“Verizon may finally be preparing to start offering a Windows Phone 7 smartphone, following months of rumors about the launch date.”

Is it finally happening? It appears so. Verizon has launched a discussion forum specifically for Windows Phone. Unfortunately, the exact date that Verizon will be launching their first Windows Phone device still remains up in the air.

Read more on Verizon Preparing for Windows Phone 7…

“Itai Almog, pictured second from left, was the guy who led the development effort on the engineering side. He works just down the hall from me. In addition its scientific smarts, the keyboard is also packed full of time-saving shortcuts.”

Read more on Quick Tips: WP7 Keyboard Tips…

“Fat fingers and compact smartphone screens just aren’t a good match. Combine a few key misses with a well-meaning auto-correction feature and it’s no wonder that “I ate the hummus” turns into “I ate the humans.” But Windows Phone 7 users find that their keyboards seem to have a better knack for knowing what they intend to type-or even what they intend to say.”

Read more on The Magic Behind The Windows Phone Keyboard…

Google are now rolling out an update for Google Talk which will allow free video chat over both WiFi and 3G/4G data connection.

Google have a video below explaining more detail on how it will work.  This will be launching on the Nexus S first with other Android 2.3 devices later on.

Read more on Google Rolling Out Video Chat…

Can it really be ? Yes, an app which lets you transfer raw files onto your Windows Phone. Hann File Transporter pairs up with the freely available Hann Portable Server to let you upload and download files directly from your computer.

Office files on your computer can also be opened directly from your Windows Phone. Hann File Transporter also includes a media player and an image/text/html viewer for viewing files stored locally and directly off Hann Portable Server.
Links – Hann File Transporter – Zune Link

Read more on Hann File Transporter – Upload and download files to Windows Phone…

The US launch of Windows Phone 7 is on Monday, and AT&T stores around the country are gearing up for the release. The display seems to showcase not only the operating system, but the Xbox 360 as well. This is great since one of Microsoft’s strengths is the strong ecosystem. Only one more day until users around the country find out for themselves!

Read more on AT&T Getting Ready for Launch…

“Earning Xbox Live achievements on the toilet? Awesome. Being able to play online multiplayer games with my other Xbox Live friends and earning achievements while on the toilet? That would be even awesomer. Right now, Windows Phone’s link to Xbox Live is only medium satisfying, but the potential for amazing things is eyeball-explodingly obvious. Full-on Xbox Live multiplayer. Xbox Live Arcade games that you start playing on your Xbox and then pick up waiting in line at Starbucks, like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. Earning items in a Fable Windows Phone game to use in Fable IV. Truly ubiquitous Xbox gaming, so even the most atrophied addicts can leave the house and still get their game on. Windows Phone should be the portable Xbox. (And it should be a remote for your Xbox too.)”

Read more on Maximum PC’s 10 Ways to Make Windows Phone 7 Mo’ Betta’…

Windows Phone 7 on the HTC HD2 ? Yep, you read that right. It’s ever-so-slightly slower but really, you wouldn’t notice. Everything is here. The sounds, the multi-touch, the whole thing, on an existing Windows Mobile 6.5 device.

Now, after the huge fallout from the unofficial microSD upgrade how long will it be before Microsoft says, “Don’t do this either”? And how much longer before someone asks, “Why can’t I upgrade my existing HTC HD2 to Windows Phone 7 then? Well, start the clock..

Read more on Yes, Windows Phone 7 on a HTC HD2…

“Dell is shifting 25,000 of its employees, or one-quarter of its work force, from Research in Motion’s BlackBerry to its own Windows Phone 7-powered Venue Pro. The company is still in discussions with T-Mobile USA, the carrier for the Venue Pro, for buying voice and data in bulk.”

Read more on Someone Finally Realizes That Windows Phone is A Lot Cheaper Than Blackberry…

“Dell is shifting 25,000 of its employees, or one-quarter of its work force, from Research in Motion’s BlackBerry to its own Windows Phone 7-powered Venue Pro. The company is still in discussions with T-Mobile USA, the carrier for the Venue Pro, for buying voice and data in bulk.”

Read more on Someone Finally Realizes That Windows Phone is A Lot Cheaper Than Blackberry…

“Dell is shifting 25,000 of its employees, or one-quarter of its work force, from Research in Motion’s BlackBerry to its own Windows Phone 7-powered Venue Pro. The company is still in discussions with T-Mobile USA, the carrier for the Venue Pro, for buying voice and data in bulk.”

Read more on Someone Finally Realizes That Windows Phone is A Lot Cheaper Than Blackberry…

“Dell is shifting 25,000 of its employees, or one-quarter of its work force, from Research in Motion’s BlackBerry to its own Windows Phone 7-powered Venue Pro. The company is still in discussions with T-Mobile USA, the carrier for the Venue Pro, for buying voice and data in bulk.”

Read more on Someone Finally Realizes That Windows Phone is A Lot Cheaper Than Blackberry…

“Dell is shifting 25,000 of its employees, or one-quarter of its work force, from Research in Motion’s BlackBerry to its own Windows Phone 7-powered Venue Pro. The company is still in discussions with T-Mobile USA, the carrier for the Venue Pro, for buying voice and data in bulk.”

Read more on Someone Finally Realizes That Windows Phone is A Lot Cheaper Than Blackberry…

Image credit: Gizmodo (They’ve got a good review too.)

It fascinates me how the Xbox team makes all the right decisions while the other divisions falter. I’ve written about Windows 7 missing the Indian holiday season but the Xbox division is looking forward to capitalize on it… unlike the Windows Phone department that won’t be launching Windows Phone 7 devices anytime this year. In a nicely done video the Xbox India team has people playing on the Kinect at a premier mall in Bombay. Kids in traditional clothes, crowd cheering and an senior person playing Kinectimals made me smile. Here’s the video:

Read more on Microsoft India Shows The Kinect Experience For Diwali…

“Windows Phone 7 launched in Europe last month and is launching in North America next week. You’ve seen the commercials. You’ve seen the demos. But have you heard much about the update infrastructure we’ve put in place for the devices? Probably not. It’s isn’t as sexy as the glorious AMOLED screens some of these devices have to show off the “Metro” interface. There has however been some discussion on the update process, especially after it became apparent we’ll be releasing some features after the devices are already in the field. You’ve probably heard about Copy/Paste, right?”

Read more on An Interview with Andrew Brown About Windows Phone 7 Update…

It looks like it won’t be long before some of the bigger knocks against WP7 will be no more. WPCentral reports that Microsoft is preparing an update that will include not just copy/paste, but a slew of other improvements as well, including multi-tasking, turn-by-turn directions, and Skydrive/OWA support. That’s quite a bit of work done since WP7 went gold, so I’m filing this under “I’ll believe it when I see it”, while I keep my fingers crossed. But the speed at which this update is apparently coming out, and the more direct mechanism with which Microsoft is delivering updates, makes a compelling case that things have changed for the better from the Windows Mobile days.

Read more on Copy-Paste Coming To WP7 In January?…

If you’ve seen any of the incredible dearth of Windows Phone 7 pre- and post-launch coverage and press releases, you heard about them or seen them. They are those wonderful things on the Windows Phone 7 home screen that provide you with easy access to information – your email, Xbox Live games and other applications. Any application on your phone can have one. They are Tiles. The early demonstrations showed all of the amazing things they could do – provide animations to inform and entertain and update dynamically as new information becomes available. And they were referred to on a regular basis as Live Tiles. They made us all very excited about the Windows Phone 7 platform – well, almost all of us. For another audience, the concept of Live Tiles made us a bit nervous.

Read more on Windows Phone Live Tiles: Not All Tiles Are Created Equal…

If you’ve seen any of the incredible dearth of Windows Phone 7 pre- and post-launch coverage and press releases, you heard about them or seen them. They are those wonderful things on the Windows Phone 7 home screen that provide you with easy access to information – your email, Xbox Live games and other applications. Any application on your phone can have one. They are Tiles. The early demonstrations showed all of the amazing things they could do – provide animations to inform and entertain and update dynamically as new information becomes available. And they were referred to on a regular basis as Live Tiles. They made us all very excited about the Windows Phone 7 platform – well, almost all of us. For another audience, the concept of Live Tiles made us a bit nervous.

Read more on Windows Phone Live Tiles: Not All Tiles Are Created Equal…

Over the last few weeks the HTC HD7 has become my introduction into the all-new Windows Phone 7 OS. The very kind people at o2 have loaned us this and the full review is now online.

This is a 4.3″ device so it’s on the “limits” of size acceptance for some but we found a lot to like. The handset has a kick-stand, stereo speakers, a 5 megapixel camera (with HD video recording), 480×800 WVGA multi-touch screen, 3.5mm audio jack, WiFi, 512MB ROM, 576MB RAM, Bluetooth 2.1 and 1230mAh battery. This o2 version also has 16GB of on-board storage – more than all the Windows Phone 7 devices we’ve seen.

Read more on HTC HD7 Review…

“Somehow this passed us by: Information is Beautiful has a wonderful visualization of the current state of telecommunications court cases. It’s actually a little out of date now — Apple is now countersuing Motorola — but otherwise the data is mostly up-to-date. The full image is after the break.”

Read more on Thinking of Suing Someone? You’ve Got Competition In The Mobile Space…