Windows Phone 7: March Update Rolling Out

Unknown-One

Unknown-One

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Surprised nobody has posted about this yet. Microsoft has officially rolled out the March update for WP7 (Build 7390). This is the big update that adds "copy and paste"

Full changelog for this update:
- Copy/paste support.
- Large speed improvements (memory management tweaks).
- Better marketplace search with category filtering.
- Marketplace stability fixes.
- OS can now display its MAC address.
- Outlook / Exchange integration enhancements
- Improved handling of MMS when using a PIN-locked SIM
- Facebook Integration Improvements
- Camera stability improvements while switching between photo and video modes
- Improved bluetooth headset support
- Model-specific fixes and performance enhancements for various handsets


So, who's updated so far? Unbranded phones should already see the update. Carrier-branded phones wont see it until your specific carrier approves the update, though you can de-brand your phone and get the update directly from Microsoft if you have a developer-unlocked handset. That's how I updated my AT&T branded Samsung Focus.

From the few hours I've had to play with it, it seems like a solid update to me. :D
 
Just did the update today. Used the Samsung registry to debrand my phone, and it saw the february update and march update right after. Made my samsung focus faster and more stable. Games like rocket riot takes a fraction of the time to load and programs like weave are very smooth to navigate through. Marketplace no longer lags, and the hubs update more quickly. Don't realy need the copy and paste feature, but it's nice to have.
 
I am ruining WP7 on my HD2 and loving it a lot more than I thought I would. Wish I could get the update through normal channels ...
Posted via Mobile Device
 
PNut12345 said:
How did you debrand your Focus?
Click to expand...

Note 1: These directions apply ONLY to the Samsung Focus and Samsung Omnia 7. The method for de-branding other handsets is different.
Note 2: If you are an officially registered Windows Phone 7 developer and have already developer unlocked your phone through Microsoft, skip directly to step 4.
Note 3: Not sure if unofficial unlocks are taboo on this forum or not. Mods, feel free to remove the link if they are.

Unknown-One said:
1. Unlock your phone with Chevron WP7. The unlock process is detailed in this XDA Developers thread.

2. Download and install Tom's XAP Installer. This will allow you to side-load applications onto your phone from your PC by simple double-clicking the XAP file.

3. Side-load Samsung Tools onto your phone. Run this app, check the box to prevent the phone from re-locking, check the box that disables the side-load limit, click the "Apply" button.

4a. Side-load this modified version of Samsung Registry Editor. This copy of the registry editor has been modified to take you directly to the registry key that needs to be changed.
4b. In Samsung Registry Editor, tap the line that says "\MobileOperator" and then tap "Read." Make note of your current carrier. In my case, the default value for this string was "ATT-US."
4c. Clear the "value" field completely, type "000-88" (without the quotes), and then tap "Write." This will cause your phone to identify as an unbranded handset.

5. Connect your phone to your PC, Zune will immediately offer to update your phone to the February update (Build 7008) which will prepare your phone for the March update (Build 7390). Follow the guided update procedure in Zune.

6a. If you get lucky, if you check for updates again right after Windows Phone 7 boots back up, Zune will offer the March update. If that happens, congratulations, update again and skip to Step 7!
6b. If you're unlucky, you'll have to spoof your location so that the update service thinks you're in a region where the March update has been deployed. A guide for accomplishing this is detailed in this XDA Developers thread.

7. For the sake of completeness, you may want to pop open Samsung Registry Editor again and change "\MobileOperator" back to your original carrier.
Click to expand...

Edit 1: As an added bonus, here's an app that will deploy custom ringtones to any developer unlocked WP7 handset: RingRing7
Happy hacking!

Edit 2: Much simpler method for forcing the update: http://www.wpcentral.com/nodo-update-hack-released-works-every-device-every-carrier-right-now
 
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I'm going to ignore this OS until they let developers use full multi-tasking...
 
Technically, WP7 already has the ability to 'multitask.'

You can tweak a registry key and enable it, the problem is there's no UI to control it yet. You can hit the "back" button over-and-over to get to previously launched apps, but that's about it. There's also no UI to close background apps, so they just pile up until the OS is forced to tombstone something so it doesn't run out of memory.

Microsoft has already shown off an app-switcher which obviously makes use of this pre-existing functionality, which is supposed to be pushed out to the phones in the next major update (code name "Mango"). It's on the books for THIS YEAR, not some indeterminate date in the undecided future.

I don't see why you would entirely ignore the OS because of it, though. It's still perfectly functional, even without 3rd-party app multitasting. Don't forget, first-party apps (phone, zune, email, push notifications, etc) can already multitask just fine, which ends up covering most usage scenarios, and is similar to how the iPhone started out.
 
I'm a big fan of multitasking (previous winmo and android) but even I have to say it wasn't missed much when I tried this phone for two weeks.
 
I updated my T-mobile HTC HD7 using the disconnect method through Zune. Running smooth as can be now.
 
Unknown-One said:
Note 1: These directions apply ONLY to the Samsung Focus and Samsung Omnia 7. The method for de-branding other handsets is different.
Note 2: If you are an officially registered Windows Phone 7 developer and have already developer unlocked your phone through Microsoft, skip directly to step 4.
Note 3: Not sure if unofficial unlocks are taboo on this forum or not. Mods, feel free to remove the link if they are.



Edit: As an added bonus, here's an app that will deploy custom ringtones to any developer unlocked WP7 handset: RingRing7
Happy hacking!
Click to expand...

Just a word of caution to anyone wanting to try this, it's a complete PITA and the chances of getting it to work are hit or miss. My brother and I fucked with mine for 2 hours yesterday to no avail. With the update coming in a few weeks anyway, I'm gonna wait for the real deal. The chances of bricking your phone appear to be nil, but even some of the tech sites out there have mentioned that it's tough to do this method.

FWIW, we hit a wall when Chevron WP7 quit communicating with the phone, no matter what we did.
 
Unknown-One said:
Technically, WP7 already has the ability to 'multitask.'

You can tweak a registry key and enable it, the problem is there's no UI to control it yet. You can hit the "back" button over-and-over to get to previously launched apps, but that's about it. There's also no UI to close background apps, so they just pile up until the OS is forced to tombstone something so it doesn't run out of memory.

Microsoft has already shown off an app-switcher which obviously makes use of this pre-existing functionality, which is supposed to be pushed out to the phones in the next major update (code name "Mango"). It's on the books for THIS YEAR, not some indeterminate date in the undecided future.

I don't see why you would entirely ignore the OS because of it, though. It's still perfectly functional, even without 3rd-party app multitasting. Don't forget, first-party apps (phone, zune, email, push notifications, etc) can already multitask just fine, which ends up covering most usage scenarios, and is similar to how the iPhone started out.
Click to expand...

See boys and girls this is why you don't remove task manager from your OS lawl..
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
See boys and girls this is why you don't remove task manager from your OS lawl..
Click to expand...

Remove? What are you talking about? WP7 hasn't had a task manager before; the one set to be included in the next major update is its first.

Just because it has a Windows CE core doesn't mean it's the same as CE. For almost all intents and purposes, it's an entirely new OS.
 
Unknown-One said:
Remove? What are you talking about? WP7 hasn't had a task manager before; the one set to be included in the next major update is its first.

Just because it has a Windows CE core doesn't mean it's the same as CE. For almost all intents and purposes, it's an entirely new OS.
Click to expand...

do you HONESTLY think that WP7 is 100% new compared to Windows Mobile 6.5?.....lol gotta quit believing those silly marketing guys........
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
do you HONESTLY think that WP7 is 100% new compared to Windows Mobile 6.5?.....lol gotta quit believing those silly marketing guys........
Click to expand...
Did you even read my post? I quite clearly said it has a Windows CE core, but for "almost all intents and purposes" it's a new OS.

Everything is being done from the ground up in silverlight, which means the CE core is basically there to provide a driver model and to support the .net framework upon which all of the new stuff runs. Everything the user interacts with (this includes Copy/paste and the upcoming task manager) had to be done mostly from scratch.

PNut12345 said:
Just a word of caution to anyone wanting to try this, it's a complete PITA and the chances of getting it to work are hit or miss. My brother and I fucked with mine for 2 hours yesterday to no avail. With the update coming in a few weeks anyway, I'm gonna wait for the real deal. The chances of bricking your phone appear to be nil, but even some of the tech sites out there have mentioned that it's tough to do this method.

FWIW, we hit a wall when Chevron WP7 quit communicating with the phone, no matter what we did.
Click to expand...

Heads up, the method for forcing an update directly from Microsoft has been simplified HUGELY. Check it out: http://www.wpcentral.com/nodo-update-hack-released-works-every-device-every-carrier-right-now

No more waiting for carriers! Yay!
 
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phide said:
For what it's worth, I've found multitasking to be of minimal benefit in iOS.
Click to expand...

Agreed. As you said, minimal benefit but there is a benefit :D I am looking to get rid of my iPhone, pass it on to the wife, and switch but haven't found anything that has really caught my eye. Not a big fan of crackberries, want a WP7 that is pretty complete, but might have to wait a bit longer to get something that fits.
 
Unknown-One said:
Did you even read my post? I quite clearly said it has a Windows CE core, but for "almost all intents and purposes" it's a new OS.

Everything is being done from the ground up in silverlight, which means the CE core is basically there to provide a driver model and to support the .net framework upon which all of the new stuff runs. Everything the user interacts with (this includes Copy/paste and the upcoming task manager) had to be done mostly from scratch.



Heads up, the method for forcing an update directly from Microsoft has been simplified HUGELY. Check it out: http://www.wpcentral.com/nodo-update-hack-released-works-every-device-every-carrier-right-now

No more waiting for carriers! Yay!
Click to expand...

Well since CE has a task manager I guess you didn't read my original post.........niiiiiice
 
Got the HTC Arrive Saturday, love it, goes great with my Zune Pass. Camera qaulity indoors is the best and the 3G radio seems a lot slower than my Verizon TP2 but other than that everything else is great. The Marketplace has a lot of decent apps as well and it's growing like weeds.
 
YeuEmMaiMai said:
Well since CE has a task manager I guess you didn't read my original post.........niiiiiice
Click to expand...
No, I read your post... it seems you aren't grasping the massive difference between Windows CE and Windows Phone 7 (either that, or you're trolling us).

Windows Phone 7 does not use any of Windows CE's application layer, it has instead opted to use Silverlight. This means EVERYTHING that the user interacts with has been written from scratch in Silverlight (This includes the first-ever Silverlight task manager, which is to be included in Windows Phone 7's next major update).

There was no task manager to "remove" from Windows 7, one hasn't been written/released yet. Windows CE's task manager was never part of Windows Phone 7, and will not run on Windows Phone 7.

PNut12345 said:
Yeah, they pulled the chevronwp7.updater file already, reason unknown.

Crap.:(
Click to expand...
There might be a very good reason the Chevron team pulled their hacked updater. There might have been a serious bug discovered in it shortly after release.

Hopefully they can get it back up soon :)
 
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did they resolve the issue where the web browser doesn't display the URL and status bar at the top when in landscape orientation?
 
On my Arrive the URL will display only when the keyboard is pulled out in landscape. Not sure how it works with devices without keyboards or if this only on the Arrive.
 
DisrupTer911 said:
did they resolve the issue where the web browser doesn't display the URL and status bar at the top when in landscape orientation?
Click to expand...

Issue? The browser is supposed to go full-screen in landscape. That's by design...

I believe "Metro Web Browser," "SurfCube Browser," and "Browser Plus" have options for showing the address bar while in landscape mode. Not sure why you'd want to, though. There's not much vertical real-estate in landscape, and adding an address bar just makes it worse.

Metro Web Browser is my current web browser of choice on WP7. It's almost overwhelmingly feature packed.
 
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