Ain’t this nice if geekzone.co.nz has got this right we Aussies and Kiwis will be some of the first to get a hand on a retail Windows Phone 7 device ( not the developers device going around ). Now this is just a rumor at this stage and Microsoft has neither confirmed or denied this so don’t get too excited just yet. But if this is true then I will see you folks from Melbourne who will be in line to get a WP7 device on launch. I am thinking Telstra will be an exclusive carrier, we have no info on the handsets that will be available at this stage but if the LG Optimus 7 is available it might most likely be the one I get ( based on what we have seen so far, might change my decision after some hands on time with the other devices )
Finally we can see some buzz around Windows Phone 7 in Melbourne. If you are in Melbourne and have used the public transport you would have come across the mX Newspaper. For the uninitiated here is the a wiki copy paste.
mX is an Australian free afternoon daily newspaper in the cities of Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, owned and produced by News Limited. Targeted at commuters, its main channels of distribution are inner-city railway stations, tram and bus stops, and major CBD intersections.
Matt Sun ( If you got a twitter account give us a shout , @1800PocketPC ) have featured an article about Windows Phone 7. The article does not talk about any specifics but the general things we WP7 enthusiasts have heard about over the couple of months. I was hoping to see a more specific release date , carrier specific news , etc but it just says the device from multiple OEM’s will be launched later this year. Come on Microsoft Australia give us a date / month already !!!
So did u pick up mX today ? Did you read about WP7 ? Are you excited about it ?
Taiwanese phone Company HTC who virtually dumped the manufacture of Windows Mobile phones in favour of Google Android based models is set to launch a new HD3 Windows Phone 7 in London on the 15th of September at a two hour function being held at the Hyatt Hotel.
Codenamed 6HTHD7XM, the device has a 4.5-inch AMOLED touchscreen (with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels), a dual core 1.5GHz ARM-based processor, 1GB RAM, 32GB storage, Wi-Fi, 4G, an 8-megapixel camera with two LED flashes, HDMI port and HD recording capabilities, a 1800mAh battery, all in a 10mm thick enclosure.
The device which when it goes on sale in Australia is tipped to be given to Telstra on an exclusive 3 month contract after the national carrier had a lot of success selling the power hungry HTC HD2 Windows Mobile based phone.
Note : they have not provided any source for this info , so keep in mind this is just a Rumor at this stage
Domain is one of Australia’s leading destinations for property seekers and they have come up with a Windows Phone 7 App ( they also have an iPhone version in the market ) and the guys from TechEd have caught the app in action on video.
Features :
Access to search on Rental or Sale properties and not only filter that list
Ability to sort the results
Save your shortlist of properties
View property photos in portrait or landscape
Book an appointment with the property manager right from within the app
Jason Cartwright from TechAU had the opportunity to try out the new WP7 app from Telstra called Telstra One, during TechED Australia 2010. For guys who dont know about Telstra , they are the largest Australian telecommunications and media company and have their arms in all digital content in Australia ranging from Mobile to PayTV. We expect Telstra to be a major WP7 partner and we might even see some sort of exclusive deal for WP7 in Australia.
Enough about Telstra lets talk about Telstra One, this will be the official Telstra WP7 App and WP7 phones sold from Telstra stores will come with the App pre-installed and the App Tile ( from the video it does not look like a live tile ) on the home screen. The Telstra One WP7 App will give users access to News, Sport and Weather information and Telstra have plans to add more features to the app in the future ( like Bigpond content like the V8 supercars live video feeds ). One great feature about the app is that if you are a Telstra customers all the content that is delivered via the app is unmetered !!
During TechEd Australia 2010 Microsoft showcased a few locally-developed Windows Phone 7 apps tailored to the Aussie market. Long Zheng covered the these apps in a blog post on his site . The apps and games showcased were
I did have the chance to speak to him on Friday at Microsoft Australia and he did express his interest in WP7 and he did say he has plans for a few WP7 apps. Over the next 2 days they had a BizSpark Windows Phone 7 Workshop where WP7 devs had a contest and David’s app was crowned Runner up. The winner was Dimaz Pramudya. ( we don’t have any info on the app yet, but the dev will be blogging about it soon ).
Here is what David has to saya about the WP7 app
Beachy is an application that advises Sydney residents if it is safe to swim at their local beaches. I geocoded 43 beaches around the greater Sydney area, I then bring in data from 6 separate XML feeds from the NSW government that report on dangers at the beaches. All of it is then shown on a Bing maps overlay. GPS in the phone allows the application to show the user where they currently are allowing them to see if the beaches around them are safe to go to.
Detailed information about each beach would also be available to the user such as wind speed/direction and wave height. This would allow recreational users such as surfers or people sailing to decide which beach would have the optimal conditions for them.
The Melbourne BizSpark Windows Phone 7 Hands-on-labs is happening on Friday June 25th ( tomorrow ) and on June 26th and 27th there will be some Developer Workshop event. I have been invited to attend the event all thanks to Dave Glover ( Twitter ). I cant wait to get some hand on time with the elusive WP7.
Are any of out Aussie readers or WP7 developers attending the event ? If you will be attending the event I would love to meet you guys. Hit us up on twitter @1800PocketPC
Is there some specific aspect of WP7 that you want us to cover ? Send in your Questions and Suggestions via twitter or use the comments section below and we will try our best to bring some video and pics ( if allowed )
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