Windows Marketplace trickles down to WinMo 6.0 and 6.1
Now that the 6.5 fat cats like the Imagio and Pure have had their fun for a few weeks, it's high time that the love start to trickle down to older upgrade-less devices, and as promised, Microsoft's now obliging with a Windows Marketplace download that'll work on phones running Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1. As far as we can tell, there aren't any material differences in this version, and Microsoft is quick to remind everyone that you don't need the download if you're running 6.5 -- so while you patiently wait for an upgrade, owners, you may as well get a taste for the good stuff now.
[Thanks, Chris]
[Thanks, Chris]



















There once was a time when Engadget said that they didnt do software post because this was a gadget site. But I suppose Windows Marketplace gets a special exception...again.
Yeah cuz engadget never posts on the iPhones app store...
Since this "software" post affects many of the gadgets Engadget covers, I think it's perfectly acceptable. The software makes the device that much more functional. So Engadget is posting on how to get more out of gadgets.....
Yeah like Windows, OSX, Android, OSX Mobile, WM, PS 3 FM, Xbox 360 FM. You're an idiot.
Oh so now it's acceptable to post about this but not about the iphone? Stupid fanboys I knew this would happen.
Déjà vu? http://www.engadget.com/2009/11/16/iphone-app-debuts-for-plastic-surgery-enthusiasts/#comments
Look_Around_You @ Nov 16th 2009 1:13PM
There once was a time when Engadget said that they didnt so software post because this was a gadget site. But I suppose iPhone gets a special exception...again.
"Stupid fanboys"
Irony.
@ Mark Anderson
Yeah I can see it too it's in your post.
The only thing that is a bigger failure than this troll is the people that fell for it...Engadget has a software post on virtually every page....clearly he is trolling, and you should all be ashamed for feeding him.
@ Kamokazi
Oh am I a troll now? Well I did get this comment from the Apple news post so that must mean all those highly ranked comments and the guy who posted it are all trolls too like you huh?
Alex I guess you don't get it. This post is about an application store. That post was about a random app. Not really the same.
I don't mind Engadget posting about random apps as long as they are interesting or is something new or special. Some people may question if there is any value in the specific app posted.
@alex
Nuce cut-n-paste of my comment, but here's where the difference is.
I dont care if Engadget wants to talk about these various App stores.
My comment was on the continuous INDIVIDUAL APP stories, which 99% have been iPhone only apps, while in the past they skipped over major stories of software release from companies like MS, and others because they said that they didnt do software stories.
Windows Marketplace
Apple App Store
Ovi store
Android store
BB ...whatever they call it.
Are more or less core parts of these gadget's OSs which is fair to talk about.
@ Look_Around_You
The only difference between your post and mine is that I can spell...
In case this isn't abundantly clear, there is something called context, Alex. What a specific comment means depends on what context it was used for.
For your context, you were obviously trying to get a reaction and exact revenge on anti-Apple commenters on Engadget by trying to show they were hypocritical.
For Look_Around_You, he was criticizing the continual focus on iPhone apps and general lack of coverage of apps from other platforms on Engadget. I suppose though, to be fair, the iPhone has the largest app store, so it is kind of expected that there will be more coverage for the iPhone's apps vs other platforms.
Hope this makes it clear why you are being downranked.
No point in commenting here anymore it's basically me (1) against 10,00000000000 Anti Apple trolls or just M$ fanboys. Hmm what will your response be to this? Oh yeah probarbly something like im a troll or I don't know anything.. Watever it is im not looking here anymore because I cannot stand a chance around so many fanboys. At least I tried to fight for what's right.
Oh ... the poor baby ... Alex won't contribute any more because all the mean, nasty MS fanbois downrank him.
Grow up Alex. You got downranked because your posts suck. If you can't see the distinction about a discussion on a particular app for a particular cell phone vs an entire app distribution platform then you really should leave.
I personally would like to thank Alex for his contribution here on Engadget, it's not everyday that I get to start laughing at the first comment.
Alex! Where have you gone? You've become invisble!!
Alex@
"There once was a time when Engadget said that they didnt do software post because this was a gadget site. But I suppose Windows Marketplace gets a special exception...again."
Windows Marketplace is a joke! The store has less than 20 business apps
and less than 300 total. No one gives a dam about Windows Marketplace
except MS fanboys! Does MS ever report how much download they got
from the Marketplace?
Find 100s of apps for your phone! Is that supposed to be some sort of sick joke? Most cellphone companies are dumping WinMo and users won't be far behind. That old platform is sinking faster than the Titanic with an iceberg gash on two sides. Isn't Microsoft putting out feelers for the once mighty Canadian company of RIM. If RIM's share price continues to drop, Steve Ballmer can buy the company for half-price in a month. Merging the two companies together, Microsoft might stand some sort of chance to have a decent mobile platform.
I was hoping they would put it on the phones that cant or wont be upgraded
are programs version independent?
No, but Windows Marketplace should only display app compatible with your phone (i think).
It will. Most apps work on old and new versions of WinMo. The major problem is if the app needs the power of newer devices that the old device can't provide.
With the returnable content I wonder if people are going to somehow hack the apps and get them all for free (although you could probably get them someplace else if you were really into stealing :\ ) .
VENT/
I hate when people think tormenting apps or games is okay. You screw every other consumer by making developers hesitant to develop and companies in turn lock down devices even more. The Dreamcast is a living testimony to the destructive power of pirating. Everyone HAD to steal their games, and as such an awesome platform (and all the future platforms that could have been) died. Sony sees this possibility with the PSP and have such locked the GO! down. If you are a person who has stolen a game and don't like that, tough, cause it's your fault. / VENT
...and that was your daily dose of righteous indignation.
* torrenting
The Go! has been compromised. Doesn't make your point invalid, but there are ways to fight back against lock downs.
lol @ your typo!
My question is: DOES ANYONE KNOW if the HD2 is upgradable to WM7? Has MS even published a minimum set of specs necessary to run WM7?
Death of the Dreamcast and Sega as a first-party company are two things I mourn to this day.
@ crawdad: Well, the supposed minimum hardware specs for WM7 were leaked back in the spring...
http://www.rgbfilter.com/?p=815
The HD2 meets every single one. Whether it will get an official upgrade, who knows, but just in case it doesn't, that's what XDA developers are for...
From the link:
WM7 Chassis 1 Specification
Core requirements:
Processor: ARM v6+, L2 Cache, VFP, Open GL ES 2.0 graphics HW (QCOM 8k, Nvidia AP15/16* and TI 3430 all meet spec)
Memory: 256MB+ DRAM, 1G+ Flash (at least 512MB fast flash – 5MB/s unbuffered read @4K block size)
Display: WVGA (800×480) or FWVGA (854×480) 3.5” or greater diagonal
Touch: Multi-touch required
Battery: Sufficient to meet Days of Use LTK requirements.
Controls: Start, Back, Send and End are required (soft controls allowed as long as they are always present).
Peripherals:
Camera: 3MP+, flash optional, 2nd camera optional (VGA resolution sufficient)
GPS: aGPS required
Sensors required: Light Sensor, Compass (3 axis, 5 degrees, 100 Hz sample rate), Accelerometer (3 axis, 2mg resolution, 100 Hz sample rate)
USB: High speed required, 20 MB/s transfer rate.
BlueTooth: BT2.1 required, must run MSFT BT stack, CSR BlueCore6 or later recommended.
Wi-Fi: 802.11B/G required, must run MSFT Native Wi-Fi stack, Atheros 6002 or Broadcomm 4325 recommended.
Connectors: Micro USB and 3.5mm Audio required.
Is it me or does the "N" look like a Netflix logo?
Netflix for phones? Since when?!
Netflix Mobile Manager for Windows Mobile has been around for while.
The Marketplace is nice and everything, but what about that 6.5 upgrade that Sprint is keeping us away from? If they release it in January, as the rumors say, that's just too late. I'm tired of all the bugs and usability issues in 6.1. To make matters worse, the knowledge that WinMo 7 kits will probably be handed to developers soon after that makes the wound even bigger. I predict 2010 to be Microsoft's "sink or swim" year. And if 6.5 isn't worth the wait, as many say in site reviews, I might as well just sell my TP2 for a Blackberry. Or find a way to install Android on it.
well You can get $350 on Ebay/Craigs.
If you have a Sprint TP2, it's quite easy to get 6.5 via several custom ROMs already (I'm running MightyROM with WinMo 6.5 right now without issues). Some of them are quite polished, others use newer versions and are more unstable. If you're not into messing with your phone like that, you can wait for the official ROM since we know it is coming. Either way, there's alternatives and the official release always means waiting longer.
By the way, I find the newer versions of TouchFlo/Manila to be much more interesting than the new Windows Mobile 6.5 UI. One new piece of eyecandy is the weather animations taking place on the home tab...i.e clouds rolling by or raindrops rolling down the screen.
if you really want to sell your touch pro 2, I'll be more than happy to buy it. I have sprint by the way. let me know if your intersted.
Have you tried this from HTC to update your ROM?... it is working great for me.
http://www.htc.com/us/SupportDownload.aspx?p_id=195&cat=2&dl_id=683
I also found this FREE locker screen that is AMAZING!!!
http://s2u2.ac-s2.com/
While I was jonsing for 6.5 previously, now I'm good to wait.
oh man someone anti-alias that text right now
If you were to go to the page in the Read link, you would see it is anti-aliased - at least it is with IE8 and Win7.
We know the writers for Engadget use Macs for all their work, perhaps it is a problem with the Mac not doing what is correct.
Er, no. Considering IE only gets a 20% on the Acid3 test, it's by far the most likely to "not do what is correct". It looks fine in Safari. Not sure at what stage the anti-aliasing was lost, but it's definitely not because it was done on a Mac.
Who cares if it does the right thing for the user such as drawing the text properly. All that is important is that it conforms to ACID 3.
Who cares if a MacBook overheats. All that is important is that it looks pretty.
Who cares if OSX deletes files when logging in as a Guest. All that is important is that it is not Windows.
My comment was to Uncontrol, who is making himself out to me yet another generic, interchangable Apple fanboys. Turn it around, and show where the fault could not be because of Microsoft, but Apple, and you have a fit.
BTW, I wouldn't be talking all high and mighty about how Apple follows standards, while others do not.
Have you ever tried developing for the iPhone? Need to call a web service? In Microsoft developer tools you right click, select Add Service, type in a URL, and start coding. Being Apple does not have any support for web services, I have spent the past week writing tools to run on Windows which will generate Objective-C code to talk to a web service. SOAP is a well known, supported, W3C standard. But where is the Apple support for this open standard that became a recommendation over 6 years ago?
Of course, since SOAP is XML based, you need an XML parser to parse the response. Want to do this on an iPhone in a standards based way? Ooops, sorry, you are out of luck. The iPhone only supports SAX parsing - which is not a standard. While other tools from other companies support real standards such as XPath, Apple preferrs the non-standard way. So while XPath has been a standard for over 10 years, Apple cannot even get it in their shiny new phone, which is oh-so-standards compliant, to follow standards.
But it is the others who only do things half-assed.
Avoid the point much? You're free to point out anything I said that was wrong. If you can. And your initial whining sarcasm about conforming to the acid3 test is completely misplaced, since Safari DOES draw the text correctly. Which is exactly what I said in my previous post. Seriously, pay attention.
Your other complaints are equally as stupid. All Macbooks overheat, all the time? Really? Also, PC laptops never overheat? Interesting. And you mean the guest login bug that Apple has already fixed? Is that the one you're talking about?
And please, make more excuses for IE sucking. That'll make you look smart.
OK, Jack. Uncontrol makes a claim that makes it sound like MS did something to make their page not render with AA. I give a plausable reason - a stretch, but plausable because it renders with AA using IE8. You shoot back, starting to make claims about ACID3 and IE not being standards compliant - a claim that has not one damn thing in common with AA in web browsers (I invite you to show me where, among all the W3C standards, the issue of web browsers supporting AA is addressed). So I discuss web standards, how Apple does not follow W3C standards that are over 10 years old, but I am wrong for not sticking to your new topic.
So let's recap:
You go off topic, and that is perfectly fine.
I address your off topic discussion, and I am wrong for being off topic.
But that is OK, because you are the new Apple fanboy and you are allowed to be off topic as much as you want, but nobody else better dare question your off-topic rants.
BTW, ACID3 is not standards compliant, either. As it requires TT fonts, which is not supported by any W3C standard (again, I invite you to show me where, among W3C standards, TT fonts are required). It also tests CSS3.0 something that is not yet a W3C standard. So if something follows CSS3.0, it is not standard since the CSS3.0 draft may change before it becomes standard. It is much like you walking up to me and telling me you defined a new word. You tell me the definition of your new word. We may now know that word, but if it is not in the Oxford or Webster's dictionary, it is not a real word, and if others do not understand that new word, it is not their fault for not knowing something that does not exist.
Ha, it's funny this is making news around the net, considering the WM6.5 version worked perfectly fine on 6.0/6.1 when Marketplace launched. http://pocketnow.com/news-archive/xda-extracts-marketplace-cab-works-on-60-61
Interesting
You may want to keep track of the WinMo Marketplace issue at XDA-developers.
It seems that the WinMoMarket app does not allow you choose an install location upon the download/install of your purchased app - it is either install to resident in-device RRAM, or not at all. The HUGE problem with this is that WinMo devices have limited storage space and said storage space is shared with application-required temp storage; you run out of program storage, you run out of app *run* space for many applications (mail attachments, browser cache, etc.)
XDA hacked previous versions of the WinMoMarket installer to allow SD card installs, but a new, download forced upgrade removes the options as well as obfuscates the hack points.
Therefore, with no USER choice for installation details the user is SOL if things go wrong with the install or he/she is low on in-device memory. The new upgrade claims to allow installs to SD AFTER the main memory is full...but by then it is too late, as full memory = pretty much useless device (as per aforementioned issues).
In other words, the current WinMoMarket installer is Teh FAIL when used in actually used devices.
how's the price range? I think $19.99 for a mobile app is way overpriced, they should follow iphone app $.99-$3.99 price range.
Most apps are under 5 bucks...but they do go upto 34.99 for some of the SPB crap.
looking right now and they are a bit pricey... most apps are at least $4-$5
Wake me up when WinMo 7 is available and it doesn't suck, lag and lock up constantly.
You yourself said it is not yet available, so how do you know WinMo 7 sucks, has lag, and locks up constantly?
How is the supposed to work. I had the link sent to my phone but it's not a hypertext link. I typed in the URL manually and it said "Not available."
Nevermind, I had one too many O's in windows.
I have a WM 6.1 TP on verizon and I installed the WM marketplace app after downloading from the link. After I run the app and accept the terms and conditions, the app checks for the latest updates. When it does this it produces an error when trying to reach the windows marketplace server.
Anyone else getting this error?
WinMo, Zune have a foot in the grave, no point in having this store around. Better to concentrate where the future is, Android.
@ highest ranked
I do see android being one of the leading OS's in the coming years but to say "WinMo, Zune have a foot in the grave, no point in having this store around." is completely false. Yes, MSFT winmo share is down but is not going to 0 anytime soon. lets hope no one company controls the entire mobile OS market cause consumers will be the losers.
Do you have any idea how fast WinMo is losing market share? They've lost a third in just this year alone. Once Google's Android starts flooding the market running on all those cheap smartphones, MS stands almost zero chance of getting back into the game. Cellphone companies using Android-powered devices are aiming to sell $50 smartphones to the poverty-stricken masses. There's no way in hell that Microsoft can beat that. Google is going to see to it that Microsoft WinMo is totally obliterated. A couple of more groin punches is all it's going to take. And that's just the start. Google is even more eager to take away Microsoft's revenue-making MS Office with Google cloud apps. Microsoft is going to be doing some serious ball-sweating thanks to Google.
i have seen a lot of things on Engadget over the years about WinMo,Android,iphone apps and all kinds of other software talk from Mac OS's and Windows even software upgrades on consoles
so i dont know where you have been to miss it all hell you can even see an app on the first page for your mighty iphone
you complain about fanboys but then you go into a thread to complain about something you dont like wanting to derail the topic
it is like if i saw a a post about how the new iphone software so i rush in to talk about what crap iphone is when i already know the topic doesnt intrest me so i would be better off moving on
I have to honestly say I like windows mobile quite a bit. It is really the only platform I know how to write on myself which makes it a little more fun. It also Is not like android where my only complaint is that it is so picky with what files you can download off of the internet. I can definitely see that android is very consumer based which I like.(makes it more fun to just pick up an play with) This market place was a bit of a let down since the programs were so limited, but I do like all the programs that can be found around the internet.(only complaint about that is you must look for them) It would be nice if Microsoft could do some sort of partnership with 3rd party developers like XDA-developers and bring a larger variety of programs to the average consumer.
inuendo that's for sure
Can we now install applications from Marketplace on the SD card instead of the forced location as Main Memory?
This is a big turnoff for me.. as my free memory is only 25 MB in ASUS P320.
Iphone and symbian has too many contraints in installing new programs. Winmo is definitely for the more power users..