- 4,431,022
REGISTERED - 32,753
ONLINE NOW
In today’s Quick Take of This Week in Development, Jordan covers four stories of interest from the XDA Portal. Jordan covers the article discussing C# possibly becoming the code of choice for Android. Jordan then talks about the HTC EVO 3D getting ICS and the Blue Angel receiving an Android port. Finally, Jordan mentions some fixes for the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.
Check out more stories at the XDA Developers’ Portal.
March 17, 2012 By: jerdog
Recently we reported that Microsoft would be requiring that the manufacturers lock down the bootloader on all ARM devices that would ship with Windows 8, and an interesting turn of events has happened. Qualcomm and Microsoft have teamed up to provide developers with Windows 8 PCs and tablets in order to create applications that will optimize the ARM-architecture of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor. Microsoft’s Director of Business Planning, Stefan Kinnestrand, had this to say:
“Microsoft’s development tools and the Qualcomm Snapdragon test PCs will enable developers to build and test Metro style apps for Windows on ARM PCs. Based on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon processor, these systems will equip developers to create Metro style apps and offer a rich set of hardware peripherals that plug in and help enable seamless user experiences on the Windows on ARM platform.”
Now what is interesting here is this news comes on the heals of the revelation of the locked bootloader on ARM devices. One is sure to wonder what would happen if one of these devices would happen to fall into the hands of a developer who was sympathetic to the end user and would welcome the opportunity to give back by initiating collaboration with some of the amazing developers we have here at XDA-Developers. Let us see what the future holds.
See here for the full press release from Qualcomm and Microsoft.
March 8, 2012 By: jerdog
Microsoft is at it again. First, they forced many mobile device OEMs to pay a fee for every Android device shipped. Now they want to put the stranglehold on manufacturers wishing to use ARM with Windows 8. In their infinite wisdom, Microsoft has decided that customers who purchase a Windows 8 devices with ARM architecture must not be able to load any other operating system other than what shipped with it.
Their Windows 8 Hardware Certification Requirements point to a “custom” secure boot mode via UEFI, allowing users to add signatures for alternative operating systems, and thus enabling that device to boot the operating system. That doesn’t apply to ARM devices though, as this “custom” mode is explicitly prohibited by requirements:
On an ARM system, it is forbidden to enable Custom Mode. Only Standard Mode may be enable.
Disabling Secure [Boot] MUST NOT be possible on ARM systems.
What this means for XDA Developers, and the development community as a whole, is that unless a security exploit with UEFI is found, no ARM device with Windows 8 will ever run anything other than Windows 8 and Metro UI. When previously questioned about rumors of this restriction, Microsoft’s Tony Mangefeste stated, ”Microsoft’s philosophy is to provide customers with the best experience first, and allow them to make decisions themselves.” Evidently what he really meant to say was, “Microsoft’s philosophy is to provide customers with our experience, which is the best, and to make sure that’s all they use.” Sound like another OS and hardware manufacturer to you?
Unlocking a bootloader isn’t anything new to developers at XDA—just look at what has been done with HTC’s HBOOT and SBK on ASUS devices—but UEFI’s secure boot mode would seem to hold a whole new set of restrictions not previously encountered. Let’s hope that is not the case, and the development community will find a way to get around Microsoft’s ridiculous, and quite obvious, attempt to keep customers from using Android or Linux on devices manufactured with Windows 8 in mind.
Source: Software Freedom Law Center
February 6, 2012 By: orb3000
We always enjoy the concept designs that pop up from time to time made by regular users showing what they would like to be produced, although we know this will never happen is nice to have different and amazing options of futuristic devices.
This design made by Mithun Darji from Ahmedabad, India demonstrates an interesting concept that would look very cool if ever came to reality.
The concept is about a Windows 7/8 device with WIFI and Phone functionality on a watch strap which includes Bluetooth headset, four music transport keys, two volume keys and 4 other keys (Maybe phone keys).
Although this is only a concept design would be nice for Microsoft to have an operating system which could be ported onto different platforms like mobile devices, tablets and more.
Please leave your a comment with your thoughts about this cool design and thanks for reading.
Source
January 10, 2012 By: liwen
BlueStacks is planning to bring all Android apps available to Windows 8, integrating them just like regular Metro-style apps as tiles on the homescreen. The recently released alpha version of its “App Player” software that allows you to run Android apps on Windows has been updated for Windows 8 and will launch alongside the Windows 8 beta, widely expected to be arriving in late February, in the Windows Store.
The software is said to be able to run pretty much all Android apps, with no porting required and full hardware acceleration for 3D graphics. While this will no doubt remedy a lack of applications that is to be expected for a time after the Windows 8 launch – the Android Market just recently passed 400,000 applications – Android apps obviously aren’t designed with the Metro guidelines in mind and few are optimized for tablets, making for a sub-par experience. Even with some OEMs preloading the BlueStacks software on their PCs, this hopefully won’t deter developers from writing native Windows 8 applications.
However, it’s of course nice to see such “hacking” work to be done, and if you’re curious, you can go ahead and download an early alpha version of the BlueStacks app player for regular desktop Windows right now. The Verge also got a nice hands-on video showcasing the upcoming software on a Windows 8 tablet.
September 20, 2011 By: orb3000
If you are old enough to remember the great HTC Shift or even better you still have one, this will be of your interest. XDA member djwillis told us about a guide to install the Windows 8 preview on the Shift. According to the source, no part of the installation process is complicated, it mostly came down to installing the right drivers in the right order, so if you follow the instructions it should be ok.
You will need to consider:
- Wipe the Shift’s HDD. Don’t bother with an upgrade from Windows 7. Not worth the hassle
- You don’t mind manually reinstalling Windows Vista or Windows 7 when you decide 8 is not for you.
- You are well aware you are installing an unsupported pre-beta bit of software on your device, and the device is under MS’s recommended minimum specs.
- You understand not all the hardware is 100% supported and there may be driver issues.
- Make sure you have enabled WiFi using the Shift Control Panel before you start the install inside the old OS. If you don’t you may need to have a USB Ethernet adaptor before you can enable WiFi to get on the internet.
So, if you are going forward, please leave your feedback.
Originally posted by djwillis
[GUIDE] Installing Windows 8 Preview on the HTC ShiftThis thread is to record comments/questions on a guide I have posted up on my site regarding the steps to get a fully working Windows 8 Developer Preview install onto the HTC Shift.
The process to get Windows 8 working (with graphics correctly setup etc.) is a little bit of a pain but nothing all that difficult. Especially if you follow the steps (usual rules, I made mistakes to save others the hassle )
The resulting install of Windows 8 running at 1024*600 is VERY usable , much to my surprise. Metro is actually quite nice on the tablet form factor.
The touchscreen is a little unresponsive round the edges but I suspect that is my device as it has never been very good.
Continue on to the original thread to find more information.
September 16, 2011 By: egzthunder1
If you have been around since the time before Android, you likely remember the joy of playing with your registry values to get your Windows Mobile device to do other things. Well, since we recently added a section in our site for Windows 8, XDA member fiinix decided that it was probably a good idea to get things in this new section going. The best part is that he kicked things off with a registry hack, which likely made people who switched from WM to Android to remember the past and smile. This hack basically allows those who don’t enjoy the new Metro look in the OS to go back to a more familiar type of taskbar, like the one found in Windows 7. The tweak is relatively simple as only a couple of entries must be modified to get this going.
Please post your results if this worked out for you. Also, don’t forget to leave feedback for he dev.
Some of you may have seen it on youtube/google/tech-sites, but i just wanted to show you guys how to disable this new “Metro”, to be able to see the original “taskbar” as seen in Windows 7 (so you don’t need to put effort into finding how to disable it)
You can find more information in the original thread.
Want something published in the Portal? Contact any News Writer.
September 15, 2011 By: egzthunder1
Yes, folks you read it correctly. It looks like Microsoft is trying to integrate everything they can into this mobile generation of ours and as such, their new upcoming PC operating system (Windows 8 ) has just established its home here at xda-developers. Microsoft’s intentions seem to be rather clear as they are desperately trying to break back into a market they once dominated with Windows Mobile. However, don’t expect to see Windows 8 running on any phone any time soon. The OS seems to be directed towards the (not so) new and growing market of tablets or slate computers, one in which Microsoft has always prevailed. The Metro style UI seems to have been born from the Windows Phone 7 concept and while several people don’t agree with this “feeling right” as it is somewhat awkward to use it without touchscreen capabilities, once cannot help but to wonder about the possibilities of this new OS. There are some talks of porting already going on and one cannot help but to wonder if we will see this running on other devices such as maybe a Xoom or a Transformer. At this point only time will tell.
Please drop by to share your experiences with the Developer’s test version of this new OS.
You can visit Windows 8′s new home on XDA right here.
Want something published in the Portal? Contact any News Writer.
YouTube
Follow
Like
Google+
