Some facts before Mix11

 

Microsoft hat heute ein paar Zahlen zu Windows Phone 7 gemacht, (Brandon Watson) ein Jahr nach dem Announcement von der Mix10

• 1.5 Million - The Windows Phone Developer Tools, consisting of Visual Studio Express for Windows Phone and Expression Blend 4 for Windows Phone have been downloaded over 1.5 million times. Put differently, the number of downloads equates to the size of the entire population of Philadelphia. (Somewhere a NY Giants fan just screamed.)
• 36,000 – People are talking a lot about the number of developers in their ecosystem. It would be easy for us to say that we had 1.5 million given the developer tools downloaded, or we could talk about the number of people we have on mailing lists, but we won’t. We’d rather give a nod to the 36,000 members of the AppHub community who have voted with their wallets and become members of the Windows Phone developer community.
• “The number:” 11,500 – What is an app? It’s a question that really begs some scrutinizing. For us, from the beginning, we have always been focused on quality over quantity. We recognize the importance of getting great apps on our platform and not artificially inflating the number of actual apps available to customer by listing “wallpapers” as a category, or perhaps allowing competitor’s apps to run on the platform to increase “tonnage.” We also don’t believe in the practice of counting “lite” apps as unique quality content. In reality they only exist because developers can’t have a Trial API and must therefore do extra work. Finally, we don’t double and triple count apps which are submitted in multiple languages.
  We respect that determining what is or is not a quality app is subjective, for example eBooks as titles will probably find their way onto the platform en masse. Still, we believe we have the standards and processes in place to continue ensuring that customers have the ability to quickly and easily locate and acquire quality apps and games that extend the value of their phone.
  We’ve been very focused on the quality of the apps in the Marketplace since we first announced the platform one year ago, and we’ve done this by doing what we do best for developers; giving them great tools, tons of sample code and unparalleled support through our incredible Developer & Platform Evangelism team. As a result, we’ve got apps; thousands of them. In fact our ecosystem generated 10,000 apps faster than anyone else, without padding the stats.
• 7,500 – It’s great to have a platform full of apps, but most developers we speak to are concerned with making money. That’s going to be a function of a few things. You might think that the primary driver is number of handsets in market. Based on the conversations we are having with some of our developers, many are telling us that they are seeing more revenue on our platform than competing platforms, despite the fact that we cannot yet match the sheer number of handsets being sold. For them it’s about truly setting their own price and the ability to get noticed. So far, we have nearly 7,500 apps that are either paid in our Marketplace.
• 1,200 – While the 36,000 registered developers are nice to talk about, the 1,200 newly registered developers we are adding every week is incredibly encouraging. Developers are pragmatists and they are going where there is ample opportunity.
• 1,100 – Speaking of ad funded apps, there are now 1,100 apps that are generating developer revenue using the Microsoft Advertising Ad Control. Even more impressive is the double digit growth rate of new ad funded apps that are being added to the Windows Phone Marketplace every month. Check out how two student developers and a part-time hobbyist turned their apps into lucrative revenue streams.
• 12 – Customers love our apps. Love them. Windows Phone customers download an average of 12 apps each month. Considering that the phone has only been widely available for around 4 months, that’s very healthy demand.
• 1.8 – Nothing upsets developers more than not knowing what is going on with their app during certification. Since opening the Marketplace for application ingestion developers have experienced an average time to certification of 1.8 days. Certification can yield a pass or fail, but developers get an answer on average in days – not weeks, nor months.
• 62% - When developers are given clear and prescriptive guidance about what is expected of them and their app, it’s only fair to assume that apps will make it through certification quickly. They do. 62% of all apps pass certification on their first attempt. We know that we don’t have it perfect yet and we continue to work with our community to find out how we can be better. For example, when we updated the policy regarding the requirement to provide a support alias based on developer feedback, pass rates grew by almost 10 full percentage points. We will continue to listen to our developer community to ensure that they have a voice in the vetting process while still delivering high quality apps to our collective customers.
• 44% - Of all the paid apps in the Marketplace, 44% of them include access to a Trial version. Our developers rely on the Trial API available for Windows Phone 7 to drive consumer confidence in their purchases. Trying before you buy…what a concept.
• 40% - The statistic that gets me the most excited and speaks the most to the work my team has yet to do is the percentage of registered developers who have published their apps. 40% of the fully registered developer population has published an app or game, yet 60% have not yet published. That’s incredibly exciting when you consider the amount of creativity which is still forthcoming.
• 1 – It only takes one idea. One idea to get you started down the path of building an amazing app or game, reaching millions of people, or maybe just showing off to your friends. It only takes one.
  

Wieso die Schweiz hinten ansteht …

frage ich mich seit dem Launch im Oktober. Ich meine jetzt nicht, das wir mit Geräten etc. hinten anstehen müssen. Da sind wir (Weltweit gesehen) gut bedient. (Anm. Ist ja finanziell gesehen ein „guter Markt“.) Nein, was ich nicht verstehe:

Maps, resp.Karten: Mir ist von Anfang an aufgefallen, dass in der Bing App die „Navi“ Funktion für Schweizer nicht zur Verfügung steht. Wieso ist mir nicht klar. (Lässt sich lösen, ist auch seit November klar… Gebietsschema auf z.B Deutsch(Deutschland) ändern… é..voila. Kann mir mal jemand erklären, wo dass das Problem mit der Schweiz liegt?? (Geschweige denn davon, dass z.B nur T-Mobile User Navigon nutzen dürfen…)

Zune: Wieso dürfen Schweizer Nutzer nicht die „normalen“ Zune Features nutzen? Ich meine damit die Möglichkeit Songs und Alben im Marketplace zu kaufen, beim Radio hören auf den „Warenkorb“ zu klicken, den Hintergrund automatisch mit den entsprechenden Interpreten updaten zu lassen … etc.etc. Ich mache gerne einen Blog Eintrag, welche Features da sind, die Ihr gar nicht kennen könnt… Hier nenne ich einige Funktionen, die ich erhalte wenn ich mit meiner „amerikanischen“ zune ID (Live ID) angemeldet bin, oder von meinem Zune selbst.Das diesbezüglich ein rechtliches Problem besteht, kann ich mir noch vorstellen. Lösen könnt ihr das, indem ihr euch eine Live ID zulegt, die In den USA zuhause ist.(Ihr müsst dann aber ALLES ändern) Dafür müsst ihr dann aber auch auf dem PC den Standort nach USA und die Sprache anpassen.(Abrechnung dann per USD) Was Passiert dann? Zune zeigt sich in einem neuen Bild und ihr könnt Songs und Videos auf dem Handy kaufen…. Und der Player verhält sich plötzlich ganz anders…

Zudem hätte ich noch ein paar Wünsche an den Zune Player, was Funktionalitäten angeht, welche ich vom „Original“ Zune Player kenne. Aber die darf ich ja gar nicht kennen, den hat es ja in der Schweiz nie gegeben… Versteht ihr, was ich meine ?

Please, C’mon !

Ps: Das ist der Status nach dem NoDo Update.(Ist in der Schweiz zur Zeit nur „selbst erzwungen“ möglich). Habe erwartet, dass sich da was ändert… Ok, die Suche (auf dem Phone) ist zwar da, findet aber nichts (Musiksuche auf dem Device). Dafür funtkioniert die „Kachel“ resp. Alphabetische suche( Wenn ihr wisst, welche ich meine)

(Wer wirklich an Details Intresse hat, I’m listening…)

Workaround um schneller an NoDo zu gelangen aufgetaucht

Heute abend ist mir im Netz ein “Workaround” aufgefallen, welcher verspricht, dass man den Update des WP7 auf NoDo “forcieren” kann. Und ich kann nur sagen: IT WORKS !

Aus rechtlichen Gründen werde ich den “Workaround” hier jedoch nicht posten. Findige User schauen doch mal bei den XDA’s vorbei … Soviel sei verraten : Der “Workaround” mit “Ungarn” und PPTP hat geholfen.

Hier der Beweis:

Ich muss sagen, dass das Phone nun eindeutig schneller ist. Auch der Marketplace macht wieder Spass . Details und Erfahrungen zum NoDo in den nächsten Tagen.

(Ich habe ein ungebrandetes HD7 und der Trick geht nur mit ungebrandeten Phones)

Top 10 things to check when you think you are done with your application

From the Windows Phone Developer Blog

Top 10 things to check when you think you are done with your application.

2 of 10 - Make sure your buttons are visible, even when the keyboard is displayed.

3 of 10 - Managing themes on WP7. Or how to build your application to respect system color changes.

4 of 10 - Make sure your finger can hit the target and text is legible.

5 of 10 - Give feedback on touch and progress within your UI

6 of 10 - Embedding web content should be done with extreme caution.

7 of 10 - Place your buttons well… Floating buttons, home buttons, and back buttons… Oh my!

8 of 10 - Understanding Pivots and Panoramic view controls

9 of 10 - Make your life easy. Use our common controls, and use them right!

10 of 10 - Aesthetics and alignment matter

 

thx to Stefano Mallè

NoDo Update–Status und Inhalt

 

Nachdem vor kurzem die Offizielle Seite mit dem Inhalt zum März update aktualisiert wurde, und es schon Benutzer gibt, welche von einem ausliefern des Updates berichten, wird es Zeit, kurz den Inhalt und das Vorgehen diesese Update zu erklären.

Auf der offiziellen Seite “Where's my phone update?” hat Mircorsoft das Prozedere wie folgt erklärt:

 

Stage 1: Testing
Die Software ist beim Provider und wird Netzwerk und Qualitäts Tests unterzogen.
Stage 2: Scheduling
Der Provider Test ist fertig und Microsoft plant die Verteilung der Updates.Dies dauert normalerweise 10 Tage oder weniger.
Stage 3: Delivering update
Microsoft hat begonnen das Update auszuliefern. Da diese Auslieferung in Etappen geschieht, kann es (im schlimmsten Fall) bis zu mehreren Wochen dauern, bis Du auf dem Handy informiert wirst, dass ein Neues Update vorliegt.

 

Location	Mobile operator	February update	March update
Australia	Optus	Delivering update	Testing
	Telstra	Testing	Testing
Canada	Bell Mobility	Delivering update	Scheduling
	Sasktel	Delivering update	Scheduling
	Rogers	Delivering update	Scheduling
	Telus	Delivering update	Scheduling
France	SFR	Scheduling	Scheduling
Ireland	Eircom/Meteor	Delivering update	Scheduling
	eMobile	Delivering update	Scheduling
Italy	Telecom Italia	Delivering update	Scheduling
Mexico	Telcel	Delivering update	Scheduling
Singapore	SingTel	Delivering update	Scheduling
	Starhub	Delivering update	Scheduling
Spain	Telefonica	Testing	Testing
UK, Ireland, Austria, Italy, Sweden	Hutchison Group	Delivering update	Scheduling
UK, Ireland, Germany	O2	Delivering update	Scheduling
Global	Vodafone Group	Delivering update	Scheduling
	Deutsche Telecom	Testing	Testing
	Orange Group	Scheduling	Scheduling
	Open market phones	Delivering update	Delivering update
	All other operators	Delivering update	Scheduling

 

Wir müssen uns (als Schweizer) wohl auf den Teil “All other operators” konzentrieren.

Merh Informationen gibts auf der Phone updates Seite. Um herauszufinden, was in Updete enthalten ist, besucht Ihr am Besten die Update history page.

Ich habe bereits darüber berichtet, was im NoDo Update sein wird, hier eine aktualisierte Form von Paul Thurrot: ( http://windowsphonesecrets.com/2011/03/22/microsoft-details-march-2011-software-update-contents/)

Copy & paste. You asked for it—now it’s here. Just tap a word and drag the arrows to copy and paste it on your phone. You can copy text from emails, text messages, web pages, and Office Mobile documents, and paste it anywhere you can type. To learn more, see Copy & paste.

Faster apps and games. Nobody likes to wait. That’s why we’ve whittled down the time it takes for apps and games to start up and resume. It’s all part of our focus on getting you to the things you love, easier and faster.

Better Marketplace search. We’ve streamlined Marketplace search to make it easier to find specific apps, games, or music. Press the Search button in the Apps or Games section of Marketplace and you’ll see only apps or games in the results. Press Search in the Music section of Marketplace to search just the music catalog.

Other Marketplace improvements. We’ve improved the stability of Marketplace while you download apps. We’ve also improved the experience of downloading apps larger than 20 megabytes, upgrading from trial apps to paid apps, using a credit card with an address outside the United States, sharing links to apps via email, sorting Xbox LIVE games by release date, and creating an Xbox LIVE account from within the Games Hub.

Wi-Fi improvements. We now display your phone’s Media Access Control (MAC) address in Settings. (You might need this info if you try to connect to a Wi-Fi network that uses MAC address filtering. To learn more, see Connect to a Wi-Fi network.) We’ve also removed the limit on the number of Wi-Fi profiles that you can store and reduced the time it takes to start your phone if you’ve stored lots of Wi-Fi profiles.

Outlook improvements. We’ve improved the experience of viewing iPhone photo attachments you receive from a non-Exchange-based email account (such as a Google Mail, Hotmail, or Yahoo! Mail account), using the Global Address List (GAL) when connecting to Exchange Server 2003 using Exchange ActiveSync, and working with email display names that contain brackets (for example, “David Alexander [Contoso]“).

Messaging improvements. We’ve improved the experience of receiving Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) messages if your phone uses a PIN-locked SIM.

Facebook integration. We’ve improved the experience of syncing Facebook accounts.

Camera improvements. We’ve improved the stability of switching between camera and video modes.

Audio improvements. We’ve improved the experience of using a Bluetooth headset to make calls when you’re playing music or videos.

Other performance improvements. This month’s update also includes software from several phone manufacturers that improves the performance of specific models. Naturally, if you don’t have one of the affected models, we won’t install this portion of the update on your phone.