Help and Howto

Have you experienced this problem? You get your new Windows Phone, you sync up your contacts and then you add a few to the Start screen, using those nifty dynamic squares. And then you notice it: the terrible, crappy resolution and blurriness. You think to yourself: "That's not how it looks on the commercial!"

Well, we think we figured it out. It's not Microsoft's fault and it's not a bug. We're going to bet you sync with our frienemy Google, right?

That's the culprit. Google. Don't believe me or think we're alone? See here and here for starters.

What happens is when you take a photo on your phone, add it to contacts and then it syncs back to Google's servers they then downsize the photo and resync it back to you. Awesome, eh?

What is the solution? There are two and we'll detail both after the break...

Microsoft has now responded to the problem by adding a small note on the Zune how-to on their site, which shows how to get around the streaming error:

If you have a Zune Pass, keep in mind that you can play streaming music on only one device at a time. (For example, you can't simultaneously play Zune Marketplace streams on your phone and your PC.) In certain circumstances, Zune Marketplace might think you're still playing a stream on your phone when you've stopped playback and temporarily block you from playing streams on your PC. If you encounter this problem on your PC (sometimes identified as streaming error C101A9CA), go back to your phone and play something that isn't streamed (for example, a song that you ripped from a CD or bought from Zune Marketplace). Then go back to your PC and try playing the stream again.

Seems easy enough to us and according to Steve M who sent us the tip, it works just fine. Thanks, Steve.

We get a lot of questions here at WPCentral regarding transitioning your data or media from one service to another. One common question is about iTunes and compatibility. While you can use the Windows Phone 7 Connextor tool to help in that area, one alternative is the open source iTunes Export program by Eric Daugherty.

The app is either command line or has a GUI version (requires Adobe Air) and is pretty straightforward: launch, it finds your playlists, allows you to convert them to different formats to export: standard .m3u, .wpl (Windows Media), .zpl (Zune), or .mpl (Centrafuse) playlists. Seems easy enough and should help those of you previously hooked on iTunes to transition over.

Grab the program here.

We received an email asking about importing contacts, photos, and documents that are stored on a SIM card. Mike writes that he's using a Samsung Jack and wants to move to the LG Quantum.

My contacts are all on my sim card. My email and calendar are gmail/google, so that's not a concern. I have a windows live ID (xbox gaming) but not a hotmail email address. The stuff I'm concerned about transferring over are my sim card info (contacts), storage card info (mostly documents), text messages, videos, and photos.

For the photos, videos and documents our suggestion is to sync the Samsung Jack with your computer and then transfer the photos and videos through your Zune software. The easiest way to transfer the documents is via email or you could use Sharepoint or try this method.

The contacts is the simplest item on the SIM to transfer. After you plug in your SIM and get your Windows Phone 7 up and running, go into the Settings Menu. Swipe over to the Applications Page and down to the "People" settings. Here you will find a button labeled "import SIM contacts".

Thanks goes out to Mike for emailing us this question. If you have any questions about Windows Phone 7, feel free to send them to us via our contact form.

While we like the Zune Desktop client quite a bit, sometimes finding apps or browsing for them can be a little sluggish. Luckily, a new website has launched that helps to cut all the fluff out and get right to the point.

Marketplace Browser is a streamlined site that references all the apps in the Marketplace, allowing you to search or just browse apps, including the Top 100 or Categories (no "latest" but we're sure that's coming).

Once you find an app, you can read about it, see screenshots and the best part: click to load it up in Zune Desktop to install. This last trick is the sweet spot as it works in Chrome and Firefox (not just IE) and will allow very quick installations of found apps.

The developer Paul Willen considers it a work in progress, so we can expect additions and improvements in the future. Regardless, we recommend it right now.

Source: Marketplace Browser; via Mobile Jaw

Entering week two of Windows Phone 7 and we're moving right along with those hacks and tweaks. First was USB tethering (here & here), now we have USB drive support via MobilTechWorld, something we thought wasn't supported. Well, it's not. Officially.

The good news is that this is an easy hack to do. The bad news is it's computer specific, meaning you can't just use your WP7 device as a universal USB drive on any computer, just the one that you modify and sync with. But hey, it's a start.

The trick is quite easy and will take you less than 5 minutes to do, so it's well worth it, even if just to try.

The lack of Cut and Paste in Windows Phone 7 has been tossed around quite a bit, and Microsoft's response was that they wanted to try and create shortcuts that minimize the need for such a workaround. Features such as being able to tap on a phone number or address in a web page or email are obvious ways that they've accomplished their goal, but we've come accross another shortcut that may help you out.

Often times, you can select a word or phrase in an app. For example in Internet Explorer or Word, you can select a word or words. It turns out that there is a quick and easy way to do a search in the Bing app on the selected text. Simply tap the hardware search button and the Bing app opens, with your text already being searched. Sweet yes?

Bonus Tip: This one is courtesy of Paul Thurrott. You can quickly and easily dismiss toast notifications (Text Messages, WeatherBug Alerts, etc.) by swiping accross them from left to right.

Wow, so looks like that whole back and forth on whether Windows Phone 7 could tether is turning out to be settled: of course it can, they just hid it.

Much like the Samsung Focus and Omnia 7, the LG Optimus 7 has also been shown to be able to USB Tether as a modem. Once again, it's a bit tricky, requiring some drivers to download and tinkering with a diagnostic menu, but overall is pretty straightforward.

Directions are posted after the break.

There's a good chance that the LG Quantum will be able to do the same, seeing as they are essentially sister devices. Considering how cheap the Quantum is going for on Amazon Wireless (that'd be  1 cent), it might be a good investment.

Now we're all looking at HTC and Dell....fellas?

Source: SmartphoneFrance; via wmpoweruser

One complaint we've seen in regards to Windows Phone 7 is when people have tried to set up Wi-Fi on their secured home network. In short, there is no easy easy way to grab your MAC address for configurations that require it.

Luckily in this case, the Samsung Focus is different from the others by having a diagnostic screen that reveals this info. The directions are easy enough, as described by Mobility Minded, reminiscent of older tricks from Windows Mobile:

• Go to the Phone section (as if you were going to make a call)
• Enter ##634# and select “Call“
• It did not call anything. There should now be a “Diagnosis” option on the top of your screen;
• Go to Diagnosis and a keypad comes up and enter *#1234# –It should bring up a menu that includes the WiFi Mac Address

Source: Mobility Minded; via wmpoweruser

If you watch carefully, the Messaging Tile on Windows Phone 7 will change as you receive messages. When you receive a new text, you’ll hear a sound and a brief notification will appear at the top of the screen. Additionally, when you have new text messages, the Messaging Tile on the Start screen will show you how many you have and the emoticon on the Tile will change.

The emoticon smiles at you when you don't have any new messages but the smile becomes a wink once you receive a new message. When you have four or more messages, the emoticon will change again.