Windows Mobile 7 Delayed Until “Late Next Year”

Ah, Windows Mobile 7. It was first rumored to be released in February 2010. According to Phil Moore, Microsoft UK head of mobility, Windows Mobile 7 might not be coming until Q4 2010. Recently, in a Q&A session at the ‘Connect!’ technology summit in London, Moore [pictured] stated:

“[Windows Mobile 7] has been put back until late next year but it is definitely coming. You’re going to see a lot more on Windows Mobile 7. Giving the enterprise users and consumers what they want will be part of Windows Mobile 7. You’ll get flexibility on a much easier touch UI.”

No details were disclosed as to what has caused the delay. Moore did mention that Apple has left them “playing catch-up” with the iPhone. Also not very clear at this moment is how this move will affect Windows Mobile, considering many that were looking forward to the new mobile OS by Microsoft will not want to wait until the end of 2010. Only time will tell.

Google hints at making mobile telephone

SAN FRANCISCO — The Internet on Saturday buzzed with renewed rumors of Google making its own smartphone, after the Internet powerhouse said it is internally dabbling with a mobile device.

Google workers are trying out a device that "combines innovative hardware from a partner with software that runs on Android to experiment with new mobile features and capabilities," vice president of product management Mario Queiroz said in a blog post.

Google is seeking feedback in a process it refers to as "dogfooding" in which innovations are tested internally before being offered to the public on the basis that employees should be willing to "eat our own dogfood."

"This holiday season, we are taking dogfooding to a new level," Queiroz wrote.

"Unfortunately, because dogfooding is a process exclusively for Google employees, we cannot share specific product details. We hope to share more after our dogfood diet."

The Android-based mobile devices are being shared with Google workers worldwide, according to Queiroz.

The blog post came a morning after Google workers evidently excited about getting "Google phones" exchanged comments on wildly popular microblogging service Twitter.

"ZOMG we had fireworks and we got the new Google phone," one Google worker said in a tweet. "It's beautiful."

ZOMG is texting slang that originated as a typo of an acronym for "Oh My God" but has come to be used when the phrase is meant a bit sarcastically or while stating the obvious, according to the online Urban Dictionary.

A growing number of US telecom carriers and manufacturers have been adopting Google's open-source Android software in bids to challenge the Apple iPhone and Blackberry from Research in Motion.

Technology industry tracker Gartner predicts that Android-based smartphones will capture 14 percent of the global market by the year 2012, as compared with a mere two percent today, according to a report in Computerworld.

Motorola to Sell Droid-style Phone in China This Month

Motorola will start selling a smartphone similar to the Droid in China this month, but the phone will use China's homegrown 3G standard and a China Mobile operating system.

The MT710, Motorola's first smartphone made for the China Mobile Ophone brand, will go on sale in China on Dec. 28, a company representative said. Pricing was not available but the device, like all Ophones, will use a version of the Google Android operating system modified by China Mobile. The Droid offered by Verizon Wireless in the U.S. uses the normal Android operating system.

The MT710 will also support the 3G mobile standard designed in China and being promoted by China Mobile, TD-SCDMA (Time Division Synchronous Code Division Multiple Access). Another Chinese technology it will support is a security protocol designed in the country for wireless LANs. In the past China has barred Wi-Fi on mobile phones but this year it began approving phones with the function if they supported the Chinese protocol.

Unlike the Droid, the MT710 has no slide-out keyboard. But both handsets have a 3.7-inch touchscreen and a 5-megapixel camera and can be viewed sideways to browse the Internet or watch videos. Their faces also look similar with a few touch buttons below each of their screens. The full name of the Motorola phone, the MT710 Zhiling, uses Chinese characters that mean "intelligent" and "leader."

China Mobile is the world's largest carrier by accounts with over 510 million subscribers. But its 3G services have struggled so far and the carrier has worked to get attractive handsets from foreign vendors to attract more users.

Nokia has announced its first handset using the China Mobile 3G standard and Dell's first mobile phone, the Mini 3i, recently went on sale in China as a 2G Ophone. Dell plans to release a 3G phone for China Mobile at an unspecified time, Yang Chao [cq], Dell's consumer business general manager for Greater China, told reporters last month. Other Ophones are on sale or on the way from Lenovo Mobile, LG Electronics and Dopod, the China distributor for Taiwan-based High Tech Computer (HTC).

New Droid Ad Has a Blast at iPhone's Expense

By Adam Dickter
December 4, 2009 2:22PM

Verizon is ramping up the testosterone in its newest ad campaign against the Big Man on Campus, Apple's iPhone. Falling just short of saying other phones are for girlie-men, Verizon's ads tout their phone's "racehorse taped to a Scud missile" speed as opposed to that of a "digitally clueless beauty pageant queen."

The enemy phone, never mentioned by name, is briefly shown in two scenes. In one, young people gaze at it shrinking in a display case before they are all engulfed in a blast of flame. In another, the device erupts into something that looks like a mixture of cement and milk.

The Droid is made by Motorola and distributed in the United States by Verizon.

Going Their Own Way?

The ad blasts a hole in speculation that Verizon wants to be the next iPhone carrier when Apple's contract with AT&T expires next year.

"We haven't heard about any overtures from Verizon to become iPhone's new network ," said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst for mobile devices for IDC.

"What Verizon has been doing with the Droid is to wisely position it as the alternative to the iPhone. Part of that strategy to highlight some of the shortcomings of the [iPhone] and AT&T network, such as the lack of 3G coverage," or fast data speed.

Another shortcoming, said Llamas, is the iPhone's inability to run third party multiple applications concurrently. "Verizon Wireless is promoting the fact that Droid is capable of doing these things," he said.

Can Droid Gain Ground?

No one expects the Droid to make a dent in iPhone sales in the immediate future. "It's not going to happen in Q4," said Llamas. "But Apple has lost a lot of mileage already, so to speak, and Droid has just ramped up its campaign."

Llamas sees the iPhone gaining some ground as a consumer oriented device while the iPhone should hold its own among enterprise clients, who buy far larger quantities. The reason?

"The iPhone has the ability to synch up to corporate business systems, which is very important," he said. "The Droid currently does not. Having said that, [the Droid] is still a very good phone. It has positioned itself as much more of a consumer play."

Its broader coverage area is another advantage Verizon likes to tout over AT&T.

"Verizon is promoting the strength of its network, and the idea that you're not just getting a device but getting [the whole] network," said Llamas.

Does all this rule out a future Apple-Verizon collaboration? "It's always possible," he said. "We've seen very strict competitors quickly colloborate further down the line. I wouldn't rule it out, but I wouldn't rule out [an Apple deal with] Sprint or T-Mobile either."