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The lads over at Opera Labs have released a tech preview of Opera Mobile 9.5 that also has support for Google Gears.

Put in their words:

The use cases for Gears differ somewhat between mobile and desktop devices. On mobile, Gears is perfect for creating a better user experience by allowing applications to cache data more efficiently, so you can cut down on bandwidth, and carry out processes discreetly in the background. On the desktop, Gears has ideal functionality for allowing your applications to function offline and synchronize data with the server when you get back online again. You can try this out for yourself with the various Gears samples available on Google Code.

Read more about it here, and then head on over for the download.

Last we heard about Pandora on WM was from Phil at the begining of  December, who gave a great overview of this popular program.  Back then it was working, but wonky and not many devices were supported.

Today, well there are still only a handful of "officially" supported devices, but by most accounts it is working quite well on many e.g. Moto Q9c, Treo 800w, Treo Pro, Touch, Mogul, 700wx, Diamond, Touch Pro, i760 and Tilt.

Recently I took version 1.1.4 of the program for a spin (1.1.10 is out now) and notwithstanding a few glitches, it's quite the killer program on WM.

Read below for a smattering of screenshots and my experience.

We've never been too shy about expressing our unabashed rage disappointment that the HTC Touch HD never made its way to the United States, at least officially and with U.S. 3G bands on board. So one of the more exciting hardware announcements at Mobile World Congress was HTC and the Touch Diamond 2 and Touch Pro 2, which have the sex appeal of the Touch HD.

Join us inside as we take a side-by-side look at what's under the hood.

Let the LTE/4G race begin! We've reported that AT&T is planning to have LTE service by 2011, but it looks like Verizon may get there first. Verizon Wireless Chief Technical Officer Dick Lynch, in a presentation at Mobile World Congress, announced that Verizon is committed to equipping two U.S. cities with Long Term Evolution (LTE) data networks by the end of 2009. Characterized as "pre-commercial deployments," the LTE networks would be a precursor to full commercial deployment slated for 2010 that would include 25-30 cities. It's anybody's guess which two U.S. cities will be the test sites, but LTE tests have been performed by Verizon in several cities including Minneapolis, Columbus (Ohio), and New Jersey. 

No word if AT&T has adjusted its projections in response to Verizon's announcement. If Verizon is successful in deploying the 4G service later this year, it may give them an advantage over AT&T. Then again, the timetable for devices capable of handling 4G is a lot more sketchy than the timetable for having the service available. Some projections don't see the 4G devices hitting the market until 2011. If this is the case, AT&T's timeline mirrors device development. Verizon may be leading a race for a data network very few, if any, consumers will be able to use.

[Read: ARS Technica]

If you've been around Windows Mobile for, say, longer than a day, chances are you've run across SPB Software. SPB (that stands for St. Petersburg - or Leningrad, if you're from the Old Country) is long known for quality Windows Mobile apps, including the uber popular Mobile Shell, which is a must-have for many using WinMo Professional.

And that explains why Microsoft turned to SPB when it came time to develop a proper official Netfix app. If you've been thinking for the past week that the app looked familiar, you were right.

The Mobile Manager for Netflix was developed in cooperation between Microsoft, Netflix, and Spb Software. The application interface is built on the Spb Mobile Shell UI engine (also used in such popular applications as Spb Wallet, Spb Online, Spb Weather, Spb Traveler), and allows optimizing the efficiency of the user interface and speed of service navigation. With this fast and finger-friendly UI, the Mobile Manager application streamlines the Netflix mobile user experience, allowing subscribers to preview movie trailers on the go, add selected items to the DVD queue, or the Instant Queue - to instantly watch movies on TV screens using Microsoft's Xbox 360.

Interesting, indeed. If you haven't checked out the official Netflix app yet, we recommed you do so here.

SiRF, which designs the popular standalone GPS systems like SiRF III, which found in just about every GPS device, has been bought out by CSR. Who’s CSR, you ask? They’re “…a global leader in the Bluetooth connectivity business with core expertise in multiple connectivity technologies.”

So basically SiRF designs GPS technology and CSR makes multifunction chips. Seems to make sense and an obvious response to such companies as Qualcomm that have been making “all in one” MSM solutions for years now and which also have the very successful GPSOne competitor to SiRF III. (Read up on GPS vs. aGPS here)

The big question of course is what does this mean for standalone GPS systems and mobile phones? SiRFIII has been demonstrated to be a more accurate system than aGPS, yet due to costs and Qualcomm’s near stranglehold on much of the mobile market, they have been mostly sidelined. However, with companies like Palm turning to Texas Instruments for their Pre, the resurgence of Marvel’s XScale chips, and now nVidia entering the scene, this new SiRF/CSR hybrid may stand a better chance of offering an alternative and superior solution to consumers.

We’ll be watching guys to see what you can come up with.

Speaking of Google, its Maps application just got a small update.

Although we have no idea what this update entails, suffice it to say it fixes something as no new features are to be found.  Some are suggesting that Latitude (see review here) is more upfront on program startup, whereas before it wasn't.

Anyways, Google Maps gets bumped from version 3.0.0.2 to 3.0.0.12, which on the face of it seems odd but who are we to question Google's numbering system?

Feel you need the update, then head over to m.google.com/maps to get fresh. 

We’ve seen a number of the Windows Mobile apps that we know and love make their way to the dark side, but the flip side of that trend seems to be kicking in.

One of the iPhone app store’s finest, WunderRadio, is making its way to a Windows Mobile device near you. WunderRadio has gotten rave reviews from various locations in the Blogosphere as an Internet Radio application. Having partnered with RadioTime.com, WunderRadio offers mobile access to over 36,000 radio stations.

WunderRadio will reportedly be available for 30 day promotional prices of $9.99, after which it will set you back $14.99. Notable features include GPS functionality to find local radio stations and the ability to listen to popular programs after they have aired.

Via jkOnTheRun

Google has just released Google App for Windows Mobile, which essentially gives you a quick-search bar on your today screen, and quick-launch icons for Google Maps and the like. If you use Google apps within your own domain, you can do that here, as well.

Check out the video above for more details, and hit up m.google.com/search from your phone to download. 

Update: Um, yeah. Malatesta sends word there's a bit of a UI problem when it comes to his 320x320 screen. (And it's not working too hot with my 6.1 sliding panels, either.) Anyone else seeing any problems?