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[Q] Brand new to WP7

I just got my WP7 phone, an Arrive - it "arrrived" yesterday - and I'm about to take the plunge into Windows Phone 7 development. I have previously developed on PPC4, WM5, and WM6, but this is all new...
I'm about to register on the marketplace as a dev, and if I understand correctly, I will then unlock my phone so I can sideload apps from VS2010.
If I've read right, the Chevron unlock doesn't work with the Arrive, but I'm wondering if unlocking it by registering as a dev means I can still sideload the apps for tethering?
Yeah, probably a noob question, but I just want to make sure I don't end up screwing up my phone.
Thanks!

Yeah man if you get the official unlock you'll be able to install any sideloading apps you want!

Thanks. That's what I thought...
Now if I could ever get anything to go right with this whole deal. Now I'm waiting on GeoTrust to verify that I am who I say I am before I can get my account finished, and the Windows Phone Developer Unlocker tool in VS won't connect to my phone, even though Zune is working with it just fine. Ugh.

Yeah, until your account is verified the developer unlock tool won't work. Also note that while VS may send you to Zune to do the unlock, this is incorrect: installing teh WP7 dev tools placed an app on your PC called "Windows Phone Developer Registration" and it is this app that you will need to use for the unlock.

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I unlocked my devise through App Hub. How can I install xap files?

Hello,
I registered my device through the App Hub, I am a student. I registered it through the Windows Phone Developer Registration.
Now, can I install XAP files, downloaded from the forum? I tried Tom Xap Installer without luck.
Thank you for any info.

If you registered your phone as a device under https://users.create.msdn.com/Account/Devices then you should definitively be able to install any xap file you want.
For more information look at the huge documentation from Microsoft:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg588378(v=VS.92).aspx

I tried to install 2 applications, Registry Editor (TouchXperience), and Sms Backup but I got an error code. I searched and find that if you have a registered device you can not install homebrew xaps. Something about interop-unlock.
What does that mean and is there a way to pass it ?
I also tested this http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1149186 it gave me a successful message but it is not showing in my phone though.

You're partially right. All apps which haven't been committed to the MS Marketplace are "homebrew" apps. Technically there isn't even a difference between homebrewn and "official" apps. So usually you should be able to deploy any app to your phone.
The problem is (in your case) that some apps require more security rights on your phone than others - simply spoken. For example those are apps which try to access the registry or any system-near functions (like text messages). Those apps require you to interop-unlock your phone which is more complex and depends on various factors.
Just use the forum search to find "wp7 interop unlock mango".
There's a huge market of non-interop apps which you can just deploy like any other self-developed app.
I hope I could help you.

Thank you. One last question. Can you point me a link of non-interop apps?

When you were researching that error code and found out about interop-unlock, did you also miss the thread on how to interop-unlock your phone? OK, not all phones can be IUed, but many can. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1271963 has info about interop-unlock, and the steps (and tools) required to get it (on supported phones).
As for non-interop homebrew, I'm not sure there's a full list anywhere. A few examples, though:
Screen Capturer
Mango Webserver
Folders
DllImport project (and most things made using it)
Orientation Lock
OEM Marketplace XAPs (not really apps, they just take advantage of the app installer)

[Q] Will an unlocked phone stay unlocked?

I have an LG Quantum running Mango that is developer-unlocked.
I'm a student developer (signed up with an .edu account), which means I'm still on my free year. Once that free year expires, will my phone remain unlocked?
If not, can I use this tutorial to keep it unlocked? http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=974874
Thanks,
David

The phone will automatically re-lock once your AppHub account expires (although, if you're still a student at that point, I believe you can renew for free).
However, there's really no reason to limit yourself to the AppHub account. That tutorial you linked will work just fine, but it's missing one more value that you should set: MaxUnsignedApp (under the same registry key). This value controls how many non-Marketplace apps you're allowed to install (which, on your student account, is the painfully low value of 3). It also controls whether your phone is "interop-unlocked"; set it to at least 300 to be able to install apps that can use high-privilege system services nd drivers to break out of their sandboxes (for example, my MutilTaskToggle app and the upcoming WP7 Root Tools for LG both require this). Most people just set the value to 2,000,000,000 or so.

GoodDayToDie said:
The phone will automatically re-lock once your AppHub account expires (although, if you're still a student at that point, I believe you can renew for free).
However, there's really no reason to limit yourself to the AppHub account. That tutorial you linked will work just fine, but it's missing one more value that you should set: MaxUnsignedApp (under the same registry key). This value controls how many non-Marketplace apps you're allowed to install (which, on your student account, is the painfully low value of 3). It also controls whether your phone is "interop-unlocked"; set it to at least 300 to be able to install apps that can use high-privilege system services nd drivers to break out of their sandboxes (for example, my MutilTaskToggle app and the upcoming WP7 Root Tools for LG both require this). Most people just set the value to 2,000,000,000 or so.
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Thanks! I've used this thread http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1271963 to interop-unlock my phone already. Does this do the trick?
Also, is the WP7 Deployment tool offered from AppHub the only deployment tool available? Just curious.

Yeah, the Interop Unlock thread works fine. You'll notice it instructs you to do basically the same things as the other one, except it also instructs you to change MaxUnsignedApp.
It's not the only or even the best tool, no. However, most third-party tools rely on having the SDK installed anyhow, so you might want to do that nonetheless.

GoodDayToDie said:
Yeah, the Interop Unlock thread works fine. You'll notice it instructs you to do basically the same things as the other one, except it also instructs you to change MaxUnsignedApp.
It's not the only or even the best tool, no. However, most third-party tools rely on having the SDK installed anyhow, so you might want to do that nonetheless.
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Can you direct me to some better deploying tools, by any chance?

TouchXperience works just fine, and has the additional advantage of tracking which apps are installed for purposes of backing up data from them.
Otherwise, just do a search for XAP Deployer. I've tried a few, but most have either had some bugs or not been worth the advantages they offered. I've forgotten which other tools worked best, but you can probably make some guesses by the popularity of the threads.
If the official tool would just associate with XAP files correctly, that would be fine. Instead, it doesn't do so automatically and even if you associate it manually you still have to manually select the file when the program starts.

[Q] "Unlock" HTC Titan to load a single unsigned app (audible beta)?

Audible has offered to invite me to the private beta if I have a phone capable of installing their .XAP file. I don't but I would very much LIKE to have a phone capable of doing this. I have done some googling (binging?) and discovered my options seem to be
Apphub account ($100)
Windows break (Samsung/LG only)
Dreamspark (verified students only)
I have an HTC Titan on AT&T in the US running everything exactly as it came... I have not modified anything.
I have not been a student in years (not sure what it takes to get "verified"??)
It seems foolish to pay $100 for one app that will be out for free soon.
So... Options? I do not need any carrier unlock, ability to put apps int he marketplace, etc... Just the ability to install a single .XAP.
Thanks in advance!

I don't think you need to unlock your phone in order to test a private beta

I know that is possible (from other things I have read about) but their reply to my email indicated that an unlocked phone was required. Perhaps they simply choose not to use this option even though it's available?

JusThinK said:
In general for private beta, they might need your phone live ID and later they will give you a direct market download link, which you can download from the market, like Nokia PlayTo beta application.
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Yes, they ask for your live ID and then give you the MP link.

[for any programmer/hacker] Want to install the Homebrew App (.Xap) for freely?

I have one idea for great solution [need help from experts].
Hey guys, about two months I started to find some way to unlock my HTC HD7.5 with Mango at the latest update.
But up till now, I never find a concrete way to Unlock my Windows Phone because I find any different problems when I tried to Unlock my Device.
It was a true damnation for me, because I like so much to personalize my things, it's my passion and sincerely I don't accept to have one phone with the same aspect of the all originals.
Now I explain my idea,
With the original Microsoft Marketplace App on our Smartphones, we can always download and install directly the Apps (.Xap) inside and without Chevron.
For the Homebrew it's not the same, we can't install this directly like Marketplace, we need always the unlock.
But now the idea coming in my mind, if we study this App function and adapt it for install the custom Apps by the Web browser, and we put it on same blog with his website gadget, can also make that functions?
Pratically I think:
We create some blog/site with info, news, and the App-gadget who can simulate the Marketplace functions, with the running and installing process.
After we can open that through our Smartphone's IE9 and we feely download ad install the homebrews apps, also the jailbreaks/unlocks (if we create some kind of new).
Anyway it's a great idea, and I'm sure we need the concrete gadget, me I can't realize because I don't have some programmator experiences, but I find this bast**d idea
Here there are much programmators, for they maybe it's not a problem to realize!
I hope xD

It's entirely possible that I'm misunderstanding due to your English (though I doubt I'd do as well in whatever your native language is) but I *think* what you're suggesting is already well-known to not be possible.
First of all, the phone will neither install nor execute unsigned apps (that is, homebrew) unless it is developer-unlocked. You can test this on a dev-unlocked phone; temporarily revoke the dev-unlock, and try to launch any app that you sideloaded onto the phone. It won't work. Since it's extremely unlikely that will be able to add the Marketplace signature to homebrew XAP files, that's a no-go.
Second, we already know how to install apps from IE on the phone (if you look at my XapHandler app, that's what it does). However, just because we know how to do it doesn't mean it can be done on every phone. First, you need dev-unlock just so you can execute unsigned code on the phone at all. Second, you need root-unlock so the XAP installation code runs with enough privileges to install apps.
If instead you mean just make a website that spoofs the Marketplace, that's easy to do but it won't help. The phone doesn't actually really care what Marketplace site it connects to; it just downloads the app over HTTP from some web server. The problem is that the XAP file needs to be signed (first issue that I mentioned) or a dev-locked phone won't install it.

GoodDayToDie said:
It's entirely possible that I'm misunderstanding due to your English (though I doubt I'd do as well in whatever your native language is) but I *think* what you're suggesting is already well-known to not be possible.
First of all, the phone will neither install nor execute unsigned apps (that is, homebrew) unless it is developer-unlocked. You can test this on a dev-unlocked phone; temporarily revoke the dev-unlock, and try to launch any app that you sideloaded onto the phone. It won't work. Since it's extremely unlikely that will be able to add the Marketplace signature to homebrew XAP files, that's a no-go.
Second, we already know how to install apps from IE on the phone (if you look at my XapHandler app, that's what it does). However, just because we know how to do it doesn't mean it can be done on every phone. First, you need dev-unlock just so you can execute unsigned code on the phone at all. Second, you need root-unlock so the XAP installation code runs with enough privileges to install apps.
If instead you mean just make a website that spoofs the Marketplace, that's easy to do but it won't help. The phone doesn't actually really care what Marketplace site it connects to; it just downloads the app over HTTP from some web server. The problem is that the XAP file needs to be signed (first issue that I mentioned) or a dev-locked phone won't install it.
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Uhm ok, I understand.
Too bad, because it was a good idea!