Some questions and remarks regarding Windows Phone 7
In December 2010 I received my first Windows Phone 7 device, the Samsung Omnia 7 (i8700). Due to a production error of the micro-SIM adapter I received from the network operator and perhaps a little bit too much brute force from me I broke it the same evening I received it. After waiting for 4 months for the device to get repaired, my employer decided that we waited long enough so yesterday I received a brand new Omnia 7. Finally I can try to deploy my home-made apps to a "real device" instead of the emulator.
Now I've been playing around with the device a few hours, I "discovered" some characteristics which I thought would be worth sharing here. Although I am living in The Netherlands and I'm using a SIM from a Dutch operator, WP7 is not yet officially released in The Netherlands. I therefor had to create a new Windows Live ID with country set to UK (Belgium, Germany, etc could have worked as well I guess). Also, I won't be able to buy any items from the Marketplace because I don't have a UK-based creditcard, but the free apps and trial-versions can still be downloaded.
- Official Twitter app does not support Tile Notifications
I have not yet found any news about this, except for the confirmation that it's not implemented yet but Live Tiles should be enabled soon. Unfortunately they stated that in November 2010 which is almost half-a-year ago. :( http://blog.twitter.com/2010/11/instant-notifications.html
- There is no "official" Live Messenger app
I did find an app by "Miyowa" but read some bad reviews about it. Decided to look / wait for the "official" Live Messenger app. I just found this article stating that Microsoft actually requested Miyowa to create the app for them: http://www.mobiletechworld.com/2010/10/14/windows-live-messenger-for-windows-phone-7-officially-unveiled/. Perhaps I should give it a try myself.
- Globally used chat-applications like What's App and Pingchat are not available on WP7
Although PingChat did not seem to be very stable lately on my Android 2.2 device (Sony Ericsson X10), I still would like to have it on my WP7 phone. Unfortunately they haven't planned to developer a WP7 version: http://enflick.zendesk.com/entries/330570-are-you-going-to-support-release-a-version-for-windows-phone-7-symbian-bada-etc. Perhaps they will change their minds when WP7 community grows? What'sApp could come if sufficient people tell them they want it, I just signed the petition: http://www.gopetition.com/petition/44254/sign.html. :)
- I have not yet found a Layar app
Found the reason for that: API exposes the camera for making pictures but not for accessing the live video stream. Source: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2010/10/22/sorry-windows-phone-7-app-makers-the-camera%E2%80%99s-off-limits/
- You can not create screendumps using the phone
Perhaps there are apps available now, that would be great. Using the emulator is another option, but e.g. I would like to create a walkthrough for certain settings, using the screens from my phone. Not sure if the emulator will be showing the same screens and settings but I'll just give it a try.
- There's no in-browser Silverlight support yet on the WP7 devices
Microsoft claims that will be added in a future release, just as Flash player support but for now it seems we'll just have to sit and wait for it (http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/first-windows-phone-7-devices-wont-run-silverlight-in-the-browser/5624).
- I can not get any music onto the phone using Zune, following the exact instructions for MP3-syncing. Aaargh!
This one is quite annoying, Bing and Google both don't give a lot of help: I receive error C00D1197 (80070043) when I drag music files from my collection onto the phone. I have a few files which succeeded, but of 100+ files I tried, just 4 seem to be synced. I already removed Zune, Temp files etc. and re-installed Zune, updated phone and OS, etc. but still no luck. All help is appreciated!
- When debugging a WP7 application in the debugger I can not view contents of a MediaElement control
A straightforward .xaml file with just a MediaElement control would not function in the emulator. Just found out that you'll need to deploy to an actual device to be able to debug: http://fragiledevelopment.wordpress.com/2011/03/16/debugging-videos-or-camera-in-wp7/. Think it's about time to get that Developer access now as you'll need that to deploy to a device. BTW: European prices have been changed so it seems: US price is $ 99,= / year and European price used to be EUR 99,= as well. I just had another look and step 4 of the signup process states EUR 75,=. :)
If I find more details on the topics above then I'll update this post. Please feel free to discuss, I'm hoping to learn from other user's experiences, as well as sharing my opinion & findings.