Android and Windows Phone reveal app numbers

Windows Phone 7 apppears to have broken the 1000 app mark today. Meanwhile, Android has hit a similar – if not much bigger – landmark. Google themselves now confirm 100,000 apps, a number which you may have seen some months back. That, though, was a number calculated by Androlib. These more official stats show that there’s a rather large selection of Android apps to choose from.


Back to Windows Phone 7 for a moment though. The first third-party app using a live tile (one that’s acutally.. live) has appeared, plus we’re pretty glad to see one thousand applications to choose from considering how new the OS is.

Links – Twitter.comWMPowerUser.com



Read on and add your comments. Follow us on twitter too.


Android and Windows Phone reveal app numbers

Windows Phone 7 apppears to have broken the 1000 app mark today. Meanwhile, Android has hit a similar – if not much bigger – landmark. Google themselves now confirm 100,000 apps, a number which you may have seen some months back. That, though, was a number calculated by Androlib. These more official stats show that there’s a rather large selection of Android apps to choose from.


Back to Windows Phone 7 for a moment though. The first third-party app using a live tile (one that’s acutally.. live) has appeared, plus we’re pretty glad to see one thousand applications to choose from considering how new the OS is.

Links – Twitter.comWMPowerUser.com



Read on and add your comments. Follow us on twitter too.


Android and Windows Phone reveal app numbers

Windows Phone 7 apppears to have broken the 1000 app mark today. Meanwhile, Android has hit a similar – if not much bigger – landmark. Google themselves now confirm 100,000 apps, a number which you may have seen some months back. That, though, was a number calculated by Androlib. These more official stats show that there’s a rather large selection of Android apps to choose from.


Back to Windows Phone 7 for a moment though. The first third-party app using a live tile (one that’s acutally.. live) has appeared, plus we’re pretty glad to see one thousand applications to choose from considering how new the OS is.

Links – Twitter.comWMPowerUser.com



Read on and add your comments. Follow us on twitter too.


Neowin Reviews Windows Phone 7

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-phone-7-review

After some of the negative reviews, Neowin steps forward with a refreshingly positive review of Windows Phone 7. Their review provides a thorough but concise overview of the operating system. They enjoyed the hub experience and appreciated how it provided a “seamless and integrated experience for consumers”. Ultimately, they felt that Windows Phone 7 will be a success even with Android and iOS as competition. Hit the link for their full review.


Neowin Reviews Windows Phone 7

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-phone-7-review

After some of the negative reviews, Neowin steps forward with a refreshingly positive review of Windows Phone 7. Their review provides a thorough but concise overview of the operating system. They enjoyed the hub experience and appreciated how it provided a “seamless and integrated experience for consumers”. Ultimately, they felt that Windows Phone 7 will be a success even with Android and iOS as competition. Hit the link for their full review.


HTC Android and Windows Phone arrivals

A number of phones have appeared recently so we’d just like to bring you up to speed on availability. Firstly, the HTC 7 Mozart is now available to buy on the Orange online store. It’s the new Windows Phone 7 device from Orange we’ll be reviewing, plus you can now get the HTC HD7 we have from o2.


In the Android camp there’s news that the HTC Desire HD is now available unlocked on Devicewire and also on Three. It’s selling on the network for £40 a month on The One Plan with 2000 any network minutes, 5000 Three-to-Three minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB data. On Pay As You Go the HTC Desire HD is £449.99 and includes a £10 Top Up.




Links – HTC 7 Mozart (o2) – HTC HD7 (Orange)

Links – HTC Desire HD (DevicewireThree)
Credit – John Wilson

Read on and add your comments. Follow us on twitter too.


HTC Android and Windows Phone arrivals

A number of phones have appeared recently so we’d just like to bring you up to speed on availability. Firstly, the HTC 7 Mozart is now available to buy on the Orange online store. It’s the new Windows Phone 7 device from Orange we’ll be reviewing, plus you can now get the HTC HD7 we have from o2.


In the Android camp there’s news that the HTC Desire HD is now available unlocked on Devicewire and also on Three. It’s selling on the network for £40 a month on The One Plan with 2000 any network minutes, 5000 Three-to-Three minutes, 5000 texts and 1GB data. On Pay As You Go the HTC Desire HD is £449.99 and includes a £10 Top Up.




Links – HTC 7 Mozart (o2) – HTC HD7 (Orange)

Links – HTC Desire HD (DevicewireThree)
Credit – John Wilson

Read on and add your comments. Follow us on twitter too.


The Windows Phone 7 Samsung Focus Review Round Up

Curious how the Samsung Focus ranks in the hands of reviewers? I wasn’t fortunate enough to get my hands on one – I’m working on that – but so far here are the reviewers that have, and here’s what they thought:

pocketnow.com Review: “So here we have it: Microsoft’s attempt at making a modern smartphone. What’s the verdict? From a hardware perspective, the Focus is a huge win. It’s fast, has a beautiful screen, and it represents Windows Phone 7 very well.”

phonescoop Review: “The Samsung Focus is a wonderful piece of hardware. The screen is superlative, among the best I’ve used on a mobile phone, and the build quality and design are excellent. The phone sounds great during calls, gets good cell reception and snaps fine pictures. Battery life could be better, but it wasn’t the worst I’ve seen by a long shot.”

SlashGear Review: “Underneath that 4-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen display, you’ll find Qualcomm’s 1GHz Snapdragon processor. The camera on the back is highlighted with a LED flash, and the back of the device is slightly curved. Overall, the Focus feels a lot like the Samsung Vibrant, in that there’s an obviously plastic look-and-feel to the device. But, it does still feel solid in the hand, and even if AT&T is saying that it’s the slimmest Windows Phone 7 device, it still feels good in the hand.”

PCMag Review: “The Samsung Focus is probably the best of the Windows phones, although I have five more reviews to go before I can really decide that for sure. But the more practical question is: How does this phone compare with the other top handsets on AT&T The Focus strikes hardest at the Samsung Captivate ($49.99-$199.99, 4 stars), AT&T’s best Android phone-and at Android in general. The Captivate is a terrific phone, but Windows Phone is like a manicured garden where Android is running a little wild. It looks like updates will come more promptly for the Focus, and e-mail compatibility is even better. Especially if you like the Zune syncing experience, the Focus can offer a more elegant, more orderly (if less flexible) option.”

ZDNET Review: “The Samsung Focus reminds me a lot of a Galaxy S Android device with its large 4 inch Super AMOLED display, black glossy plastic finish, and sleek form factor. It is large, but thin enough that it still feels good in your hand and is easily pocketable.”

Gizmodo Review: “Samsung’s incredibly rich, deeply contrast-y and saturated Super AMOLED screen is a perfect visual delivery mechanism for Windows Phone 7’s black backgrounds and loud, basic colors. The size-4 inches-and resolution-800×480-are just right, even if it doesn’t match the titanic 4.3-inch HD7 or the iPhone’s 960×640 display. The touch response, tuned by Microsoft’s deep testing for Windows Phone hardware, is top notch, especially paired with the WP7’s second-to-iPhone keyboard.”

Myself, I’m leaning toward getting the Samsung focus – the ability to pop in a 32 GB microSD card to get 40 GB of total memory is tempting, and the big, bright screen looks fantastic. And, even better, my wireless carrier (Rogers) is actually going to be selling the phone so I can have a “sanctioned” experience with it. What are your thoughts on the Samsung Focus?


Market Share Report Shows Windows Mobile, iPhone Slide Further

smartphone_windows_mobile_blackberry_Android_and_iPhone_market_share_Q1_2010-2

Another 2010 Q1 market share report has been released, this time focusing exclusively on smartphones. While the report we wrote about yesterday was interesting for showing that smartphones barely crack the top 5 in terms of usage, this new report from the NDP group shows a slight shuffle in the top smartphone sellers.

Android seems to be taking over – although their growth is slowing a bit – thanks to heavy marketing on Droid and some hot HTC Android devices. Android officially passed the iPhone and is on its way to catching RIM’s still-sliding BlackBerry. Meanwhile, Windows Mobile continued it’s slow death and is now approaching Symbian territory.

Palm’s line just looks funny.

[via]

Cell Usage Stats Show Apple, HTC, Android Don’t Make Top 5

Cell-Phone-Usage-Stats-Are-In-Apple-and-HTC-Arent-Even-In-Top-5-286x300

A recent report published by comScore shows the top five mobile manufacturers for mobile subscribers and not only is there no sign of Windows Mobile devices or Windows Phones, but Apple, HTC and other Android device makers are nowhere to be found. Moreover, feature phones have 4 of the top 5 spots, with BlackBerry being the only smartphone maker to crack that list.

Samsung, Motorola, LG, RIM and Nokia round out the top 5 OEMs for the first quarter of 2010.

The report found that SMS still reigns supreme in mobile content, with 63.7 percent of U.S. mobile subscribers using text messaging on their mobile device, up a hair from last quarter. Mobile web browsing was used by 30.1% of U.S. mobile subscribers (up 2.6 percent), while subscribers who used downloaded applications made up 28.6% of the mobile audience (also up 2.6 percentage points).

Access of social networking sites or blogs continued to increase, posting gains of 2.8 percentage points to 18.7 percent of mobile subscribers, showing the most improvement over any other type of mobile content.

[via]

HTC to Pay Microsoft For Every Android Device They Sell

microsoft_and_htc_quietly_brilliant

Microsoft put out a press release last week announcing that it had struck a deal with HTC to receive royalties for HTC’s entire lineup of Android devices. CNet is reporting that the deal comes after Microsoft pointed out to HTC that they were using some disputed patents that ranged from the user interface to the Android OS itself. This is the first time Microsoft has publicly said that HTC was violating patents, but they have for years now been muttering about how Linux infringes on some of their patents and have tried to score licensing deals with other manufacturers using Linux.

“HTC and Microsoft have a long history of technical and commercial collaboration, and today’s agreement is an example of how industry leaders can reach commercial arrangements that address intellectual property,” Horacio Gutierrez, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel of Intellectual Property and Licensing at Microsoft, said in the official statement. “We are pleased to continue our collaboration with HTC.”

HTC is also being sued by Apple for some other patent infringements on both HTC’s Android and Windows Mobile devices, so this deal with Microsoft must be a bit of a relief, at least on one front.

These lawsuits are the norm in the mobile industry and I’d be surprised if there was a single major player that wasn’t being sued and suing some other company as I type. It’s fresh of Microsoft to actually strike a deal instead of resorting immediately to litigation!

[via]

Microsoft Grins as Apple Set to Fragment their Userbase

apple_iphone_google_android_fragmentationI read an interesting post over at PocketNow in which Chuong Nguyen looks at the likelihood of the new iPhone OS4 starting a fragmentation of the iPhone market. I say ‘Yay!’

Since iPhone OS3-and-under iPhones and iPod Touches won’t be upgradeable to iPhone OS4, Apple will inevitably end up with iPhone users wanting to run apps their devices don’t support, and possibly unable to re-install their OS or legacy apps after a crash or a hard reset. Chuong goes on to compare this to the fragmentation troubles that Android now finds itself facing and from which Windows Mobile has long suffered.

He correctly points out that the schism in Apple’s case comes from a software update, not hardware differences. In Android-land, the fragmentation comes not only by way of software updates (from both Google and the open-source community) but also from hardware differences between devices, like strange screen resolutions, differing CPUs, GPUs and form factors, touchscreen/not touchscreen, etc.

And Microsoft?

more…

No Decent Gaming in Windows Mobile 7

xbox_360_logo

Edward at msmobiles.com, generally a very reliable and informed source on all things Microsoft, has just recently posted that he doesn’t think the next version of Windows Mobile, version 7, will have any major gaming features. There had been plenty of rumors, and maybe a little wishful thinking, that Microsoft would be putting some serious gaming clout into the upcoming release of Windows Mobile, but a source of Edward’s thinks otherwise:

(Microsoft has moved many top executives and engineers over to a new team designed to compete more effectively with Apple’s iPhone). One problem: I’m hearing from employees who work inside these teams that the political will to really develop a good Xbox-playing smartphone isn’t there. If that’s true, look for Microsoft to remain shut out of the battlefield and to remain a loser in the mobile space.

This quote comes from a former ‘softie blogger who has friends on the Windows Mobile 7 team inside MS.

Like Edward, I find this pretty frustrating, especially since they have such a hot, networkable device in the x-box. It’s great that Microsoft is merging their Zune services into Windows Mobile (a couple years late) and the new UI is going to be slick, but with Apple about to drop their new iPhone and Android nipping at their heels (and about to pass), Microsoft needs to realize they may be out of the game already by the time Windows Mobile 7 actually hits the market.

Google Android vs. Windows Mobile

android_on_htc_touch_hd

I read an interesting post over at PocketNow in which Joe Levi compares some key aspects of Windows Mobile to Google’s Android. The article just brushes the broad strokes, but Joe correctly identifies the licensing model as one of Windows Mobile’s main obstacles in the near future. With Android’s open sources, no-license approach which gives Google faster development cycles, quicker deployment to partners, and faster adoption on handsets.

Microsoft has recently signed a deal with Bsquare to handle all their licensing, a move that might end up sinking them, as I contemplated out loud in an earlier post. By adding yet another layer of corporate bureaucracy to their model, Microsoft risks slowing losing any meager momentum they still have.

Thoughts?

Samsung Announces Another Mobile OS: Bada

samsung_badaGigantic Korean electronics manufacturer Samsung has announced it is launching its own mobile operating system in December. Bada (which means ocean in Korean) will be an open-source platform for non-smartphones, giving developers a platform upon which to write apps of all kinds… I guess making them smartphones after all. But is Samsung looking to take market share from the big guys like Apple, Microsoft and Google?

I like what Samsung is trying to do here: they see that, while smartphone sales are still high despite the recession and the future looks bright, there are still millions and millions of plain old cell phones being sold out there. This market is demanding all the same features as the smartphones are getting – music, photos and social networking capabilities – without the hassle that sometimes comes with one. The manufacturers are responding with a hodgepodge of lousy OSes, so there is an opportunity here for leadership and a marketshare grab for Samsung.

I see this creating a better cadre of low-end cell phones, which could ultimately help push up the low-end of smartphones, too.

The official launch is in December, and Samsung will drop the first SDK then, too, so we’ll have a better idea of the range of capabilities we can expect to see on every-day phones then. In the meantime, check out the Bada website for the latest details.

[via]

Motorola Droid Actually Failed Windows Phone?

motorola_droidThe guys over at MobileTechWorld are speculating that the new Motorola Droid Android device is actually an aborted Windows Phone. The specs of the new Motorola Droid Android device so closely match the Windows 7 Chassis specs, and Motorola was quite intimately involved in the development of Windows Mobile 7 until they bailed entirely, they say.

Run Android on the HTC Touch HD

android_on_htc_touch_hdI stumbled up on a forum thread over at XDA in which they’ve managed to get Android 1.5 running on an HTC Touch HD Windows Mobile device. This is actually the second beta of this hacked Android build – this version adds audio and GPRS support. You can download the app onto your SD card, extract all the files, then run haret.ext to start it up!

I haven’t got an HTC Touch HD lying around, so if someone gives this a try please let me know how it works!

Windows Mobile More Open Than Google Andoid?

google_android_openAnother interesting posit I found at MSMobiles is an opinion about the openness of Windows Mobile vs. Google Android.

He quotes a fellow from Coolsmartphone.com:

This is pretty big. Just to put this into perspective, xda-developers.com have, if we’re brutally honest, been pretty much ignored by Microsoft for many years. Windows Mobile ROM’s are all over the place with 6.5 builds appearing weekly for every WinMo phone on the planet. What’s happened to those people working on tweaking every bit of the OS and TouchFLO, then redistributing the (paid-for) OS, complete with Office Apps and all manner of Microsoft copyrighted material ? Nothing really. Now, with the tweaked builds appearing for Android and the whole “modding” scene just starting, Google have effectively put the brakes on.

Interesting…

Waze GPS App Coming to Windows Mobile

waze

Waze is a social mobile application providing free turn-by-turn navigation based on the live conditions of the road. What does that mean? It means it collects passive information from all its users as they drive, in addition to using active feedback from drivers who choose to submit updates, photos, road changes, and so on, to provide its users with real-time traffic and road information.

This is a really great concept and a terrific use of the built-in GPS in most smartphones these days. Waze has been available for the iPhone and Android for a bit, but their site indicates the development of a Windows Mobile version. Watch the Waze guided tour to get a better understanding of how it works.

I imagine it requires a critical mass of users in any given area to be effective, but I haven’t tried it yet. In fact, their alpha program is looking for candidates to help get this project rolling, so why not head over to the Waze website and sign up?

Turn your WinMo Device into an Android

Suffering a little Android-envy? This subversive app has appeared on the XDA forums that turns your Windows Mobile device into an Android look-alike, complete with the drag-and-drop desktop. The app is a bit limited right now – only works in portrait mode and was apparently designed for the HTC Touch Diamond, but folks seem to have it working on a wide variety of devices.

Androkkid, as it is called, is  still early in development, here’s what it offers at the moment:

  • Add icons to desktop from list by tap on icon and release on desktop
  • If you tap icon you can move it were you want
  • If you move icon on X or on pen you can delete and edit it
  • Tapping on background open a default menu with a lot of actions on program
  • You can add contact from your contacts list
  • You can add url by typing it on program
  • You can minimize program by tapping on background and choose Minimize
  • There are a lot of settings in file Settings.ini in the application folder, you can modify but first make a backup

Leave a comment if you give it a try! You can download Androkkid here.

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