Windows Phone

iOS, Android and Windows Phone – Where is the Market Headed? An Open Discussion

Judie and I both got HTC Titans the other day and have jumped into using them. Our initial thoughts? We both like them… a lot! We’ve been discussing a great deal of this behind the scenes. One discussion began with my posting So I really have to say that I am loving the hell out of the HTC Titan (even with its now slightly dented corners):-] I’m still learning how to get around but it is polished, tight, and a pleasure to use. Best onscreen keyboard ever! No matter how good the hardware o do t think I would like an Android…

Editorials

When THIS Happens We ALL Win

If you search around the internet based on the images in this post you will find loads of prognostication – Android fans calling it meaningless (despite foretelling the death of iOS with each percentage Android gains at the expense of RIM), iOS fans calling it the ‘Android plummet’ (in spite of arguing that short term shifts are meaningless), and so on. What I see – particularly when I look at the next image – is a market that is moving more rapidly than ever before. Smartphones accounted for over TWO THIRDS of all mobile phone sales in October and November…

Reviews

T-Mobile Nokia Lumia 710 Windows Phone Review

Nokia has long been one of my favorite hardware manufacturers because they consistently have devices with a better than usual build quality, their phones typically have strong radios, and they usually throw in a few excellent features not easily found elsewhere — like the built-in FM radio transmitters and Zeiss optics cameras many of their media phones sport. Like everyone else, I watched with interest when Nokia and Microsoft partnered up in February 2011; I wanted to see what types of designs these two titans would create, and I hoped that this would mean a bigger (and better) selection of Windows Phones from which consumers…

Editorials

Windows Phone 7.5 ‘Mango’ Arrives but Will It Be Enough?

I recently wrote about my initial experiences with the HTC 7 Pro from U.S. Cellular and commented on some early concerns about Windows Phone 7.5, aka the ‘Mango’ update that some are touting as what will save Windows Phone and enable Microsoft to lead the smartphone market. Despite early concerns and more recent issues with Windows Phone Marketplace ‘spam’, most early reports indicated that Mango is what Windows Phone 7 SHOULD have been a year ago. No one really knows exactly what the mobile market will look like five years from now – and certainly any analysts in 2006 making…

News, Reviews

First Impressions: U.S. Cellular HTC 7 Pro Windows Phone 7 Smartphone

I am very fortunate to have landed a review HTC 7 Pro unit from U.S. Cellular. A month or so ago I wrote about the 7 Pro launching as the first Windows Phone 7 device on U. S. Cellular. I will be doing a full review in the coming weeks, but wanted to give a few first impressions on (a) the phone, (b) the operating system, (c) the apps and (d) the service based on several hours of use this weekend. The Carrier – U. S. Cellular It probably would have made sense for me to check out the…

News

Nokia and Microsoft Get in Bed Together to Produce Prettier and Presumably Smarter Babies

This is so good, it’s almost hard to believe: Microsoft and Nokia have just formally announced their “Broad Strategic Partnership” as they “combine assets and develop innovative mobile products on an unprecedented scale.” The joint press conference occurred at 2:00 a.m. PST/5:00 a.m. EST, and unfortunately (or is it fortunately?) I was still awake trying to catch up on things when the news came out. From a post titled “Open Letter from CEO Stephen Elop, Nokia and CEO Steve Ballmer, Microsoft” on the Official Microsoft Blog, here is a summary of what the two companies hope to achieve. (Note that…

News

Gear Diary 2010 Gear of the Year and Predictions for 2011

The past year has seen interesting developments in the gear we all use: the term iOS replaced iPhone OS as the OS that started on iPhone was also on the new iPad when it took the world and Gear Diary writers by storm, Android phones blossomed and became real competitors to the iPhone, and the iPad got its first real competition in the Samsung Galaxy Tab just a few months before 2010 drew to a close. While there’s much more that happened in the past year, I thought let’s ask the following questions of the Gear Diary Team. 1. What was your…

News

The Windows Phone 7 Dell Venue Pro is Now Available

The Dell Venue has been one of the more highly anticipated Windows Phone 7 devices, and now you can order your own! $99 with a two-year T-Mobile contract, or $449 contract free, the Dell Venue offers a unique form factor, a huge screen and a possibly triumphant return of Dell in the Windows mobile device space; past-Axim owners rejoice! Introducing the definitive Windows® Phone 7 experience with a 4.1-inch sliding touch display and full QWERTY keyboard. Features include: The stunning 4.1-inch WVGA AMOLED capacitive, multitouch display enables easier navigation. With Office Mobile built in, you can operate on-the-go as seamlessly…

News

Don’t Believe Me? Bing It!

It’s not like you could possibly miss it, but if you were watching last night’s Hawaii Five-0 episode, then you likely saw the scene where … oh heck, just watch! Chin Ho Kelly challenges Kono Kalakaua to perform the search while they are looking at a sculpture, when she reaches into her bag and pulls out the LG Optimus 7 — the first time I have seen one in the wild, even if only on TV. Larry has pointed out Apple’s movie and television product placements, and it looks like Microsoft is taking a page from their book; the one…

Editorials

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Commercials: Folks At Home … Is It Me?

Yesterday Microsoft launched Windows Phone 7, the ground-up reboot of the failed Windows Mobile platform. By all accounts the hardware and software look solid and intriguing, with reports of great performance and an interface built around a quick look at lots of information rather than being largely app-centric like iOS and Android. Of course, only time will tell how it will all shake out. In the mean time, Microsoft has released two advertising spots for the new phone OS, one called ‘Really?’ and the other ‘Season of the Witch’. Each of the ads is focused around the tag line: It’s…

Editorials

Windows Phone 7: Too Little Too Late? Or Just In the Nick of Time?

Francis: Monday’s press conference marked the official announcement of Microsoft’s highly anticipated Windows Phone 7. Microsoft has officially been tooting their own horn in the past months about their new phone OS and hardware, claiming that this is the new vision of Microsoft Mobile devices. Judie: The dust is finally starting to settle, and now we’ve had a chance to digest the information which came … as well as a chance to formulate some questions. Make no mistake about it, Microsoft needed a new vision for their mobile devices. The company, which for a time enjoyed their position as a…

Editorials

Windows Phone 7 Integrates Voice; but How Good Could It Possibly Be??

My first smartphone was a Window Mobile smartphone — a Motorola MPX220. My second smartphone was also a Windows Mobile Smartphone — an iMate Jam; my third and my fourth smartphones were Windows Mobile devices as well. And then… I was done with Windows Mobile. Say what you want, but my experience with Windows Mobile was never all that good. Too often I found myself doing more to get and keep the phone up and running than I was actually using it. BlackBerry was next, and then the iPhone came along. When Android entered the fray, I felt that Windows…

News

Windows Phone 7 Series Is Now Simply Windows Phone 7

It’s not major news, but it is good news: Microsoft is simplifying their “Windows Phone 7 Series” to the less cumbersome “Windows Phone 7”. An obvious explanation for the “Series” moniker is that it was meant to “indicate that there would be a range of phones providing choice of hardware and operator.” Microsoft must have realized that the name was a bit too cumbersome and in the interest of simplifying things, shortened it to Windows Phone 7. Good move, since that’s what we were calling it anyway! 😉 Tis the season for Series finales. We’ve got one too – dropping…

Events, News

HTC Introduces The HD Mini Windows Phone

click to enlarge HTC is introducing a new Windows Phone this morning — the HD Mini. Specifications on the first press release that I received were pretty sparse, as it only said the HD Mini would be “sleek, well-crafted and easy to use,” that it would have a capacitive touchscreen, and that it would offer personal WiFi for your computer or other devices. Because HTC was being stingy with the specs (up until almost midnight last night), I consulted my Magic 8 ball to answer the questions not covered by the vague initial press release, and these were its replies:…

Reviews

The AT&T LG eXpo Windows Phone with Pico Projector Review

This is a joint review between Jason and Judie. Jason’s comments will be in black; Judie’s will be in blue italics. I recently got to spend a few days with the AT&T LG eXpo. Quite honestly, the main attraction for wanting to use this Windows Mobile 6.5 packin’ phone is its ability to be used with a Pico Projector add-on for presentations, demos, or home movies. As misfortune would have it, the demo unit I was sent shipped without the Pico Projector. Arggggghhhhh! : -( I received the LG eXpo a little over a month ago. Just like Jason, I…

Reviews

First Impressions of the HTC HD2 Windows Phone

While at Mobius I had the opportunity to take a look at some of the cool phones other members were carrying. The iPhone 3G and 3GS were popular with many of us (that’s Alex‘s lovely wife gracing his iPhone’s screen), and the Motorola Droid (that’s Vincent with his beautiful wife Lynnsie, on his) was popular with quite a few others — even if nearly all of them were complaining about its keyboard. But the phone that every one of us was salivating to hold was the new HTC HD2; John Starkweather was kind enough to allow us all a little…

Editorials

Impressions on Windows Mobile 6.5 and the AT&T Pure Windows Phone

This is a joint review between Wayne and me. Wayne is primarily a Blackberry and iPhone user, and he has also dabbled in Android, Palm, Windows Mobile and WebOS. I am primarily an iPhone and Nokia / Vertu user, with an extensive background in Palm and Windows Mobile. We were recently sent the new HTC Pure Windows Phone to review, because it is one of the first of several new Windows Phones to use the new Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system. Wayne’s comments will be the ones in black; mine will be in blue italics. Microsoft unleashed an upgrade to…

News

Windows Mobile 6.5 is Officially Released

Last week Wayne and I had the opportunity to sit in on an NDA workshop discussing the new and updated features of Windows Mobile 6.5. Wayne got hung up and couldn’t attend (pesky day job getting in the way, again!), but I was able to sit in an hear a bit about 6.5 and Marketplace, Microsoft’s new software store for Windows Phones. Those of you who read our GearChat back in February will recognize many of the new 6.5 screens, and yes – the Zune-like interface is still present.

Reviews

Review: SPB Quads for Windows Mobile

After years of ‘Match 3’ games like Bejeweled and Puzzle Quest and even multi-dimensional ‘Match 3’ games like Puzzle Quest Galactrix, there was only one natural course to follow .. MATCH 4! Of course, since Match 3 games already offered extra bonuses for a 4th matched item, the folks at SPB needed to do something different. Here is the scenario: you make the connection between three sides of a rectangle! So how well does this game work in terms of keeping interesting going in a seemingly saturated matching-game field? Read on and see!

Reviews

The HTC Snap and Sprint HTC Snap Windows Mobile Smartphone Review

[Ed note: This review is being simultaneously posted on Gear Diary and Just Another Mobile Monday.] Quite often HTC will release several versions of a single model, and depending upon whether you buy an unlocked or carrier subsidized version, you might end up with very different features. Such is the case with their new QWERTY Windows Mobile Smartphone, the Snap. I was sent their unlocked European version, and Doug received the US Specific Sprint branded device; my comments will appear in black, and Doug’s will be in blue italics. The Unlocked HTC Snap (European Version) The first thing that impressed…

How to Do It Yourself!

Understanding and Removing the Application Lock on Windows Mobile Standard Devices

One of the more frustrating things about owning a Windows Mobile Standard device, particularly the ones which are tied to a certain carrier, are the sometimes you’ll find that there are these inane application locks in place. You usually won’t even know about the lock until you try to install a program that you think will make your life easier or your device usage more satisfying. When you try the installation, it is error city and the application will fail every time. I ran into this with the Pantech Matrix Pro that Julie and I reviewed this spring: Is the…

« 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 »