Category: Windows Phone

Microsoft has updated the End User License Agreement, or EULA, for Windows Phone with the emphasis on data collection.  This change stems from a couple of things.  First, this new EULA requires that you tap “Accept” which is something that comes from a lawsuit that Microsoft is currently involved in (get more information on this here).  Second, it is a bit of a reaction in light of the Carrier IQ controversy that has been going on over the course of the last week.

The EULA itself is 19 pages long and is… dry? when it comes to reading it.  But it is important as it gives you an idea of what Microsoft is collecting data on.  While there is nothing personally identifiable in the data being sent, it is a lot of data.  But I think that the WPCentral team summed it up best in their post on this earlier today.

What we quickly learn is wow, a lot of info is being sent to Microsoft and it’d take awhile to turn off. But we also learn that information cannot be used to track you, identify you or reveal personal information. In light of the Carrier IQ controversy, Microsoft seems to be showing all of their cards on the matter.

If you want to read the EULA yourself, click this link or just download a new app from Marketplace.

Source:  WPCentral

Of the first generation Windows Phones, the Samsung Focus was the only one that had a readably accessible MicroSD slot for memory expansion.  The problem of course is that neither Microsoft or Samsung necessarily encouraged users to add memory to these phones and the results were mixed at best.

Having done some serious working on this over the course of the past few months I have come to some conclusions that I hope will help you if you decide to try to use the MicroSD expansion.  I’ve classified this post as a How To but it is really more For Your Information than anything else.

The first thing in all of this is the MicroSD card itself.  I’ve tested Kingston, Parrot and a generic card so brand isn’t really an issue.  The key is the Class of the card which needs to be a Class 4 in this case.  Every test I did with a Class 2, Class 6 or Class 10 failed.  The phone never recognized the card.  Every Class 4 card I tried worked.

If you have holiday parties to cook for and plan this year, let your Windows Phone help you out with some great apps that are available in the MarketPlace.  The Windows Phone Blog has outlined some of these apps in a blog post today that range from food planning and cooking to drinks and even entertainment.  It is a great and timely posting and really reflects some of the great apps that are in the Marketplace.

Along with the ones that the post mentions, there are plenty of other apps in the Marketplace to help you with your holiday party planning.  And don’t forget the great and powerful Bing maps that is built into Windows Phone to get you safely to and from those parties.

Check out the blog post at the Windows Phone Blog

There has been a lot of press today regarding CircuitIQ, the application that runs in the background on Android and Blackberry devices that provides carriers (Verizon has been identified here in the US) information on how the phone in question is being used.  The principle, while benign enough, is to provide information to the carriers about phone and network performance.  The problem is that it captures a tremendous amount of information about how, were and what you do on your phone.  To say that it is a privacy issue is likely a big understatement.

The good news for Windows Phone users is that it isn’t there on these devices and it never has been.  Joe Belfiore, the Windows Phone Program Management Director stated on Twitter today that Windows Phone doesn’t have it.

That is about as direct an answer as you can get.

CircuitIQ represents the latest challenge of consumers versus carriers.  To be fair, carriers need to know how their networks are performing and the devices on them so they can make improvements.  But this type of thing should be an “opt-in” option and not on by default.

It also appears that the US Congress is going to investigate this which will really bring to light all that CircuitIQ does and what the carriers have been doing with this treasure trove of information on their users.

Stay tuned.  This story is just getting started.

For those who travel, your life is about to get a whole lot easier.  GateGuru, the app that gives you information about airports, itinerary management, security line information and a wealth of other things that travelers need, is coming to Windows Phone in the coming weeks.

GateGuru for Windows Phone (Courtesy of TechCrunch)

GateGuru has been on Android and iOS for a while now and this will not only be a welcome addition to Windows Phone, but will substantiate some of the numbers indicating that Windows Phone is rapidly becoming a popular developer platform.

No word yet on when we can expect the app to hit the Marketplace.

Amazon Wireless, the mobile phone and tablet selling sub-site of Amazon, has a great deal going on Windows Phones now through the end of this week.  You can pick up your choice between nine different phones on AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile or Verizon for the incredible price of $.01!  And these are all the popular models including the brand new HTC Radar (T-Mobile) and HTC Titan (AT&T).

All of the phones require a 2 year contract (either an extension of your current contract or a new one) and require a minimum data plan.

The Windows Phone models that are available include:

• HTC Titan
• HTC Radar
• HTC Arrive
• HTC HD7S
• HTC Trophy
• Samsung Focus
• Samsung Focus Flash
• Samsung Focus S
• LG Quantum