Well, that didn’t take long. Just a day after the Windows Phone 7 Series emulator was made available, the guys over at XDA managed to extract the ROM. HD2 owners, don’t get too excited as there are no signs yet of whether this will be ported to older devices or not. The ROM only has the settings panel and Internet Explorer, but according to Long Zheng:

Also keep in mind, we had been told ages ago by Ballmer that Windows Phone 7 Series runs on HD2 with minimal lag. They could have been using it as a test device during development but changed their minds later onwards due to technical reasons. But whatever it may be, there is a slight ray of hope that users might be able to run the new OS on their HD2 someday. Maybe. *fingers crossed*

hat tip @lonzheng

Multitasking is probably the most wanted feature from the future iterations of iPhone OS. 9to5mac has been digging around in the iPhone OS 3.2 SDK and have found comments that show mention of a multitasking dialog box. Seems like Apple will be implementing a task switcher in iPhone OS 3.2, but lets not be too sure of that until we see it.

I’m sure if Apple does implement multitasking in iPhone OS 3.2, it will be the best implementation of the feature in a mobile OS yet. Take a look at copy/paste feature in iPhone and you’ll realize why I have such high expectations. Till then let’s just dream this feature is oncoming for our iDevices.

The major question in everyone’s mind has been whether Windows Phone 7 Series will support multi-tasking or not. We know that it will have push notifications built into the OS just like the iPhone, but now Mary Jo Foley has confirmation that just like the iPhone, it also wouldn’t allow third party apps to run in the background. Only Microsoft’s own applications will have that capability.

Mary Jo Foley found this from Kindel:

Kindel said Microsoft’s own “experiences” which are part of the Windows Phone 7 will allow for multitasking (i.e., music playing in the background while you’re doing e-mail). But third party applications won’t have the same multitasking capabilities, Kindel said.Developers will be able to use things like notifications to create the illusion that applications are always live. In addition, the Live tiles that are part of the new UI will be constantly updated in real time (also through notifications). Over time, as things like battery life, network utilization and application predictability improve for the Windows Phone platform, Microsoft will make more multitasking support available for all applications, Kindel said.

I did a little searching of my own in the UI design and interaction guide for Windows Phone 7 Series and found that the back button will also be used for application switching.

Whether this will be like the Alt-Tab is functionality is not yet none, but my best guess would be no. This would probably work like how the back button works in Android phones. Hopefully Microsoft would allow applications to run simultaneously as in Android as soon as possible instead of following the iPhone way as obvious from Kindel.

The Windows Phone 7 Series Theme for ThrottleLauncher 1.0 has been released. This is the final version of the theme and does a somewhat good recreation of the experience that Windows Phone 7 Series OS offers. ThrottleLauncher is available for free on Windows Mobile phones and can be downloaded from here.

Check out the video of the theme in action:

The theme will be available for download soon. Find out more about the theme here.

One thing that has always been missing ( which I realized after using Android ), you can’t use the iPhone Springboard (homescreen) in landscape mode. Currently known as Springboard Rotator, this tweak will soon be available on Cydia for jailbroken iPhone and iPod Touch users. No word on the pricing yet, but the developer has provided a video to show how it will work.

Sadly, this tweak will be available for the iPhone 3G S initially, we’re not sure if the developer will make it available for other iDevices.

This add-on enables SpringBoard to rotate according to the device’s orientation! It does not rotate only the icons, it rotates the whole user interface!
Switches Landscape-portrait view , rotates SpringBoard in all 4 orientations according to where iPhone is tilted to, like many applications do.
It requires a 3GS for now.
It will soon be ready to be released.

We will let you know when Springboard Rotator is available on Cydia.

[via iPhoneHeat]

As usual, Engadget has posted information about a Microsoft event, before it has happened, thanks to early access to press releases. There is a huge list of dev partners that Microsoft has gathered for Windows Phone 7 Series to boot with. It includes big names like EA Mobile, Foursquare, Seesmic and the likes. Based on XNA and Siverlight, these early apps and games look pretty good. Check out the screenshots and complete partner list after the jump.

Partners

The apps look really good and seem to fit right within the Windows Phone 7 Series UI. If you’re a developer, you’ll also be able to jump on the bandwagon soon thanks to the Windows Phone 7 Series SDK.

Microsoft has announced the tools that will be used by developers to design and develop next generation applications for Windows Phone 7 Series today at MIX10. The development tools are exactly what was expected thanks to the leaked Windows Phone 7 Series development documents.

The SDK will include the following:

•Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone

•Windows Phone 7 Series add-in to use with Visual Studio 2010 RC

•XNA Game Studio 4.0

•Windows Phone 7 Series Emulator for application testing

•Expression Blend for Windows Phone Community Technology Preview (available as a separate download)

Using XNA framework and Silverlight, developers will be able to take leverage of the following features in Windows Phone 7 Series:

•Accelerometer, an intuitive control that responds to motion

•A Microsoft Location Service to provide developers with a single point of reference to acquire location information

•Microsoft Notification Service for pushing information to the phone, regardless of whether or not an application is running

•Hardware-accelerated video with digital rights management (DRM)

•Internet Information Services Smooth Streaming for the industry’s highest quality content viewing experience

•Multitouch

•Camera and microphone support

Microsoft Notification Service seems to be like Push Notifications available on the iPhone, while Microsoft Location Service will be like Google’s location services. Expect it to be available beyond just the mobile platform for developers. Expect the SDK to be available for download really soon.

Update: Download the SDK from here.

Microsoft’s annual MIX event starts today. Whether you follow Microsoft like me, or hate them, you know you’ll be anxious for MIX10 because Microsoft will be unveiling details on Windows Phone 7 Series possibly along with an SDK, Internet Explorer 9 (some surprises expected), Windows Live Wave 4, Silverlight 4 and other products.

MIX10 will kick off with keynotes from Bill Buxton, Scott Guthrie, Dean Hachamovitch and Joe Belfiore. As it is usual with Microsoft events, unlike Apple’s, there will be a live video stream of the event at live.visitmix.com. You’ll probably need Silverlight to see the live event stream. The event will start at 9 AM P.D.T. ( G.M.T. -9 hours).

For those who are allergic to live video streams ( really? why? ) or love reading, you can follow Long Zheng’s group blog with Mary Jo Foley, Ed Bott, Kip Kniskern, Paul Thurrott and Benjamin Rubenstein here. If you ask me, I’d suggest utilizing Aero Snap and following both the video stream and live blog together.

And of course, ithinkdiff will be covering all the important news, so stay tuned. This year’s MIX is going to be awesome!

Because the iPad is available for pre-orders now, a lot of new information has become available about the device. So, if the battery in your iPad fails, what would you do?

Apple appears determined to get in front of the issue with the iPad. According to Apple’s Web site, If your iPad battery fails Apple doesn’t want to bother opening the device to replace it, they would simply ship you a completely new iPad to replace the damaged one. Apple will replace it for a fee of $99 plus shipping. Of course it won’t have your data, but you can sync it with your computer that had the data backed up via iTunes.

Check out the company’s opening line:

If your iPad requires service due to the battery’s diminished ability to hold an electrical charge, Apple will replace your iPad for a service fee.

Battery replacement service may be provided by your local Apple Retail Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider. You can also contact Technical Support. With the technical support service, you can expect service to be completed within approximately one week from the time you send your iPad to Apple.

Once the initial iPad demand settles, Apple Stores will begin to carry additional iPads as “service parts” which means that, should you need a battery replacement, you can simply walk into an Apple Store, pay your fee and walk out with your replacement.

[via MacWorld]

Microsoft has come out all guns blazing with Windows Phone 7 Series. They’ve put in everything every user dreams of in a phone and then some. Xbox Live for mobile phones had been on the cards for years but never materialized before Windows Phone 7 Series. Now that we know details on how Microsoft intends to become the platform of choice in handheld gaming just like it is on the PC, Apple will have to raise the game even higher than the current App Store offerings. Here’s what I think Apple should come up with for iPhone OS 4.0 or iPhone 4G:

1. Apple should create a social network for gamers. For PC we have Steam ( which is now coming to the Mac as well ). Xbox 360 has Xbox Live which will be available for Windows Phone 7 Series as well. Playstation 3 has their own network too. There is no such single gaming network for the iPhone. Different apps support different networks ( or have their own ). So if you’re an iPhone/iPod Touch gamer, you probably have many accounts. Game saves, profile information, achievements and other such data is distributed amongst them. If Apple creates a network tied with users’ iTunes ID, and lets developers utilize if for their games, it would be a huge advantage for them against Xbox Live. Using the same ID for multiplayer games would be a huge bonus as well.
2. Create a games dashboard. Just like the Xbox Live hub, a native iPhone app that shows the user’s profile, friends updates, achievements and all such information. Latest news about game releases in the App Store would also be a great addition to the dashboard. I know it sounds like I want them to copy Xbox Live, but then that’s not a bad thing.
3. Cross platform gaming between the Mac and iPhone. I know this is a stretch. OS X doesn’t have many games to boast about, but it would allow the App Store developers to fight on a feature to feature level against Xbox live, since it will also allow you to play the same game on the PC, Mobile and Xbox 360.
4. Make a gaming console out of Apple TV. Before you laugh at this one, think about this scenario. You’re playing a game on your iPhone, and then you switch over to your TV, use your iPhone as a controller and play the same game on a larger screen. This would allow 2 or more players to play together on the larger screen as well.

These are my ideas on how Apple should improve iPhone as a platform to stay relevant in mobile gaming. These might be all dreams, since we don’t know how serious Apple really is for the iPhone/iPod Touch as a gaming console, but keep in mind that Microsoft is damn serious this time and Apple should do something about it. What do you think?