Yesterday I wrote for Neowin an article reporting how a new Windows Phone portal has been released and on was a wealth of Windows Phone 7 information. I had even discovered some new things but since then people have found some other interesting facts too. The portal provides lots of information on some of the apps the feature on Windows Phone 7, a vast number of “help and how-to” topics, a page of devices that can be bought, this is currently empty, and a discovery page.
I reported that it was now possible to download the Zune PC Software outside of the US without needing to change the location of the website. Currently I can only download the Zune if I got to zune.net and set the page to the US, however with the Windows Phone portal I am able to download the Zune software with the set to the UK. Sadly this is not a new version of the software and is still 4.2 but I think that tomorrow could well see Zune launched internationally.
Another thing I noticed was a new Office website that will be dedicated to mobile devices or perhaps specifically Windows Phone 7 devices. The site is currently not live so its unknown what its purpose will be but it might provide a way to access documents stored in the cloud or could just be more in depth information that the Windows Phone portal currently provides.
In addition to these new things people have also found that Windows Phone 7 will support the 4G networks of LTE and WiMax at launch. It is not thought though that there will be any devices supporting these technologies when the devices are released. But there have been rumours that the Dell Lightning device would support LTE and that there will be a WiMax supporting LG device.
One other piece of information learnt from the portal is that some devices might have an accessible SD card behind the battery but Microsoft are warning users not to remove it or swap it. The portal says that its a special SD card and has been paired with the Windows Phone 7 device it sits in. The device sees it as part of its storage and if removed data could be lost and the phone might not recognise the SD card when it is replaced.
Hopefully all will be revealed tomorrow. I will be taking pictures of the event and any devices there tomorrow and will no doubt have plenty to say when I get back from the London event.
