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ChevronWP7 officially closes up shop for good, hands out App Hub memberships
We were a tad disappointed when ChevronWP7 stopped handing out unlock token for Windows Phones in early January, only two months after launching. But, we held out hope that one day the shop might reopen its doors and once again offer a cheap option to those of us that wish to free our WP7 devices from Microsoft's shackles. Sadly, that dream is officially dead, as ChevronWP7 has been shuttered for good. On the plus side, current customers will be rewarded with a one-year membership to Microsoft's App Hub -- currently the only legit way to unlock your Windows Phone. So, we're sad to see ChevronWP7 go but, if you were lucky enough to score a token before the 10,000 available sold out, you got a pretty sweet deal in paying $9 for a $99 App Hub membership. Hit up the source link for full details.[Thanks, Joe]
Microsoft-approved Windows Phone 7 unlocker discontinued (for the moment)
Well, that was fast. Not two months after ChevronWP7 began selling $9 "tokens" to unlock WP7 handsets, the tool is being discontinued. WPCentral reports that ChevronWP7 made an agreement with Microsoft not to sell more than 10,000 tokens. Unfortunately for latecomers, though, the outfit's reached that cut-off, and says it has no current plans to renegotiate this number (though it hasn't ruled it out either). In a statement, ChevronWP7 spokesperson Rafael Rivera wrote, "Microsoft isn't involved in our discussion yet. And they can't provide us with more unlocks because we haven't asked yet. If we do request more, we're sure Microsoft will respond positively – as they have in the past." Until the two companies raise that sales ceiling, the only Redmond-sanctioned unlocker will be Microsoft's own AppHub, which will set you back a princelier $99.
Microsoft-approved Windows Phone 7 unlocker goes live
Let the great Windows Phone 7 unlocking begin! ChevronWP7, the Microsoft-sanctioned Windows Phone unlocker, went live today. The project is aimed at "hobbyist developers," giving owners of WP7 handsets the ability to run and test unsigned apps on their phones. Interested parties need a Windows Live ID and $9 to sign up -- that price'll give you unlimited unlocks on a single phone. You can grab more info and an unlock token at the source link below.
Mango teaches Windows Phone to share, probably still needs carrier permission
Microsoft's budding mobile OS is finally learning to share, just like the big kids. Windows Phone's graduation to Mango comes not only with Twitter integration, SkyDrive music streaming, and multitasking, but with internet connection sharing as well. The new feature showed its toggle switch at WPCentral this week, riding in on a Microsoft flashed Focus running Mango build 7720.68. According to the tell-all image, Windows Phones running Mango will be able to share their cellular internet connection with up to 5 devices -- reportedly draining its battery with unprecedented efficiency. ChevronWP7 collaborator Rafael Rivera confirmed over Twitter that the feature is baked into Mango, guessing that it would require a "carrier 'update' to enable." Yeah, we wouldn't be surprised. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Refresh Roundup: week of August 1, 2011
Your smartphone and / or tablet is just begging to get updated. From time to time, these mobile devices are blessed with maintenance refreshes, bug fixes, custom ROMs and anything in between, and so many of them are floating around that it's easy for a sizable chunk to get lost in the mix. To make sure they don't escape without notice, we've gathered every possible update, hack, and other miscellaneous tomfoolery from the last week and crammed them into one convenient roundup. If you find something available for your device, please give us a shout at tips at engadget dawt com and let us know. Enjoy! Official Android updates Verizon and Motorola have finally begun rolling out the Gingerbread update for the Motorola Droid X2. [via PCMag] Sticking with Verizon, the LG Revolution is in the process of receiving maintenance update VS910ZV6, which consists of a few new features and bug fixes. This is not a major refresh. [via AndroidCentral] The HTC Desire Z has been updated to Gingerbread in the UK. As of now, only those devices without carrier branding are seeing the OTA show up. [via PocketNow] Unofficial Android updates / custom ROMs / misc hackery Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play, Neo, and Arc should soon be added to the CyanogenMod repository. Once approved, we'll likely see nightlies appear in the near future. [via PocketNow] Did somebody say Xperia Play? Yes, we did. It looks like the phone's finally been rooted, and the bootloader's been cracked. [via Droid-Life] The Motorola Photon 4G came out last Sunday, but XDA was able to root it within a couple days. [via SprintFeed] XDA's also the provider of a Froyo update to the Samsung Continuum. [via XDA] Along with an official update for the Droid X2, an SBF is now available for download. [via Droid-Life] Other platforms The Dark Forces Team has released tools to enable custom ROMs to be used on your first-gen Windows Phone device. Currently, the supported phones are: the HTC Mozart, HTC Surround, HTC Trophy (excluding Verizon's version), and the HTC 7 Pro (excluding the HTC Arrive). [via Windows Phone Hacker] Shortly after this, the HTC HD7 also got its first custom ROM courtesy of XDA. The downloadable package consists of a ChevronWP7 unlock, a Mango Beta 2 update, and the ROM. Head over to XDA to grab it. [via Windows Phone Daily]
ChevronWP7 Labs to unlock your Windows Phone 7 handset for $9, hackers not welcome
Need a little extra unlocked WP7 incentive to keep you from buying those oh-so-distracting iOS and Android devices? Well, that official homebrew love is going to cost you -- $9 to be exact. We already knew the Microsoft-sanctioned ChevronWP7 Labs would be open for business soon, but recent tweets from the jailbreaking outfit's Chris Walsh have shed a little more light on the process. In addition to the nominal fee users will have to fork over for the official unlock, Walsh also points out that software updates to Mango and Nodo will close any security holes in the platform. So, if you were planning on getting your pirate-y hands dirty hacking away at WP7, think again -- Microsoft's still got the keys to its mobile OS' house.
ChevronWP7 Labs will jailbreak your Windows Phone with Microsoft's approval
Microsoft just earned itself a boatload of geek-cred and made Apple and Sony look pretty bad in the process. We knew the Windows Phone team was playing nice with the jailbreakers from ChevronWP7, but we didn't realize just how cozy the two were going to get. Today the devs announced that ChevronWP7 Labs would open up soon, with the approval of Redmond, allowing users to load homebrew apps on their handsets. Unlike tools from the iPhone Dev Team, this service won't be free. Instead, customers will have to cough up a small fee via PayPal -- but we're sure many of you are more than willing to pay a reasonable price to avoid the sort of cat and mouse game Apple has been playing with hackers since 2007.
Microsoft confirms WP7 handsets updated using 'unofficial mechanisms' cannot get latest update
In case you were left unsure what a "non-serviceable state" meant when Microsoft warned users to avoid the ChevronWP7 updater, we now have further details. The company is in the process of rolling out a Windows Phone update charmingly called 7392, a post-NoDo improvement that does nothing other than fix some bogus security certificates on handsets. With no user-facing changes it's not really something users would probably be pining for -- except that many are now being told they can't get it, and of course we always want those things we can't have. Microsoft has confirmed that phones updated using "any unofficial mechanisms" to NoDo (which was 7390) will not be able to get 7392 via its very official mechanism: Zune. No big deal now, but it will be in six months when 7394 comes along and delivers the long-awaited addition of Microsoft Bob to the platform. No, Redmond's brightest aren't going to help you out of this mess you've created for yourself, but happily someone else is: the "clever bunch" who released the unofficial update in the first place. That bunch is said to be working on another unofficial tool that will help users get back onto the "officially supported path," a route that is slow and meandering but is, at least, quite unlikely to hurt you along the way.
ChevronWP7 updater pulled, places phones into 'non-serviceable state' of mind
We've had our phones in a number of states (Vermont is particularly lovely), but stopping by a "non-serviceable state" isn't exactly high on our list. Sadly, every user of ChevronWP7.updater may have unwittingly paid a visit to this place, that tool being pulled offline after Microsoft contacted its developer. It seems that anyone who used it to update their WP7 handsets to NoDo may now be in a bit of a bind. According to Microsoft those phones may not be able to receive any future updates -- ever. MS did warn people against using this updater in the first place, but we're still hopeful that Big Redmond will find a fix. If not, well, hope you like that copy & paste.
Windows Phone 7 jailbreak devs 'genuinely excited' by Microsoft's roadmap
Microsoft's been playing it really cool with the nascent Windows Phone 7 hacker community so far, which is winning them friends in all sorts of important places -- not the least of which is the ChevronWP7 team itself. The first guys to split the platform open for homebrew apps were recently invited up to Redmond for a powwow with the guys in charge, and it seems the meetings were fruitful to say the least; though much of what they saw was under NDA, they say they're "genuinely excited" by what Microsoft has in the works. Furthermore, Microsoft was kind enough to give the team a heads-up that an upcoming platform update would break the existing ChevronWP7 tool, though they say they're "collaborating with Microsoft on an interim solution that will continue to support homebrew developments after the update." Considering that they've already reached out to jailbreaker extraordinaire Geohot as well, it's clear that Microsoft doesn't believe this is a black-and-white situation -- the ChevronWP7 guys seem to think homebrew has a place somewhere in the platform's future, it just remains to be seen how that's going to play out.
How to keep your unlocked HTC WP7 device from re-locking after every sync
Okay, so the WP7 hacking community may not be quite as active as that working tirelessly to keep every facet of Android devices splayed to the breeze, but that's not to say there isn't a skilled group of tinkerers doing their best on Microsoft's best. ChevronWP7 is a clear example of that, and though it's been officially pulled it is still quite certainly being used. Now its functionality has been extended with a second hack that enables you to use Zune to sync your HTC handset without it getting all locked up tight again. You can find all the details on the other end of the source link below, but we'll go ahead and warn you that as soon as the next WP7 version drops this particular unlock will be disabled. Then it'll be on to the next one.
Visualized: the glamorous lifestyles of WP7 jailbreakers (update: Geohot crashes the party)
To be a jailbreaker means different things depending on the device that you're busy hacking preinstalled walls from. If you're fiddling with consoles, a legal team would come highly recommended, but if you're tweaking mobile code, at least Windows Phone mobile code, you're in for a much sweeter ride. The ChevronWP7 guys that brought us the first jailbreak of Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 are currently in Redmond having a sitdown and a frank exchange of views with WP7 dev experience director Brandon Watson, and the amicable nature of their discourse has been evidenced by the image above. Microsoft is clearly taking a light-hearted and community-friendly approach to handling the (now inevitable) efforts at disabling limitations to its software and we can only congratulate its mobile team for doing so. [Thanks, Tasos] Update: Looks like Microsoft's softie approach really is working. Shortly after the jolly news, notorious hacker Geohot announced on his website that he's going to treat himself to a WP7 device; but before long, Redmond's already reached out to offer him a free handset. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
ChevronWP7 team releases custom ringtone manager for 'unlocked' Windows Phone 7 devices
While we patiently wait for the now-offline ChevronWP7 team to partner up with Microsoft and make homebrew awesomeness happen on the real, those that have already opened their Windows Phone 7 devices to sideloading will want to take a look at the team's second tool released earlier this week. The custom ringtone manager they've crafted works in a most unusual way: you select five ringtones you want installed, then let the tool craft a custom XAP (which represent WP7's application package files) which you then sideload -- assuming you've already used the original ChevronWP7 tool to allow such shenanigans.
ChevronWP7 unlocking tool pulled in hopes Microsoft decides to play along
Could Microsoft actually embrace Windows Phone 7 hacking much like it's sort of done with Kinect hacking? Not very likely, but it seems like the folks behind the ChevronWP7 unlocking tool are at least holding out some hope for that possibility. They've apparently had some "good faith" discussions with Microsoft's Director of Developer Experience for Windows Phone 7, Brandon Watson, and have decided to take the rather drastic step of pulling and ceasing all development on the tool in order to "fast-track" discussions about Microsoft officially embracing homebrew development. Obviously, that may just be wishful thinking, but one thing is clear at least for the moment: it just got a bit harder to hack a Windows Phone 7 device.
Microsoft: we figured people would hack Windows Phone 7, would suggest that they don't
Hot on the heels of the release of a utility for bypassing the Windows Marketplace and sideloading your own apps, Microsoft has released a brief statement on the state of the Windows Phone 7 hacking community... and we wouldn't exactly say they're too worked up about it: "We anticipated that people would attempt to unlock the phones and explore the underlying operating system. We encourage people to use their Windows Phone as supplied by the manufacturer to ensure the best possible user experience. Attempting to unlock a device could void the warranty, disable phone functionality, interrupt access to Windows Phone 7 services or render the phone permanently unusable."So yeah, we'd say this is more or less a boilerplate quote: "we figured you'd hack this thing, we'd prefer it if you didn't, and here's a laundry list of things that could (but probably won't) happen if you fail to heed our meek warning." Over the long term, we wouldn't be surprised if Redmond ended up playing an Apple-style cat-and-mouse game with these folks, breaking hacks with firmware updates only to have them re-hacked within a few days' time. Considering the lack of spitfire in the statement here, we don't see them coming down too hard unless legitimate, card-carrying, fee-paying developers throw a fit -- and granted, ChevronWP7 could be a step on the road to piracy, so that could very well happen.
Windows Phone 7 gets user-friendly hack for bypassing the Marketplace, loading your own apps
Now that you've got your Windows Phone 7 device splayed open for USB mass storage use, why not make it friendly to non-Marketplace apps, too? Microsoft's been insistent so far about keeping sideloaded apps out of the equation unless you're a developer, but a new tool called ChevronWP7 -- compatible with Windows XP SP2 and up -- will "unlock" your little beast so that you can install whatever you like without going through the store. Presumably, this'll come in handy for installing stuff Microsoft would never dream of approving -- and it's a whole lot less hacky than an iPhone jailbreak from the looks of it. Have fun and stay safe out there, folks. [Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
