Phones

Zune software coming to Windows Mobile

We have been talking about this for a long time and this is the first confirmation that we have heard from Microsoft that they intend to incorporate the Zune music playing capabilities into Windows Mobile devices. Steve Balmer speaking in an interview with CIO editor Martin Veitch said "At the end of the day, one of the big trends is that all content is going digital. And if we don’t have the software and services that are useful, helpful and valuable for the consumption of music and video, we are sort of not really a player. Now, we built the Zune hardware with the Zune software – and what you’ll see more and more over time is that the Zune software will also be ported to and be more important not just with the hardware but on the PC, on Windows Mobile devices, etc." Don’t expect this anytime soon though, my guess would be Windows Mobile 7 at the earliest.

via wmpoweruser and CIO

Best software awards 2008

Pocketpcmag have published the awards for the best Smartphone and Pocket PC software for 2008. This is usually a pretty reliable list of whats hot. Scanning down it there are a few things that you might disagree with however these are decided upon for the masses. Worth looking at if you are thinking about picking up something and just can’t decide which incarnation to go with. Hit the link and have a look.

Update: Link corrected – Sorry 🙂

What do you get for your Windows License?

The blogosphere is agape with articles today mocking Microsoft’s decision to keep licensing fees intact for its Windows Mobile operating system. With Nokia’s Symbian now available for free, as is Google’s Android platform, Microsoft must not be competing, right?

HTC Touch Cruise – Windows Mobile 6.1 Upgrade

Well this one sure took a long long time to come out but at last some good news for the HTC Touch Cruise users out there. HTC have now announced the availability of the official Windows Mobile 6.1 upgrade. About time too. You can download from the link here and HTC say "As always, HTC is committed to providing customers with the best possible mobile experience." We say don’t take so long next time!! More details after the break.

Steve Ballmer dismisses Android

In an interview with the BBC News channel in the UK Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer promised that Microsoft would take the battle to Google in search – and beat off any challenge in the field of mobile phone software. Last week saw the launch of the first phone based on Google’s open-source Android platform. But Mr Ballmer said an open-source solution would not be attractive to phone manufacturers, and predicted that Windows Mobile phones would stay ahead of Blackberry, Apple’s iPhone and Google Android in the smartphone market.

Podcaster for jailbroken iPhones

We have all read recently about Apple’s rejection of the Podcaster application because it was too similar to the core operations of the iPhone firmware, we even discussed this on the podcast, well they have now released it through the Cydia Installer application which you get if you jailbreak your iPhone. Mobile Tech Moment have done just that and posted a video of the application in action which we have after the break.

iPhone task sync with exchange over the air now available

TaskData is a powerful productivity application for business users who work in a Microsoft Windows environment. The new iPhone 2.0 software upgrade has given us fantastic ActiveSync synchronization capabilities with Microsoft Outlook and Microsoft Exchange server environments for e-mail, calendars, and contacts. Now with TaskData you can finally complete your Outlook experience on your iPhone by working with your Tasks

Microsoft continues with licensing fees

Microsoft plans to continue charging handset makers licensing fees for use of its Windows Mobile operating system, not responding to the free offerings of Google and Nokia, Reuters reports.

T-Mobile G1 introduction video

Tmonews.com have a neat news introduction to the G1.

The fingerprints show up nicely in the light as the iPhone and G1 seem to go head to head on the show however they say that the iPhone’s lack of keyboard is a "big complaint", a statement I think most would disagree with, I know one person in particular. Video after the break.

Xperia X1 unboxed

The guys over at Mobile Mania have got their hands on a pre-release Xperia X1and have posted lots of screen captures and a video of it in action with a side by side comparison with the HTC Touch Pro. Visit their site to take a look at their video and see how poorly this performs switching screen orientation and the stuttering of the moving panels. Please let this be a device with an old Rom and not a final version. We should have our device in for review next week, but until then we have a few pictures after the break.