Windows Phone hack could create Android dual-boot
Enterprising modders are seemingly one step closer to getting Windows Phone 7 devices to dual-boot with Android and other platforms, with Samsung’s Focus being coaxed into running an unofficial bootloader. The handiwork of DFT (Dark Forces Team)’s Cotulla, the hack currently allows the MAGLDR bootloader to run after the Focus’ original bootloader, with the eventual goal being a selection of official and unofficial ROMs to choose from.
One obvious possibility is that the aftermarket ROM community could get newer versions of Windows Phone running on the Focus, long after Samsung has given up support for the first-gen device. However, it’s also likely that attentions will also turn to other popular mobile platforms, such as Android.
We’ve already seen Android and Windows Phone 7 running on unofficial hardware: the venerable HTC HD2 has been blessed with both Google and Microsoft‘s platforms at different times, and there’s a dual-boot hack out in the wild too. However, efforts to get dual-boot options running on current Windows Phone hardware have been less fruitful
Cotulla’s first release will apparently be for the Focus only, though future builds may add support for other Samsung handsets such as the Omnia 7. It’s unclear what work would be required to bring it to other devices, such as Nokia’s new Lumia 800; we can think of plenty of people who would jump at the opportunity to have Lumia hardware running both Windows Phone and Android.
Now that Nokia’s first Windows Phone handsets are in the market, and its next phones are already showing up in the rumor mill, the company has established a generous beachhead for itself among the other WP7 OEMs. But what comes next?
ReplyDeleteIn a single sentence, a massive relaunch by the company in the United States is its next step, but there is much more that can be said. I’m going to draw on a recent interview that Nokia Stephen Elop held with Engadget, and other product news to paint the picture, as best as I can envision it, of what Nokia is set to do with the Windows Phone platform in the next few months.
The App Store is about 12.5 times larger than the Windows Phone Marketplace (500,000 apps to 40,000). The iOS user base is mammoth in in comparison to WP7, with northwards of 200 million devices sold against the abysmal numbers for Windows Phone (2 million devices shipped into the channel in Q3 2011). The Nokia Lumia might help WP7 along globally but the Marketplace has almost reached a point where it can support a vibrant user base in the same way as iOS and Android.
ReplyDeleteTaiwanese tech giant HTC is one of the first firms to unveil some Windows Phone 7.5 Mango-based phones. The company rolled out two phones, dubbed Radar and Titan, high-end smartphones with the new software from Microsoft. Both devices came out in October and they are available in stores alongside Samsung Focus Flash, another leading WP7.5 Mango in stores. HTC and Samsung, major Android product makers, have surpassed Nokia in bringing out the first WP7.5 Mango phones. Nokia, Microsoft’s official WP7.5 Mango hardware partner, has just announced its first phone on the platform, Nokia Lumia 800 for early next year. Here we succinctly review HTC’s two WP7.5 Mango phones. Tech specs and major features are described in the article.
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