Microsoft explains the "Walshed" Windows Phone NoDo update , Fix Coming

Used Chris Walshie's method to update your WP7, and now are unable to go past the NoDo update (build 7390) ? There's some good news for you, Microsoft has approved a fix for the people who used the ChevronWP7 updater.

ChevronWP7 updater was a tool created by Chris Walsh, to allow users to update their WP7 device before the official update by carriers. Using the ChevronWP7 updater could put the device into a state, where its unable to receive future updates and reflashing it would be the only fix, says Microsoft.

Quoting Brandon Watson from Windows Phone Developer Blog :

Phones updated via the unsupported method do not contain an official image and cannot be updated further at this time. Due to scheduling of engineering resources, we did not anticipate having to undue the changes made to phones by these unsupported methods. While we are not ruling out having a fix in the future, for now there is no fix.

In the blog post, Watson also tells that users trying to update their Walshed phones using the Zune software would receive a 80180048 error. Even if you try to get your phone replaced via a manufacturing return, the operators will know the situation due to the error code and its upto them to decide what to do. Still, its not all bad.

We understand that this isn’t ideal. Unfortunately, our engineering priorities are focused on improving the process by which updates get to Windows Phone, issuing the security update you just got and working to getting Mango to market. Undoing this specific problem was not in our schedule.

However, the creators of the unsupported tool are a clever bunch, and wanted to get a timely fix created for customers who have put their phones into this state. They believe they have created a way to get these phones back on the officially supported path. We will work with them to validate their solution and applaud the team for taking responsibility to do this.

The ChevronWP7 team has already tweeted that a fix has been approved and more details will emerge soon. Still, nowhere has Microsoft mentioned that the Walshing of phones wouldn't have happened if so much had not gone wrong with the NoDo. After this is all fixed, users may well forgive Microsoft is the king of fruits arrives in a timely manner for everyone.

By Akshay Bakshi

4th and Mayor is now the official Foursquare app for Windows Phone 7 ? (Updated)

4th and Mayor is one of the finest application available on the marketplace and undoubtedly the best foursquare client on Windows Phone 7. Now what made it stand out was that it was far better than the official app ( developed by Microsoft ). Probably Foursquare acknowledged this fact and has removed it's official application from the marketplace . The Foursquare application page now navigates to the Zune download link for 4th and Mayor which could only mean one thing - we have a new official app (well deserved) which is created by Jeff Wilcox ( a Microsoft employee and a rockstar for #wp7dev ).

Go give the app a try - zune download link

We have tweeted to @jeffwilcox for confirmation on this, we will update ASAP

thank you @russel_clark for the heads up

Update : MSDN suggests 4th and mayor is just a temporary replacement for the upcoming brand new official Foursquare app.

By Rahul Mathur

Official Evernote application for Windows Phone 7 " almost ready " !

Good news Evernote users ! The cross platform application Evernote is  ' almost ready ' to be released in the marketplace. After months of silence, we finally know that an official Evernote app for WP7 will be released in the marketplace soon. They made this announcement in their recent podcast.

Link to the podcast  ( 39 min 40 seconds for the wp7 goodness - thanks again @danevald )

Well that's all the Evernote info we have for you at this moment. We will keep you updates for more on this.

thanks @danevald  for the heads up.

By Rahul Mathur

New Security update for Windows Phone 7 devices now available !

Multiple #wp7 users ( including me ) have confirmed that their devices have been notified for a security update - the updated version number is : 7.0.7392.0

 It's being called a 'critical ' security update that  fixes issue related to fraudulent third party certificates  and includes the NoDo update too. Read more about the security update on the Windows Phone Update Page.

By Rahul Mathur

Apparently, you can control a canon firing robot with Windows Phone 7 !

Now here is something which you have probably never seen before. I have seen pretty crazy stuff happening with Android and iOS devices controlling various cool robots but never came across anything related happening with Windows Phone 7 devices. For a change, I came across this video in which Muang brothers - Lwin and Min from Accolade Systems ( a BizSpark company ) showed of their  ' canon firing robot ' controlled via an application running on Windows Phone device.

Dave Bost has more on this :

I asked the Maung Brothers what the inspiration behind this robot was and all of all things it was pure laziness! Or some would say – pure genius! They basically wanted to create something that allowed them to mow the grass for them while sitting in the comforts on their living room. A remote-controlled lawnmower! Aside from the potentially maiming and harm a runaway lawnmower could do on account of a software bug, the Maung brothers took it upon themselves to investigate the possibilities. Prototyping off of a Power Wheels Barbie Jammin Jeep Wrangler and taking it from there, they built a solid chassis and all the techno gadgetry to make a wannabe Maker blush. Not to mention the addition of strobe lights and a cannon!

Check out the robot showing off some moves :



tip : Jump to 3:15 if you are too eager to see the robot in action.

Oh. You can use it as a tank as well, just remove the equipment firing the cannons and just sit on it and navigate via your windows phone device. Not too bad, eh ?

By Rahul Mathur

Microsoft TouchStudio updated to provide more access, scripting on phone now even more fun!

Microsoft released TouchStudio a month back much to delight of thousands of WP7 device owners. Basically touch studio enabled users to create tiny yet useful scripts with barely any coding experience required,  something which isn't common on other mobile platforms.

Script your phone! TouchStudio is a radically new software development environment on the Windows Phone, bringing the excitement of the first programmable personal computers to the phone. Bring your songs and pictures to life, and use the sensors on the phone. You write code by tapping on the screen. TouchStudio comes with many samples that you can tweak.

Here is the Release Note for Ver. 1.1 beta  :

• Many bug fixes
• Better auto-completion in expression editor
• Access to accelerometer, location, maps, translation services, web search, tile customization, charting, and more.

Notable new APIs:

• senses->acceleration quick/smooth/stable: Access to accelerometer
• locations->*: Access to GPS/geo-coordinates
• maps->*: Access to Bing maps
• languages->*: Access to Bing- and Hawaii-based translation services
• web->search *: Searching the web with Bing
• tile->*: Configuration of script tile properties
• math->create number map: charting functionality

Notable API changes:

old API	new API
engine->assert	time->fail if not
engine->stop	time->stop
phone->sleep	time->sleep
phone->now	time->now
json->get field	json->field
json->get boolean	json->boolean
json->get number	json->number
json->get string	json->string
senses->snap camera picture	senses->take camera picture
senses->has camerea picture	senses->has taken camera picture
senses->camera picture	senses->taken camera picture
web->deep zoom link	web->link deep zoom
web->hyperlink	web->link url
web->image link	web->link image

Zune download link 

In short, more access. More the merrier, I say. Do show us what you come up with !

By Rahul Mathur

Meet the Windows Phone 8 Concept : Sony Ericsson Leon 2 GHz Dual Core Smartphone

Mango isn't even out yet and Windows Phone 8 concepts are already surfacing. Can you feel the excitement ? Victor Cao has created a futuristic, droolworthy concept phone based on a future imagined version of Windows Phone. It uses a future version of Office and is equipped with the Transolid UI.

Its aimed as a high-end device with a dual core 2 GHz processor, 12 MP back camera , 3.2 MP front camera, an 1800 mAh battery, a 4.4 inch 1080p OLED touchscreen, wireless HDMI and NFC support. The 12 MP autofocus Cybershot camera has multi-LED flash, the screen is Bravia, has a Walkman music player and the phone is Playstation certified as well. Talk about dream phones, eh ? More images below.

[Source via WMPoweruser]

By Akshay Bakshi