Hasta La Gadget!

Ah, so you’ve just been given a Windows Phone 7 handset. If that’s what you’d been begging for all this time, then many congratulations; but if not, don’t hit eBay just yet — sure, WP7’s range of apps is comparatively limited with its recent 5,000 milestone, but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? Even at its infancy, WP7 has proven to be a nice alternative choice if you want to stand out from the rest of the smartphone crowd, and don’t forget its two powerful weapons: Zune and Xbox Live integration. Until WP7 gets its major upgrade early next year, our holiday guide should keep you and your new phone going for a little longer. Go ahead and read on.

Continue reading Just got a Windows Phone 7 handset? The best apps, accessories, and tips

Just got a Windows Phone 7 handset? The best apps, accessories, and tips originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 31 Dec 2010 11:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Don’t believe the recent gossip that Nokia and Microsoft are hooking up to make a Windows phone. A former employee of Nokia claims it isn’t happening.

On his personal blog, Watts Martin explained that a partnership between Microsoft and Nokia isn’t even close to happening, because it’s unlikely Nokia would cede control of an OS to a third party. UPDATE: Martin left Nokia earlier this month, Wired has learned.

“There is no guarantee of that at all, because it is stark raving loony,” Martin wrote. “A lot of the reporting on Nokia I’ve seen seems to miss a fundamental fact: they are, in their fashion, just as insistent on control over their ecosystem as Apple is.”

Nokia has been a diehard supporter of Symbian, an open-source operating system that’s a decade old. For years, Symbian has been the worldwide leader in smartphone OS marketshare, but some analysts say it could soon be dethroned by Google’s Android OS, which has a more modern user interface and several manufacturing partners.

“Market share is an existential threat to Symbian, it imperils the very existence of the platform,” said Gartner analyst Nick Jones. “And the main reason Symbian is losing share is the user experience which isn’t competitive with Apple or Android.”

Eldar Murtazin, editor in chief of Mobile-Review editor, claimed last week that Microsoft had begun talks to make Nokia-branded smartphones running the Windows Phone 7 OS. The bleak outlook for Symbian got the tech press wondering if such a partnership would be likely.

Martin’s answer to that question would be a firm “No.”

“Nokia really does have their OS strategy figured out, and it’s a good one,” he said. “What they don’t have figured out is user experience design…. The good news for them is that over the last year they’ve started to take all those problem seriously. The bad news is that they needed to have been taking them seriously in 2007.”

See Also:

• Nokia Phones Hacked to Run Android
• Symbian OS Is Broken. Can It Be Fixed?
• Wired 7.09: Just Say Nokia

Photo of a Samsung phone running Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7: Mike Kane/Wired.com

Left with just two weeks to explain exactly how seven of the web’s biggest properties (and three office supply chains) violated his company Interval’s patents, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen figured out a plan — Intervals’ lawyers are drawing big, colored boxes around large swaths of the allegedly infringing websites’ real estate. In all seriousness, a lot of companies may owe Allen a lot of money if Interval truly has a case, because Interval claims to have patented no less than the ability for a website to take a user-selected piece of content and suggest other related pieces of content that might be of interest. Oh, and it’s also apparently patented pop-ups and widgets, as most anything that displays information “in an unobtrusive manner that occupies the peripheral attention of the user” is getting the same treatment. Hilariously, it appears that the co-founder of Microsoft didn’t provide his lawyers with basic scanning technology, because the PDF of the exhibits they uploaded to the court’s web site is just epically bad — check out everything they say infringes in the gallery below.

Disclaimer: We should note that AOL is among the companies being sued by Allen and Interval, and that Engadget is owned by AOL. So you know, just think about that a bunch, or something.

Paul Allen files amended complaint, points out exactly where patent infringement is hiding originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 29 Dec 2010 14:56:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apps, apps, apps! Everywhere you look, more apps. Both Android and Windows Phone 7 have reportedly crossed a couple of round number milestones recently, giving us a decent idea of the maturity gap between the two. Microsoft’s brand new OS with an old OS’ name has rounded the 5,000 available apps corner — that’s according to two sources keeping track of what’s on offer in the Marketplace — while AndroLib’s latest data indicates Android’s crossed the 200,000 threshold when it comes to apps and games taken together. We’re cautious on taking either of these numbers as hard truth, particularly since AndroLib was reporting 100,000 Android apps when there were only 70,000 — but they do provide rough estimates as to where each platform is in terms of quantity, if not quality. Now, where do you think each will be this time in 2011?

Continue reading App store milestones: Windows Phone 7 hits 5,000 as Android passes 200,000 available apps

App store milestones: Windows Phone 7 hits 5,000 as Android passes 200,000 available apps originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 28 Dec 2010 15:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This article was written on April 13, 2007 by CyberNet.

According to Apple’s primary manufacturer, Apple has plans to release a Wi-Fi iPod sometime in the second half of this year. While Apple hasn’t made an official announcement regarding this, I’d like to think that their manufacturer does have some clue what they’re talking about, and that it’s reliable.

One company (Universal Scientific Industrial) will supply the Wi-Fi chipsets, and Foxconn will build the finished units.  A Wi-Fi iPod has been rumored ever since what seems like the beginning of the iPod. It makes sense on so many levels, and it really does surprise me that Apple hasn’t gone this route already.

Why a Wi-Fi iPod makes complete sense:

• The demand is there– people want this feature!
• Competitors have already added wireless.
• Wi-Fi music downloads (if offered) would be quick and useful.
• Convenience.

Microsoft has been criticized for the way in which they implemented the wireless, and many have said it’s near worthless. Sure you can search for other Zunes near you, or send songs for the 3×3 trial, but they didn’t go the extra mile. Here’s Apple’s chance to make the most of the wireless capabilities, and learn from the mistakes that Microsoft has made with the Zune’s Wireless to give consumers what they want.

MacNN.com also speculates on whether this new iPod would switch to a touchscreen control mechanism which could certainly be a possibility.

This time, I actually think a Wi-Fi iPod might finally be coming…

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