Tethering for WP7 phones...Samsung devices only so far

Engadget is reporting that USB tethering can be enabled with some keypad magic.  So far only available for Samsung devices...fingers crossed its not too long before other devices are figure out too.

Click here for the Engadget instruction.

Battery Improvements

The weirdest thing is going on. I've never experienced this before.
But after nine days of charging each night, it seems like the battery is "conditioned" and the charge is lasting longer in daily use.

It may be that I was playing more with my Optimus  7 in the early days. But I think my daytime use is pretty consistent. Approximately 70-90 mins of surfing and fiddling in things like Facebook, checking emails  all day and maybe a couple of dozen of fairly short calls.
Anyway, yesterday was a long work day. Left home at 8am and got him 10:30pm. I was concerned that I wouldn't have juice to call a taxi to get home, but the trusty Opti7 lasted 14 hours with juice to spare.
Of course I don't know how much spare juice, because there is no % Meter. Lets hope MSFT fixes that in a future update.

Bing Visual Search for Windows Phone 7 Apps

Over on Bing, there is a Beta version of Visual Search available for the WP7 app store.

Its a pretty cool way to search for apps, easier than the Marketplace at least!

Check it out here

How To: Get your files onto WP7

We've all got the same problem - unlike WinMo and other mobile OS, Zune software doesn't allow you to sync docs directly with your Windows Phone 7.

The often-cited workaround is to email them to yourself, save them and sync them with Skydrive.

Well, Maurauderz has developed a little webserver application, that allows you to access files via IE on your phone and then save them...much preferable if you have a lot of files you want to transfer.

You can find his web page, download and instructions here.

WTF? $750 app for WP7?!?

Browings the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace today I stumbled across what is possible the most expensive app on the store...

Click for pix

Windows Phone 7: Omnia 7 Vs Optimus 7 comparison review

So I went to the store today and had 15 mins browsing on the Samsung Omnia 7.

With the Omni7 in one hand the the Opti7 in the other hand I was able to do a direct comparison between the two phones.
I set the theme and brightness the same to get a better comparison between the two screens.

Click to read more:

Unlocked is only half unlocked: MMS Settings cannot be configured

OK so a little issues has become apparent today...if you take an "unlocked" phone and use a SIM from another carrier you probably will not get MMS functions.

Click thru to see why...

Top Five Peeves

OK so after six days my top peeves:

1) Power button only to turn on

2) Bing Maps (outside of USA/UK)

3) Camera doesn't remember settings

4) No contact sharing

5) Proximity Sensor...when in a call and you need to enter a number on the keypad, the proximity sensor and keypad animation takes too long...end up waiting to press 1...should be instant IMHO.  Navigating my Bank's phone menu's takes forever!

Bings maps the Great Locale Debate

When PocketNow demonstrated Bing Maps, I think we all wet our pants a little bit.
 You can get local results pinned on a map, click to route from my current location, voice search and some other really cool stuff.

But now that WP7 has gone retail...well the truth for many people is that the experience is not at all as advertised.  Especially on the Little Red Dot that is Singapore...and yes, Singapore is an official 21st October launch partner.

Read on to see why...

Direct from my Opti7

Just posting from my Opti7 WP7.

Checking to see how well the blogspot site works for Windows Phone.  Apparently all good!

LG Owners to Get Free Access to Popular Windows Phone 7 Applications

Cool news for LG WP7 owners - freebies from LG!

See the press release from MSFT here.



Looking at the LG apps store from my Opti7, there are the following already available:

Living with the LG Optimus 7...Day 2

OK, after another 24 hours I can report:

All of my initial observations are correct...
No way to share contacts
'Me' page does not have profile information, even if your Live account has the details, and no way to link it with your FB/Live information if you have it your details on exchange or even if you create a 'Me' contact.

The MSFT Social answers site is a good place for discussion on problems, go to the WP7 section.

In hindsight, I think "Windows Phone 7" is a terrible name, because doing web searches for information on the phone brings up all sorts of Windows 7 information not relevant to the phone...you have to get a bit boolean about WP7 searches. ;)

More after the break...

Living with the LG Optimus 7...Day 1

I picked up my Optimus 7 yesterday and here are my first impressions:

Hardware



I quite like the LG hardware. The brushed metal backplate looks good, the dimensions are the right size of screen real estate and hand-hold friendliness (for me). The responsiveness is great and takes only light touches to manipulate. The only thing I don't like is the the side mounted USB port (I mean, why?!) and its little flimsy cover...can't see that lasting very long. I really like the raised hard keys at the bottom in chrome, they look and feel good. One thing I have to get used to is using the power button rather than any other hard key to wake the phone up...too many months on a fruity device, habits are hard to break!

Follow the link for my full Day 1 lowdown...