Microsoft phone is now confirmed for emerging markets

For a while there have been rumours circulating that software giant Microsoft is getting into the phone market.

Most of the rumours have been based on Redmond coming up with a Zune phone which will aim at killing off of Apple's iPhone.

However it seems that Microsoft might have set its sights a bit lower.

Microsoft and MediaTek have said that they are forming a strategic partnership to provide a multimedia-rich smartphone primarily aimed at emerging markets.

The kit will be built on the Windows Phone 6 platform. They will be multimedia-rich smartphones and will have full touch capabilities and offer advanced communication features.

MediaTek says its partnership with Microsoft will drive smartphone penetration in developing countries.

The move is interesting because it suggests that Microsoft is leaving the smartphone field in the West to Apple. Apple has been unable to get into the Chinese market and has not had much success in India. Redmond might be thinking that if it can sell enough of the gear to the cheaper markets it will not have to waste time and money chasing the Jobs' Mob marketing machine.

More Details about the Upcoming Windows Mobile 7

Only a few more days to go before the Mobile World Congress is held in Barcelona, Spain and we have a last minute detail round up for the soon to launch Windows Mobile version 7. So far, we are sure that the WinMo 6.5.3 Maldives will definitely be unveiled at the event; though we doubt that a readily usable version 7 will be on stage (WinMo 6.5.3 will be running on the recently announced Sony Ericsson Aspen Greenheart phone).

To date, here is a quick run through of all the rumors and reports about the upcoming WinMo platform.

First off, Windows Mobile 7 will come in two varieties; a business edition and a media edition. The business edition is rumored to be a match for the BlackBerry OS and Palm OS while the media edition will serve as a general commercial use version.

Considering that previous version of Windows Mobile have been heavily criticized for having badly designed user interfaces, this new version will be made for capacitive touch screens and will support multi touch features just like the Maldives. The UI will be Zune-based in terms of visual elements.

New features on the OS include support for Xbox Live, a new internet browser (with IE 8 features) and of course access to the Windows Mobile Marketplace –not really new, but app installation is now exclusive to downloaded content from the Marketplace.

Also in our list are things that WinMo 7 is not compatible with. The first are applications made for older versions of Windows Mobile. Flash will also not be supported by the platform as well as the use of custom skins (such as the HTC Sense user interface).

Read more about known details on the new Windows Mobile 7 and other related information straight from the source and go to Tech Radar.

HTC HD Gets Android 2.1 And Sense UI

Google’s Android isn’t just making headways into the mobile scene via new phones (at Windows Mobile’s expense), but even existing phones aren’t spared from Google’s OS. The HTC HD recently received a rather basic Android 2.0.1 port, which might have seemed rather sparse, now the phone has been blessed with Android 2.1, not to mention the latest Sense UI. So if you’ve got a HTC HD and are willing to experiment, this might be just to thing to spend your weekend over. The usual warnings that include warranty being void and data loss still stand, of course.

Samsung M100S Android 2.1 phone gets announced, Android 2.1 update coming to Galaxy in Q2

Apart from being the first Google phone, the Nexus One is also known for its OS, Android 2.1. It’s the first and currently the only phone available in the market right now that runs on the said platform. That’s soon about to change though as Samsung has just announced their latest touchscreen phone which will break the monopoly the Nexus One has over the Android 2.1 market, the Samsung SHW-M100S.

This baby packs a 3.7-inch AMOLED display, 5-megapixel camera, 720p video recording, WiFi (802.11n), GPS, 3.5mm jack, 800MHz processor, T-DMB tuner, and the latest TouchWiz UI running in tandem with Android 2.1. SK Telecom will release the Samsung M100S in Korea this March with an uncertain future elsewhere. Pricing is still yet to be known as well.

In related news, Samsung has also announced that an Android 2.1 update will be released for their first Android phone, the Samsung Galaxy. This will happen sometime in the second quarter which should be a nice consolation for others if ever the Samsung M100S doesn’t make it out of Korea.

xpPhone Will Cost $400-650, Run Windows 7 Too

Recall that xpPhone that we've mentioned before? Well, there's an estimated price range on it now.

Whenever it releases (which is still a mystery), it'll retail for somewhere between $400 and $650, according to reports from TechTree and Hot Hardware. While that price may sound astronomical when you think of the type of laptop that you could buy with that, it's not that bad considering $400 to $650 is the average price for a modern unsubsidized smartphone.

Perhaps even more interesting than the price, though equally unverified, is that the xpPhone will be able to run Windows 7. Given that the xpPhone's hardware can run Windows XP, fitting Windows 7 on it shouldn't be too far of a leap – other than the device's namesake, of course.

Google Chrome Tablet to Kill Apple Tablet

OK, the war continues between Google and Apple and it’s getting ridiculously obvious. The new rumor has it that HTC abd Google are again collaborating, this tie for a tablet device that will run Google’s Chrome OS. The rumor originates from Smarthouse of Australia and gives few details about the 18-month-old partnership.

HTC, which been working closely with Google for the past 18 months, has several working models of a touch tablet, including one model based on the new Google Chrome Operating System, say sources.

The Google Tablet is ostensibly at the prototype stage and should be ready to be shown to private customers at CES. Google, apparently, doesn’t want to make the mistake that iPhone competitors have made and will be interested in launching an Apple Tablet competitor before the latter achieves anything like the success of the iPhone.

UK mobile operator O2 says iPhone apps hurt network

BEIJING, Jan. 4 (Xinhuanet) -- UK mobile operator O2 has been having problems with the huge amount of data being schlepped around the network by iPhones, according to media reports Monday.

According to O2 CEO Ronan Dunne, the performance of the O2 network had been disappointing since this summer and that the company was trying to cope with the increasing number of mobile apps running on devices such as the iPhone.

He also noted that the company is working with Apple, RIM, and other handset manufacturers to learn more about which applications are causing the heavy demands on O2 network.

Meanwhile, O2's parent company, Telefonica, is making moves that could place further demands on the network. Telefonica purchased mobile VoIP company Jajah to add to O2's portfolio of services, and VoIP services are notorious devourers of bandwidth.

In U.S., Verizon can smirk about AT&T's network issues, but O2's problems point out that no mobile operator is immune from the bandwidth-eating apps that are popular on the iPhone platform.