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Nokia World is akin to Microsoft's BUILD or MIX events--think developers, rallying the troops, showing off the next big thing from the company. This year, Nokia World is happening in London in October and clearly all eyes will be on Nokia to see what they have up their sleeves. With their stock not performing to well and the obvious lag between Symbian and new Windows Phones, everyone is expecting Nokia to show off their first Mango device next month at this event.

The guest speaker list for said show has just been revealed and sure enough, we get a who's who from Microsoft and the Windows Phone team who will be there, presumably to not only show us Nokia's new phone but what Nokia has done with the OS and services--which is really the big story, after all.

So who will be there? Joe Belfiore, who oversees Windows Phone Program Management, Albert Shum, Director of Mobile Experience Design at Microsoft and Yusuf Mehdi, Microsoft’s Bing and MSN head for the first day keynotes. On day two, Brandon Watson, Senior Director of Windows Phone 7 development and Matthew Bencke, General Manager of Developer and Marketplace will be on hand for some talks. And finally Achim Berg, Microsoft’s Windows Phone Marketing chief will be part of a roundtable panel discussion with Nokia CEO Stephen Elop with Vodafone and Orange on day three.

Sounds like an exciting month as we're sure Nokia and Microsoft will unveil what they've been doing for the last eight months.

via WinRumors

This is a little something for bloggers and web developers who use WordPress as a CMS. Should you not have the necessary knowledge and experience to confidently develop an app to compliment your website, fear not as help is at hand with the Windows Phone Starter Kit for WordPress.

It's a simple package that includes a skeleton app, which only requires you to alter one line of code and insert the blog URL, and a plugin .zip that is to be uploaded and installed on the website. Full instructions located below:

App:

1. Open the MainPage.xaml.cs file in Visual Studio
2. Update the siteURL parameter to the location of your WordPress blog

WordPress:

1. Log into your WordPress blog using an account that has administrative access
2. Click on the "Plugins" link from the navigation bar on the Dashboard
3. Click on the "Add New" button on the Plugins page
4. Select the "Upload" link from those choices presented on the Plugins page
5. Click the browse button and navigate to the location of the WPSKPlugin.zip (usually \WordPressPlugin\WPSKPlugin.zip
6. Click the "Install Now" button to perform the upload.

Head on over to the MSDN Code project page for the Windows Phone Starter Kit below for more details and download links.

Source: MSDN, via: Nanapho.jp

Yesterday we reported on how Orange France was to release the update for Windows Phone 7.5 Mango beginning on September 15th. Obviously, that has not happened, but it might not be because Orange was unready but rather Microsoft has them holding off.

So it should be of no surprise that they have had their stock of Windows Phone re-flashed with Mango. Evidently, that's the case as Lionel L. can attest over at Smartphone France. Reportedly he had something wrong with his LG Optimus 7 and brought it in for an exchange/warranty repair. He ended up leaving with a brand new Optimus 7, but this time it was running "Mango". As evidence, he supplied the pic you see to the right, where the device is running 7720.68.

All we can say is we're close folks, very close.

We have more camps being listed so be sure to get your calendars out and insert events. The array of Windows Phone developer camps will be freely available for all. Developers from other platforms are recommended to visit one of the days should they wish to expand their reach onto Microsoft's platform.

We've bolded the two special days in Boston (12-13 October) where the second day will be a hands-on for developing apps and will feature successful developers providing advice and support.

• 9/20/2011 - Charlotte NC
• 9/22/2011 - Alpharetta GA
• 9/27/2011 - Malvern PA
• 9/29/2011 - Reston VA
• 10/12/2011 - Cambridge MA (Day 1)
• 10/13/2011 - Cambridge MA (Day 2)
• 10/18/2011 - Chevy Chase MD
• 10/19/2011 - New York City
• 10/25/2011 - Tampa FL
• 10/27/2011 - Burlington VT
• 11/2/2011 - Raleigh NC
• 11/4/2011 - Ft. Lauderdale FL
• 11/8/2011 - Orlando FL
• 11/10/2011 - Coral Gables FL
• 11/10/2011 - New Paltz NY
• 11/15/2011 - Blacksburg VA
• 11/17/2011 - Washington DC
• 11/29/2011 - Atlanta GA
• 11/29/2011 - Pittsburgh PA
• 12/1/2011 - Hempstead NY

Be sure to check out the announcement article over at MSDN (link below) for more information and links to register at each event.

Source: MSDN, thanks minibeardeath for the tip!

We threw up a post not so long ago where fans of the Windows Phone platform could go through and vote for the team to win the IDEA: People's Choice Award. At the ceremony the WP team were celebrating with just not one award, but three. They acquired People's Choice, Best in Show and Interaction awards.

Thanking fans and voters alike over Twitter, the team have seen both investment and innovation of the Metro UI being paid off with implementation in Windows 8 and Xbox 360, as well as awareness by the industry for its simplicity.

Source: Twitter [@WPDesignTeam]

This week we have Mike Newman, an independant app developer for Windows Phone, for an insightful interview. Mike is the developing power behind Penguin and Fireworks. Head on past the break for the interview. 

In an interesting internal-memo obtained by Smartphone France, the carrier evidently plans to disable Wifi Sharing, Group MMS (which we covered as being potentially pricey) and Visual Voicemail.

Perhaps WiFi sharing, something we've seen earlier , shouldn't be too much of a surprise--after all, it's expensive, especially for those carriers that don't have a built in billing system. So while a downer, not exactly shocking--in fact we expect more carriers to follow. Group MMS seems benign at first, but we documented how this "feature" can be very expensive. In short, it's labeled as "Group Messaging" but instead of SMS it use MMS in order to keep all the messages threaded. Sending out dozens of MMS messages can be very pricey for some services.

Finally there's Visual Voicemail, which is instantiated in a unique fashion in Mango. As a result, carriers seem limited in their ability to integrate the Mango VV with their own system, hence why we probably will, once again, see this on more carriers as well.

While not the end of the world, it's good for Orange customers in France to be aware of what they are and are not getting with Mango.

Source: Smartphone France, via WPSauce

California, Illinois, Massachusetts, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Washington have all jumped on the Department of Justice's bandwagon to prevent the acquisition of T-Mobile by AT&T. Echoing the concerns expressed in the DOJ's lawsuit about the deal killing compettion, New York Attorney General, Eric T. Schneidermen explained in a statement how his state would be affected: "This proposed merger would stifle competition in markets that are crucial to New York's consumers and businesses, while reducing access to low-cost options and the newest broadband-based technologies."

AT&T responded to the news of the new plaintiffs in a statement of their own:

It is not unusual for state attorneys general to participate in DOJ merger review proceedings or court filings. At the same time, we appreciate that 11 state attorneys general and hundreds of other local, state and federal officials are publicly supportive of our merger. We will continue to seek an expedited hearing on the DOJ’s complaint. On a parallel path, we have been and remain interested in a solution that addresses the DOJ’s issues with the T-Mobile merger.

We remain confident that we’ll reach a successful conclusion and look forward to delivering the merger benefits of additional wireless network capacity to improve customer service, expanded LTE deployment to 55 million more Americans, $8 billion in additional investment, and a commitment to bring 5,000 wireless call center jobs back to the United States.

Though AT&T may be hoping to settle with the Department of Justice, it will be more difficult now that the seven states have joined in. An initial scheduling hearing has been set for September 21 where a date for the trial will be set. The DOJ is pushing for a March 19 start, while AT&T is looking to begin January 16.

Source: Reuters; Via: PhoneScoop

Today President Barack Obama signed a bill into law that is being touted as the biggest reform to patent law since 1952.  The America Invents Act changes the way the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office hands out patents from a convoluted, drawn-out process of researching who the inventor of a technology was to a first-to-file approach.  This will shift the burden from the PTO to the inventors, greatly reducing the time it takes to get an idea patented.  The America Invents Act also augments the process of challenging patents that have already been granted, and allows the PTO to patent-related fees.   Speaking of the importance of the bill to both innovation and the floundering economy, Obama had this to say:

“Somewhere in that stack of applications could be the next technological breakthrough, the next miracle drug.  We should be making it easier and faster to turn new ideas into jobs.”

Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of intellectual property and licensing, said in a blog post that the AIA:“will ensure that innovators in our troubled economy can benefit from a predictable and rational patent system, with new tools to eliminate patents that should not have issued and to speed the processing of patents that should be issued."  He went on to say that "a fair, balanced and effective patent system is indispensable to promoting R&D investment, job creation, and economic growth.”

Gutierrez's comments are not surprising given the obscene amount of patent-related squabbles and acquisitions in the past year, which have included Microsoft, Apple, Google, HTC and others.  The potential of companies using patents as weapons has also been credited for recent billion-dollar business moves, such as Google's recent purchase of Motorola Mobility. 

Hopefully, with a more streamlined system and better review process, the patent world can gain a little sanity, while perhaps simultaneously giving the economy a lift in its step.

Source: SeattlePI; Photo: AP(Jacquelyn Martin)