If you’ve received the “pre-NoDo” February update but are still waiting for the more exciting “NoDo” March one like many of us in the UK then you’re in luck. Fortunately Noticed, from XDA has found a great way to trick your phone into updating. In no way is this the first method we’ve come across, but it’s certainly the simplest and is available to anyone as no developer account or hacking is required.

The only problem is it requires is a little timing, you may end up having to try a couple of times to get it right. Needless to say, for any phone listed on Microsoft’s where’s my phone update page as “delivering update” the following should work:

1. Start Zune
2. Turn off phone’s data and Wifi connection (Flight mode will do this)
3. Connect the phone with the PC (via USB)
4. Start the update search in Zune (Settings -> Phone -> Update)
5. After approximately 3 seconds disable your computers LAN/WLAN connection
6. Agree to the update
7. Re-enable your internet connection and install the update

Some people seem to have had problem timing step 5 correctly, I was evidently pretty lucky as I got it on my first attempt (hacking genius!). Basically if the Zune software complains about a lack of internet connection you went too early, says there’s no update available you were too late!

Anyway, I hope that helps, apologies if it leaves you NoDoless and even more frustrated, remember if you haven’t for the February update you may need to debrand your phone first. Do let us know if you have any luck below:

[Source - XDA]
[Via - WPCentral]

The first proper update for Windows Phone (NoDo) is finally here! Well almost anyway, Microsoft say that they’re releasing it on a staggered schedule, many people have already reported receiving the update, although it seems like most have unbranded handsets.

Its seem like those of us with branded phones (anyone who got the phone for free or subsidised with a contract) may have to wait a little longer. For example, according to WPCentral Telus have announced that they won’t be rolling out the update until the 29th. I certainly haven’t received it for my HTC 7 Mozart on Orange (UK).

Hopefully this isn’t a sign of things to come, the Android platform is plagued by phones on different versions of the OS (although admittedly this is mainly due to differing hardware and skins). I hope I’m right in assuming it’s extremely unlikely to happen, but if a carrier decides it doesn’t like a certain updates and blocks it for its users we could start to see similar for Windows Phone 7.

Needless to say, once ready you should be notified when you when you sync with Zune (you can check if it’s ready for you by going to your settings page then clicking on phone update). It’s a bit like waiting for someone to choose you for their team in football!

Check out the full change log from Microsoft’s website:

What do you think about this update strategy, have you had any luck receiving it yet? Do you think it’s reasonable for the carriers to have a say about the updates or do you, like me, wish Microsoft had access to a gigantic lever which throws the update down to every phone at the same time? Let me know in the comments section below.

[Source - Microsoft]

Stephen Elop (Chief Executive of Nokia) announced yesterday that he hopes to see the first Nokia Windows Phone 7 Devices in the marketplace for the beginning of 2012. The question is whether or not it’s worth waiting for them or not.

In short, I think the answer is no (assuming you’re in the position where you can upgrade today anyway). Although currently slated for release early 2012 there is huge potential for delay. Nokia are waiting for the Mango update of Windows Phone 7 to go live (the one with multi-tasking) as the aren’t interested in the software in its current form. If the delayed NoDo update is anything to go by there’s a good chance that the same could happen to Mango, making that wait for a Nokia WP7 device even longer.

Add to this the fact that no details have been announced about which countries will get the phones first, or which carriers will have them and I wouldn’t mind betting that you could be waiting over a year to get your hands on one. If you were to get an 18month contract now you’ll almost be ready for a refresh by then, and will have had the benefit of a new phone in the mean time.

Now don’t get me wrong, if the black phone shown above was on the market today I’d be all over it, it looks fantastic and I’ve always loved Nokia hardware. The thing is it’s not, and in my opinion there’s no point in buying any technology if you’re always worried about whether it will ever be succeeded by anything better.

I’m sure there’s an uncountable amount of reasons why not, but I’d much rather Nokia had waited until they had something ready before they announced this switch. How amazing would it have been if when the two Steves announced this it was followed up with “and they’ll be in your local shops in 3 weeks time”. Sounds like the sort of approach another Steve likes to take and it seems to work rather well…

Do you agree or do you think I’ve got hold of the wrong end of the stick? Let me know what you think in the comments below.

[Source – Reuters

Jaxbot from Windows Phone hacker has come across a cool hack for the Windows Phone 7 code that enables instant resuming for application. This seems to completely remove the “Resuming…” screen when you go back to an applications. It doesn’t sound like it’s exactly consumer friendly and apparently causes un-specified side effects, but it seems to work really well in the video.

I can’t say I’m brave enough to try this out but hopefully this is the kind of update we can expect to see from Microsoft in the future. Check out the video after the break.

[Source - Windows Phone Hacker]

Ok, so one of my plans for Gizunk is to do some weekly segments, starting today with “Random, Yet Annoyingly Addictive Game Friday”… catchy no?! The aim is to try an celebrate the weekend by highlighting some of lesser known, but still great fun games which are out there.

So to get the ball rolling I’m going to start you off with Coin Addiction. Priced at a grand total of £0, as games go it doesn’t really get much simpler. You have 3 coins and the aim is to flick one between the other two, simple. You can bounce off any of the walls and the other coins, the only rule is you’re not allowed to move the same coin twice in a row.

There’s three game modes, Classic (you aim for a high score – your score resets every time you fail to make a shot), Collision (you only get points if the coin bounces off a wall of another coin first) and Timed (yes you guessed it, see how high a score you can get in 60 seconds).

It doesn’t sound like much but that’s kind of the beauty. There’s no soundtrack, fancy graphics or detailed story line, just you, helplessly trying to flick an orange circle between two others… but it’s great.

Anyway check it out and tell me what you think, if you know of any other games that would suit this section do let me know in the comments below and I’ll be sure to give them a review.

— Coin Addiction (free)

As I’m sure you’re aware, one of the more annoying things about Windows Phone 7 is the marketplace’s propensity to fill your search results with a load of seemingly unrelated songs when you’re looking for an application (and vice versa to a smaller extent). The problem is set to be fixed in the NoDo update (assuming Microsoft every manage to get it out of the door), but I’ve just discovered a technique that should tide you over in the meantime.

Simply adding “application” on the end of your search refines it to only include applications (yes that’s right, it’ll actual return what you were looking for!), the same goes for “artist” and “album”. Easy once you know how isn’t it… I’m just annoyed its taken me this long to discover, I could have saved myself plenty of frustration!

Hope this helps, let me know what you think in the comments below.

Source: Mobility Digest