Windows Mobile 7 beta planned to come this year



We have seen Windows 7 enter public beta today, with such huge demand that most people can not get into the download page. It seems another much wanted Microsoft product will be entering beta this year too.

According to UX Evangelist Windows Mobile 7 is also planned to enter beta this year, with a full release in 2010.



While the slide leaked by UX Evangelist does not tell us much more than this, I do hold out some hope that Microsoft is busily cribbing the best features from all the other mobile OS’s released recently, meaning, much like Palm’s webOS, releasing last will mean releasing best.

Read more at UXEvangelist.com

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Windows Mobile sales tally reaches 20 million for 2008



The numbers are in for Microsoft's Windows Mobile sales in 2008 and according to Steve Balmer's keynote at CES, they sold some 20 million sets running Windows last year. It will be interesting to see how they fare this year as the competition keeps growing with Android, WebOS, Palm's Pre, and of course iPhone. We have to tell ya though, with HTC leading the charge with a never ending flow of sweet sets, Windows Mobile will likely stay competitive throughtout his year. We've no clue what hardware's going to win this war, but we are sure that we'll hear all the Rah Rah Sis Boom Bah when they do.

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Motorola announces MOTOSURF A3100 'Touch Tablet'

We used to know the device as 'Atilla', but since today we have to call it MOTOSURF A3100. The Windows Mobile touchscreen device that Motorola is calling 'Touch Tablet'.
When we take a look at the official presh pics we can't deny that they seem to have quite some similarity with previous leaked pictures. Not a lot of surprises concerning the looks. But we do get some more information about some other aspects. For instance, the MOTOSURF A3100 has an omni-directional trackball, comparable with the trackball navigation on BlackBerry devices. But is the touchscreen also understanding the so-called swipe movements.



The homescreen of the MOTOSURF A3100 can be personalized. For instance, you can give certain icons real-time information about the weather, news and e-mail.



Among other features are; quad-band, 3.5G network support, Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional, Bluetooth A2DP, 2.8 inch QVGA touchscreen, 3 megapixel camera including autofocus, A-GPS and support for MicroSDHC memory cards. So, not a bad collection of features.

The Motorola MOTOSURF A3100 is expected to be available in stores this quarter. Prices are still unkown.

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 Palm Pre mini Review



Now that our heads are cool and that we have a little more perspective, it's time to tell you what we think of the Palm Pre, after having spent a little time with it at the show floor, right after the Palm event (check out the live session).

Look and feel



This is a matter of personal preferences, but it's fair to say that most people find the Palm Pre design to be nice and less "boxy" than competing smartphones like the iPhone and the G1. It is small when closed and fits nicely in the hand when closed or opened. The Palm Pre is built with quality materials and you can tell, it looks good. It feels good.

Physical Keyboard



Regardless of how much hype there is out there about virtual keyboards, the simple fact is that they are slower than physical keyboards and that's why a large population of gadget enthusiasts do want a physical keyboard. While the Palm Pre's keyboard looks like the Treo Pro's one, it is wider (by about 10%, eyeballing this). I have not used it long enough to draw a conclusion when compared with a QWERTY BlackBerry, but so far I prefer it to the G1 and to all the HTC sliders.

Responsiveness



There's nothing more frustrating than a sluggish phone (my BlackBerry Curve 8820 is sluggish), and at no time, the Palm Pre felt sluggish while we were playing with it. That's good news, but there were no third party applications installed and I assume that the wireless connection was under control (base station or repeater nearby?), so I'm cautiously optimistic.

Web Browsing



It is the only phone that is on-par with the iPhone's web browsing, plain and simple. They took what works and improved upon it, instead of trying to re-invent the wheel, just for the sake if "thinking different"

User Interface



The overall user interface is well thought out and build with multi-tasking in mind. It is something that iPhone users came to miss. Each app (or "Card") runs in the background and can be recalled quickly. Phones usage is multi-task by nature: you can get a call while writing an email, or get notified for anything at anytime, so shouldn't phone be designed with multi-tasking as a fundamental building block? Yup.

Email, IM, Social networks



We use many services to be connected to our friends, family and colleagues: Email, Social Networks, IM and more. The Palm Pre is designed with this in mind and instead of switching from one app/services to another, the Pre assembles all this information around a "person". You communicate with "someone" in a single thread across multiple services. the logic and the implementation seem great, but we need more time to confirm that it's working in the real world. Oh, and it's compatible with Microsoft Exchange, so it works in a corporate environment too.

General Logic

Overall, the user-interface is logic and makes sense. Like the iPhone, it seems to do the right thing. Again, we would need to use it for days or weeks to see if that first impression stands the test of day-to-day use, but so far, it looks good. Very good.

Development Platform

Palm has been advertising "ease of development" as its "web OS" uses Javascript, HTML and CSS. That's basically what we knows as "widgets" or "gadgets". And yes, it is easy to build applications that pull data from somewhere - RSS readers could be a good example. However, it might not be such a great development platform to build video games or more complex applications. Java is slower than pre-compiled native binary code, so it's hard to exploit the hardware at 100% of its capacity. As a software developer, I find that building web apps is more tedious, mainly because the debugging tools suck, but that's just me.

I would say that Javascript/Html and CSS should be good enough most of the time, but it is arguably weaker than the iPhone's development platform. But I don't think that it will prevent the Palm Pre from being a big commercial success. Most customers go by with what's in the phone, and Palm's users can certainly go by without an "iFart" app. Just kidding, I agree that there are many, many wonderful apps on iPhone.

Misc

Attention to details is what defines the Palm Pre, and things like the removable battery and the wireless charger are the testament to this. By going the extra mile, Palm not only proves that it cares about its users, but also that it is in total control this time. You don't add that kind of stuff when you finish your product in a panicky week-end. Also, I wonder if the Palm Pre supports UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access ) a technology that allows you to save by using voice over IP in a totally transparent way: you just place calls as usual, if there's a usable WIFI hotspot, you call if free.

Backwards Compatibility (lack of)

As a Palm 6xx and 7xx user, I had little third party applications, but I did notice that the Palm Pre won't be backwards compatible with earlier Palm applications. It's too bad, but frankly, I'm so glad that Palm OS is dead and replaced with something that works, that I am willing to wait a bit for new apps to show up.

Conclusion

The Palm Pre is the most interesting phone since the iPhone and outshines Apple's product in many areas. It will take advantage of Apple's (religious) stubbornness of not using a physical keyboard, which -I believe- will damage Apple in the long run. The Palm Pre is equally, although differently, beautiful than the iPhone. It has a great user interface, a better camera and... copy/paste (just kidding, lol). However, it's going to take a lot of time before it gets into consumer's hands and before it makes it to international markets. Let's hope for a 2009 GSM version. Official product page.

Latest updates

Pricing (unofficial): The latest rumors mention a price of $200 with a Sprint contract (2yr?). Unlocked versions are rumored to cost $550. Link

Europe: Good news as Ed Colligan (Palm’s CEO) has confirmed that Europe will have the Palm Pre in 1H 2009 as well. Link

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Dell smartphone rumors flare up -- Android or S60 phone in the works?



So rumors of Dell doing a smartphone have been around forever, but they've started heating up again today -- word on the street is that the company is planning a handset launch as early as next month at 3GSM or Mobile World Congress. That's just chatter we'd ordinarily dismiss as nonsense, but we couldn't help but notice most of the Dell people at the Adamo event were carrying G1s -- and Dell's director of consumer products was super-quick to pull out a Nokia E71 and gush over how well-built it was compared to other devices when we asked him where the Adamo line would be positioned. That jibes with long-standing rumors that Dell's working on Android and/or S60 devices -- rumors that Michael Dell himself refused to put to bed back in July. What does it all mean? Well, we have no idea, but we'd say that Dell's new focus on consumer-oriented design suggests that WinMo isn't really in the running if it is in fact planning a handset. We'll see how it plays out over the next few months -- we could be right, we could be wrong, but either way it should be interesting.

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Krusell's List of TOP-10
Selling Mobile Phones in 2008



The Swedish manufacturer of carrying cases for portable electronics, Krusell, has released their “Top 10″-list for year 2008.

The list is based upon the number of pieces of model specific mobile and smart phone cases that have been ordered from Krusell during the 2008.

I'm really not sure how reliable this list is but due to the fact that it reflects the sales of phones' carrying cases on six continents and in more than 50 countries around the globe it is definitely unique and interesting!

"Having Apple’s iPhone as the overall number one selling device for 2008 is symptomatic for the past year," says Ulf Sandberg Managing director at Krusell.

"It is a device whose users are caring about their precious device, which makes them buy more accessories, such as cases. Logically the device then ends up at the top of our list. There was also a lot of buzz half a year ago around HTC Diamond.

A lot of cases where then sold to that competent device, and still are. It is far more surprising to see the old Nokia 6300 to keep a Top three position from the list for 2007. A year from now when we summarize 2009 I expect to see more than four brands on our Top 10 list for the full year," Sandberg ends.

So, to sum up, Krusell’s top 10 for 2008 clearly shows that iPhone keeps its first position on their list and further strengthen its position on the market or maybe it is just due the fact that big touch screen and glossy body requires some kind the carrying case no matter is it declared as scratch resistant or no! Or maybe Symbian users don't care that much about their devices? I'm not using a carrying case even with my brand new 5800 that is equipped with huge high-definition screen? How about you!?

               1. (-) Apple iPhone
               2. (-) Nokia 3109
               3. (2) Nokia 6300
               4. (-) Nokia E51
               5. (-) HTC Diamond
               6. (-) Nokia N95 8GB
               7. (-) Sony Ericsson K800i
               8. (-) Sony Ericsson C702
               9. (-) Sony Ericsson K850i
              10. (-) Sony Ericsson K53

() = Last month's position.

Beside the iPhone on the first position, Krusell‘s list confirms Nokia's leadership position in the global market share with respectable three devices on the top 5 list and Nokia N95 8GB on the sixth position. Unfortunately it also reveals that S60 platform loosing slowly its popularity, the best positioned S60 phone is on the 4th position and platform is represented with only 2 devices on the Krusell's list which is pretty bad score if you ask me.

Surprisingly, reat Nokia E71. but I guess that it is mainly due the its price andeven more surprisingly, the best positioned S60 device on the list is 'cam free' Nokia E51. The Nseries family definitely is not what it once was as it is represented by only one device, oldie Nokia N95 that is positioned on the infamous 6th position?



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A Barack Obama Branded Mobile Phone


­Handset vendor, Mi has launched a Barack Obama branded mobile phone for sale in Kenya - the home country of the President Elect's father. The handset is co branded with the Obama colours and logo and is being sold for roughly $30.



The company says that the Mi-Obama handsets are available exclusively at Fone Xpress@ Nakumatt, Tuskys and Phonelink retail stores throughout Kenya, the product in its first week of availability has already sold over 1000 units in Nairobi alone.

"The coming of the new President of the USA is an auspicious moment for all Kenyans and the people of Africa. It is our pleasure to be able to launch the Mi-Obama phone as a memento that will always stay within the user's hearts and minds" says Alpesh Patel, Director of Mi-Fone.

The company said that it thought the opportunity was just too good to miss.

The President-Elect himself is famously addicted to his BlackBerry phone.

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Sony refuses PlayStation brand for PSP Phone?



We've been following PSP Phone rumors since 2006, forever on a tech timeline. A device we figure to be in-line with the natural evolution of mobile gaming and by the fact that Sony already licenses its Bravia and Cyber-shot brands for use on other Sony Ericsson phones. Not so fast buster. Mobile Today (citing "several sources close to the matter") is reporting that Sony Ericsson has been refused the use of the PlayStation brand by Sony Corp. after pitching the business case in December. A spokesperson for Sony Ericsson wouldn't comment directly on the matter but did say, "In the past, we have been keen that our product proposition lives up to brand promise, and we feel at the moment the technical specs are not high enough to put such a prestigious brand on a phone." With Sony Ericsson posting a massive $346 million dollar loss today compared to the $95 million expected, well, maybe Sony's wisdom shouldn't be questioned. Then again, Sony's not doing much better.

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HTC could buy Motorola?



Now usually such a claim would be would sound like pure madness, but when when the Financial Times makes it we tend to take these rumours a bit more seriously.

FT is making the claim that Motorola’s handset division is a sinking ship, which no amount of bailing will salvage, but that their brand and carrier relations in USA may be of value to an ambitious up and comer like HTC. This is unlike to save many Motorola jobs however, as most of that unprofitable part of the company, who last market share from 20% 3 years ago to a low of 6% this year, would still need to be shut down.

HTC may seem an unlikely candidate, with a market cap of $7.1 billion, not far of from the ailing Motorola’s $10 billion, and of course a very profitable business, they may easily be able to buy the devalued handset division.  Their president Peter Chou has also not been shy of proclaiming his ambition to become one of the top 3-5 handset vendors in the world.

Read more at FT.com

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Sony Ericsson posts $247 million Q4 loss, isn't looking forward to Q1 2009



Sony Ericsson's had a rough couple of months (along with just about everybody else), and things certainly aren't looking any more stellar in Q4. The outfit has just posted a fourth-quarter drop in net income of €187 million, or just south of $248 million. That figure becomes all the more striking when you consider that it showed profits of €373 million in the same period last year. As expected, the company blamed the "global economic slowdown" for the contracting demand, though it did say that the previously announced €300 million cost savings initiative was still on track. President Dick Komiyama noted that he still sees "continued deterioration in the market place in 2009, particularly in the first half," giving us all reason to believe that similar sadness will be emitted from its Q1 / Q2 2009 reports. Still, we'd argue that things could turn around quick, fast and in a hurry if it figures out a way to get Android onto a shipping handset. We all know SE's got the design angle down -- toss a decent OS on there and you've got a winner.

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