Hasta La Gadget!

The man who previously led the development of IE Mobile for Windows Phone is no longer with Microsoft, whose termination followed a series of tweets regarding one of Nokia’s unreleased Mango handsets. A representative of Ballmer & Co. has confirmed to us “that Joe Marini no longer works at Microsoft,” and while the company refuses to discuss the details of his termination, you be the judge. In his first tweet, Mr. Marini expressed glowing enthusiasm for the device, having called it one of Nokia’s slickest ever. Then, however, he went on to give the phone an “8” (to summarize his 144 character review), criticize the camera as being good, but not great, and bemoan its screen size. Oops. If anything, unbridled enthusiasm is encouraged at Microsoft (just think back to Steve Ballmer’s monkey dance if you had any doubt), but when sheer excitement erupts into stunning frankness regarding unreleased products from partner companies, perhaps this ex-Microsoftee should have kept his thoughts offline. We wish you luck, Joe, but next time, just remember that review scores are a relic of the past. Instead, just let the words speak for themselves.

Microsoft boots Windows Phone manager following mini-review of Nokia’s Mango handset originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Sep 2011 02:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Microsoft’s Steve Ballmer was his usual frank self when he met financial analysts yesterday, admitting that the world isn’t yet as keen on Windows Phone as he’d hoped. To be precise, AllThingsD reported him as saying: “We haven’t sold quite as many as I would have liked in the first year.” His cunning plan? Well, that’s easy: make it all Nokia’s problem. Or, as he put it: “With Nokia we have a dedicated hardware partner that is all-in on Windows Phones.” Indeed, the Finnish manufacturer has now staked far more than Microsoft on the success of this “third ecosystem” and, if its imminent Mango handsets fail to turn things around, we may eventually see Stephen Elop standing behind that silent cash register.

Ballmer: Windows Phones aren’t selling very well, but we’re not worried originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 15 Sep 2011 06:05:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Sprint launches Drive First Android app to curb texting and driving, keep chatty teens at bay

Sprint launches Drive First Android app to curb texting and driving, keep chatty teens at bay originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 12 Sep 2011 21:04:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Samsung High Fidelity Position app gives Mango GPS a Russian boost originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 08 Sep 2011 21:06:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BERLIN — HTC unveiled two new smartphones at the IFA electronics conference in Germany on Thursday, the company’s first devices to run Microsoft’s revamp of the Windows Phone mobile platform, codenamed ‘Mango.’

First, the HTC Radar is a stylish white smartphone made with social networking in mind. Mango’s interface keeps you connected with every friend, contact and follower you have all around the world, with Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn integration.

With a 5-megapixel back-facing camera complete with an f2.2 lens, LED flash and BSI sensor, the Radar lets you shoot wide, bright pictures even in the dark. The Radar has a dedicated camera button, a burst shot function to capture split second moments and a 1-GHz processor to do it as fast as you can imagine.

It’s also got the full range of standard smartphone sensors and connections; GPS, accelerometer, 3G, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. And, of course, 5.1 surround sound for excellent audio playback.

Composed of an aluminum uni-body design, the Radar weights 137g, is 0.42 inches thick, 4.74 inches long and 2.42 wide.

The second phone, HTC’s Titan, is aptly named. The phone’s screen size measures in at a whopping 4.7-inches, larger than most any smartphone screens we’ve seen. Other specs aren’t exactly outstanding — 512 MB of RAM, 1.3-megapixel front-facing camera — but it’s obvious the Titan’s size is supposed to be the true star of the show.

Release dates and pricing details were not made available.