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Okay, so the WP7 hacking community may not be quite as active as…
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How to keep your unlocked HTC WP7 device from re-locking after every…
Category : Gadgets
The story of the Trojan Horse must be a favorite among video game console manufacturers, because software updates these days often come with more than bargained for — today, Microsoft issued a mandatory Xbox 360 update, reportedly for a single bugfix, but which seems to have coincidentally halted scores of pirates and hackers from playing Call of Duty : Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2 on the console. Members of the Xbox-Scene forums noted the update was taking suspiciously long to download, discovered that backup copies of these games ceased to work, and presently believe that Microsoft included a patch for these two games to enable an anti-piracy feature that specifically targets burned copies. What does the mandatory update do for you if you’re not part of the hacking scene? It merely enables the console to automatically boot a pre-inserted game when you power it on, a feature that was accidentally disabled in November . [Thanks, Brian] Xbox 360 mandatory update restores boot to disc, detains Call of Duty pirates for a tad originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 20:33:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Category : Gadgets
Tired of your Windows Phone 7 device sending and receiving random bouts of data ? Well, Microsoft is, too — and they’ve started to reach some conclusions from that investigation opened a few days ago. Apparently, there’s a “third party” that’s responsible for the misbehavior, and Redmond’s already reached out to help ‘em make the necessary fixes; the story isn’t necessarily over, though, because they’re still “investigating additional potential root causes,” which we presume could involve the operating system itself. As for the third party, it seems a “small” number of customers are affected, which probably explains why it’s taken this long for the complaints to come to a rolling boil. Here’s the full statement: “We have determined that a third-party solution commonly accessed from Windows Phones is configured in a manner that potentially causes larger than expected data downloads. We are in contact with the third party to assist them in making the necessary fixes, and are also pursuing potential workarounds to address the configuration issue in case those are needed. At this point in our investigation, we believe this is responsible for most of the reported incidents. We are investigating additional potential root causes for the remainder of the reports. A small (low single-digit) percentage of Windows Phone customers have reported being affected. We are continuing to investigate this issue and will update with additional information and guidance as it becomes available.” Microsoft tracks down ‘phantom data’ bug in Windows Phone 7, points finger at unnamed third party originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:38:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Category : Gadgets
Well, here’s something of a surprise — Microsoft has just brought its OneNote app to the iPhone, and it’s made it available as a free download “for a limited time” to boot. As with the Windows Phone 7 app (previously the only mobile version), the iPhone app will let you manage notes and shopping lists (and even add pictures taken with the iPhone’s camera), and then sync those with Windows Live SkyDrive so you can access them in either the Windows desktop application or its web-based counterpart. As ZDNet ‘s Mary Jo Foley notes, however, perhaps just as interesting as the app itself is the question of what else might follow — a native OneNote app for iPad, perhaps, or even iOS versions of other Office applications? Microsoft unsurprisingly isn’t commenting on those possibilities, but it did note that the OneNote app is the culmination of some 18 to 24 months of development from a team of Microsoft Mac Office and OneNote engineers, which is either a sign of some serious slacking or a fairly significant commitment on Microsoft’s part. No word on when the “limited” free period will run out (so you’ll probably want to grab it while you can), nor is there any world on a worldwide release — it’s currently only available to US users, unfortunately. [Thanks, Pradeep] Microsoft releases OneNote app for iPhone, free for a ‘limited time’ originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 22:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Category : Gadgets
After spending the last two and a half years helping Microsoft develop Kinect (and spending countless hours hacking Wiimotes before that), the illustrious Johnny Chung Lee has decided to take his talents to Mountain View and work for Google. Mr. Lee didn’t say exactly what he’ll be doing for Google, but we do know that he’s joining a special projects team, and his title is “Rapid Evaluator.” It’s curious that Johnny has seemingly left his gaming roots to work for the search giant, but regardless we look forward to seeing what he’s up to at El Goog and wish him the best in his new job. Here’s hoping his new duties won’t quell his penchant for at-home tinkering . The (geek) decision: Kinect developer Johnny Chung Lee leaves Microsoft for Google originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 18 Jan 2011 20:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Category : Gadgets
