Before we all wet ourselves over this supposed "leak" of a Windows Phone 7 Series ROM, let's clear a few things up:

• It's not a "leak," unless by "leak" you mean a public download straight from Microsoft.
• It's not a "leaked ROM." Hell, it's not even a ROM.

What's happened is the folks at XDA are furiously ripping apart the code from the Windows Phone 7 Series emulator that's part of Microsoft's developer tools. And there are plenty of reasons to be doing this (and not just "because it's there"). They should be able to find out some interesting things.

But this is not a ROM. It's not going to be a ROM. And while we may, someday, see WP7S ported onto existing hardware (and I'm not going to bet on it), we're still a very long ways away from that.

Don't believe me? Try this, then, straight from XDA:

All you guys asking when and how and if we can have a ROM.....

We can't yet.

This is simply the emulator tools designed to run on x86 compliant hardware. This is by no means a ROM or will it ever be a ROM in this form, let's not clog the thread with continuous useless requests to have this converted to a ROM or 'how can I get it on my device ASAP'... We need to be patient.

That's right. Everybody chill out a little.

In what has to be one of the most cruel geek teases in recent Windows phone history, the back and forth about whether the HTC HD2 will receive a Windows Phone 7 ROM update seems to be coming to end.

Over at ZDNet, Mary-Jo Foley received a response from Microsoft on the question and Redmond restated their position that WP7S will have very strict hardware requirements that they plan to enforce.

No surprises there, but the Microsoft spokesperson ends with 

We currently do not have plans to update the HTC HD2 to Windows Phone 7 Series.

Of course that wording does leave open the possibility. After all, plans do change and there was no "it definitely won't". Still, we think if MS wanted to be cagey, they would have given their usual "we do not comment" response in regards to the HD2 question.

None of this would have been such a big deal had not HTC themselves tweeted that the HD2 would get the update. In the future, we hope these companies can all be on the same page.

Anyone still holding out thinking it will get the coveted update?

According to a PPCGeeks forum user, Big Red is aiming to update its Touch Pro 2 (again) with a build of Sense 2.5. However and perhaps not surprising, there are no Documents, Footprints, Programs or E-Reader tabs on board.

The ROM itself is not yet available (officially or unofficially) and is only Windows Mobile 6.5. Release is expected "soon" which bodes well for Verizon's customers.

Now we know where this is going and what you are going to ask: What about Sprint?

Sprint has still not yet released their WM6.5 update, which is really starting to push the boundaries as far as timeliness. We reported here a few weeks ago that HTC had made a CDMA ROM with Sense 2.5 on board for a Chinese carrier, so this Verizon news is not that shocking. What this also might mean is the reason why Sprint is taking so long, is to get Sense 2.5 (and one can hope. WM6.5.3) cooked in, which would be a nice touch. 

Either way, it's nice to see companies like Verizon going that extra step for what is one of the most popular Windows phones to date.

[MobileOSNews via WMPoweruser]

The essence of this site is our enthusiasm for all things Windows Mobile. A common thread among WinMo enthusiasts is the unending desire to tweak and improve the devices that use. One technique that we have mentioned multiple times, and is a very popular solution for many hard core Windows Mobile junkies is the use of custom ROMs.

The hazards of flashing your device have been documented elsewhere, but HTC has assisted in alleviating one of those dangers with the official release of the stock ROM for the AT&T Tilt 2. This ROM enables you to re-flash your hardware back to using the standard (and more importantly, supported) ROM in the event of a need of hardware or software support.

Hit up HTC’s Tilt 2 download page to get your copy.

We’re hearing rumblings of people randomly experiencing excessive battery drain after upgrading their Verizon Touch Pro2 to the official 6.5 ROM. Depending on whom you believe the problems could be attributed to the automatic weather updates or the new radio ROM. While this isn’t affecting everyone, there are enough reports of people having issues that this is worth discussing.

Recommended solutions include turning off the weather updates, performing a hard reset, or re-flashing your device entirely.

Any Touch Pro2 users on Big Red apply the 6.5 update yet? Are you guys having issues with battery life? Have you found any fixes or workarounds? Discuss.

Thanks to John for the tip.

Although the title makes it sound like the LG eXpo's ROM (see review) is now single and ready to mingle with the ladies, in pseudo-technical parlance it means its OS and LG custom goodies have been extracted. 

What usually happens next is similar to vultures: ROM chefs swoop in and tear apart the remains, pulling out all of LG's unique software (Music player, LGIdles UI, Mutli-task application, etc.) and then cooking into their own ROMs or re-distributing the software as standalone .cab files.

Fine line between piracy and having fun. Or is it?

Regardless of the moral and legal quandaries, you can head here to XDA and give a big thanks to Chainfire and manelscout4life who did the big deed.  Actually, having Chainfire on board is great news because now he can adapt his brilliant Direct 3D driver file to this phone, which I and others have verified doesn't play nice with the LG Idle UI.  Adding Chainfire's Direct 3D patch has a quite prominent increase in performance on the already robust Snapdragon CPU, as seen with the HD2.

Finally, custom ROMs still require the additional component of a Hard SPL, of which none is currently in sight for this little gem. We'll keep following though.

[Thanks Joao S. for the tip!]

We know two things about HTC

1. They know how popular Sense 2.5 has become
2. They move pretty fast

We know this because a new build of Sense 2.5 (1922; last leak was 1921) officially supports landscape now.  Of course the excitement has lead to it being cooked into some GSM ROMs and it looks to be making its way to CDMA Touch Pro 2's in the next 24-48hrs.

So what does this mean?  Is HTC doing this for an eventual HD2 with a slider keyboard?  Or are they just doing the obvious: updating their UI for various future devices, including ones with slide-out QWERTYs?  We'll go with the latter for now as this seems like an obvious progression of the TouchFLO/Sense paradigm.

[via HTCPedia]

We knew it was coming. Heck, it's been in people's hands for awhile already.  Regardless, HTC officially let loose the 1.48 ROM update for the HD2.

Improvements are as follows:

1. Flipping back and forth between songs is easier than ever.  Whether you are listening to a defined playlist, or letting your phone shuffle your songs for you, your music will play continuously and fluidly.
2. Taking full advantage of the G-Sensor, Opera can switch seamlessly from portrait to landscape mode to allow more flexibility and allow for you to browse your websites however you want.
3. Staying connected to your loved ones is as important to you as it is to us, and we’ve enhanced our voice quality even more in this update.  Now updated, we’re delivering crystal clear sound quality, making it even easier to feel close to your loved ones, even when you are on the move.

Get that update here.

Of course, there already is a 1.61 ROM update leaked.  Gotta love that.  The leaked version reportedly addresses some radio issues (poor HSDPA performance) and incorporates the camera fix.  And at least according to Fards (via Twitter), it gets a whopping "150% speed boost over the 1.48 rom".  Sweeet.

Finally, on top of the ROM update, there is a "SMS function patch" as well.  You'll want to apply that after the 1.48 ROM update.  Whew, patch that sucka!

[via HTC and MobileTechWolrd]

We're all used to basic builds of Windows Mobile leaking out. It's also not unusual for full-on official ROM releases to squirm their way into our fat little fingers. Such is the case with the latest for the HTC HD2. The 1.48 ROM (up from 1.43) purportedly fixes issues with the calendar and provides some overall speed improvements (which is saying something when you're running a 1GHz Snapdragon processor in the first place).

The above video from YouTuber Xmoo123 shows off the before and after. It apparently is running Windows Mobile 6.5 Build 21869, up from 21864. (By comparison, I'm running 6.5 Build 21877.) All that said, this may be an "official" release, but it's not been officially released by HTC (when it its, you'll see it here), so consider yourself warned. [HTCPedia via wmpoweruser/pocketnow]

And the leaks keep coming...

For those who are staying abreast of all the recent WM6.5.x builds, 28004 just hit the streets today.  No major changes are evident, though there are some graphic and speed improvements as usual.

WM6.5.3 is the latest branch off from the various "COM" builds, which look to be the testing grounds for new improvements to Windows Mobile.  The main feature of these latest builds appear to be making the OS very finger friendly, incorporating gesture support, moving the Start menu to the lower left corner, enlarging all menus and redoing certain sub-sections like the address book (see above).

What no one knows as of yet is what is the end goal? I.e. what will this final branch look like, what is the expected finish date, etc?  Build 28004 is from November 19th, meaning it features some of the latest changes.  By comparison to WM6.5, these latest builds of 6.5.x are as fast if not faster, feel more modern and are quite stable.

Look for your favorite chef's to update their ROMs.

For those on Sprint with Touch Pro 2's, feel free to try my custom build of this ROM along with HTC Sense 2.1 (weather-clock), Office 2010, Opera 10 and some graphics improvements.  Get it here or directly download here and thanks to SSK for the kitchen.