Tipped off by a comment in another post, I can confirm that Microsoft has indeed shut down Zune Originals, the web-based Zune HD configuration and customization service. Here’s how the site looks now:
What this means, basically, is that you can now only buy stock, non-custom Zune HD players from a handful of electronic retailers. Is this “while supplies last”? I don’t know, but of course Microsoft is well down the path towards retiring Zune, so this isn’t entirely surprising.
Reading through Brandon Watson’s post this morning (described here), I misunderstood and thought that Microsoft would be releasing a “beta 2” version of Mango to developers sometime in the not-too-distant future. Actually, they’re doing so today (which he does clearly communicate). And this “beta 2” release is the same code that I got weeks ago, not a newer version as I had expected. In fact, even the Zune 7.8 PC software version is the same. It’s all the same.
What’s different, or at least new, I guess, is the process by which you go about updating one (and only one) retail Windows Phone handset to the beta 2 version of Mango. Microsoft is fairly explicit in its instructions, but it bears repeating—you need to backup your phone backup (and then back it up again)—because otherwise you may never get your phone back to a working state, as you need to restore it later to upgrade to the retail Mango update.
We knew that Microsoft was going to let developers “soft update” their phones in this general fashion, but the feeling was that to do so it would need to finally deliver retail ROMs for each device to developers. It sort of looks like this flashing of ROMs is happening over the air, instead of Microsoft providing a set of ROMs for developers to choose from. I’m sure they’re worried about piracy. I’m not sure how much I can even discuss here, actually.
So let me leave it with this. I was going to upgrade my own Samsung Focus to Mango beta 2 using the developer tools method Microsoft provided today. But then it occurred to me that I already have this exact build on a second loaner phone from Microsoft, and it’s more valuable to have both versions for side-by-side comparisons for later writings. So I’ll leave my first phone as-is.
I wonder if they’ll be future Mango updates for developers or if this is it?
Today, Microsoft announced its plans for delivering the Windows Phone 7.5 “Mango” beta to developers. You may recall that last year, the company had to ship prototype phones to developers because the platform was new. This year, developers have phones or have easy access to them in the marketplace. So the plan is a bit different…
We’re still working out some final kinks in the distribution and support infrastructure for delivering Mango to all of our registered developers around the world, but are inviting the most eager developers to come get Mango today, for their retail devices, as part of our early access program! We expect the full distribution infrastructure to be fully operational in the next couple of weeks. For now, consider yourself a beta tester for the distribution process. Registered developers will get invites to the Microsoft Connect site, which will give them access to Mango. This build of Mango should also be viewed as beta quality, so there are still consumer features missing, but you can now start building apps and testing them against retail devices.
Here’s what you need to do:
- Download the Windows Phone Developer Tools Beta 2 – You will need to update your developer tools to update your phone and to deploy your apps, so run…get them now.
- Read the instructions before updating – These are very important steps which you need to follow to the letter. We’re committed to supporting our developer community with such an early access program, so if you have questions, start with the forums, which we are monitoring.
As you can see, Microsoft above also announced the Beta 2 release of its Mango developer tools, which includes the Windows Phone OS 7.1 (yes, 7.1, not 7.5; don’t ask) and updated versions of Visual Studio 2010 for Windows Phone, the Windows Phone “Mango” emulator, and so on. However, that link still points to the May Beta 1 release. So maybe we need to wait for the site to be updated.
Update: Here’s the correct link to the Beta 2 tools. I corrected the link above too. Thanks everyone.
Aside from Audible, this is perhaps the most eagerly-awaited Windows Phone app imaginable. It’s up. $2.99. Enjoy. :)
Microsoft today provided an informative post on the Windows Phone Blog describing how the next release of the OS, codenamed Mango, will support custom ringtones. Which is to say, it won’t: The support is in there, but there’s no built-in UI for custom ringtones. So you’ll have to get a third party app for that or make your own.
In Mango, we’re giving developers the tools [for custom ringtones] … I expect to see a burst of ringtone-related apps in Marketplace. Without getting too technical, that’s because of new under-the-hood changes we’ve made that make it possible for developers to build ringtone apps and also add ringtone-related features to existing ones.
But we know many of you have a particular ringtone in mind—or sounds files already on your PC that you’d like to turn into one. In Mango, we give you the flexibility to do this yourself—with some important caveats. To qualify as a ringtone, a sound file must be:
- 39 seconds or shorter
- smaller than 1 megabyte (MB)
- saved in MP3 or WMA format
- not copy-protected (i.e. DRM free)
This post isn’t intended to be a tutorial on creating custom ringtones (we’ll cover that in more detail once Mango is available), but I wanted to provide a flavor for how it will all work.
In short, custom ringtones can be installed using the Zune software on your PC. Once you’ve created an audio file that meets the ringtone requirements, find it in your Zune music collection, right-click the file, and change the Genre field to Ringtone. Then just sync the file to your phone like you would any music track.
Don’t worry: items marked Ringtone won’t show up in your phone’s music collection—so there’s no need to fear that during a workout you’ll suddenly hear your dog barking or other homemade ring. Instead, you’ll see them in Ringtones + Sounds in Settings, under a new Custom category we’ve created.
So, better than nothing of course. Oddly enough, Rafael and I recently tried to experiment with different sound files to see whether this would secretly work exactly as described above. But we didn’t get it to work. Maybe the file sizes were just a bit too big, or we don’t have the right version of the Zune PC software, or whatever.
Get excited, people. Get very excited.
Based on a supposedly leaked video—evidence suggest this was instead a masterful bit of media manipulation—we now know what the first Nokia Windows Phone device, codenamed “Sea Ray,” will look like. And it is beautiful.
Here’s a mockup I created in Photoshop (no comments on the quality, please):
Look familiar? It should: This is simply the recently announced (and Meego-based) Nokia N9 handset hardware, with added Windows Phone-centric buttons and of course the Windows Phone OS. And the reason we know that this is what the Nokia Sea Ray will look like is that Nokia CEO Stephen Elop allowed a “leaked” internal video to make its way online this week, giving us all our first glimpse of this wonderful, wonderful hardware. Here it is:
The N9 has excellent hardware specs, and I think we can expect the same or better for Sea Ray: A masterfully made, single-piece body that comes in multiple, scratch-resistant colors; a 3.9-inch AMOLED screen with curved Gorilla Glass; an 8 megapixel, wide-angle, 16:9 HD auto-focus camera with Carl Zeiss optics, superior low-light performance, and 720p HD video at 30 FPS capabilities; 1 GB of RAM; 16 or 64 GB of storage; a 1 GHz dual-core ARM processor; and up to 11 hours of talk time, 450 hours of standby time, and 50 hours of music playback time. Also included are turn-by-turn navigation and NFC capabilities.
Continuing its ongoing look at major new Mango changes, the Windows Phone Blog today reveals some changes coming the Games hub:
One of the first things you’ll notice about the Games Hub in Mango is its new look: A cleaner and lighter design that emphasizes your game collection and Xbox LIVE info—the heart of the hub. Responding to your feedback, we also made tweaks to improve the overall performance and speed.
Here’s a rundown of the changes.
Improved Collection view
In Mango, games are neatly organized in the same familiar alphabetical list view as your apps—icon on the left, name on the right. Once you’ve amassed more than 20 games—something that can happen pretty quickly on this Xbox-friendly phone—finding titles you play frequently can become a chore, requiring multiple swipes. Our customer research and your feedback told us people want to quickly and easily get back to recently-played games.
To fix that, in Mango we’re introducing a new Recent category. When your collection exceeds 20 games, the last three titles you’ve played now appear right up top, so you can get to favorites faster.
New 3D avatars
In Mango, we’ve fully integrated 3D avatars into the Games Hub.
Better Xbox LIVE experience
Besides better avatars, all the features previously found in the Xbox LIVE Extras app are now built into the Games Hub. These include:
Improved Xbox LIVE messaging: Read and reply to Xbox LIVE messages sent from another Windows Phone, a PC, or an Xbox console.
Connect with Xbox LIVE friends: Find out if your Xbox LIVE friends are currently online through the friend status view. You can also search, browse, initiate, and respond to friend requests right from your Windows Phone 7.
Integrated achievements and new comparison views: See the recent games your friends have been playing, and compare gamerscores and achievements for all Xbox LIVE games played on the phone, console, or PC.
Edit your profile: Moved to a new city? Have a new motto in life? Now you can update your name, bio, motto, and location right from the phone.
Improved Spotlight content: We’ve improved the news and info delivered to you via Spotlight in the Games Hub. Your window to the Xbox LIVE community will now be complemented with rich and vibrant images!
Improved game request notifications: In Mango, you’ll receive notifications for multiplayer game or turn requests and can track them in the Requests section of the Games Hub.
There are many more shots, and more info, at the original post so be sure to check it out. From what I’ve seen, the new Games hub is more attractive, and looks more like the coming Xbox Dashboard update, which I like. It’s faster, better arranged, and doesn’t require the stupid Xbox LIVE Extras add-on app. All in all, a nice change.
