We know that it's quite easy to add a new language to WP7 during upgrade to Mango. It's just a little change in registry.
So some people here have directly asked MS on their FB about a possibility to add a new language (Czech)to their phones officially.
Well, the response is quite funny. They are telling us that they can not tell much details because of their partners but the problem is caused by HW.
In my opinion it's a lie, I can not imagine any HW limitation which would be causing this on all phones released before Mango and I also doubt that same phones before Mango and after Mango are somehow HW different.
It's Microsoft. If they could get away with saying it's cause of High Tide, they would.
Get used to that.
Do you have a link?
In Taiwan to add Chinese to a WP7, you have to take your phone to an HTC store and have them re-flash it. The reason given is that it is not possible to just add a new language to the ROM and then update via Zune.
I'm not clued up on the technical, but this does indicate that there is some hardware restriction in place. This must be costing HTC and MS a fair amount of money, so it's safe to assume if it were possible to roll it out online, they would!
http://www.facebook.com/windowsphonecz
Last post ("Už jen několik dní nás dělí od aktualizace Windows Phone 7.5. Kterou aplikaci nebo hru si v Marketplace stáhnete nejdříve?") in comments.
Radek Hulán said:
Do you have a link?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sure, in comments within their latest post (https://www.facebook.com/#!/windowsphonecz)
"Windows Phone CZ Ohled na naše partnery (výrobce telefonů) nám nedovoluje zabíhat do podrobností, ale můžeme vás ubezpečit, že se nejedná o žádný marketingový trik a že problém je hardwarového rázu. To je všechno, co k tomu v tuto chvíli můžeme říct. Díky za pochopení.
Včera v 10:13 · To se mi líbí"
Posted on Thursday - "only few days left till Windows Phone 7.5 release". That is important info!
As for CZ not being available for current EN phones, I do understand that - additional languages do take more ROM space, and not all phones might handle that well.
Anyway, nobody is entitled to get "free CZ" upgrade when they purchased EN phone.
Radek Hulán said:
Posted on Thursday - "only few days left till Windows Phone 7.5 release". That is important info!
As for CZ not being available for current EN phones, I do understand that - additional languages do take more ROM space, and not all phones might handle that well.
Anyway, nobody is entitled to get "free CZ" upgrade when they purchased EN phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Maybe they should have brought an Android, iPhone, or Blackberry that comes with that "free CZ" upgrade, instead?
That's one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.
Yes, people in countries where CZ is an official language where Windows Phone is marketed and sold are entitled to a "free CZ" upgrade.
Maybe the issue has something to do with phones with a physical [English] keyboard?
I don't think it is matter of HW keyboard - they deployed Czech keyboard (without T9 of course ) in Mango on all phones.
N8ter said:
Yes, people in countries where CZ is an official language where Windows Phone is marketed and sold are entitled to a "free CZ" upgrade.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WP7.0 phones were sold and marketed in CZ by HTC, Samsung, etc., not Microsoft directly. They were all EN versions and without any Marketplace support, not even free apps worked. You had to fake your Live ID to be from US/UK and get UK credit card (like Moneybookers) to download and purchase apps.
Horrible user experience. Of course, sales were extremely low. On the other hand, you could buy (formerly) 12 000 CZK phone for 5 000 CZK. Of course, there never was any guarantee EN -> CZ upgrade will be available.
With Mango, phones are not only getting CZ language, but also Zune SW is in CZ, Marketplace works now, and there is Czech support hotline.
But changing languages is not common. Unless you have "Windows 7 Ultimate" you cannot install all languages in existence. And you probably cannot switch to Chinese, Japanese or Korean on your US Windows Phone, right? So, even if I would love to see super easy US -> CZ upgrade, nobody is entitled to get one.
Radek Hulán said:
Posted on Thursday - "only few days left till Windows Phone 7.5 release". That is important info!
As for CZ not being available for current EN phones, I do understand that - additional languages do take more ROM space, and not all phones might handle that well.
Anyway, nobody is entitled to get "free CZ" upgrade when they purchased EN phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
So do you really think that Omnia 7, HTC HD7 or any other phone released before the Mango has different ROM size than a same model after the Mango? Seems not to be very likely.
I have no idea. CZ is working well on my Omnia7, as an added language to existing set of languages (DE, EN UK, EN US, ES, FR, IT), but it might not be feasible for all WP7 sets.
emkovicz said:
So do you really think that Omnia 7, HTC HD7 or any other phone released before the Mango has different ROM size than a same model after the Mango? Seems not to be very likely.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sure they have different ROM size. The space of IMGFS is pre-defined by content size + some amount of free blocks for updating . And by installing Czech, you might fill this empty space is what they think probably.
Which doesn't explain why there couldn't be new official ROM to flash, just as they did with Thaiwan.
Oh and Czech language has literally few megabytes only.
That is silly excuse.
Sent from my LG-P999 using XDA Premium App
OndraSter said:
Sure they have different ROM size. The space of IMGFS is pre-defined by content size + some amount of free blocks for updating . And by installing Czech, you might fill this empty space is what they think probably.
Which doesn't explain why there couldn't be new official ROM to flash, just as they did with Thaiwan.
Oh and Czech language has literally few megabytes only.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They could do an official flashing program like in Taiwan, but seems they've decided against it.
Taiwan is home of HTC so has hundreds of HTC stores; Therefore it was easy for them to offer HTC customers this official update (notice how LG, Samsung or Dell products aren't being given the same mangro upgrade). Without stores, the burden would fall on the carriers to do it; and they obviously don't want to..
Good news is, the ROMs are all publically available, and you can probably install it yourself (depends on your phone).
Omnia 7. Maybe newly sold phones with Mango will contain Czech language. Maybe not. Who knows.
I don't really need or want Czech, I am fine with English. Using phone in Czech seems weird to me, I got used to having phone in English. Mostly when all apps (except two, where one of them is mine) are in English too .
Aphasaic2002 said:
In Taiwan to add Chinese to a WP7, you have to take your phone to an HTC store and have them re-flash it. The reason given is that it is not possible to just add a new language to the ROM and then update via Zune.
I'm not clued up on the technical, but this does indicate that there is some hardware restriction in place. This must be costing HTC and MS a fair amount of money, so it's safe to assume if it were possible to roll it out online, they would!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was on nodo, non-branded unlocked LG optimus 7. I had no Chinese support until I installed mango beta 2. I didn't need to go to a shp or anything.. Did everything over Zune.
Sent from my LG Optimus 7
OndraSter said:
I don't think it is matter of HW keyboard - they deployed Czech keyboard (without T9 of course ) in Mango on all phones.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Please read the OP.
I did read it, did you?
OP talks about deploying Czech language, I talk about deploying Czech language for keyboard.
Yea. And if you have an English Language keyboard on your phone (hardware keyboard), how will that work? He said MS said it was a HW issue. Perhaps the Soft Keybaord isn't the factor here.
Just putting it out there...
What phones are sold in TCH?
Related
I have a small theory as to when the next ROM updates are going to ship.
Well since the Universal is running the WM 2005 and the SP2 for Exchange already shipped, all we are missing for the push feature is the MSFP (Messaging & Security Feature Pack). SO the OEMs are dying to win corporate users to use the universal or magician, since also the fact that Blackberry might have to stop selling in the US...
Taking all that into account I would expect that iMATE & O2 are going to wait with the release to incorporate the MSFP into the ROM. T-Mobile might also this time join since they are dying to get as much bussiness customers as possible. Here in holland the MDA PRO was available to Businesss customers 2 and a half weeks before they started selling it to consumers. I can verify that because I work as an ICT manager and I was contacted by T-Mobile rep who wanted to come and deliver me the MDA PRO the next day if I agree to take a subscription. I have refused that since we use KPN and UMTS and t-mobile has no UMTS yet. But knowing t-mobile maybe they still are going to let the chance go.
Also this is the reason the QTEK has not released their device at least here in the NL you can not get it yet it is expected in the end of November. the Qtek 9100 (magician) is already in the shops but that device is meant for consumer market. the QTEK 9000 is the business device and I think (maybe I am wrong) it will ship already with the MSFP in it. As I remember reading Microsoft should release the MSFP in the first half of November...
PLease feel free to comment critisize etc. But keep in mind this is just a theory...I might have some facts wrong!
Oh Yea I forgot Orange which is also not yet released at least here in the NL
My theory has just received a blow...
I have just seen two online stores in NL claiming to have the QTEK 9000 in stock. Although on the www.qtek.nl the device is only mentioned that it exist and further no aditional info. And this coming from the site which was the first one to post the 3D anymation of the QTEK 9100.
I have to look into this first thing monday, if they realy have them in stock.
P.S. For those interrested the two stores are:
www.smartphonestunts.nl & www.smartphoneshop.nl
I believe that all operators are waiting for MS to supply the update before they can mess it up a little then distribute it.
And it could also be that MS are holding off the release until the security pack and activesync issues are resolved.
Yea the Operators are real stupid, I mean there is ready device software why stick your own crap in there.
About the MSFP: On the dutch Pocket PC site www.pocketinfo.nl there is an offer to buy the KJAM plus a year sunscription including the push functionality. In small letters they write that for the real push functionality you have to wait for the MSFP to be released untill then the users are more then welcome to sync on schedule.
Anyhow I hope the MSFP is real close since this offer has just appeared now so I guess they know more then we do.
actually i'm thinking that the new ROMs are o their way because MS has done their homework (you cannot release only half of the package) so it's up to the HTC to finish the ROM then up to the carriers to provide it to us.
I'm afraid MS HAS done half the job, again.
MSFP is RTM as of the 4th Nov, according to my contact.
Question is, how long will it take the likes of Orange to incorporate it? Blummin long time I reckon.
F.
Is there anyone with an MSDN license ?? I beleive you could get it there
Nope, it's not on MSDN Sub Downloads.
It's got to be integrated with the providers' software (ROMs) so they only supply it to the providers. With the exception of those who were on the Windows Mobile Beta program, but if you stuck a copy of (I thinkk it's called Crossbow, the next version) on your machine most features wouldn't work I suspect!
We're at the mercy of buttholes like Orange.
F.
Well that sounds really disturbing. what if I want to deploy the feature enterprise wide. I mean I am myself an ICT Manager but our company is too small to pull a muscle but large multinationals are then also at the mercy of the operators or shall I say buttholes?
Aye, it seems that way.
Problem is, I can't get any decent info from MS about it, and Orange say that there's nobody to ask there - even the data guys, who apparently "have access to almost every system in the company", are not told about ROM updates until they're on the website!
We'll have to wait and see. As I say, I believe the MSFP went RTM last week so it might not be tooo long...
For the record, I'm an Exchange consultant and so have a vested interest in this damn push-email thing.
F.
Bad news guys ... i hope that i'm wrong.
From the Microsoft Launch of VS2005 today in Milano seems that the new features will be available only from 2006 , meaning that we can only hope for ROM updates without the security and exchange improvements.ùù
As an additional info ... the italian Jasjar is real, brought by TIM. It has the italian ROM version.
We are all waiting for this ROM for the JASJAR & belive me I am checking the site of imate three times daily!
The official HTC forum in Norway has confirmed that HTC will release an WM6 update for TyTn.
http://smartmobil.no/Article639.phtml
Sorry if this information is outdated
Its also on Qtek's swedish site that theres 5 HTC phones definitly getitng the official upgrade.. http://www.qtek.se/sweden/nyheter/senaste_nytt.aspx
I'm sure it has already been covered someplace else on the forums already mind.
Yea, i think it have been posted earlier today/this week. Says late summer, so im thinking july, august
well, this is great news.
let's hope the official update will have all problems fixed etc.
Cingular announced this a few weeks ago. Actually they confirmed WM6 for the 8525, blackjack AND treo 750. No release dates though, but engadget reported that the Blackjack update is probably going to be released the earliest.
official WM6
Hi
Its true that TyTn gone have an official WM6. But I’m not sure that they can delivery it in June or July because TyTn Europe couldn’t jet delivery a new Swedish MW5 Rom witch been known since months on xda-developers forum it was suppose to delivery in January 07. so I satisfying so long with current WM6 such as Black, LVSW etc.
regards
Yes, and the question is: witch one will be better? Or better suiteable...
I believe that the heroes here (we all are) investigated so much in this stuff that I will make this statement: HTC learn from XDA or you lose!!! Probably they've read all our treads and learnd from it.
Question: What do you think concerning this matter?
I think Cingular/HTC waits for the developers here to solve all the problems then they just copy and release what was done here Saves them time and money developing their own stuff. lol
krisg0 said:
I think Cingular/HTC waits for the developers here to solve all the problems then they just copy and release what was done here Saves them time and money developing their own stuff. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
hahaha, lol, man, its cool.
They will read your post and theirs faces will be red.
Its true though... even if an offical release becomes available for my Vario II, I'm not totally sure that I would upgrade giving tha I'm so happy with my LVSW WM6 install
i have the same sentiments... the roms here are almost "made to order" with features that majority of us agree on. I really can't imagine upgrading to an official "operator" or "manufacturer" rom unless there's a big boo boo in the one's i've installed from here (which there have been none I might add).
Cheerios! Leo
hjkl;' why no delete?
krisg0 said:
I think Cingular/HTC waits for the developers here to solve all the problems then they just copy and release what was done here Saves them time and money developing their own stuff. lol
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For sure, this is the development field of WM6.
Where are the going to find such gurus as here?
And for free....
leo-chan said:
i have the same sentiments... the roms here are almost "made to order" with features that majority of us agree on. I really can't imagine upgrading to an official "operator" or "manufacturer" rom unless there's a big boo boo in the one's i've installed from here (which there have been none I might add).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I presonally prefer official ROMs over these user-made. WM6 roms I've tried do have more or less annoying bugs and unusefull software (xcept maybe for vanillas).
Original roms are (or at least should be) guaranteed to work on phones they have been made for.
jfrm said:
For sure, this is the development field of WM6.
Where are the going to find such gurus as here?
And for free....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes, advanced users here provide very much, but not that many actually developes the OS itself. They just add tweaks
and some freeware programs in it.
Oh and believe me, there are more gurus out there as well. This is just a forum with few experts and I doubt they
do this for a living, more like a hobby.
For free? How many times you have paid for a rom that operator releases?
And WM6 for free? I'd say that's piracy. You do pay for at least to upgrade from Windows XP to Vista?
When you buy a new computer that comes with an OS, you can't assume that you are entitled for a free upgrade
to OS when ever one is released.
I find the best thing this forum has to offer is free problem solving when it comes to bricking your device when
you either don't have a clue what you are doing or then something goes wrong while flashing your phone.
Hats off for the expert for that.
Wiper said:
And WM6 for free? I'd say that's piracy. You do pay for at least to upgrade from Windows XP to Vista?
When you buy a new computer that comes with an OS, you can't assume that you are entitled for a free upgrade to OS when ever one is released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I found this comment interesting - and technically, it sounds true , so as not to diverse from the original post, I've started a new thread incase anyone else wonders what the legalities are... I don't know, I'm just wondering myself!
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=302409
Great news...
I wonder if this is the reason the upgrade that was announced for Q1 still hasn't been released?
Jörg
Wiper said:
You do pay for at least to upgrade from Windows XP to Vista?
When you buy a new computer that comes with an OS, you can't assume that you are entitled for a free upgrade
to OS when ever one is released.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is quite different thing for several reasons:
1. You can't go and buy an OS for a PocketPC or smartphone. Moreover, there is no and can't be a market for OSes for such devices: any build is device dependent. Show me that shop, and I'll buy Symbian or Linux for my TyTN!
2. When you buy a motherboard, you expect free BIOS update, especially if the original is buggy. For embedded devices (STB, modem, router, MP3 player etc) you do expect free firmware update, especially if the original one is buggy. No matter that the firmware is based on a Linux or even no OS. Windows Mobile is just a part of the firmware for our devices.
And, because Windows Mobile is always buggy, we do expect free updates!
Yes, you get free updates for BIOS as you do get for your phone. They are called ROM updates, which include fixes for radio, bootloader, OS fixes and stuff, but NOT a new OS.
As I see it, when a new OS has been released, it will be sold as a part of a new phone (OEM). As you can't purchase OEM versions you are stuck with the one you currently own, but you still do get free updates.
I would find it quite strange if you would be supported with brand new OS for no additional cost, since I believe the operators/manufacturers sure has to pay license fees for
new OS's.
Wiper said:
I would find it quite strange if you would be supported with brand new OS for no additional cost, since I believe the operators/manufacturers sure has to pay license fees for
new OS's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't be so restricted, look wider!
Manufacturers get money from selling their devices. If they won't update the OS on just released models (and TyTN is far from EOL), they loose sales. Then they can give the same ROM to us, old owners, for no cost for them.
Then, they just announced new models on almost the same hardware. They have to use the new OS on them, so they have to make the new ROM for them. But if they won't update our ROMs with the new OS, they'd have to continue supporting two different lines of ROMs, instead of one with small very specific changes. It's additional cost. Or, drop support for recent devices, means loose their face and then sales of new devices.
Believe me, it's not free, and not for no cost from us. We paid enough to let them support us until EOL, and they earn enough from such upgrades.
Just like owners of other devices paid for all the firmware updates, we paid for our updates. The early we purchased the more we paid, BTW. An update with the new OS for recent devices for HTC is cheaper than no updates or updates with old OS. Even if the update would be less stable/useful than WM5 AKU3.5!
Wiper said:
Yes, you get free updates for BIOS as you do get for your phone. They are called ROM updates, which include fixes for radio, bootloader, OS fixes and stuff, but NOT a new OS.
As I see it, when a new OS has been released, it will be sold as a part of a new phone (OEM). As you can't purchase OEM versions you are stuck with the one you currently own, but you still do get free updates.
I would find it quite strange if you would be supported with brand new OS for no additional cost, since I believe the operators/manufacturers sure has to pay license fees for
new OS's.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If Microsoft provides the upgrade to the OEM for free (which it looks like they are doing for WM6) and the OEM provides the upgrade to current owners for free (which it looks like they will do when they eventually do it), then it is not piracy.
Keep in mind that Microsoft really makes its money on its core products (currently Vista, Office 2007 and Exchange 2007). They REALLY want users (especially enterprise users) to upgrade to those new products. If you have a Windows Mobile device, you need WM6 on those devices to take full advantage of the new features in the core products, so why wouldn't they give it away? It will pay for itself twice or three times over. Besides, as other users have pointed out, WM6 is really just a bug fix maintenance release for WM5.0!
John
I had loads of fun with all the great WM6 version we tried this months. But after nearly a year with my TYTN, would be nice and fair to finally see a downloadable update from HTC site. A Vista updater without hacks. Not mentioning an official update in Italian.
Maybe we will quickly return to our Black or LVSM or whatever version....
Anyways, does anyone knows anything? June means 29th, just like the iPhone. Or it will be out when he will be out?
Share your knowledge.
IMHO the official update will be pants!
The only reason I cant wait for the official update is so that our Chef's can pull it apart and make something really special for us.
The current batch of WM6 roms are very close to perfect, all that is needed to make it 100% for me at the moment is a working voice dial BT solution.
My Tytn is fast and stable right now.
Jules
I just want to be able to easily update with Vista...
ZaJules said:
IMHO the official update will be pants!
The only reason I cant wait for the official update is so that our Chef's can pull it apart and make something really special for us.
The current batch of WM6 roms are very close to perfect, all that is needed to make it 100% for me at the moment is a working voice dial BT solution.
My Tytn is fast and stable right now.
Jules
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree totally. And btw, thanks for your BT MSV cab/procedure. Is a real PIA but it DOES work! (and I can't live with BT activation)
From everything I've heard, July is the new June...
hirowla said:
From everything I've heard, July is the new June...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How right you are -- I've never met a tech company that missed an opportunity to miss a date...
well the ROM is finished and signed off... so i couldnt see why there is a delay... as most of the Operators now have the release ROM from HTC
The HTC announcement was the release of the HTC Touch
www.htctouch.com
From dopod HK, their official website says July.
Don't forget it's June for another 3 and a half weeks.
Don't you guys think HTC's CS is a bit crap. I fail to understand why did they have to start branding their own devices, when their support strategy so far seems to be pushing the customers to switch over to carrier branded devices. Cingular posted ROM upgrade quite a while ago and to get HTC's upgrade you have to send in your device to a repair center. Why wouldn't they post it online like everyone else. I think with the way things are going they won't post wm6 online as well.
This from South Africa's official supplier:
WM6.0 should be available end of July. You will be able to update your TYTN. At moment we have not yet confirmed if it will be a free upgrade or not.
Regards,
HTC Support
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
WM6 upgrade will be free!
From the official dutch agency who has the all the rights to distribute HTC in the Netherlands:
"2e helft van 2007; gratis upgrades naar het nieuwe Windows Mobile 6.0 t.b.v.:
- HTC Advantage X7500
- HTC TyTN
- HTC S620
- HTC P4350
- HTC P3300
De exacte data wanneer deze upgrades beschikbaar komen is helaas nog niet bekend. Zodra beschikbaar zijn de upgrades te downloaden via HTC Downloads."
Which means: free WM6 upgrades for the models above.
Official HTC WM6 ROM in the wild
akihabaranews has recieved a hermes with the official WM6 ROM from htc, as a replacement unit!
here is the link for the pics:
http://www.akihabaranews.com/en/news-14251-The+HTC+Hermes+running+WM6,+soon+for+all+!!.html
it is running a radio-rom version 1.47.00.10!!!
so it looks like the release is really really near.
just wanted to let you know
ahfunaki said:
I just want to be able to easily update with Vista...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
To use CustomRUU with Vista, you only need to upgrade to WMDC 6.1. With this you can upgrade like in XP...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devicecenter.mspx
Regards.
jcespi2005 said:
To use CustomRUU with Vista, you only need to upgrade to WMDC 6.1. With this you can upgrade like in XP...
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsmobile/devicecenter.mspx
Regards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
thanks a lot for the tip
I've also noticed that HTC has changed a bit the e-club update section. They are definitely preparing for the update launch (after nearly a year with no official update for HTC branded phones from their official site), such suicidal tendency was too bad to be true even for a tech company.
I never met a person who did not lie (since businesses are 'legally' people in the States). July, eh? I am betting on August or September, especially for AT&T Customers since AT&T will now be focuses on the 3Gless, GPSless, DVD Quality videoless, 5MP less iPhone. I am comparing the Apple iPhone to both the Softbank X01HT (no GPS here) and Nokia N95 which for what you are paying for the iPhone (iClone), you should get something. Maybe, in 3 or 4 generations, the iPhone (iClone) will be what the TyTN and it's variants were in 2006.
Regards
crazyut said:
I never met a person who did not lie (since businesses are 'legally' people in the States). July, eh? I am betting on August or September, especially for AT&T Customers since AT&T will now be focuses on the 3Gless, GPSless, DVD Quality videoless, 5MP less iPhone. I am comparing the Apple iPhone to both the Softbank X01HT (no GPS here) and Nokia N95 which for what you are paying for the iPhone (iClone), you should get something. Maybe, in 3 or 4 generations, the iPhone (iClone) will be what the TyTN and it's variants were in 2006.
Regards
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I wouldn't hold my breathe for the update from AT&T seeing they are getting the kaiser why update an old model...
Hi Guys,
Do you know if there will be an update for the Tmobile Mda Compact 3 ?
CUSTEL said:
I wouldn't hold my breathe for the update from AT&T seeing they are getting the kaiser why update an old model...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have been talking to AT&T about the kaiser and they dont know what i am talking about. Custel i just want to know how do you know its going to come out for AT&T and when?
thanks
Well I do realize that we have been dissapointed by HTC Europe in the past, but here is an email just in from them.
Good Afternoon B****,
"Thank you for contacting HTC Europe regarding Windows Mobile 6. Sorry for the delayed response.
As we pointed out earlier the WM6 will be available in Europe during the next few weeks and as it looks it will then be available for download from out HTC Europe website."
"For further information on our Windows Mobile 6 update strategy, including which devices will receive the update, please see the following link.
http://www.europe.htc.com/z/pdf/press/WM6_statement_v6.pdf
Once released, they should be availble for download from the support section of the htc website. "
"We are aware of the problems with the memory card and as you say, this has been solved in Windows Mobile 6, which is one of the reasons we decided to release widows Mobile 6 for the TyTN device."
Should they not come up with the goodies, I am sure Leaf Wireless will.
The vibe in SA is a release date during July 2007
Sounds good.... not sure the rom will be as good at the chefs here....
djstegges said:
Sounds good.... not sure the rom will be as good at the chefs here....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At least that will give them a nice clean base ROM to start cooking from.
The playing fields will be levelled for all the cooks to have a field day.
ain't that the truth.....
basilrsa said:
"We are aware of the problems with the memory card and as you say, this has been solved in Windows Mobile 6, which is one of the reasons we decided to release widows Mobile 6 for the TyTN device."
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They didn't really say "widows" did they? That's funny.
I also noticed that HTC has quietly changed their geographic regions as well. It used to be "Europe and South Africa", now it is "Europe" and "Middle East & Africa". You're supposed to be getting your support from Dubai (or somewhere thereabouts) now!
John
Now we have some official information about regional availability.
In a nutshell, WP7 will support 5 languages (English, French, Italian, German and Spanish), and Marketplace will be available in 17 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Spain, Switzerland, UK and United States).
While at first I thought - fine, I'll just import one from wherever it's available, it won't work.
First of all, it will be next to useless if you speak Dutch or Russian, for example - it won't have dictionaries for auto-correction or, in the worst case, won't have the input characters necessary.
What's even worse, you won't be able to buy applications if your market isn't supported.
Big disappointment...
Disappointing low availability in the initial rush. I'd expected more of Microsoft.
Lol. You guys are way too harsh. Do you know how many carriers those markets contain? A LOT.
Rolling out an entirely new software platform and entirely new devices is not an easy process. Lighten up, they're doing an excellent job.
Iridox said:
Lol. You guys are way too harsh. Do you know how many carriers those markets contain? A LOT.
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No, we're not.
Apple iTunes is the only marketplace that supports selling/buying applications in those regions. And same goes for music services (iTunes Music Store) versus Zune.
Google after over a year of Android still haven't launched anything in northern Europe. It's super annoying that we're left behind innovation this easy. I'd expected more of Microsoft, who have a established business selling software and services in all the European countries, to be able to launch in all these regions at the same time.
Iridox said:
Lol. You guys are way too harsh.
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I'm not harsh, I'm disappointed because I'm left out of the party, even though I live in a country that almost 4 times as many mobile phones in use as in France, where Microsoft has over 30% market share in smartphones, where they have tons of people working at their offices including developers and localization contractors and what not, and where they have some of the biggest ISVs supplying third party applications.
So I'm frustrated, not harsh.
Windcape said:
Google after over a year of Android still haven't launched anything in northern Europe.
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Google isn't a consumer oriented company, have no infrastructure or processes in most places to sell anything directly to end users, so that's understandable. But Microsoft? Come on, they're just being lazy.
vangrieg said:
..
Google isn't a consumer oriented company, have no infrastructure or processes in most places to sell anything directly to end users, so that's understandable. But Microsoft? Come on, they're just being lazy.
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But it is still very successful.
Which makes Microsoft think.....and rethink its new product roll-out.
Could their not be other issues like Licensing and other laws that might make it difficult to get everything in order before a mass release is done? Just because you have access to similar products now doesn't mean it is easy to get new products to you when Laws/Procedure get in the way.
IM0001 said:
Could their not be other issues like Licensing and other laws that might make it difficult to get everything in order before a mass release is done?
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That is precisely the problem. It's the same reason that developers have to be in one of 30 or so countries because Microsoft can't pay them if they're outside of those.
Wow, none of the Nordic countries.
nizzon said:
Wow, none of the Nordic countries.
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Probably copyright issues. That and languages that aren't spoken by a large amount of people comparatively.
RustyGrom said:
Probably copyright issues. That and languages that aren't spoken by a large amount of people comparatively.
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All the Nordic countries speak/read/write English almost as well as their native language, so it's not a localization issue.
Legal issues is more likely the problem -- Specially when it comes to Zune, more than anything else.
But it's still disappointing, as Microsoft got large local divisions in the Nordic countries, specially Denmark (Microsoft Dynamics is developed here), so one would think they could be better than Google in this.
What I don't understand, is that Apple got both iTunes for Apps and Music available in all the European countries, so why would Microsoft be limited here with Zune?
However, it could also just be that Microsoft isn't pushing it to all countries due to simple logical issues -- there simply ain't enough phones. Nokia had same issue with the N900, which also were limited to the major countries + Finland (Nokia resides in Finland).
But is it common practice to sell stuff in english and not the local language? I really don't know but I would think they would localize it.
Zune has been interesting. Microsoft really hasn't bothered to sell it anywhere but the US. I suppose it's more of a cost/benefit thing. They just didn't care enough to take it abroad. They started that when they brought it to Xbox 360 and now they're going further with WP7.
But yea, it's going to be hard enough on them and their partners to do an effective launch in 17 countries as it is. And they're supposedly going to make their way to the Netherlands before the end of the year so that may just be it as well. Or maybe they couldn't get all the legal issues straightened out in time? At any rate, it's no small undertaking.
RustyGrom said:
But is it common practice to sell stuff in english and not the local language? I really don't know but I would think they would localize it.
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For cutting-edge it's generally accepted.
RustyGrom said:
Zune has been interesting. Microsoft really hasn't bothered to sell it anywhere but the US. I suppose it's more of a cost/benefit thing. They just didn't care enough to take it abroad. They started that when they brought it to Xbox 360 and now they're going further with WP7.
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Yeah, they stated that Zune will be released in all regions WP7 is released in.
RustyGrom said:
At any rate, it's no small undertaking.
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Doesn't make it less annoying for us
RustyGrom said:
Zune has been interesting. Microsoft really hasn't bothered to sell it anywhere but the US. I suppose it's more of a cost/benefit thing. They just didn't care enough to take it abroad. They started that when they brought it to Xbox 360 and now they're going further with WP7.
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Well, Zune is a very difficult thing because digital rights have to be obtained for every country separately... Plus, Zune has streaming, so you have to get streaming rights as well. Sometimes a label will have an agreement with the artist that won't cover digital rights, so you'll have to negotiate these separately. That's a colossal amount of "manual" work to make an international music store - and then you get videos, too...
As nice as it would be to have Zune Pass though, I can certainly live without it, and I sincerely hope this isn't something that's holding WP7 back - they won't open Zune in many countries till doomsday.
RustyGrom said:
But yea, it's going to be hard enough on them and their partners to do an effective launch in 17 countries as it is. And they're supposedly going to make their way to the Netherlands before the end of the year so that may just be it as well. Or maybe they couldn't get all the legal issues straightened out in time? At any rate, it's no small undertaking.
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Apart from Zune, however, I don't see any big hurdles. Translation isn't a big deal, they have a network of subcontractors that do it, and everything is in those MUI files. Marketplace is available in more than 17 countries even now, so they certainly learned how to deal with tax and legal issues by now, and it's not that difficult really. OEMs know how to sell devices there, have distributors, retail/MO partners etc. etc.
At the end of the day I don't care if they "launch" WP7 in Russia or not, all I care is that they add Russian keyboard. Adding language support is certainly not that big of anl undertaking which would sell a couple million more devices even without official launches and all that fluff.
vangrieg said:
As nice as it would be to have Zune Pass though, I can certainly live without it, and I sincerely hope this isn't something that's holding WP7 back - they won't open Zune in many countries till doomsday.
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As I said, Zune will be launched in all countries they launch WP7 in.
At the end of the day I don't care if they "launch" WP7 in Russia or not, all I care is that they add Russian keyboard. Adding language support is certainly not that big of anl undertaking which would sell a couple million more devices even without official launches and all that fluff.
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It's a software keyboard, can't be that difficult to implement, even for a Cyrillic alphabet.
Windcape said:
As I said, Zune will be launched in all countries they launch WP7 in.
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In that case we'll never ever see WP7 in Russia, even Apple hasn't been able to get deals with labels to launch iTunes store here.
Windcape said:
It's a software keyboard, can't be that difficult to implement, even for a Cyrillic alphabet.
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Certainly, given that CE supports Cyrillic, Silverlight supports Cyrillic, even Zune supports Cyrillic, and Microsoft has all the dictionaries and stuff. That's a really minor thing to do to get access to a market with some 200 million active mobile phones in use I'd say...
So we wont even get the Phones?!!!!!!!
I got the impression that we could buy the phones but not have access to the Marketplace. I though wrong?
If thats the case, when the F!!! will I be able to buy it in Sweden? Next summer?
This is ****ing uppsetting.
nizzon said:
So we wont even get the Phones?
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Well, you don't need a phone to be officially available in your country to buy it, you can just buy it on the internet from wherever you like. You may not get official warranty, it won't be subsidised etc., but you can get it if you want.
Lack of official status isn't a problem with WM because you can install any keyboard you want and you can sideload applications. This isn't a problem with the iPhone because it supports tons of languages regardless of where you buy it. In the case of WP7, text autocorrection won't work, you might not get the characters you need in the software keyboard, and you won't be able to install applications, so simply importing it will be pretty much useless.
nizzon said:
So we wont even get the Phones?!!!!!!!
I got the impression that we could buy the phones but not have access to the Marketplace. I though wrong?
If thats the case, when the F!!! will I be able to buy it in Sweden? Next summer?
This is ****ing uppsetting.
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Countries like the Netherlands have been told to get it around Christmas - so most likely the Nordic countries will get it too...
Don't be too upset, there will be announcements soon.
vangrieg said:
Well, you don't need a phone to be officially available in your country to buy it, you can just buy it on the internet from wherever you like. You may not get official warranty, it won't be subsidised etc., but you can get it if you want.
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Not in my case, I will get it from the company I work for and we have certain policys to follow.