Category: Windows Phone

It is not a hidden truth that Windows Mobile is facing a lot of criticism these days. This is due to two reasons:

• increased competition
• increased expectations

The competitions has increased a great deal since the last two years when the first iPhone was released. Also, companies like Blackberry used aggressive marketing to gain even more share than ever. The Blackberry sales have been doubled over the past year and they have been able to sell nearly 22.5 million units. On the other hand, Windows Mobile experienced a drop of 11% with 18 million units sold. Now, with the Palm Pre’s new webOS in the horizon, the competition is going to get a little more tougher for the Windows Mobile

Not to forget about Google, who has been giving free licences to the OEMs. Microsoft charges OEMs for the licences of Windows Mobile.

[cellularnews] [via Solsie]

Skyfire has made the BETA available to the public for testing and that too for free. Also, it supports almost all the Windows Mobile devices

Here is what is new in this new version:

• New Super Bar that combines search and URL entry into one bar
• Skyfire can now be set as the default browser
• New search bar on the Homescreen
• New start page redesign
• Faster start-up and page loading times
• Share a link via SMS
• Invite friends to download Skyfire via SMS
• Save an image
• Download files

So, what is missing? The most obvious is its inability to import bookmarks from IE Mobile/Opera Mobile. Other than that the interface is as feature rich as one would find on the Opera Mobile. Also, you will have to wait for the download to finish because you cannot use skyfire when it is downloading.

Skyfire 0.9 Beta can be downloaded now at get.skyfire.com on a Windows Mobile or Symbian S60 smartphone.

Here are some fresh screenshots of the leaked ROM taken from HTC TOUCH HD. I’ve given explanation for the screenshots wherever it was required. First is the rumored sliding panel interface. Also, notice how nicely the wallpaper blends with the start menu. Next is the lock screen.

Honeycomb interface is working on HTC TOUCH HD. Here are couple of screenshots. You can customize the positions of the hexagonal boxes. Also, the first screenshot shows the soon-going-to-launched Marketplace by Microsoft. It is rumored to be launched at MWC, 2009.

Incoming Call interface has been a huge facelift. It now shows two sliders: one to answer the call and other to reject the call. Also, the menus are a lot more finger-friendly. That will let you to use your device without taking the stylus out of its silo.

The best news according to me is the CONFIRMATION of market place in those screenshots. Only Microsoft has the funds and the resources to make the application store for Windows Mobile successful. We hope that it is real and it is not a simple link to the Mobile Application store

UPDATE: Although the market place is not working yet, but its presence in the ROMs gives us an assurance that it will be available and working in the final release.

credit: juelu at pocketpc.ch (submitted via contact form)

Just when you thought browsing couldn’t get any faster, Opera unveils its latest innovation for better browsing, Opera Turbo. This all-new, turbo-charged way to surf will make its exclusive appearance at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from February 16-19, 2009.

Currently, the mobile web browsers like Opera Mobile do all the heavy-duty jobs like downloading the webpage; optimizing the webpage and then rendering it on the device. This takes a lot of CPU power, whcih means faster battery consumption. Opera Turbo takes away the much of the load by optimizing the webpage at the Opera servers and then it send the optimized data to the device. This speeds up the operations and makes the device use suck less power. Overall, it also reduces network traffic.

Due to Opera Turbo, even the people with devices with weak hardware configurations will be able to enjoy better performance.

The Opera Turbo will be unveiled at Mobile World Congress

[related press release]

Imate is going to unveil a truly peculiar phone for the consumer market, which is weatherproof, shockproof and can withstand extreme temperatures. On the top of scoop, it runs Windows Mobile and comes with all the latest bells and whistles like digital compass and accelerometer coupled together with WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and 3G. Imate also promises to give you lifetime warranty on it. What more do you want?

Special emphasis is given on its security side. It comes with an application called Secure i-Q, which lets you lock the device; erase data and even trigger an alarm in case it gets stolen. The 810-F will be unveiled at Mobile World Congress next week in Barcelona, Spain

[via mobilechoice]

Normsoft, the maker of Pocket Tunes has released new version of the Pocket Tunes, which come with heaps of advancements over the previous version 4. The core advancements over the previous versions are:

• Podcast Subscriptions
• iTunes sync
• WMA Internet radio
• Last.fm scrobbling

New version is available at $37.95. Others who already own it can upgrade to the latest version 5 for just 19.95.

http://www.pocket-tunes.com/