Phones

Windows Mobile 18 month plan

Microsoft’s Andy Lees has been talking at length to CNET News about the future for Windows Mobile and as we expected the big changes we all want for the platform won’t appear until Windows Mobile 7 which will be seen in 2010 at the earliest. The upcoming 6.5 update will be a pacifier to provide more of a cosmetic update whilst the OS is re-written from the ground up. According to Andy, Microsoft embarked on a new strategy some time ago that will come to fruition over the next 18 months. The first steps in that strategy, he said, will be announced at the Mobile World Congress conference that takes place in Barcelona in the middle of next month.  "You are going to see a bunch of announcements at Mobile World Congress but also it is going to be the beginning of a 12-18 month period where you are going to see a whole bunch of different stuff," Lees said.

ForPlay for iPhone released

ForPlay is an application designed to be a bit of fun for couples. If you can remember the game love dice then this is what this application is all about but obviously without the dice. Basically you take it in turns to spin the three dials by a button press or a shake of the iPhone, when they stop you have a three word challenge you then have to perform with your partner. It’s a little bit of fun to get you in the mood for some love.

Palm Pre Facebook Q & A

Palm’s Matt Crowley (Product Manager) is currently holding a questions and answer session on Facebook and its not too late to get your question to him as it is open until the 28th of this month. So far some of topics being answered have been about the lack of storage expansion and the reasons behind the decision, how good is the Pre for one handed operation, what type of USB interface the Pre has and also will turn by turn navigation be available from launch. You can visit the Facebook page here but you have to be a Facebook user to post a question.

Windows Mobile 6.5 Beta video on HTC Blue Angel

Sun_dream over at XDA Developers has uploaded a ROM and some videos of Windows Mobile 6.5 running on an HTC Blue Angel. Both videos give you a small idea of how the interface works however the ROM is not a fully operational ROM. Videos after the break.

Windows Mobile 6.5 Beta for Touch Pro/Fuze

XDA-developers also has a treat for those with the lovely HTC Touch Pro/Fuze/Raphael device. From the screen shots it looks like the today screen is going to be more along the lines of Windows Mobile Standard with the HTC modifications. Will be interesting seeing video emerge with more of the feature set. Screen shots after the break.

Nokia’s E75 is beautiful, probably coming soon

Earlier in the week, a new side sliding phone from Nokia was first spotted when the XpressMusic 5730 was spotted on a Russian gadget site. Now we have some high quality shots of  the new side sliding E-Series phone, supposedly known as E75. The E75 takes its design cues from the E71, and the E66, it also appears to share a similarly slim form factor, and it’s coming soon. How do we know it’s coming soon?

Samsung i780 Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade

Samsung have finally officially released the Windows Mobile 6.1 update for the SGH i780. Currently the phone is running Windows Mobile 6.0 and this release has been a long time coming. We reviewed the Samsung SGH i780 last year and found it to be an excellent handset with obviously an outdated version or Windows Mobile. Now that the upgrade is officially available this handset could be a great option for the front facing qwerty keyboard  lovers. Available in UK, Italy and Nordic flavours form Samsung Mobile here.

Thanks to msmobiles for the heads up

Microsoft launches MSN Mobile Music service in UK

UK consumers can download more than one million tracks, 25,000 realtones and 10,000 music videos from artists such as Franz Ferdinand, Britney Spears and Pink across the world’s major record labels, including Sony Music and Warner Music.
The content licences and technical platform for MSN Mobile Music is being provided through a partnership with VidZone Digital Media and builds upon the existing relationship the companies have with Microsoft’s Xbox Live service and the MSN Video portal.

HTC Sapphire is the G2

We have discussed how the Dream G2 is actually the G2 that we expect to see Android running on. Phonereport has a little article regarding the HTC Sapphire, a phone touted to be the G2. Click on for the full story.

Android Cupcake details

More details have emerged about the upcoming Android Cupcake update. Still no details on when we can expect to see the update but a few screen shots to get everyone excited. A new notepad application has been added along with the on screen keyboard that we already knew about, Full list of updates after the break.