Windows Phone 7 Announced by Microsoft at Mobile World Congress

The mobile world has been buzzing with talk about the future of Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system. After stumbling the last couple of years and allowing new comers like Google  and Apple to capture a significant portion of the mobile market, all eye’s were on Microsoft. They really need to pull an ace out or risk being left behind in the fast moving mobile space.

Many are looking to Mobile World Congress as the best time for Microsoft to share their plans with the world. And share they did. A couple of minutes ago, Microsoft announced the long awaited Windows Phone 7. Billed as “Windows Phone 7 Series”, the mobile operating system takes a new fresh approach to the mobile world. With custom “tiles” and “hubs” you can be sure to keep informed of the information that matters most to you.

Phones are expected from all the major hardware manufacturers by this holiday season. Initial rumors had devices hitting the market in April or September. They appear to be a little off the actual date, but not too bad.

The full press release can be found below. Give it a read and share your thoughts with us. My initial reaction is that Microsoft is hitting the mark with this release. There’s still a load of unanswered questions. Hopefully we can get all the details shortly.

UPDATE: Check out the live demo on http://www.windowsphone7series.com/

[ ..Read More.. ]

Microsoft MVP Global Summit Time

As you’re reading this, I’m traveling to Seattle to attend the this years MVP Summit. The summit is always a good time to get together with the other Mobile Device MVPs as well as the product group and various teams behind Windows Mobile.

This year, the summit falls at the same time as Mobile World Congress (and the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver). If Microsoft decides to share Windows Phone 7 at MWC, then I expect the product teams will have more to share with us. Unfortunately, a lot of what we talk about is under NDA. Rest assured, that whatever I can share, I will share. And I will also take with me a list of issues and questions that I have gathered from your comments posted on Mobile Jaw over the last while.

I’m looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Windows Mobile 7 Leaks and Rumors Running Crazy

With Mobile World Congress just around the corner, the rumors are starting to swirl about the Windows Mobile 7 announcement that is expected from Microsoft. Now that 6.5.3 has been announced, there is almost no question that Mobile World Congress will be when Microsoft takes the wraps off Windows Mobile 7. This long awaited OS is expected to be a game changer for Microsoft. If it doesn’t come out strong, then it could be the end of the road for Microsoft in the mobile space.

Over the weekend, there was a couple “leaks” that came out around the features and functionality from Windows Mobile 7. Before I get too in-depth on these leaks, please make note that none of this has been confirmed. For all we know, it’s just some guy making crap up in his basement. Or, it could be the real deal. Either way, we won’t know for sure until Microsoft makes their announcement next week.

Now, onto the details! According to PPCGeeks, here’s what you can expect:

• The user interface is going to be very similar to the Zune HD interface.
• The Start menu will be completely revamped
• Application installation will only be possible through the market place
• No multi-tasking support. Instead, applications will pause when in the background
• No NetCF backwards compatibility
• Devices will be ready for September
• There will be full integration with Zune – No more ActiveSync or Windows Mobile Device Center. It will all be handled by Zune desktop software
• No more 3rd party user interfaces
• Full Xbox gaming integration and social networking integration

Some of this sounds pretty cool, but other parts suck pretty bad. If all this holds true, it’s very much a “me too” response to Apple’s iPhone platform. And while Apple certainly has done some things well, I don’t think the best approach is to directly copy every aspect of their platform.

I’m looking forward to the big announcement to settle some of these rumors and get a full understanding of everything that Microsoft is working on with regards to Windows Phone.

Custom Theme Generator for Windows Phone

Earlier, we posted about adding custom wallpaper to your Windows phone. In that post, the wallpaper was a custom Windows Start button that was meant as your desktop wallpaper. If you’re looking to further customize your phone so that it’s you from top to bottom, then you will want to check out the Microsoft theme generator.

The theme generator is for Windows Mobile 6.5 devices only.  First thing you need to do, is pick your device from the rotating images. Then you can select the color you want to use, followed by the wallpaper image. You can even upload your own image and zoom/crop the image as you see fit. Once you have it just the way you like it, you can save it as a CAB file to your computer and pass it around for everyone to enjoy. You can also send it directly to your phone using an SMS message. It’s free and it’s cool. It’s worth checking out. Build a theme and share it here with us! I would like to see what everyone is capable of creating with this tool.

Custom Windows Start Button Wallpaper on your Phone

Everyone loves to customize their phones in one way or another. Clinton Fitch has a tip on how to build your own custom Windows Start button wallpaper and then getting that on your phone. The end result looks pretty cool. The wallpaper is customized to your interests and then loaded up on your phone. I just wish they had more mobile choices when making your Start button wallpaper.

Head over to Clinton’s web site and get all the details on how to get this setup.

Is it Really That Hard to get .Net Framework 3.5 on Windows Mobile 6.5 Device?

I was just going off about this on twitter and I felt it was worth posting about too. I downloaded the beta for FourSquare on Windows Mobile. However, the application requires .Net Compact Framework 3.5 on the device. At first, I figured that a new HTC HD2 running Windows Mobile 6.5 should already have the 2 year old version of the Compact Framework installed in the ROM. Guess what I found out – No .NetCF 3.5 on the device.

While that’s just short sighted and stupid on Microsoft’s part, the solution is pretty simple. All I need to do is download the CAB from the web and I’m good to go. Sadly, it’s just not that simple. You see, the .NetCF 3.5 installer is a 33MB desktop installer that contains the CAB files inside of it. So you can’t simply download it to your device and install.  Now I’m really wondering what the hell Microsoft is thinking. Have they lost sight of the end user in all this?

Let’s take a look at the steps to install the .Net Framework 3.5 on your Windows Mobile 6.5 device: 1) boot up laptop, 2) goto download page, 3) download huge 33MB installer, 4) install on desktop, 5) find 1 small 2.5MB CAB file left behind from installer, 6) ActiveSync your phone, don’t use ActiveSync then you need to copy it to a MicroSD card and insert that into your phone. 7) On your phone, launch File Explore and find the file. Run the file.

And now the steps if a CAB file was available directly from Microsoft’s site: 1) goto download page, 2) download file, 3) install file. DONE.

I would really like to see some sort of explanation on A) why it’s not already baked into the device ROM, and B) why the end user can’t simply download the CAB file directly to their device.

Windows Mobile 6.5.3 Gets Official Launch

I never thought that I would be writing a post about a dot-dot release of a mobile operating system. However, I think this is worth noting for a couple reasons. The biggest is to put to rest the rumors about 6.6 (also known as 6.5.3) being announced at Mobile World Congress and Windows Mobile 7 being delayed, again. With the announcement of the new Sony Ericcson X2 Windows Phone, Microsoft officially took the wraps off of Windows Mobile 6.5.3. So, unless Microsoft wants to go over this announcement again in a week and a half from now, I think it would be safe to say that MWC will not see the announcement of a dot increment of the existing version.

So what does 6.5.3 offer that’s so much better than 6.5? Here’s what you can expect to find in the new release:

• Capacitive touch screen support
• Platform support for multi-touch
• Improved touch friendly controls throughout the system
• Faster load times in Internet Explorer Mobile
• Pan & Flick support in Internet Explorer Mobile
• Updated runtime tools for .Net CF 3.5, SQL CE

There are also some graphical changes in 6.5.3. For example, when you tap the top title bar, it will open a new larger icon bar showing the existing system tray icons for easier access. As well, you will find that the softkeys at the bottom of the screen are now displayed in bubbles, or more button like look. Although this does look better than the early leaked images, I still don’t care for it. Check out the images and let me know what you think about these changes.

Mobile Wars: Mobile Market Place

It seems that every mobile operating system has its own Market Place. A short while ago, there was no on-device market place to download and purchase applications. (Yes, I know that some app portals did build a device client, but it was poorly implemented and never received any traction) But are all market places created equal? The answer is a flat out – NO.

Google’s market place is loaded with applications. In much the same way as Apple advertises, there is an app for that with Android.  Perhaps it’s not as full, but I never had a problem finding an app to do what I was looking for. Further, almost all the apps are free. Sure, free doesn’t help put food on the table for the developers family. It does appeal to my cheap side however. You may find an application here and there that charges, but overall that’s rare.

 

When you take a look at Microsoft’s market place for mobile, you’ll have a much harder time finding free applications. While I don’t mind paying for the right app, it’s also much harder to find the right app.  There are few applications available on Microsoft’s platform. In fact, the market place is lacking so much, that there is now a free alternative called OpnMarket – which has substantially more applications that Microsoft’s version.

[ ..Read More.. ]

Microsoft has a Story to Tell at Mobile World Congress

There’s been a buck-load of rumors floating around about the future of Windows Phone and what Microsoft will or won’t be announcing at the upcoming Mobile World Congress next month. I’ve read everything from Windows Mobile 6.5.3, to Windows Mobile 7, to Pink, to Zune Phone, and beyond. I think it’s clear to say that the vast majority are guessing about the announcements.

Today, I caught a post over on I Started Something about Windows Phone briefings for financial analysts and investors community. This year Microsoft has booked 2 events. The first one is February 15^th – the day of their press conference at Mobile World Congress. The second one is for February 22 – 7 days later. Both calls are financial analyst briefings and both are hosted by Andy Lees, who is the Senior Vice President of the Mobile Communication Business at Microsoft.

Does this mean that there is so much to share that they can’t fit it all in one call? Or perhaps the second call is just a re-hash of the first? As Long Zheng points out in his post, last year when Microsoft announced Windows Mobile 6.5, they only had 1 call scheduled. I’m guessing that whatever Microsoft has to say at Mobile World Congress, it looks like it’s worth repeating. And that’s a good thing. At least I hope so.

We’ll know a lot more in a couple weeks.

Mobile Wars: Managing Your Email On The Go

Email is one of the more popular features on today’s phones. If you’re not doing push email, then chances are you’re heavy into texting. Staying connecting with work, friends and family while on the go is what a lot of smartphone users are looking to do. When it comes to work, there is no question that Exchange is the dominate email server. And because of that, any serious mobile OS needs to have some sort of Exchange supported backed it.

There’s no question that Microsoft has spent a considerable amount of time building up the Exchange connectivity on their Windows Phone devices. From remote wipe of the phone, to looking up contacts in the Global Address Book, Windows Phones have just about everything you could ask for when it comes to messaging. The biggest feature that Microsoft has yet to add is support for multiple Exchange accounts.  Support for this is starting to show up in other platforms. Microsoft needs to keep their mobile messaging experience as the best on the block and the one to beat. If they want to stay in this game, of course.

[ ..Read More.. ]

Next Page »