posts, edit content, view stats, and manage comments for your WordPress site.
This app makes use of your phone’s:

• data connection
• media library
• web browser

WordPress for Windows Phone 7 can be downloaded right now for free from Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.
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Beezz Twitter client for Windows Phone 7 has just received a major update, bringing Live Tile support, and Toast (push) Notifications to Windows Phone 7. You can now receive notifications when you get new tweets, direct messages or mentions.

• Live Tile: Displays number of unread Tweets, Mentions and Direct Messages.
• Toast Notifications: Displays visual alert (like Apple’s Push Notifications on iPhone) for Mentions and Direct Messages.

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Now that you've got your Windows Phone 7 device splayed open for USB mass storage use, why not make it friendly to non-Marketplace apps, too? Microsoft's been insistent so far about keeping sideloaded apps out of the equation unless you're a developer, but a new tool called ChevronWP7 -- compatible with Windows XP SP2 and up -- will "unlock" your little beast so that you can install whatever you like without going through the store. Presumably, this'll come in handy for installing stuff Microsoft would never dream of approving -- and it's a whole lot less hacky than an iPhone jailbreak from the looks of it. Have fun and stay safe out there, folks.

Update:  How to Jailbreak / Unlock Windows Phone 7 (Omnia 7) with ChevronWP7 Unlocker [Guide]

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!

This review is primarily of the HTC Surround hardware. Check out our full review of Windows Phone 7 for our thoughts on the OS.


Hardware
At first glance, the Surround is pretty nondescript -- it shares some obvious design DNA with other HTC devices like the Desire, the Nexus One, and the Trophy, with a gray front and a soft-touch matte black black. Look closer and you'll see it's a little bit thicker and heavier, owing to the slider mechanism within -- at .51 inches thick and weighing at 5.82 ounces, it's about .05 inches thicker and an ounce heavier than the other HTC sets in this family. It's not much on paper, but definitely noticeable in person -- and compared to the Samsung Focus, also on AT&T, it's a big .1 inch thicker and 1.6 ounces heavier. Considering the fundamental Windows Phone 7 experience will be virtually identical on every launch device, the Surround's speakers have quite a burden to carry -- they have to sound amazing enough to be worth the size and weight penalty. But we'll get to that.

Up front, the Surround has a 3.8-inch LCD with the same 480 x 800 resolution as every other WP7 launch device. While the display is commendably bright and vibrant -- we actually thought it was a bit too bright at the lowest setting -- it's still not up to the standard set by the iPhone 4 and Samsung's Super AMOLED devices. On a phone built for video playback, that's sort of an issue, and it's one that's on Microsoft to solve -- WP7 doesn't support higher resolutions yet. It's also telling that even Microsoft refers to the Samsung Focus as having the best display of the Windows Phone 7 launch lineup -- side by side the Surround's screen is more color accurate, but somewhat more washed out. Obviously HTC has had its share of issues with OLED availability recently, but we'd like to have seen an SLCD display here -- a serious video playback device needs more than just a pretty good screen.

Volume controls and the camera shutter button are on the right side, while the sleep/wake button and headphone jack sit up top and the requisite micro USB is located at the bottom. Round back you've got the five megapixel camera and flash, and tolerance between the two halves of the slider are pretty tight, although there is some variance here and there.

Sliding the phone open reveals the speaker bar, which hides a pair of drivers and houses a lone button, which engages the various surround modes. The kickstand is integrated into the display side of the casing and flips out horizontally. It's a unique and interesting design, if not the most stable -- navigating the phone while it rested on the kickstand resulted in a few topples. You also can't really grab the phone and go when the kickstand is out -- you can sometimes get the stand to close by sliding the phone closed, but it never feels quite safe, and we usually closed everything manually first. Not a huge deal, but a definite consequence of this design.

But enough about all this stuff. Let's talk about the speakers, shall we?


Speakers, surrround, and software
Obviously the main attraction with the Surround is the speaker bar and the promised "virtual surround" audio. Like we've said, there's a lot of promise here, but unless the phone delivers the extra size and weight simply won't be worth it. Unfortunately, we're here to report... that they're simply not worth it. We're certain the good people at Dolby and SRS did their best, but we don't think any amount of audio postprocessing can make tiny phone speakers sound good, and we can't say we ever heard anything approaching "surround sound" from this thing. What's more, the only indication of what surround mode you're in comes from opening HTC's Sound Enhancer app -- pressing the button while playing back music or video in the Zune player doesn't provide any visual feedback as to what setting you're selecting. After a while we just started thinking of it as switching between "tinny" and "muffled." We heard slightly more of a difference when we plugged in headphones, but no more than any other automatic EQ setting we've tried on other devices in the past, and hey -- if you're using headphones you're kind of defeating the purpose here.

On a more positive note, the speakers do get nicely loud without distortion -- we had no problems listening to music in the back of a Manhattan cab. But keep in mind that these are the only speakers on the device, so in the closed position they're heavily muffled by the screen. That means you have to open the slider anytime you want to listen to anything, really -- again, not a huge deal, but a consequence of this design that bears mentioning.



Even if the speakers sounded amazing, we're still not sure the added size and weight would be worth it, since the Surround's kickstand effectively defaults it to landscape orientation when placed on a desk, and there's virtually no landscape support in Windows Phone 7. What little there is seems half-finished: the browser doesn't have so much as a back button in landscape -- let alone a URL bar -- and the mail client does something wonky with the soft keyboard. Thankfully, the video player worked fine in landscape, but there's no landscape navigation of the Music and Videos hub -- it's all portrait. That means if you're playing songs on the Surround with the kickstand open, you've got to tilt your head 90 degrees to change tracks, adjust the volume, or hit pause. Same with video, outside of actual playback -- all the navigation is done in portrait. That's a pretty big oversight for a media device that's designed for use in landscape mode, and while we can't blame HTC for the limitations of Microsoft's brand-new OS, we can say we don't think carrying a landscape slider that just barely supports landscape display is such a bright idea.



Camera

We had high, high hopes for the 5 megapixel autofocus camera on the Surround -- when we first started using it all of our shots looked gorgeous on the built-in display. Windows Phone 7's camera app is amazingly fast and responsive, and the Surround wears it well -- we snapped all manner of quick shots with no problems. It was when we pulled the images over to a computer that some of the bloom came off the rose -- literally, as you can see above. Most of our shots were far less vibrant at full res than they appeared on the phone's display, and we also detected some softness, white balance and shutter speed issues here and there. Don't get us wrong, for a phone camera it's a solid effort -- it pops right up and focuses quite fast -- but we'd say the iPhone 4 and (obviously) the Nokia N8 provide better overall image quality.


Wrap up

Well, what can we say? The HTC Surround does a fine job running Windows Phone 7, and if that's the only criteria by which you're going to measure it chances are you'll be quite happy. But Microsoft is launching 10 devices this month, and there are two other choices on AT&T alone which do an equally fine job of running the OS. The Surround needed to bring a lot to the table in order to justify being bigger and heavier than the Samsung Focus while lacking the QWERTY keyboard of the LG Quantum, and we just don't think a pair of average speakers and a kickstand provides that justification -- especially since Windows Phone 7 doesn't take full advantage of either. We'd love to be more positive about what is fundamentally a fine piece of hardware, but if you're looking for a Windows Phone 7 device on AT&T at launch, we think you should (cough) focus your attention elsewhere.