Windows Phone 7: The AnandTech Guide
by Brian Klug on March 21, 2010 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Windows Phone 7
- Mobile
Zune Integration
Of course every WP7S device is also a Zune. Microsoft expects you to use their first-party media player for music, video, and also sync. The integration is nothing new here for users who have already tried a Zune HD - it integrates with your Zune Pass, and lets you download music over cellular data or WiFi. Of course, only the Zune player is allowed to play music in the background at launch, although it isn't farfetched to see Pandora and other streaming music venues integrate their services in time through the "music + video" hub.
More importantly, however, is that WP7S will sync through Zune software - not ActiveSync. In addition, WP7S will try and sync with a desktop running the Zune software periodically over WiFi. Microsoft cites additional research data showing that users often leave their photos on the phone and neglect to sync them back to the desktop. It hopes to mitigate that by enabling sync over WiFi and automatically backing photos and media up to the desktop.
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lifeblood - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - link
" Each time you run the application, WP7S will check that application's signature against the marketplace, both to check that it's valid, and that hasn't been revoked. Yes, marketplace has an application kill-switch."So if I'm out of range of a cell tower and I try to launch a app, it won't run because it can't call home? That's not very helpful, especially if it's a GPS app that I want to use to find my way back home.
erple2 - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - link
I suspect that they'll use a similar route to how the Zune works for its subscription based music. You can still play those songs for a while (a few days?) before having to connect the Zune to a WiFi network.cditty - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - link
I'm sure it will launch the app if it can't make contact. No doubt that they thought of this.at80eighty - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - link
good catch - hope it's not true, because win7 phone had all the trappings of a promising platform & they seem to be castrating it steadily with every press releaseJohnmcl7 - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - link
"There's also the fact that existing SoCs are barely powerful enough to make running a single application feel quick. It won't be until we get multicore Cortex A9 or Intel Moorestown class hardware before we have the horsepower to multitask without a tangible performance impact."
Maybe that's what Microsoft/Apple would like to think but it's clearly not the case at all with several current phones having no problems supporting multitasking without performance issues. There are limits to the number of apps that can be handled simultaneously before it impacts performance but my current phone can easily handle 5 to 6 apps with no impact to the current app in use.
The lack of SD card slot is concerning as it removes an easy way to back up on the move, while it's easy to have plenty of onboard memory it can be a pain in the neck if the device dies as you lose access to it. Of course you can still back up to a PC but with the increasing capabilities of smartphones, they're generally moving away from being connected to the PC.
John
fcx56 - Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - link
Microsoft wants (for better or worse) your information backed up in the cloud. If you re-read the bit about the SMS app it gives a cloud backup error message.darwinosx - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - link
As usual Microsoft interface design is different for no reason other than to be different. They are also too little too late. So the choice remains to either get an iPhone and put up with AT&T or Android. Android is a lame copy of the iPhone with crap hardware and if Apple wins the lawsuit or an injunction then Android becomes an even poorer copy of the iPhone.zinfamous - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - link
come on, reader1/perks! couldn't you just use the same username here as you do in DailyTech? It makes it easier for the rest of us to know the content of your post rather than having to waste our precious 20 seconds reading them, when all it will be is yet another baitish, everything-but-Apple, FUD-ridden marketing ploy.FITCamaro - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - link
So the fact that the Droid shares much of the same hardware as the iPhone and that there are other Android phones with even more powerful hardware than the iPhone makes it crap?at80eighty - Sunday, March 21, 2010 - link
Android is a lame copy of the iPhone with crap hardwarewell alright then - looks like the Brainwash2000 MAChinery did a good job with you