Category: Software

Tweakers.net has managed to lay their hands on a copy of the Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Architecture Guide and also a tutorial on compiling the OS, and have shared some more information about the upcoming OS.

They note that the device will be intimately linked with your Windows Live ID, and that on first bootup users will be asked to enter this and accept the EULA for the service.  Hardware will also be tied to a Genuine Windows Phone certificate, else the ID will not be accepted.

A Windows Live ID will be needed for contact synchronization, to access marketplace and to access Microsoft’s services.  In practice this means the device will be more or less useless without, but also that potentially each phone will be directly tied to one person, with may alarm privacy advocates somewhat.

More after the break.

The articles reveal more information which shows in some ways the specifications are quite forward-looking, for example each process will have access to up to 1 GB of RAM, but in others ways take little account of the future, for example lack of support for Bluetooth 3.

Microsoft will be keenly involved with devices, with even OEM ROM updates coming through Microsoft, with users notified to either download the updates over the air or tether their smartphones.  Unfortunately the OEM is still responsible for supplying the Direct3D drivers, which may alarm some readers.

Microsoft will also control the user experience, with OEMs having very limited ability to customize the device, beyond installing their own live tiles and changing the operator logo.  Devices may still come with OEM applications pre-installed, but to a maximum of 6, taking a total of 60 MB, and no trialware.

OEMs will also be able to change the default search engine in Internet Explorer, but for the rest of the device Bing will remain the default.

Windows Phone 7 devices will use Microsoft Unified Storage System for user files, meaning applications will not be able to distinguish between files on internal storage and main memory.  This also means if the user removes the memory card the smartphone will only be able to make emergency phone calls, but nothing else.

For much more in the internals of Windows Phone 7 see Tweakers.net here.

Thanks Wajma for the tip.

Ruttensoft has let FuzeMobility know that we do not need to worry too much about an official client for DropBox, as they have a version in the works themselves which should help satisfy those who would like to move their lives into the cloud.

The client, which will allow automatic synchronization with your various computers and Dropbox servers will be available as a free Beta version very soon. The final version will cost $6.99.  Initially only hi-res screens supported in the first beta (VGA and WVGA), with low-res support coming in the second round of tests.

Read more at Ruttensoft here.

Luke Timmerman wrote:

Some of our regular readers have noticed we are on a Health IT kick around here at Xconomy. We launched a new Health IT website earlier this month, and our colleagues in Boston are gearing up for a big event on that theme there on April 26. Not to be outdone, Greg and I are getting ready for our own Northwest-based take on where “bytes, bio, and healthcare converge,” as our own Ryan McBride put it a while back.

I’m talking about the big event we have planned here in Seattle on May 12 titled, “How Information Technology is Transforming Medicine and Healthcare.” This event is loaded with a dozen speakers who are using IT to create more effective new medicines, help consumers monitor their wellness, enable providers to deliver healthcare more efficiently, and to make sense of the vast piles of data from our genomes that are the key to the future of medicine.

The health IT field is moving at breakneck speed. We first publicly announced this gathering on March 17, just six days before President Obama raised the stakes when he signed the historic health care reform bill. Another 11 days later, the Lord of Apple descended from the heavens and bestowed upon us the iPad, which apparently some people consider a breakthrough device for physicians. (The sarcasm you detect is intentional—count me a skeptic.)

Regardless of what might change in the next few days or weeks, we’ve put together a lineup of speakers who will seek to help us understand the existing landscape for health IT and the changes they see coming down the road. The list includes Swedish Medical Center CEO Rod Hochman, who oversees the largest nonprofit hospital in Seattle; Stephen Friend, the founder of Sage Bionetworks, a nonprofit effort to get researchers and physicians to combine data from genomes with clinical observations; and Don Listwin, the founder of the Canary Foundation, a nonprofit devoted to early detection of cancer, partially through a strong biological IT emphasis. Before starting Canary, Listwin was the No. 2 executive at computer networking giant Cisco Systems.

We will also hear from David Cerino, who oversees Microsoft’s HealthVault program, and Chad Waite of OVP Venture Partners, who has invested for years in companies that seek to apply IT to biological and medical problems. We’re bringing together a number of dogged entrepreneurs with a strong biological and healthcare-IT bent, from companies that include Seattle-based Geospiza, Victoria, BC-based Genologics, Bellevue, WA-based Talyst, Seattle-based Appature, Hillsboro, OR-based Kryptiq, and Seattle-based Clarity Health. For good measure, Greg Foltz, a neurosurgeon at Swedish who works in partnership with the Institute for Systems Biology, can talk about technologies he is using today to create personalized treatments for brain cancer.

Neither my colleague Greg nor I own an iPhone, iPad, or any piece of personal technology that might be considered cool. Neither one of us is planning to buy one anytime soon. And I’m personally not holding my breath for the day when we spit on a microarray chip, slide it into a mobile device, and communicate with our doctors in real-time about whether our blood pressure is a little high that day. That’s still visionary stuff, but you can bet we’re going to ask this distinguished group of people how far away they think that day is in the future, and what needs to happen first to get there. I’m looking forward to it, and to hearing your questions for these speakers.

If you haven’t gotten tickets yet, you can register by clicking here. See you on May 12.

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UNDERWRITERS AND PARTNERS

There are many Bible related apps available on windows mobile but this 1001 Bible Verses app from XiMAD has be one of the best looking bible app that I have come across till date. Check out the full review to see the app in action.

Read the rest of the review at BestWindowsMobileApps.com here.

Well guys it seems the WP7S takeover has already began, with themes coming from left and right, throttle launcher now has another. The theme that is well known for being highly customizable, and if its on the HD2, fast and smooth. This theme was created by an XDA member that goes by the name of Fireslave, who has managed to capture just about every aspect of Microsoft’s new mobile OS.

The theme has the main hub with all the blue boxes, big letters, app launcher, music player, and more.

I cannot say this is very interesting to me. I am not the biggest fan of the new UI, and the only reason I enjoy it is because of its great integration and centralized features, but if this theme is even half integrated… it would be pretty awesome.

GENERAL FEATURES

– Compatible for all resolutions!!
– Scrollable home page
– Animated real contacts on homepage
– Animated pictures tile with differents thumbs from selected folder
– Animated Me tile
– You can choose your own photo for the animation
– Animated contacts name for People page
– People page
– Games page
– Music Page
– Pictures page
– You can choose a xbox live Avatar
– Six colors for the tiles(Blue,Orange,Red,Green,DarkBlue,Yellow)
– You can use original wm taskbar
– Original Windows Phone 7 footer
– Battery indicator(Thxs to HDOwner for the graphics)
– Little clock
– You can add your favorites apps on home page

_________________________________Suite 1.5________________________________

WHATS NEW

– Rewrote theme to make easier the way to include custom Hubs (Tutorial soon)
– Implemented Segoe Light fonts(Copy Segoe Light.ttf to "/Windows/Fonts/")
– Added "Calendar" Hub
– Added a simple "Weather" Hub with GoogleWeather
– Added "Favorite Contact" Hub
– Added "Settings shortcut to the programs page
– Added search function for the magnifying key
– Added "Music page" with support for Nitrogen 1.1 and S2P,Now you can see the cover on "Music" Hub (Thanks to Ryomahino)
– Added "Pictures page" (Thanks to APBilbo)
– On "Games page", changed the Xbox games cover.(Thanks to lesscro)
– Fixed problem with the battery indicator.
– Cleaned all code
__________________________________________________ __________________

SUITE 1 AVAILABLE HERE
__________________________________________________ ___________________

HOW TO INSTALL
__________________________________________________ ___________________

1) You will need ThrottleLauncher 1.0.1 or higher, download and install that
2.) Download the ZIP file given below and move the extracted WindowsPhone7 directory on your phone to \Program Files\ThrottleLauncher\Setups\
3.) Go to Start menu and start ThrottleConfig. Select Windows7 in Themes.
4.) Go to Start menu and start Throttle Launcher
Thanks to extrapurifier for write the install guide

If this interest you enough, check it out.

Multi-touch seems to becoming one of the greatest features on smartphones in today’s market, and now all Windows Phones can have a variant of the feature. XDA has managed to produce something a little more special than the pervious, which was also very good. Today anaadoul from XDA finally released his SDK that can be used to create apps that simulate Multi-touch for devices that cannot do it on their own.

The current features include pinch to zoom, which is the most popular of all multi-touch features. The fallowing features also include drag, two finger scroll and more.

Here is the release note:

In December last year, i posted an Alpha version of this SDK. Now it is mature enough to announce it as Beta. This SDK allows developers to build Dual-Touch enabled applications. so let’s get into action.
Features:
Pinch to Zoom Support
Drag (swipe) support.
Replacement events for the mouse move fires only when a single finger detected.
Multiple events based on gestures.
Performance optimized, memory footprint is minimal.
To use this SDK you will need Visual Studio Professional or better. start a new Smart Device Project, and add the SDK to your references.
The SDK is consists of only one object, which is DualTouchSDK. We will need one instance of this class for every control that supports pinch to zoom or drag in your application.
There are several methods, properties and events that can be utilized in order to achieve multitouch effect. i have done my best to make this as easy as possible, my code is now complex but it is necessary to achieve easy implementation.

Read More

Via:Mobileblab

[Windows Only] I don’t have anything against Microsoft Word, except the price. Most businesses will pay the big money that MS wants, but a home user will usually use whatever is already installed on their PC. That does not have to be true. There are several free Word alternatives that will happily do the same job. I found one free replacement that looks great and will even run quickly on older PCs. It’s called “DeVicky Word”.

DeVicky Word not only does many of the things that MS Word does, it has a few unique features that make it worth downloading.

Here’s a list of some of the features:

* Bullets and Numbered Lists – completely customizable
* Character and Paragraph Formatting – full WYSIWYG
* Document Sections – add as many sections as you need
* Headers and Footers
* Hypertext Links – inside and outside links
* Multi-Level Undo / Redo
* Page and Document Settings
* Page Columns – any number of columns
* Printing – what you see is what you get
* Search and Replace
* Spell Checking
* Tables – add tables within tables if needed
* Text Frames – add boxes of text anywhere
* Doc Reader – listen to you docs

Supported File Formats

* Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) Export
* Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) Import
* Adobe Portable Document Format Archive (PDF/A) Export
* Hypertext Markup Language (HTML)
* Image Formats – TIFF, WMF, BMP, JPEG, PNG, GIF
* Microsoft Office Open XML (DOCX)
* Microsoft Word (DOC)
* Rich Text Format (RTF)

After using it for a short while, I decided that I liked DeVicky better than the Word alternatives I’ve tried in the past. It seems more responsive and launches much quicker than the full featured apps.

Download DeVicky Word:
http://www.devvicky.com/products.php

Techie Buzz Verdict:

I like the full feature set in DeVicky Word, but I mostly enjoy it’s fast launching and quick response while in use. It also has very good built in help files.

Techie Buzz Rating: 4/5 (Excellent)

Don’t miss these Related Posts:

• Free Microsoft Word Alternatives
• How To Recover Unsaved Word Documents? [Hacks & Mods]
• Jarte – Free portable word processor based on MS WordPad
• Microsoft Ordered To Stop Selling Word
• Translate Word Documents

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Techticker.co.uk have published this summary of the recently held UK TechDays seminar held by Microsoft to introduce developers to their new mobile OS.

While the 9 minute video by and large cover information we have heard earlier, one issue of note is that apparently each application will only have access to 2 GB of storage on the device, irrespective of the actual size of storage.

While this may be expansive, it is starting to push against the limits of map storage for GPS navigation for example, and with the lack of a shared storage area for all applications, limits the amount of storage available to an application that does not want to use the Windows Phone 7 native libraries, such as an alternative music and video player.

The video also reveals that Microsoft is targeting  over 30’s with Windows Phone 7, as a posed to their 20’s and under focus with KIN.

See the video above for more.

Windows Phone Hacker is developing this cool application, demoed above, which allows one to receive e-mail and text message notifications in the cool, unobtrusive way Windows Phone 7 does it, with a drop-down banner.

The cab to enable this can be downloaded from Windowsphonehacker here.

Today we take a closer look at the MotoGP Pocket 2010 app, does the UI look familiar ? It should if you have been following our reviews we looked at F1 Pocket 2010 a few days back this app does the same thing but instead of F1 this looks at MotoGP.

Read the rest of the review at BestWindowsMobile.com

Filed under: Technology

Our Apple-obsessed brethren at TUAW have been probing the company’s new iPhone 4.0 software and, with the help of a trusted tipster, came across what could be a new automotive-related feature buried within the update.

The new software will apparently allow a “iPod out” functionality, which could be integrated into vehicles utilizing the iPod Accessory Protocol. While that’s nothing new, the software tweaks have the potential to allow users to control music and other content through the iPhone (or by relation, the iPod Touch or iPad), turning the device into a separate remote control of sorts.

If that’s the case, there’s a distinct possibility that Apple – or third party accessory manufacturers – could develop a car kit complete with a dock, buttons and custom menus. The video after the jump provides a snooze-worthy tease of the functionality, and if this software sleuthing is to be believed, we might see some kind of Apple-branded car kit released by year’s end.

[Source: TUAW]

Continue reading iPhone 4.0 software hints at automotive integration, new dock

iPhone 4.0 software hints at automotive integration, new dock originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The ZuneHD is a pretty locked down device, with development only possible using the XNA framework. This means no access for 3rd party apps to the 3D graphics accelerator, no internet access and slow software.

No longer however, as residents of the ZuneBoards have released a hack that allows applications to escape from the Zune sandbox and run directly in the Win CE framework.

The OpenZDK has just been released, which should soon see a wide range of hobbyist software being released. The hack will allow developers to use the  full power of the Tegra APX2600 using custom vertex and fragment shaders with OpenGL ES 2.0, programmed using lightning fast C++ and without the arbitrary limitations of XNA.

The hack brings hope to future Windows Phone 7 users, which are subject to similar arbitrary limitations designed to improve performance and reliability but which significantly bound user freedoms.

Interested developers can read more here.

Via Engadget.com

Clarity Consulting has developed this amazing-looking comic book reader application for Windows Phone 7, and what is particularly striking about the software is how it maintains the look and feel of Windows Phone 7.

Clarity consulting notes:

While devices like the iPhone have changed the way we interact with our mobile phones, there is still a long way to go to help mobile workers better manage their personal and professional lives," added Smith. "Windows Phone 7 Series is positioned to succeed where others don’t by enabling seamless integration, better development opportunities and lower cost of entry. Clarity is excited to be part of the mobile enterprise revolution and looks forward to actively shaping the next generation of mobile experiences."

Are our readers looking forward to much more such high quality software in the future? Let us know below.

Via Frogz.fr.

And older Zunes, too! But let’s talk about the HD: With the new OpenZDK toolkit, developers can make homebrew apps for the Zune HD, and by following a relatively simple set of instructions, you can install them. More »

Its not exactly WordPress for Windows Mobile, but if you maintain a blog on LiveJournal and have a Windows Mobile phone this may be the software you have been waiting for.

The software first showed up in a Russian handset by Rover, but now appears to have been made available for wider consumption.

LiveJournal 1.0 for Windows Mobile lets you:

* Read Friends Pages
* Post to your Journal or Communities
* Leave comments
* Post photos
* Communicate via personal messages

Download the software and try it for yourself at FreewarePocketpc.net here.

Wade Roush wrote:

Phase Forward (NASDAQ: PFWD), the Waltham, MA-based maker of software that helps pharmaceutical companies manage clinical trials of new drugs, will be acquired by California database giant Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL), the companies announced today. Phase Forward, which is fetching a price of $685 million or $17 per share, will become part of Oracle’s Health Sciences Global Business Unit.

The price represents about a 30 percent premium for Phase Forward’s shareholders over yesterday’s closing stock price of $13.08.

Oracle, which is headquartered in Redwood Shores, CA, painted the purchase as part of its strategy to offer more database-driven business applications in key vertical industries such as healthcare. The company already offers an extensive line of software products for tasks such as capturing patient data and analyzing the progress of clinical trials. It said that combining its products with Phase Forward’s “is expected to enable researchers, clinical development professionals, physicians, regulators and patients to more effectively and securely capture, contribute, access and share data.”

Oracle also said the acquisition would help it tailor its systems to help hold down the costs of pharmaceutical R&D. “The life sciences and healthcare industries are converging as they seek to control costs while accelerating patient-centered innovation,” Neil de Crescenzo, Oracle Health Sciences senior vice president, said in a statement. “Phase Forward brings outstanding products and employees with significant expertise to Oracle that will help enable the delivery of personalized medicine and value-based healthcare.”

The acquisition is subject to shareholder approval. While the news of the proposed takeover came as a surprise—not a word of had leaked out to the media before today’s announcement—it fits a now-familiar pattern in which Massachusetts high-tech companies grow to the sub-billion-dollar stage, and are then scooped up by West Coast giants with deeper pockets.

Xconomy’s Ryan McBride met with Phase Forward CEO Bob Weiler just last month. They talked about the challenges the company faces as it grows beyond the first stage of adoption of clinical trial management software—the simple switch from paper records to digital tracking—and attempts to create systems that will help Big Pharma customers like Roche and GlaxoSmithKline manage the whole process of clinical research (what it calls an “integrated clinical research suite”). Toward that end, Phase Forward has made a number of acquisitions of its own, buying companies like Cambridge, MA-based Waban Software, which makes clinical data analysis systems.

But the company’s move to expand beyond electronic data capture—and its success adding customers (it added 50 new ones in 2009, helping boost its revenue by 25 percent)—didn’t seem to come fast enough for investors’ taste. The company’s market valuation peaked at about $1 billion in November 2007 and, by last month, had declined to just over $550 million.

That drop in market valuation certainly made it a little easier for Oracle to swallow up Phase Forward. Oracle’s market cap today is about $132 billion.

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Research Director Andreas Constantinou from analyst firm Vision Mobile has laid out a pretty detailed explanation why Android is possible the most closed open source OS in the world, and how Google continue to control both companies and end users who use the software.

Noting the free software came with an elaborate set of control points that allows Google to bundle its own services and control the exact software and hardware make-up on every handset, they claim Android is the best example of how a company can use open source to build up interest and community participation, while running a very tight commercial model.

They have identified 8 control points:

1. Private branches. Some companies have privileged access 6 months before everyone else to new development lines, meaning the ones that toe the line get to tout the latest version of the OS, while everyone else ships devices that look old when they are brand new.

2. Speed of evolution. Related to this, Google iterates the Android platform at a speed that’s unprecedented for the mobile industry, releasing 4 major updates (1.6  to 2.1) in 18 months, causing OEMs wanting to build on Android to have no choice but to stay close to Google so as not to lose on new features/bug fixes released.

3. Closed review process. All code reviewers work for Google, meaning very few community contributions get  in and often no reason is offered on rejection.

4. Incomplete software. The public SDK lacks key building blocks missing are radio integration, international language packs, operator packs – and of course Google’s closed source apps like Market, Gmail and GTalk.

5. Gated developer community. Control of the Android Market is one of the strongest control points as no OEM would dare produce a handset that doesn’t tap into it.

6. Anti-fragmentation agreement.  OHA members have signed a commitment not to release handsets which are not Compatibility Test Suite compliant . CTS precludes OEMs from creating stripped-down versions of Android that would fit on mass-market phones

7. Private roadmap.  Currently the roadmap published publicly is a year out of date (Q1 2009) and to get a sneak peak into the private roadmap you need Google’s blessing.

8. Android trademark. Google holds the trademark to the Android name and it can only be leveraged with Google’s blessing.

In short, it’s either the Google way or the highway.

Constantinou concludes that Android is no more open – and no less closed – than Windows Mobile, Apple OSX or PalmOS, despite its Open Source veneer, and is simply a tool for Google to achieve its own ends, currently advertising but ultimately much wider, including mobile payment and voice traffic control.

Read the full thesis at VisionMobile.com here.

Is Google pulling the wool over everyone’s eyes?  Let us know your views below.