2/07/2010 01:55:00 PM
kenmouse
, Posted in
Microsoft
,
Mobile News
,
Windows Phone 7
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Microsoft have already confirmed that Windows Mobile 7 is going to make at least a partial debut at Mobile World Congress 2010 in a little over a week’s time, but so far all we’ve had is rumors as to what exactly they’ll be showing off. Now, according to PPCGeeks’ sources, more details are known: they reckon the new Windows Phone 7 UI will be the main draw at MWC, with Microsoft holding off on specific functionality, but they do have a run-down of what we can expect from the updated smartphone platform. Unfortunately, not all of it fills us with glee.
As we’ve heard rumored, there’s a lot borrowed from the Zune platform injected into Windows Phone 7. The smartphone UI – apparently codenamed “METRO” – looks much like that of the Zune HD we’re told, with a fresh new Start screen; it’s described variously as “very clean”, “soulful” and “alive”. Hopefully it really will be, since third-party or OEM UIs are apparently not to be permitted; that means no HTC Sense and no other apps such as SPB Mobile Shell.
What we do get, we’re told, is full Zune integration, with the Zune desktop software taking the place of Windows Mobile Device Center when it comes to synchronizing and other matters. There’s also full Xbox gaming integration, with on-device access to gamer tags, achievements, friends, avatars and merchandising, together with “full support” for social networking; we’re guessing the latter means integration of things like Facebook friends with the native address book.
2/07/2010 01:54:00 PM
kenmouse
, Posted in
Google
,
Technology
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While Google is a company built on advertising, for the most part it has stayed out of advertising itself on the dominant medium: television. Yes, there have been those short ads for Chrome and a few for Android that it has been involved with. And Google is even said to have considered an ad during the Olympics, but that was killed at the last second, apparently. But now, it looks like Google may be ready to advertise itself on the biggest stage possible: the Super Bowl.
Google CEO Eric Schmidt has just posted this very intriguing tweet:
Can’t wait to watch the Superbowl tomorrow. Be sure to watch the ads in the 3rd quarter (someone said “Hell has indeed frozen over.”)
It’s hard to know exactly what he’s saying there, but it would seem to suggest that Google will have an ad that will run during the third quarter of tomorrow’s game. If that is indeed the case, who knows what product it will be for — but the “hell has frozen over” comment is interesting. Could Google be running an ad to promote Google.com itself to counter Microsoft’s Bing ads? We’ll all be watching.
2/07/2010 02:35:00 AM
kenmouse
, Posted in
iPhone
,
Mobile News
,
Nintendo DS
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Sony PSP
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Technology
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Game Developer Research says that Apple is winning the race among handheld game developers: 19 percent write now for the iPhone and iPod touch. That's more than double the amount of Nintendo DS and Sony PSP developers. Other interesting figures:
• Handheld games are now 25 percent of the whole gaming market, up from 12 percent before the iPhone/iPod touch phenomenon.
• During the last three quarters, all handheld game developers are writing for the Apple iPhone and iPod touch.
The ironclad legitimacy of this slide can't be confirmed, but considering what we know and what we've heard about T-Mobile USA's plans for the next few months, we can totally buy what we're seeing here. The PowerPoint masterpiece -- which showed up on a PPCGeeks forum thread recently -- has the midrange Android-powered Motorola Zeppelin as the "CLIQ XT" with a target launch of March 10, giving customers already flush with choices yet another way to get their Google on. Next, the Nokia "Nuron" (which looks an awful lot like a 5230 to us) is being billed as a "low-cost touchscreen" with 3G and Ovi Store access for a March 17 date with destiny, and finally, the mighty HD2 -- which we already know is coming to T-Mobile -- is said to be ready come March 24. Now, don't get us wrong, the HD2 is a helluva phone -- but if Windows Mobile 7 is really unveiled in a few days at MWC like everyone expects, that's going to make the launch of a high-end 6.5 device just a little anticlimactic.