windows phone

The rumors are true, folks. There's actually a Windows Phone here at the IFA conference in Berlin, Germany. It's the LG Optimus 7, aka the GW910 aka the Panther. It's not a full production unit just yet, and it was on hand really to show off DLNA media sharing -- which lets you wirelessly pipe video, photos and the like from your phone to your TV. Photos and video after the break.

A leaked "end of life" list has surfaced from Verizon Wireless that takes every Windows Phones off Verizon's shelves.

According to the document the HTC Touch Pro 2 has seen it's last days (EOL 6/29/2010) while the HTC Imagio, Ozone and Samsung Omnia 2 have their days seriously numbered (EOL 3/31/2011). All of which essentially wipes Verizon's slate clean of all Windows Phones.

Verizon isn't just axing Windows Phones. Android, Blackberry and Palm devices also make an appearance on the list. However, with Verizon rumored to be giving Windows Phone 7 the cold shoulder, could this be the end of a Verizon Windows Phone?  Or is Verizon warming up to Windows Phone 7 and simply cleaning off the shelves to make room for WP7 inventory?

via: precentral.com source: phonedog.com

Got an idea for a Windows Phone app? Looking for a way to share it with developers? Look no further than Microsoft's Mobile App Match.

Mobile App Match is designed to bring the people who build Windows Phone applications together with the end user. The site also has the latest news from Windows Phone bloggers, featured apps, and video showroom.

Already built an app? You can submit to the Marketplace through Mobile App Match. Do you need Development Tools? You can get them through the site as well.

It looks like an interesting place where developers and end users can get together and share ideas on app development and updates.

Windows Phone ownership represents 19% of the market. A recent survey by Nielson still shows Blackberry leading ownership with 35% and Apple firmly in second at 28%.

The survey reflects smartphone ownership for a three month period ending in late March. Overall smartphone ownership increased from 21% to 23% compared to the previous three month period.

The surprise stat in the survey is likely Android's placement. While gaining two points, Android is still well behind Windows Phones with only a 9% share of the market. With the popularity of Android devices and all the doubt surrounding Windows Phone's future, one would think the numbers would be reversed.

I reckon' Windows Phones aren't dead just yet.

[via: wsj.com]

Okay.  So there's no such word as a ROMaholic but I've come to the conclusion that I'm hooked on custom or cooked ROMs. I just haven't decided if that's a good thing or bad.

It took me years to finally take the plunge and flash my first cooked ROM. After what felt like months of research, soul searching, tarot card reading and conquering the fear I would brick my Windows Phone, I flashed.

I've since tried cooking from various chef's (personal favorite is NRGZ28) and tinkered with various radios. All in an attempt to get the perfect Windows Mobile variation and best radio performance available.

Where the addiction comes into play is when I have a perfectly good ROM installed I find myself flashing again when the Chef releases a new version whether I need the updated version or not.  It's not so much an issue of never being satisfied but rather a curiosity on what the new ROM contains. Whether it is the latest version of Bing added to the recipe or a new version of the CoOkie's Home Tab, I feel compelled to flash.

So, for those who do flash cooked ROMs on their Windows Phone, how often is too often? Do you jump on board right away or wait and see if the new versions have any bugs?  Or do you carefully study the change log of the new ROM to see if it's worth the effort?

We pretty much new HTC was a major contender in the smartphone industry and now, they've got the revenue numbers to prove it.

HTC's revenues for April 2010 is being reported as NT$18.01 Billion ($571.9 million US Dollars), bringing revenue for 2010 up to NT$55.71 Billion (or $1.75 Billion US Dollars) for the year.  The 57.93% increase on the year is a record for the Taiwan-based company and puts them on an easy pace to top its second quarter revenue projection of NT$50 Billion.

HTC's success is being attributed to the company's aggressive marketing of new devices running both Windows Mobile and Android.

While life is good over at HTC, challenges are on the horizon. New phones are due to be released later this year from competing manufacturers such as Apple and RIM.  Plus there is still questions on when HTC will have a device to add to the Windows Phone 7 lineup. Speaking of Apple, HTC still has that pesky patent lawsuit lurking in the shadows.

Regardless of all the hurdles HTC is facing, if the success of the HTC HD2 is any indication on what the future will bring, things should stay brilliant for some time to come.

[read: Digitimes.com]

File this under 'stuff we may not see for a long, long time, if ever'. In case you have not noticed, Microsoft has lots of "projects" that they work on that have 5 and 10 year outlooks on them. A lot go nowhere, others get folded into different programs and some are just for research-exploration in computing.

The latest one, via ZDNet is a Microsoft project called 'Menlo', which is headed by Galen Hunt, a fellow who also started MS's 'Singularity' project (which if you haven't read about, you should as it deals with a potential future OS rewrite). 

'Menlo' is reportedly an attempt to replace the current WinCE core of Windows Phone/Mobile/Zune with NT, the same core that Windows desktop is built around. However, two sources from Mary Jo (one anonymous, the other an analyst on Microsoft), are doubtful of the idea, noting that WinCE is not really a problem and and that MS is pushing developers into using Silverlight, not WinCE for writing programs.

Still, like a lot of research programs, 'Menlo' could just be an exploration of the feasibility of developing a more powerful and ubiquitous NT core for mobile than an actual 'go ahead' to do so. Mary Jo hints at how having a NT core would allow developers to easily port software from the huge Windows desktop world to the mobile one (phone and tablets) with very little effort--similar to the current XBox/Phone push with WP7.

Finally, like all things dealing with these MS projects, you may not hear about this again for years if ever. But it is fun to get a glimpse into Microsoft's thinking about "...the future of computing when mobiles becomes users primary PCs". A future which is certainly coming fast.

[via ZDNet]

Microsoft just announced its long rumored "Project Pink." The phones remain the same as previously leaked, but it now has an official name -- Kin. As in Kindred spirits. At a small gathering this morning, Microsoft announced Kin One and Kin Two -- "A phone designed to navigate your social life," said Microsoft's Robbie Bach.

The idea is comparable to Motorola's Motoblur on Android -- bringing all of your social networks to one easy-to-use phone in a more focused platform than Windows Phone 7. Said Bach: "Windows Phone 7 is about simplifying your life. Kin is about amplifying your life."

Kin One and Kin Two will be available soon on Verizon. More at kin.com. Full press release after the break. [Verizon]