Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft may be late to the game with a consumer-savvy phone OS, but Windows Phone 7 is aiming to do right a lot of what Google is doing wrong. Based on what I saw during a visit to Microsoft’s headquarters two weeks ago, the Windows Phone 7 team may be on the right track to pose a serious threat to Google.

The crucial part of Microsoft’s new phone strategy is the quality control it imposes onto its hardware partners. Rather than code an operating system and allow manufacturers to do whatever they want with it — like Google is doing with Android — Microsoft is requiring hardware partners to meet a rigid criteria in order to run Windows Phone 7.

Each device must feature three standard hardware buttons, for example, and before they can ship with Windows Phone 7, they have to pass a series of tests directed by Microsoft. (As I mentioned in a feature story about Windows Phone 7, Microsoft has created new lab facilities containing robots and automated programs to test each handset to ensure that features work properly and consistently across multiple devices.)

The effort to control quality and consistency may be just what Microsoft needs to regain some ground in the phone battle. In the wake of the iPhone revolution, Windows Mobile saw a serious decline in market share; the computer-ey, feature-loaded interface just didn’t cut it anymore. Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft’s complete do-over on a mobile operating system, with a slick new tile-based UI. The first Windows Phone 7 handsets are due in stores November.

With brand new test facilities, Microsoft is taking on the duty of ensuring that touchscreens and sensors are calibrated properly, for example, and each hardware model undergoes software stress tests to catch bugs and system errors (see picture above). The end result should be getting very close to the same OS on smartphones made by different manufacturers. That in turn could mitigate the issue of fragmentation for third-party developers: They can effectively code the same app for a large party of devices without much tweaking.

By contrast, Google doesn’t subject manufacturers to similar testing criteria. And we’re seeing the consequences: Some touchscreens work better than others, some apps don’t work on one version of Android while they do on another, and some manufacturers are even cramming bloatware onto Android devices.

Most importantly, a consistent user experience will help customers understand what they’re getting when they’re shopping for a Windows phone.

The OS is going to be the same with identical features on every handset, so as a consumer, your decision-making will boil down to the hardware’s look, weight and size. Compare that to the experience of buying an Android phone, which could be running a different version depending on the handset you buy: Donut, Eclair, Froyo, blueberry pie, Neapolitan or whatever Google chooses to call it eventually. You won’t have to ask yourself, “Am I going to get X on this phone or do I have to get another one?” because they’re all running the same OS with a few variations in hardware.

The inevitable question that arises is what Windows Phone 7 means as a competitor to iOS. It’s tough to say.

I haven’t spent quite enough time with a final version of a Windows Phone 7 device yet. Still, I think the Phone 7 user interface is refreshingly different compared to the siloed-app experience of iOS. But Apple is so far ahead in terms of cultivating a rich mobile ecosystem that I don’t think Steve Jobs needs to be sweating just yet.

Google, though, needs to get Android’s story together, because the fickle platform gets more confusing and convoluted every day, and it could have the same destiny as Windows Mobile.

Brian X. Chen is author of an upcoming book about the always-connected mobile future titled Always On, due for publication in spring 2011. To keep up with his coverage on Wired.com, follow @bxchen or @gadgetlab.

Photo: Mike Kane/Wired.com

Dutch researchers recently demonstrated a new type of wireless body area network, or BAN for short. A BAN essentially gives the human body its own IP address, and the new techniques demonstrated at IMEC based in Eindhoven incorporate a dongle that plugs into the SD card slot of a cellphone, enabling the streaming of data from the sensors to the cellphone in real time. The demonstrated software, which runs Android OS and uses the nRF24L01+ radio wireless standard rather than Bluetooth. So what does this mean for the future of medicine? Well, with just a few EKG-like sensors, people with medical conditions such as heart problems, or athletes in training, will be able to monitor their own body on their cellphones. The technology is still in the demo phase, but it’s one we look forward to seeing in practice. Video is below.

Continue reading Wireless body area network allows your body to send status updates to your cellphone

Wireless body area network allows your body to send status updates to your cellphone originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 10 Oct 2010 03:03:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Well, can’t say we didn’t see this coming; we’re just surprised that it’s taken this long for Meizu to take a hit over its notorious handset. In case you have no idea what we’re talking about, earlier this month said Chinese company’s been in heated talks with Apple due to the M8 smartphone bearing an “appearance roughly similar” to the iPhone. Seriously, that’s the only reason Apple provided for the accusation, if CEO Jack Wong is to be trusted (and hey, he did kinda ask for it). Anyhow, the latest development is that Meizu’s bowing to pressure from both the provincial intellectual property office and Cupertino, and announced that it’s shutting down production lines for its flagship M8 this month. This is no doubt a big blow to the company, but it might get even nastier — here’s what Jack said in one of his many frustrated forum postings:

Apple requested that we cease manufacturing the M8 this month, we agreed but then [Apple] came back and asked for a sales ban instead. I can cope with a production freeze, but not with having our shops closed and thus not being able to use up our inventory. If Apple and the provincial IPO take another insatiable step, I can only go head to head against them.

So, it looks like the M8’s all set for an early retirement, either way — it doesn’t look like Apple’s going to let this one go easily, and Jack’s also expressed concern over the fact that the IPO has the power to shut his factory down without going to court. That said, things are still looking positive for the elusive M9 — from the sounds of it, Meizu’s upcoming Android phone isn’t affected by this takedown (yet); but the question is whether Jack and co. can keep the shops running until a December launch for their next flagship device. Oh well, hang in there, Meizu!

Meizu M8 ceases production amid pressure from Apple and intellectual property office originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Oct 2010 21:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re still trying to decide if a postage stamp-sized secondary display for your Android smartphone that you can wear as a wristwatch is a piece of genius or just a misguided widget that became a real gadget when it got kissed by a fairy in a dream. It’s looking like we’ll get to find out soon, as Sony Ericsson’s little LiveView remote/watch has just hurdled over the FCC’s measuring device and, according to Le Journal du Geek, will be shipping in November with a price of 59 euros. That’s right around $80, which could either be an awful lot or only slightly dear depending on how useful it turns out to be.

Sony Ericsson’s LiveView Android device plays nice with an FCC ruler, gets rumored price and date originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 09 Oct 2010 15:10:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We haven’t seen any reason to love anything that’s attempted to combine the comfort of Windows 7 with the sheer unpreparedness of Android in a dual-boot netbook form factor, Acer’s Aspire One D255 included. Still, word is that Acer is planning to make dual-booting standard on its dual-core netbooks going forward. Right now the D255 only does Android overseas, but we’re going to perceive this as a threat until we hear otherwise. Sure, adding Android to a netbook doesn’t hurt anything (which is the majority of Acer’s excellent argument for its inclusion), but we can only hope that this fascination with Android quickly switches to Chrome OS when it’s ready.

Acer planning to dual-boot all of its dual-core netbooks, we’re dual-unimpressed originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 08 Oct 2010 15:44:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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