Microsoft adds new features to Xbox LIVE gaming on Windows Phone

Microsoft has announced a few new features that will be coming to the Xbox LIVE gaming section of the Windows Phone platform during the Gamescom conference this week. In addition, Microsoft announced a bunch of new gaming titles that will arrive for Windows Phone later this year.

New features found in the Xbox LIVE gaming experience include downloadable add-on game content, turn-by-turn asynchronous gameplay between two users, achievement badges that can be pinned on Avatars, and new parental controls to limit access to games intended for mature audiences. These new features will arrive on the platform after the Mango update has been released.

The list of new games includes "Toy Soldiers Boot Camp" (Microsoft Studios), "Chickens Can't Fly" (Microsoft Studios), "Twist Text 2" GameHouse), "Beards & Beaks: Cave Area" (Microsoft Studios), "Kinectimals" (Frontier Developments, Microsoft Studios), "MUSH" (Microsoft Studios), "Farm Frenzy 2" (Microsoft Studios), "Fight Game Rivals" (Microsoft Studios), "Orbital" (Microsoft Studios), "Burn the Rope" (Big Blue Bubble), "COLLAPSE!" (GameHouse), "Gravity Guy" (Miniclip SA), "Bug Village" (Glu Games), and "IonBallEX" (Ironsun Studios Limited). Gamers can expect to see these new games in the Windows Phone Marketplace by the end of this year.

Source:http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=16233

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Final Windows Phone 7 Mango Build Leaked

There has been plenty of rumormongering surrounding the final release date of Windows Phone 7 Mango, one of the mobile operating system's first major refreshes. But whether the anticipated September 1 release is truly a rumor or not, interested phone hackers can now get their hands on the final Mango build thanks to an early internal leak.

In order to install build 7720, as it's known, your Windows Phone has to be running Nodo (build 7392) or one of the two beta builds, Mango (7661) or the Mango Developer Beta (7712). The internal update isn't device-specific, which might muck up any specialized software your phone happens to have installed. And you'll probably want to have a little experience in flashing your phone or, at least, a keen eye for the approximately 20-step process that the unofficial Mango update requires.

The full details of the update, which can take up to one and a half to two hours to complete, can be found within a post on the xda-developers forum. The update has been confirmed to work on the following handsets so far: HTC's HD7, HTC's Mozart, HTC's Trophy, Samsung's Focus, HTC's Arrive, Dell's Venue Pro, and LG's Optimus 7.

So what does the unofficial update get you? For heavy browsers, hardware-accelerated graphics and HTML5 support via the new mobile version of Internet Explorer 9. A closer integration with Microsoft's Bing will also allow you to perform hyper-local searches (once your location is determined via your phone's GPS), as well as identify any playing music that you happen to hold your phone up to.

Similar to Google Goggles, an integrated visual search will allow you to receive additional information on real-world elements that your camera can see: Like finding reviews and pricing information for a book when your camera scopes out a shot of its barcode.

This visual search idea will dovetail with Microsoft's new App Connect feature, which has been designed to remove the "silo effect" found on other phone platform – in other words, apps will now be able to integrate directly into Bing search results. You'll be able to quickly pull up prices of products you search for on Amazon if the corresponding app is installed, or buy movie tickets using your Fandango app, to name a few examples.

Of course, these search improvements are but the tip of Mango's iceberg. For the full details on Mango's new features, be sure to check out our earlier hands-on preview of the new mobile OS. Or, if you're feeling especially brave, install the unofficial leak yourself!

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2391064,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000762

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WP7 Mango is now ready, manufacturers get it first

Microsoft has announced it is finished working on the Windows Phone 7 Mango update and it has been released to manufacturing (RTM). Mango is coming this fall on all the available phones and will be pre-installed on the new ones.

Windows Phone 7 Mango update is the next evolutionary step for the Microsoft’s mobile OS. It will bring a mobile version of Internet Explorer 9 with rich HTML5 support, new Conversation View for emails, Threads view combining all SMS/MMS, IMs and Facebook chats, Multitasking support, performance improvements and more.

The update will become available this fall to all WP7 smartphones out there (except the jailbroken ones or the ones that have previous updates installed via unofficial channels). Also, from this fall any new WP7 devices will be sold with Mango pre-installed out of the box.

Source:http://www.gsmarena.com/wp7_mango_is_now_ready_for_prime_time_manufacturers_get_it_first-news-2930.php

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Rumor: Windows Phone 7 Mango is coming 1 September

Windows Phone 7 Mango was released to manufacturers about three weeks ago and it seems that testing is going well. Sources now claim that the first major update for Microsoft's new mobile OS is going to become publicly available on 1 September.

The first big update for WP7 was NoDo and its roll out wasn’t as smooth as Microsoft would have liked, despite releasing a very minor update first that was supposed to set the ground for NoDo.

Hopefully, this time everyone has done their job as the rumored 1 September deadline is approaching fast. It's a well picked time for an update, just in time for IFA (2-7 September), which will have major manufacturers gathered and showing their new devices.

Nokia should also be releasing their first and most likely only for this year Windows Phone 7 handset in October. The phone (codenamed Sea Ray) should launch with Mango, but there's talk Nokia might be getting a special version aimed at lower-end WP7 called Tango.

The Mango update brings all sorts of important functionality (yay, multitasking!) and will make WP7 much more competitive against Android and iOS. Plus, with second generation devices coming from major makers, hardware should take a major leap forward too. Are you interested?

Source:http://www.gsmarena.com/rumor_windows_phone_7_mango_is_coming_1_september-news-2991.php

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Windows Phone Evangelist Departs Microsoft

Long-time Microsoft veteran Charlie Kindel, who led the effort to recruit developers for the Windows Phone group, has unexpectedly resigned to start his own company. Kindel announced his decision Monday on his personal blog, saying that he is "not yet ready to disclose details about the new venture," other than that it will be in the Seattle area.

Kindel worked at Microsoft for 21 years and was instrumental in evangelizing the Windows Phone platform, which has some 27,000 apps after about nine months on the market, but has many miles to go to achieve the popularity of Apple's iOS and Google's Android mobile operating systems.

He also posted his farewell email to his Microsoft colleagues. At the end of a long list of memories and shout-outs to fellow Microsofties, Kindel did a round-up of major projects he was involved with in Redmond, stretching from Windows 2.0 and 3.0 SDK and DDK Support through to Windows Home Server and Yam Yamanote! —the Windows Phone 7 App Platform.

Kindel also saved some of his funniest bits for his family:

"To my wife: Thank you for putting up with 'Microsoft Time' ('Honey, I'll be home in an hour.' Four hours later ...). I've learned everything I know from Julie Kindel.

"To my kids: No, just because I don't work at Microsoft anymore you may not use Google. Remember, every time you use Google, a puppy dies."

He concluded his goodbye email with this:

"Back in 1990 I assumed I'd work here for three or so years. I'm an entrepreneur at heart and every few years I'd lift up my head and look around. I never had the need to look outside Microsoft because I kept finding one challenging opportunity after another.

"21 years later I have finally decided I need to do something different: I'm leaving to start a new company here in the Seattle area. I'm sure you'll hear about it.

"There has been one constant in every job I've had at Microsoft: People way smarter than me. Microsoft has always enabled me to 'play up.' It has truly been an honor working with all of you. Thank you for helping me grow as an engineer, a manager, a businessman, and as a person."

Source:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2390665,00.asp?kc=PCRSS05039TX1K0000762

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FItur Ponsel Windows Mango Terungkap

Fitur pada Ponsel Windows Mango akhirnya terungkap. Kemampuan Chatting dengan teman melalui Xbox Live adalah salah satu fitur yang baru didatangkan untuk memperbarui fitur ponsel Windows Mango.

Selain itu, di OS ini juga akan datang update firmware yang akan mendukung sistem operasi pada Windows Phone(WP) 7.5, yang akan dikeluarkan pada musim gugur tahun ini.

Lebih dari 500 fitur baru akan datang dengan update Mango. Ini termasuk pengintegrasian baru yang nantinya akan terhubung dengan Twitter dan Linkedln, tekhnologi 3D juga akan disempurnakan dan software internet Exploler 9 juga akan dimasukkan dengan demikan fiturnya hampir sama dengan PC.

Berikut adalah pembaruan fitur yang akan datang ke WP 7.5 atau yang dikenal dengan Mango :

1. Streaming video atau konten musik dari web browser ponsel akan terus menyala walaupun pengguna membuka aplikasi lain atau meletakan ponsel pada modus tidur.

2. Perluasan konektivitas Xbox Live seperti suara chatting dengan pengguna Xbox Live lain yang dapat menghadirkan atau meng-hosting Xbox Live bahkan dapat bermain online game Xbox 360 yang secara real-time terhubung dengan pemain konsol.

3. Integrasi Facebook lebih mendalam, yaitu mengaitkan login pengguna secara langsung ke ponsel, guna menghilangkan keharusan login yang berulang.

Dengan kata lain, Mango terlihat menjadi suatu hack pembaruan. Hal yang perlu dikhawatirkan adalah update yang telah dijadwalkan ini akan jadi dikeluarkan atau tidak. Pasalnya hingga saat ini Microsoft belum memiliki rekor bintang membuat pembaruan software WP pada titik ini.

READ MORE - FItur Ponsel Windows Mango Terungkap