WP7 wide availabilty?

[Asha'man X]

Hi everyone

Does anyone know for sure when Windows Phone 7 devices will hit wide availibility here in SA? In my case specifically, MTN. I'm really interested to get one of these devices, even with some of the shortcomings at the moment. I see Vigin has the HTC Mozart, which isn't quite what I want. I read here that Vodacom was supposed to start offering them, but I've not seen anything much from them.

Would be interesting to know what is happening with these phones.

[Jonno2343]

MTN are offering it on their mtnsp.co.za site.
http://www.mtnsp.co.za/Upgrades/Pages/Overview.aspx you can find it under HTC -> Mozart so I'm sure they will offer it to you.

[Neural]

It is listed on their upgrade site, but not available and they don't know when it will be. Go figure...

[Asha'man X]

At the rate MTN is going, by the time my upgrade comes due in June, I will probably end up buying a new phone from Expansys or something. The only thing now is to figure out what to get. Samsung OMNIA 7 with Super Amoled and 4" screen, or HTC 7 Pro with hardware keyboard and normal LCD. Both only have 8GB storage, which is a bit of bummer, but I can live with that. Ah well, will see what the following months bring.

[Scooby6]

These SP's are taking sooooo flippin long to bring in the new phones that I imported a T-Mobile US HD7 WP7 ;)
Loving it! ... Hope the SP's get the HD7, Omnia 7 and Dell Venue Pro here soon ... those are the best ones so far IMO ;)

[Jonno2343]

These SP's are taking sooooo flippin long to bring in the new phones that I imported a T-Mobile US HD7 WP7 ;)
Loving it! ... Hope the SP's get the HD7, Omnia 7 and Dell Venue Pro here soon ... those are the best ones so far IMO ;)

Is it all working correctly here in SA? As far as I know the AT&T phones do not have 3G access in SA due to the weird frequencies but the T-Mobile phones do, can you confirm this.
I was going to import the HD7 back in November but figured I'd wait for MWC on the 13th-ish of Feb to see if there are any newer WP7 phones to look out for.
Glad you're enjoying it!

[Scooby6]

Is it all working correctly here in SA? As far as I know the AT&T phones do not have 3G access in SA due to the weird frequencies but the T-Mobile phones do, can you confirm this.
I was going to import the HD7 back in November but figured I'd wait for MWC on the 13th-ish of Feb to see if there are any newer WP7 phones to look out for.
Glad you're enjoying it!

Yes sir ... working 100%! ... Even using 3G here no probs! :) (still have to figure out MMS setting but spent no time one this ... lol)
Every single thing from Marketplace to Email working 100%
Very smooth interface and with the HD7's 4.3" screen, typing is even better than on the iPhone ;) (My favourite typing phone)
PS. Mine is a T-Mobile US 16GB version (if that helps anything ... :))

[Jonno2343]

Yes sir ... working 100%! ... Even using 3G here no probs! :) (still have to figure out MMS setting but spent no time one this ... lol)
Every single thing from Marketplace to Email working 100%
Very smooth interface and with the HD7's 4.3" screen, typing is even better than on the iPhone ;) (My favourite typing phone)
PS. Mine is a T-Mobile US 16GB version (if that helps anything ... :))

Great to hear, yep that's the one I was getting. How is the screen quality? There have been some complaints about it but with the whole fanboy war XXI going on it's hard to tell what it's really like :)

[Scooby6]

If you have used the HD2 then I would say ... its the same screen ... So it is fair ... it is awesome in size (being 4.3") and that makes everything more readable and easier to type/click on.
From a comparison point of view the LCD panel itself is outdated ... that is compared against the iPhone 4's 3.5" Retina display and some thing like the Galaxy S's 4.0" super AMOLED screen.
But at 4.3" and 480x800 resolution it is a good enough screen for me (different strokes for different folks ... for me, the screen is only 1 part of the story ;)). Sunlight legibility is not good compared to the iP4 and Galaxy S also.
Hope that helps ;)

[Asha'man X]

@Scooby

How are you getting apps from the Marketplace? Using the app on the phone or using the Zune client? If using the Zune client, are you using a US based Windows Live account to get around the fact that the Marketplace isn't available in SA?

I will be keeping a close eye on MWC this year to see what new phones come out running WP7.

[Scooby6]

@Scooby

How are you getting apps from the Marketplace? Using the app on the phone or using the Zune client? If using the Zune client, are you using a US based Windows Live account to get around the fact that the Marketplace isn't available in SA?

I will be keeping a close eye on MWC this year to see what new phones come out running WP7.

Hi there
I am using the Marketplace on the phone and everything seems to be working for me.
Don't think its region specific like the iPhone but I could be wrong?

[Asha'man X]

@Scooby

Thanks for the reply. I was wondering about it, since you can't use the Zune software to browse the apps unless you sign in with a Live account, and Live accounts that are SA based don't work. The work around is to set up a new Live account that is based in the States so that you can access software. Paid apps won't work unless you have an American card. Ah well, one can hope that Microsoft rolls out support for other countries soon.

[Scooby6]

@Scooby

Thanks for the reply. I was wondering about it, since you can't use the Zune software to browse the apps unless you sign in with a Live account, and Live accounts that are SA based don't work. The work around is to set up a new Live account that is based in the States so that you can access software. Paid apps won't work unless you have an American card. Ah well, one can hope that Microsoft rolls out support for other countries soon.

You know what ... I'm very curious about this ... so tonight I'm gonna go into the Marketplace and then Zune and try to buy a "paid app" and see how it goes using an SA account ;)
I will post back tomorrow and let you guys know ;)

[Jonno2343]

As far as I know, you should be able to buy free apps with a South Africa live account as WP7 has been 'officially' launched in SA but you will not be able to buy and paid-for applications for some reason.
If you have a US-based live account you can try a website like www.instantvirtualcreditcards.com (does work, no matter how weird the site works) as our SA cards will not work. I wish they implement MS points as a payment method.

[Scooby6]

As far as I know, you should be able to buy free apps with a South Africa live account as WP7 has been 'officially' launched in SA but you will not be able to buy and paid-for applications for some reason.
If you have a US-based live account you can try a website like www.instantvirtualcreditcards.com (does work, no matter how weird the site works) as our SA cards will not work. I wish they implement MS points as a payment method.

Yep ... This is right ... just tried buying apps on the phone and on Zune ... no go ... Basically the apps are not available in our country :( ... Oh well!

[Jonno2343]

Yep ... This is right ... just tried buying apps on the phone and on Zune ... no go ... Basically the apps are not available in our country :( ... Oh well!

Can you confirm that free apps work?

[Scooby6]

Can you confirm that free apps work?

Yes they do.

[Synthetic_Darkness]

@Scooby6: When you started the phone did you say that you live in South Africa and all that? You didnt "fool" the system into believing that you live in another country? Sorry to reiterate this whole thing, I just wanna know if the marketplace works. I see that you say that free apps can be downloaded, but paid apps not?

[Scooby6]

@Scooby6: When you started the phone did you say that you live in South Africa and all that? You didnt "fool" the system into believing that you live in another country? Sorry to reiterate this whole thing, I just wanna know if the marketplace works. I see that you say that free apps can be downloaded, but paid apps not?

Not a problem ... I set my "locale" to South Africa on the phone and my Windows Live account is set with a South African locale.
Thing is ... My Windows Live account WAS set with a US (New York). I did this a long time ago when I got my first XBox 360 and wanted to use credits to buy stuff. Thing is ... when I went into my WL account to "Add a Credit Card", the country (US, New York) was grayed out and so I could not add my South African credit card to it because the validation kept failing.
So I changed my WL local to SA and added my credit card. But now when I use my phone's market place to buy anything, it just fails saying that it is not available in SA! :(
But ya ... free apps and trial apps all work ... its when you "Buy" something that it fails for this country! :(

Hope that helps?

[Synthetic_Darkness]

Dude thanks so much. Yeah that clears everything up. I guess Microsoft will add the rest of the functionality in due time. Android and Ovi store had the same issue. I'm just glad to hear that the whole marketplace works. Thanks dude

Anything else thats missing or whatever from the phone because of locale?

[Scooby6]

Dude thanks so much. Yeah that clears everything up. I guess Microsoft will add the rest of the functionality in due time. Android and Ovi store had the same issue. I'm just glad to hear that the whole marketplace works. Thanks dude

Anything else thats missing or whatever from the phone because of locale?

Wait wait wait wait!!! ....
Did some testing last night and now I cant download the free apps anymore ... I keep getting "Can't get this info right now. Check back in a little while".
I am 100% sure that this is because my locale is now set to "South Africa"!!! ... So guys if you gonna create an XBox Live account please set the locale to US to ensure you can at least get free apps. I tried setting my locale back to US using XBox Live but now it says that I can only change my locale once a year so next change in 2012! :(
So ya ... make sure you guys sign up with your locale being US and then you sweet ... only problem you have then is that you can get free apps 100% but paid apps you can't and simply because you cannot add a SA credit card to your account (because at the point of verifying your card, it will fail as the country selection is set to US and grayed out!).
Everything else on the phone works 100% ... I'm loving how in "Zune" you can just "say" ... "send these videos to my phone please" and Zune just does everything ... no more converting and THEN syncing (iPhone, etc) ... I change my phone like every 3 months (I love gadgets! :() ... and this WP7 OS is an AWESOME interface! ... As smooth as an iPhone (sometimes smoother) and very pretty and information rich! ... This is just the first installment and we all running "launch" OS ... when the updates come (and they are coming this month and later) this OS with just get more polished and add more features. As a launch OS it is brilliantly smooth and polished as is and almost flawless in operation! I'm loving it more than any other phone OS and I love the iPhone BTW (had about 7 now... lol) ... but this OS is the best (IMO)! :)
Can't wait to see it progress in the coming months/years ;)

[Synthetic_Darkness]

Hmmm I emailed HTC about this, cause no offense I wanted an official response. Spoke to the most champion support agent ever.

He said that if you change the locale on the phone itself to UK, more of the marketplace is available to you. He also said something about if you originally link your credit card to your account (I'm not sure which account, I think Zune) that you can then buy apps, as long as you change the locale on the phone to UK.

When I asked him about buying apps he said "If you have a Windows Zune account associated with a credit card, then it will allow you to purchase apps."

PS: Saw some videos of the user interface, OMFG it looks so different and incredibly well thought out.

[Scooby6]

Hmmm I emailed HTC about this, cause no offense I wanted an official response. Spoke to the most champion support agent ever.

He said that if you change the locale on the phone itself to UK, more of the marketplace is available to you. He also said something about if you originally link your credit card to your account (I'm not sure which account, I think Zune) that you can then buy apps, as long as you change the locale on the phone to UK.

When I asked him about buying apps he said "If you have a Windows Zune account associated with a credit card, then it will allow you to purchase apps."

PS: Saw some videos of the user interface, OMFG it looks so different and incredibly well thought out.

Awesome man! ... We all learning from each other right? :)
Will try later today and update you ;)
Thanks for the info bud!

PS to your PS ... Yep ... I love it! Very information rich and soooooo smooth! Best OS I've ever used and I've use a LOT! :)

[Synthetic_Darkness]

Awesome dude, thanks so much.

Yeah look I'm going from Nokia and I've played with iPhone (from the 2g all the way through to the 4g) and also played with Android, on multiple devices. But I just like the interface on WP7.

[Scooby6]

Ok so heres an update:
- HD7 phone - all locale related stuff set to US (tried UK also)
- Windows Live account active - XBLive account and Zune account all associated with it.
- Zune account locale is set to US (tried UK also)
- XBox Live account is set to SA (cannot change it because it only allows me to change it once a year ... f@rk)

> Cannot download free apps - "Can't get this info right now. Check back in a little while" (I keep getting this message for 2 days now)
> Cannot download paid apps - "Can't get this info right now. Check back in a little while" (I keep getting this message for 2 days now)

Why the heck did I change my XBLive to SA I have no idea ... I really think THIS is the cause for me! :(

[MielieSpoor]

You guys are just wrong! I am really looking forward to getting my WP7 device, but MTN can't get their network sorted out to support the devices so I am stuck waiting. I don't have the cash to buy a device so I am left waiting. You guys going on here about the market place is just making it worse :cry:

[Scooby6]

You guys are just wrong! I am really looking forward to getting my WP7 device, but MTN can't get their network sorted out to support the devices so I am stuck waiting. I don't have the cash to buy a device so I am left waiting. You guys going on here about the market place is just making it worse :cry:

Lmao! ... Sorry buddy ... I feel your pain ... I waited a long time since first hearing of WP7 and now that is here (well imported mine) I had to try it out! Try to hang in there and not get anything else ... you will love the OS when you get it :)

Ok so ... Marketplace update!
It finally works!!! :)
Had to go to www.live.com and click on "close account" to close my account and that in turn "disconnected" my XBLive account from it.
I then went in and registered for WLive again with the same details as before so now my account is back to original but this time I made sure to select "United States" as my locale throughout.
Linked my Zune account to it no problems and created a NEW XBLive account making sure to select "United States" as my locale as well.
NOW... the Marketplace workes once again! :)
Just need to figure out how to add a credit card to this and then I'm set.
Thanks guys for the info ... I'm a soooper happy WP7 user once again! :)

[Jonno2343]

Lmao! ... Sorry buddy ... I feel your pain ... I waited a long time since first hearing of WP7 and now that is here (well imported mine) I had to try it out! Try to hang in there and not get anything else ... you will love the OS when you get it :)

Ok so ... Marketplace update!
It finally works!!! :)
Had to go to www.live.com and click on "close account" to close my account and that in turn "disconnected" my XBLive account from it.
I then went in and registered for WLive again with the same details as before so now my account is back to original but this time I made sure to select "United States" as my locale throughout.
Linked my Zune account to it no problems and created a NEW XBLive account making sure to select "United States" as my locale as well.
NOW... the Marketplace workes once again! :)
Just need to figure out how to add a credit card to this and then I'm set.
Thanks guys for the info ... I'm a soooper happy WP7 user once again! :)

Yeah, South African accounts seriously limit what you can do. I tried to migrate my account over to SA (which is only available for a limited time since Xbox Live launched here) and it basically kills all functionality.
Your locale is the same throughout the different services offered by the Live account. Once you change the locale on one service it applies to all the services, as you saw.

For a US account you need a US credit card unfortunately. Here's a thread to read through some of the workarounds: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=830701&page=15
The only confirmed way is to purchase a virtual credit card from www.instantvirtualcreditcards.com (for a rather hefty premium) and add that with a US billing address. This is a serious mission though and adds to the expense quite a bit. I've also heard that American Express cards work, if you have one.

I don't understand how the Free Apps can be restricted in SA, it makes absolutely no sense. Hopefully they sort this out soon (and allow SA devs to register).

[Synthetic_Darkness]

Yeah, South African accounts seriously limit what you can do. I tried to migrate my account over to SA (which is only available for a limited time since Xbox Live launched here) and it basically kills all functionality.
Your locale is the same throughout the different services offered by the Live account. Once you change the locale on one service it applies to all the services, as you saw.

For a US account you need a US credit card unfortunately. Here's a thread to read through some of the workarounds: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=830701&page=15
The only confirmed way is to purchase a virtual credit card from www.instantvirtualcreditcards.com (for a rather hefty premium) and add that with a US billing address. This is a serious mission though and adds to the expense quite a bit. I've also heard that American Express cards work, if you have one.

I don't understand how the Free Apps can be restricted in SA, it makes absolutely no sense. Hopefully they sort this out soon (and allow SA devs to register).

Dude I feel your pain, the only company that seems to be doing well here are Nokia and their Ovi store. But basically the reason things are closed to South Africa, is cause of the Film Publications people. As a developer or publisher, you have to pay them a fee to rate your game/app. And because the SA market is'nt all that big, publishers simply dont care. Plus you know, we dont even have electricity in South Africa and we use lions for transport.

[MielieSpoor]

The networks in SA is just useless. Of all the Windows Phone 7 phones releases only one is available through a mobile network and that is the Trophy on Vodacom.

According to this (http://mybroadband.co.za/news/reviews/18297-HTC-Pro-Review.html) article, the HTC 7 Pro is also now available, yet I don't know which networks offer it and I don't know which device is the second device because only the Trophy is available and only from Vodacom. And now Sake 24 reviewed the HD7 (http://www.sake24.com/Maatskappye/IKT/Battery-is-al-vlieg-in-salf-by-Windows-20110209), so I don't think it will be too long before we can get that, but by judging the current rate of WP7 rollout in SA, I think it won't be for atleast another year...

[Neural]

You guys are just wrong! I am really looking forward to getting my WP7 device, but MTN can't get their network sorted out to support the devices so I am stuck waiting. I don't have the cash to buy a device so I am left waiting. You guys going on here about the market place is just making it worse :cry:

I go tired of waiting as well for MTN / HTC / Leaf to sort themselves out. Bye HTC after 5 years of phones. Hello Blackberry :)

[Scooby6]

Nooooooooooo! Yooooooou'll be back! ... lol!
Trust me Neural this WP7 OS is tops!
Hope u get a WP7 device in the near future. I tried BB's "best" the Torch ... very outdated. If you like smooth OS's iPhone and WP7 are the best ;)