Test-drive Windows Phone 7 : right on your Android phone or iPhone

Admit it: you're curious about Windows Phone 7. It's impossible to look at those sexy screenshots and not be.

Of course, short of driving to your local cell phone emporium and standing there like a dweeb, there's no easy way to test-drive the OS. (It's not like anyone you know has a Windows Phone. Am I right?)

As it happens, you can test-drive Windows Phone 7, and you can do it right on your Android phone or iPhone. For reals! Microsoft just introduced an interactive, browser-based Windows Phone 7 demo, one that gives you both the look and flavor of their please-won't-somebody-buy-it mobile operating system.

If you're reading this on your phone, just tap the link in the previous paragraph. Otherwise, point your mobile browser to http://aka.ms/wpdemo.

What you'll see next is an HTML5-powered page that shows you the Windows Phone 7 home screen (in all its photo-flipping glory) and lets you try all the main features: Phone, People, Messaging, Outlook, Family, and so on.

Tapping any one of these tools leads you through a semi-guided demo, one that allows you to scroll screens and flip pages along the way. If you tap where the glowing swipe and/or tap indicators tell you, you'll eventually get to the "end" of that particular demo, with the option of starting over. (On my iPhone, I discovered I could also tap Safari's Back button to return to the Windows Phone home screen.)

Truth be told, this was my first exposure to Windows Phone 7--and I liked it. The interface is just lovely, a monumental improvement over the train wreck that was Windows Mobile. There's a logic and elegance to it that, quite frankly, is lacking in both Android and iOS. I'm not saying I'd abandon my iPhone for it, only that I could see myself using and enjoying a Windows Phone.

In other words, mission accomplished, Microsoft. You gave me a little hands-on time with your redheaded stepchild of a mobile OS, and got me thinking about adoption.

What do you think of the demo? Cool? Meh? Something in between?

Read more »

FlyScreen Launches An iOS 5-Like Lockscreen API For Android -

I know, I know. Apple totally stole its new Notifications Center for iOS 5 from Android. But let’s be honest, they did a pretty good job with it. (Except for those impossibly small “X” buttons, that is.) As someone who switches between both platforms, one thing I really like about iOS 5′s Notification Center is that it’s available from the phone’s lockscreen, too. On Android, you typically have to unlock your phone in order to view your notifications.

Well, until now. Thanks to app maker FlyScreen and its brand-new “SuperFly API,” Android users may soon get their own lockscreen notifications, too.

The API is just launching today, with messaging app Kik as the first API partner. The company is also taking sign-ups from other interested app developers via a form on the SuperFly homepage. Further down the road, the API will be publicly released so all Android apps can integrate with the service through what CEO Itamar Weisbrod says is just 5 lines of code.

At first, these SuperFly notifications will be just an icon and text, as they are by default on iOS 5 and Android, but the company is working towards making them richer and more interactive in the future. When it goes live, the notifications lockscreen will be a part of the redesigned FlyScreen app for Android. FlyScreen updates, missed calls, SMS messages and email previews will be supported, too.

While the I love the idea of a better, customizable lockscreen for Android users, the challenge will be getting Android app makers to sign up. FlyScreen will need to do more than just offer a public API – it will need to actively court partnerships to make this thing a success. However, it sounds like the company is doing just that. Weisbrod says there are “more big apps to come soon” and they already have some “big ones” in testing now.

The new notifications section is already live in FlyScreen’s app in the Android Market, but Kik’s integration won’t arrive for a week or two. And as new developers sign up to use the SuperFly API, they’ll be added right away, making the app gradually more useful. If you’re interested in testing the new FlyScreen, you can grab it here from the Android Market.

Read more »

IOS 5 avaible to download in Iphone 4 -

Iphone 4gs is launched and operating system in it is IOS 5 whichh is ready to be installed or downloaded from diffrent forums and sites.

ios 5 is a bit different from 4 operating system there are some new added features in it. There are always several diffrent ways of jailbreaking the Iphone

The video is guiding us how to jailbreak ios 5 jailbreak.

 

Read more »

Apple: Early iPod Nanos can overheat; send in for free replacement

Apple has begun a new replacement program for some of its first-generation iPod Nano units, which, the company says, contain batteries that can overheat.

In an e-mail sent yesterday to owners of first-generation Nanos, Apple said the batteries in Nanos sold between September 2005 and December 2006 could "overheat and pose a safety risk."
In its note, Apple said the issue can be tracked back to a particular battery supplier, and that the potential for such overheating behavior "increases as the battery ages."

The new program offers a free replacement unit to customers whose device carries a serial number that indicates the gadget contains one of the suspect batteries. Apple is promising that a replacement unit, which is another first-generation iPod Nano, will be delivered about six weeks after customers send in an affected device.

This particular problem has been known about for several years now, and was the target of an investigation by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry in 2008 after claims were made that sparking units were causing fires and leading to minor burns. Apple later began a replacement program in Japan, and on a case-by-case basis elsewhere.

In 2009, Apple published a since removed knowledge base article that noted the problem could warp the unit and render it nonfunctional. That same document also suggested there had been "very few reports" of the problem occurring, with "less than 0.001 percent" of owners reporting issues.

Despite the sales success of the the first-generation iPod Nano, this is the latest mark against the gadget. The device, which replaced the hard drive-based iPod Mini in 2005, was the target of a lawsuit that resulted in a $22.5 million settlement in 2009 that claimed the units were prone to scratching. The settlement resulted in Apple doling out $25 each to iPod Nano owners who bought the MP3 player before Apple began including a free pack-in slipcover.

Owners of a first-generation iPod Nano can head here to see if their unit is affected and if they're eligible for a replacement.

Updated at 11:10 a.m. to note that the replacement unit is another first-generation iPod Nano.

Read more »

New iOS Gestures Point To Death Of The Physical Button -

Even as purists complain about the rise of the capacitive i.e. “invisible” button, it seems Apple may be taking steps to remove them in further updates to iOS. Alongside the ability to drop apps anywhere on the screen – instead of just on a grid pattern – the new iOS Beta includes some accessibility functions that make it easier for folks with handicaps to access various phone functions. This includes the ability to add a virtual home button right on the screen.

Does this mean the next iPads and iPhones will eschew buttons entirely? Probably not. The button will be hard UI conceit to pry from the cold, clammy fingers of the average iOS user and, I suspect, we’ll see more of this in smaller, PMP devices rather than on full-bore devices like the iPad. Without a physical cue, no matter how innocuous, it’s actually quite hard to get around a flat touchscreen. Imagine whipping out your phone and not being able to tell if it was upside-down immediately. While this matters little on the software side, it matters a great deal for telephony.

Ultimately, all of these beta leaks are, at best, examples of what we can expect to see – and then probably not use – in the new iOS. Core functionality really won’t change, but it’s nice to catch a glimpse of what could be coming down the pike.

via Nowhereelse

Read more »