So you've got a shiny new Windows Phone 7 device for Christmas, but wondering what to do next? Well, first off, let me congratulate you for being one of the first adopters of the new platform. You've got great things to look forward to, as well as some not so great things that generally come with early adopting.
Right now, Windows Phone 7 has in excess of ~4000 applications on the marketplace, which is huge considering how long it's been around, but we've put together a handy guide here on what you should install right away. This guide will walk you through some things you should do to set up your new Windows Phone 7 device.
#1 - Before you do anything, use the right ID
Seriously, before you even turn on your phone, make sure you have a US/UK Windows Live ID. Make one if you have to.
Why? Because if you don't, and you set up your phone with a non-US Live ID, you're missing out on a decent set of features. To be able to do this, you'll need to set your computer's "location" to United States (or United Kingdom), which doesn't affect anything else, but if you don't do so, you won't be able to use Zune. You can do this under "regional options" in the Control Panel, then under the "Location" tab.
Once you do this, you'll get access to Zune Pass (which is covered later in this post), as well as artist/album art, the US marketplace, directions in Bing Maps, and various other features.
#2 - Add every Email and Social account you can
Facebook or Email addict? When you set up Windows Phone 7 on first boot, you're only offered to add one account, even though you can add as many as you like. The phone currently supports Windows Live, Exchange, Gmail (Google Apps, too), Yahoo! Mail, POP3 and IMAP by default. In addition to this, you can add your Facebook account to unlock the true potential of the phone; adding it will match Facebook pictures and features to your contacts, but some of these will need to be done manually if your contacts aren't the same as Facebook.
To do so, go to people, and under a contact click the small paperclip icon to "link" the accounts -- usually the phone picks up similar names really well, and will tell you who it thinks is best -- after this, you'll have further options to interact with that person.
#3 - Make sure you don't use all of your mobile data quickly
Smartphones have always been data hogs, and Windows Phone 7 is no exception to that rule. If you're still on a limited data plan, like many of us, you'll want to tweak the account settings so that your phone isn't constantly updating information.
To do this, go to settings, email & accounts. Then click on your email account, and find the "Download new content" listbox. You have the option of changing this from the default of "every 15 minutes" to either 30/60 minute intervals, push synchronization, or manual. The best setting right now is 1 hour, though we're hoping they add some higher limits in future.
If you select manually and you want to sync, you'll need to open the appropriate email account and click the "refresh" button at the bottom of the screen. If enabled, this will trigger Calendar, Email and Contact synchronization.
#4 - Set up Wireless Sync (and Zune)
A powerful feature that comes with Windows Phone 7, and first appeared in the Zune is Wireless Sync. Wireless Sync allows your phone to synchronize new pictures and videos back to your computer, and add any new music you have selected to sync onto your phone.
To setup, connect the phone to your PC, and set it up for normal USB syncing. Afterwards, go to settings, device, wireless sync, and step through the wizard to set up. Make sure the PC is connected to the access point you wish to use for sync at this point. Once setup, your Windows Phone will automatically connect to Zune and synchronize photos, videos and music when on charge for 10 minutes or more.
If you're using a Mac, software for syncing can be found here.
#5 - Add more to your home screen
One of Windows Phone 7's strengths is the glance and go home screen, and many things can be added to it. Download applications with live tiles such as Alphajax (Game), Beezz (Twitter), or even pin webpages or locations on a map.
To pin a webpage onto your homescreen, browse to the page, tap the three small dots on the lower right and click "pin to start" and the page will appear on your start screen. If you want to adjust the thumbnail, zoom in closer on the page or logo, then pin the page. The same process applies to Bing Maps.
#6 - Get a Zune Pass
If you listened to us in step one, you should be able to sign up for a free trial of a Zune Pass, for 14 days. The Zune pass allows unlimited access to any music in the marketplace, and, if you choose to continue the subscription, you can keep 10 songs forever, DRM free. The songs can be played on your PC, phone and Xbox 360 anytime, too.
Once you have a Zune Pass, downloading music is as easy as clicking the download button on a song or album.
To try a Zune pass, click here to visit the Zune site.
#7 - Try apps. Buy Apps.
We've just covered our favourite Windows Phone 7 applications, but here's a quick list of extra great ones;
- Beezz (Twitter - featuring push notifications and live tile)
- Official Facebook application
- Alphajax (multiplayer scrabble game with push notifications)
- Pic-o-Twit (Upload photos to Twitter within Photos Hub)
- Birdy Bounce (Platform Jumper Game)
#8 - Unlock your phone, legitimately or... not so much
Windows Phone 7 was "jailbroken" recently, and the developers pulled the application shortly after, but you can still use their method. Xda-developers have come up with a way to continue using their jailbreak applications. There's not a hugely compelling reason to jailbreak right now, but if you do, you can install custom ringtones and use Google Maps, amongst other things.
You can also get a developer unlock, which is essentially the same thing for $99 by signing up to the App Hub, or if you're a student with access to Dreamspark it's free.
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