Setting up a WP7 Device as "Zune"

deuce01

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My son has been begging for an iPod all year and it was the main thing he wanted from Santa this year. However, I've bought in to the Windows ecosystem and nothing Apple is getting in. So, I bought myself a new HTC 8X and gave him my Trophy for Christmas. He's only 10 and is not ready to be put on my data plan so I'm setting it up Wi-Fi only. I've created an Microsoft account for him and have it set up as part of My Family. WP7.5 is not controllable like WP8 is but I'm hoping 7.8 will fix that. Has anyone else done this and if so, how'd it go? I'd like to add the ability to text with his friends but I haven't figured out the best way to do that yet. Would love to know what anyone else has done.

Thanks!
Deuce
 

deuce01

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Sorry for the delayed response Dash. Apparently I don't have my WPCentral account set up correctly as I didn't get notified that there was a response.

My Family is a Microsoft Service that allows you to manage all the phones in your "household". You can access it by going to windowsphone.com and selecting 'My Family' from drop down menu under 'Explore'.

His Trophy is not activated and not on any carrier plan. I put it in Airplane mode and enabled Wi-Fi so that he can access the web and the WP Store. I'm still trying to figure out a texting solution and have heard that Google Voice (shudder) may be an option using MetroTalk. Has anyone here set that up?
 

HeyCori

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Sorry for the delayed response Dash. Apparently I don't have my WPCentral account set up correctly as I didn't get notified that there was a response.

My Family is a Microsoft Service that allows you to manage all the phones in your "household". You can access it by going to windowsphone.com and selecting 'My Family' from drop down menu under 'Explore'.

His Trophy is not activated and not on any carrier plan. I put it in Airplane mode and enabled Wi-Fi so that he can access the web and the WP Store. I'm still trying to figure out a texting solution and have heard that Google Voice (shudder) may be an option using MetroTalk. Has anyone here set that up?

You could probably get away with any chat service if Google Voice isn't your cup of tea. The clear winner is probably Facebook but there's also Skype or IM+ if you want to use multiple messaging services.
 

deuce01

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I'd love to set him up on Skype but wouldn't his friends have to have it too? That's the same as WhatsApp and Line, I think. The main challenge is that since the phone doesn't have service it doesn't have a phone number and, therefore, no ability to sent a standard text message. I've seen apps that say they provide SMS features but the reviews aren't that good.
 

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