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Windows Mobile 6.5 'touch interface' update in February to coexist with WinMo 7?
The evidence that Windows Mobile 6.5 could soon be moving beyond the stylus to gather finger-friendly, multi-touch, capacitive screens into its long, loving arms has been mounting with the leak of the HTC Leo ROM and TouchFlo 3D 2.6. Such a move would quickly put Microsoft back on track to compete with the iPhone and Android devices like the HTC Hero. Now DigiTimes, based on sourced information from Taiwanese handset makers, is reporting a "touch interface" version of Windows Mobile 6.5 set for release in February 2010 -- an upgrade to the initial Windows Mobile 6.5 launch expected on October 1st. However, instead of phasing out Windows Mobile 6.5 with the Q4 2010 launch of Windows Mobile 7, DigiTimes asserts that Microsoft will lower the price of WinMo 6.5 to compete against open-source Android devices while positioning WinMo 7 to go head-to-head with the iPhone. In other words, Microsoft appears to be adopting a dual-platform mobile strategy like we've heard before, regardless of Steve Ballmer's recent grandstanding against Google's dual-platform approach.
Windows Mobile 7 to be a premium, multitouch beast of a platform
Seeing the gold build of Windows Mobile 6.5 in action was pretty nifty, but Inquirer's recent video actually managed to unveil a few juicy tidbits about version 7 as well -- a platform that's shaping up to be that massive, ground-up rewrite of WinMo we've all been hoping for for years (as far as we can tell). The lack of multitouch is a sore point for some in 6.5 -- not just because of the goodness of the multitouch gestures themselves, but because it's indicative of a broader failure on Microsoft's part to recognize that touch-based mobile UIs have been wholly reinvented since the days of Windows Mobile 2003. Redmond looks to be cognizant of that, though with a mention in the video that 7 will "exploit the hardware" and "introduce multitouch," going on to say that it'll be able to go toe-to-toe with "competitor devices" -- ostensibly a reference to some combination of webOS, Android, and the iPhone. The video also mentions that 6.5 will end up being a "breadth play" while 7 branches out into the premium end of the market -- at least to start -- and over time, 7 will become Microsoft's mainstream mobile platform as future versions are released. In other words, Microsoft looks like it could be setting itself up for a two-version cadence going forward -- one for the unwashed masses, one for the gadget fiends. You know which category we fall into -- and we suspect we know yours, dear readers. [Via Unwired View]
LG Monaco: AT&T's getting a WVGA WinMo7 QWERTY slider?
LG's been getting cozy with Microsoft lately on the Windows Mobile front, and it looks like one of the most significant fruits of that labor to date might find a home on AT&T -- eventually. This brassy little number is the LG "Monaco," which is apparently also known as the "Pico" to some folks; what it'll eventually be called at retail is anyone's guess, but the big news is the feature list: 3.6Mbps HSDPA, a 3.2-inch WVGA display, 5 megapixel AF cam, microSD expansion, an add-on pico projector of some sort, and Windows Mobile 7. Though the screen is 0.3 inches smaller diagonally than the alleged minimum specified by Microsoft's "Chassis 1" guidelines, everything else here would work (and look) great as a next-gen device -- and the accessory projector's a pretty nifty selling point, too. At one point, AT&T had a crazy idea that they'd have this puppy on shelves by September of this year, but seeing we'll be lucky to have 6.5 devices in our hands by then, this date has undoubtedly slipped since the slide was made. And yes, we'll admit -- we're intrigued by the gold accents. Is that so wrong? Follow the break for a better view of the phone.
Microsoft "Pink" specs leak out: Tegra, Snapdragon, OMAP 3, oh my?
Ready for some more delicious Zune / Windows Mobile rumors after today's June Zune letdown? Well buckle up -- the always-sharp Mary Jo Foley at ZDNet says she's got specs for Windows Mobile 7 Chassis 1, the heart of that rumored "Pink" smartphone, and they're pretty wild. According to the list, Chassis 1 phones will all have 3.5-inch or larger multitouch displays with ARM v6+ processors and OpenGL ES 2.0-compatible graphics hardware, 256MB or more of RAM and 1GB or more of storage, as well as at least a 3 megapixel camera, GPS, WiFi, Bluetooth, a compass, and accelerometer. Oh, and glory be -- a 3.5mm headphone jack is required. Here's the kicker, though: NVIDIA's Tegra platform is specifically listed as meeting the core CPU requirements, as well as TI's OMAP 3 platform and "Qualcomm 8k," which sounds to us like Snapdragon's QSD8xxx-series chips. If you've been following along, you know that all three of these (Tegra in particular) have been bandied about as potential Microsoft phone platforms, so it makes perfect sense to us that Microsoft's giving its hardware partners a choice of currently-available high-powered platforms for Chassis 1 -- especially since we've been hearing lots of whispers of hardware based on these chips in the works. Here's the thing, though: we've also always been told that "Pink" is the codename for Zune software and services on Windows Mobile, so something tells us that Chassis 1 phones running Windows Mobile 7 will feature a strong dose of Zune flavoring -- a plan Steve Ballmer's repeatedly confirmed in the past year. So how do we think this all fits together? Well, we'll slightly revise our previous totally crazy, off-the-wall prediction: we think "Pink" is the codename for a new consumer-focused version of Windows Mobile that integrates Zune services, running not only on a touchscreen Zune HD, but on several third-party phones. Are we crazy? Yes, absolutely -- but you've got to admit the pieces are coming together.
Microsoft Software-plus-Services marketing vid teases Windows Mobile 7?
Our initial reaction to the all-too-brief shots of mobile devices in this slick, high-gloss marketing video provided by Microsoft was that the company had thrown together some totally meaningless mockups to help get their point across about bridging the communication gap across diverse platforms and technologies. A closer look, though, revealed something interesting (low-key Rickroll notwithstanding): the captures show off a UI layout suspiciously similar to some of the supposedly leaked screenshots of WinMo 7 we saw a couple weeks back. Is this all indicative of Redmond's direction for its next-gen mobile platform, a fluke, or somewhere in between? We'll probably be waiting a few months -- maybe as much as a year or so -- to find out, so we've got plenty of time to speculate. [Thanks, Gabriel]
Steve Ballmer pounds chest, decrees Windows Mobile 7 coming next year
Sure, we're still anticipating -- but not necessarily merrily -- the release of Windows Mobile 6.5, but for those who wish to look even farther into the future, Microsoft head honcho Steve Ballmer said in a conference call this week that WinMo 7 will be out sometime next year. That jibes pretty well with what we've heard from Motorola and ZDNet before, although there's probably a dozen or so known unknowns that could push it well into 2011 or beyond. For now, however, we're willing to take Steve at his word. Hey, at least they're not gearing up for a Windows Mobile 6.75 in the interim... right?
Motorola posts $3.6b loss as devices sales fall by 26 percent
Things just aren't getting any better for Motorola -- just weeks after the troubled phone manufacturer announced deep layoffs, it's revealing that it lost $3.6 billion dollars in the fourth quarter. The loss is mainly attributed to falling device sales: handsets were down 26 percent, and mobile devices total were down 51 percent. According to Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha, the answer for now is Android phones, which the company thinks will be more competitive than WinMo devices in 2009 -- and he interestingly said that Moto plans on continuing to make Windows Mobile devices because it thinks WinMo 7 will be a big deal when it comes out in 2010. That's the first time we've ever heard a date on WinMo 7, if you're keeping track -- and if it's right, it'll be the second time Jha's blown the lid on an upcoming version of Windows Mobile. Whoops! We'll be watching that one, but for now here's hoping Moto rights the ship with something like an Android-based SURF A3100 -- otherwise it may not even be around in 2010.
Microsoft job listing hints at App Store-like 'Skymarket' for Windows Mobile
While Apple's App Store was far from being the first of its kind, we're now seeing a job posting over in the Redmond area that suggests that Microsoft is looking to produce something similar for its Windows Mobile platform. The news comes hot on the heels of Google's own Android Market announcement, and if the Product Manager position writeup is to be believed, said platform will be christened Skymarket. Described as a "marketplace service for Windows Mobile," Skymarket could seemingly be a critical part of WinMo 7. But don't take our word for it, the proof is the pudding -- or in the read link, in this instance.[Via The Raw Feed]
Third-gen Zune to hit in 2009, make it to Europe
Seeing how long it took the Zune to make it over the northern border and into Canada, it shouldn't be any surprise that it's going to take even longer to get to Europe -- not until late next year, according to the director of Microsoft France. The wait should be worth it, though: that's when the third generation of Zunes will be released, as well as a Europe-friendly version of the Zune Marketplace. There are also some sketchy rumors that Windows Mobile 7 devices will be able to take advantage of Zune content and services, but it doesn't look like Microsoft has anything to say about that yet -- but if that goes down you know a Zune phone is right around the corner.[Via Anything But iPod]