AT&T To Include WISPr and AT&T Address Book In WP7 NoDo Update
The LG Quantum and Samsung Focus are now confirmed as having completed the testing stage and have moved into the scheduling phase which means we’re close to getting an official NoDo update. We were initially told that part of the delay was because of “software supplied by companies that make the phone itself and the chips inside it.” They’ve now provided more information:
P.S. I forgot to mention the update we’ll be shipping to AT&T customers also includes support for two special AT&T features. The first is “WISPr” protocol support, which makes it possible for your phone’s data connection to automatically switch over to AT&T Wi-Fi hotspots when in range. The update also includes support for AT&T Address Book.
First off, WISPr sounds pretty nifty so you can switch to AT&T wifi without doing anything, so that’s great. If you’re wondering what AT&T Address Book is, they state “Your contacts are automatically synchronized between your phone and online address book. Easily restore your contact information if you ever upgrade, damage, or lose your phone.” Uhm we have that already, but ok.
Long story short, the actual update is pushing more than just a NoDo update so in the end it seems like there was a reason for some additional time. Not sure that excuses all of the time, but still, it’s something.
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Excellent. According to the AT&T site, HTC devices are not currently compatible with Address Book. Hope it stays that way. Not give my addresses to AT&T. No how, no way. It does look like it’s optional BTW.
And I hope the WISPr works better than their MicroCell. When that went offline in the house I couldn’t make or receive a call and didn’t know it (was using local WiFi for data) till I tried to dial out. Is WISPr for voice/data or data only?
I wouldn’t say excellent if I were you until I knew that either the AT&T address book was better than the stock address book and the stock address book could still be used, the AT&T address book could be uninstalled and there are no other AOL goodies. And whether or not this update could be uninstalled.
Otherwise, given the underwhelming reception by those who installed the untainted update, sounds like if you’re AT&T that this is something you may not want.
That said, I believe WISPr is something that lets your phone glide from one wifi access point to another without having to go through the same credential and security agreement, the introduction you made to the first public hotspot where it did whatever it does to confirm that you’re AT&T and have some sort of plan with this provisioned, and then walk a hundred feet down the mall with your phone switching from Starbucks to McDonalds’ hotspot if it’s linked up to AT&T’s thing without having to search for an access point and go through the motions again.
To me that would only be handy in a place like Times Square where AT&T’s data is unusable or overseas but the place would have to have some okay coverage. Overlapping wifi networks is too much to ask for but even so this is would be helpful as it is a pain in the ass to log in all the time to the point that I recall writing an article from Hong Kong about an application idea someone should make that makes your phone run around any open APs it stumbles upon and then once connected it tries to ping some server or grab some file from somewhere to confirm that you’re not only connected to an AP but you’re connected to the Internet, then it notifies you and maps it out wardriving-style. What was it… ahh yes, this.
Anybody got a coverage map link for AT&T’s wifi stuff?
Congrats to those of you who nailed it, that this was the holdup, AT&T insisting on doing something along these lines (as much as it sucks, imo). I didn’t think they cared.
The wifi stuff, okay, that may simply be a genuine attempt on att’s part to deliver you service as the nature of your paying them cash money would imply, and the other carriers don’t need to shove that into someone else’s software update because they deliver by more conventional means.
But an address book? Who here thinks at&t of all companies are better at making address books for a Microsoft product than Microsoft? Note that unlike with the wifi thing there is nothing unique, not to my knowledge, to the digital situations of At&t subscribers versus everyone else to necessitate an at&t-tailored address book.
Which makes it bloatware, crapware, shitware that att would likely shove onto your phone for their own interests, not Microsoft’s phone team, not third party devs and not you. On top of that by doing something visible to a few of these phones including their Focus which is the most popular they are making it clear that contrary to how WP was touted they can indeed do their thing to it. Unless it’s the iphone, an isolated exception, att can and will do this bullshit.
And that bothers me, even though I’m Apple.
One other thing, Apple rules.
Hussies.
who dis, I don’t mean any disrespect but you used to be our finest troll. Now you’ve sold out to consistently making good points and though you tack on your trademark insult to the end it reads more like a legitimate contribution than a tactful subtraction. So I’m calling you out on it.
By the way, though I agree with you, I have encountered a few people over the years insisting that Telenav was good.
Which reminds me, and I didn’t want to say this on the Silver Navigator thread, but how is the progress looking for using WP7 devices for roadtrips without also bringing your old WinMo phone with you running TomTom because there’s nothing adequate, or there wasn’t anything adequate yet for WP7? Didn’t they make a half-decent Bing thing for WinMo and now with WP7 they haven’t produced something like that?
But hey, all right, glad to hear you have something satisfactory regardless of who makes it and if it’s a couple bucks or not. How’s the offline caching? The Android/Google detractors would never shut up about how Google Maps w/ Navigation would always be inferior to a conventional GPS device because it relies on a signal and if you hit a dead zone and deviate from your route you’re screwed. Then one day Google introduced impressive offline caching both for regular Google Maps and for Navigation, which when I tested it would still function in airplane mode just as well as it did when it was online, driving for miles 180 degrees off course, recalculating, the whole deal. Now those people have mostly shut up about online versus offline and instead they rip on it for not telling you how fast you’re going and that you can’t change voices to Mr. T.
If Microsoft’s nowhere near that why don’t they strike something up with Google? Seems like a waste of energy to code up their own thing “from scratch” when it’s hard to imagine how they can top Google’s product anytime soon and Google has made it clear, at least with other platforms, that just because those other platforms aren’t Android that it doesn’t remove having some of their other products being used anyway on those phones from their list of things that are worth doing. Maybe Navigation’s an exception for one reason or another, but if this is a pride thing on either company’s part, just seems like a mistake.
That is, unless Microsoft has a Bing thing around the corner.
Are there any Google products on the Windows Phone market?
@Doug Simmons: “Seems like a waste of energy to code up their own thing “from scratch” when it’s hard to imagine how they can top Google’s product anytime soon”
That’s the stupidest thing I’ve heard. Wait you constantly say stupid shit because you have no clue about coding. Stick to your niche and write a script or something.
Man, I take a break to watch the NBA Playoffs and this is what I come back to?
It seems like I don’t correct people unless I go on long, TL;DR rants so let me try to keep this short *spoiler: I’m lying*.
AT&T address book may be bloatware, but, it still will have it’s use considering there are still dumb people buying smart phones. Wispr (cleaver name) should be available to all at&t customers in metro areas.
Simmons: In terms of Navigation, we came from just mapquest like directions to A-to-B to silver navigation (which just got updated). Progress is a slow process.
(TeleNav actually isn’t terrible. It’s kinda like GPS’s 2 generations ago. I hear the Navigon hack people are doing on XDA is pretty interesting too but I’ll stick to silver right now.)
With regards to apps that were in the WinMo ecosystem that aren’t presently available in WinPho, come on. Really? Do I/we really need to go down that route? You want to mention HD2’s not being able to officially upgrade to WP7, too? If you know better, come better.
The only Google product that I know of in the marketplace is Google Search.
NOW, that is all clear, lets get to absurd section. MS striking up something with Google isn’t absurd. They do it all the time. Well at least they did it all the time. That seems like more of as Google problem to me (more on that later). Here’s the problem that I have, Why in blue hell would MS scrap a native product for a 3rd-party one especially when:
1) Google is a direct competitor
2) Nokia’s deal is almost finished and they are going to use Ovi Maps
3) Every move that MS has made since WP7(series) was announced was to build the ecosystem. The emphasis on securing OEMs *here’s looking at you Asus, ZTE and Nokia* and Developers is a pretty good indication of that. By the looks of it, they are trying to build it organically (or NY Yankee organically aka buy everything), where possible.
Bonus Ball time: has anyone else noticed Google’s lack of support for the competition with regards to maps? Where’s the TbT voice nav for the iPhone/iPad? Regular Nav? Hell, voice search on Maps? Layers? Personalized maps? For f***’s sake, can I see starred items in maps? Considering that all of those features are missing, should Apple just kill the maps app in iOS and just wait for Google to make a fully featured app like the one on Android for iOS? Sound ridiculous? Thought so…
Forgive me if I’m in a pissy mood, Damn refs gave the Celtics the game.
-Fight