Hasta La Gadget!

Multitasking! On phones! Everybody does it now. But each smartphone platform does it differently. Here are the various tricky ways that the major platforms try to juggle multiple apps. More »

You might have missed it if you were sleeping, but we broke open a huge treasure trove of leaked Dell mobile devices last night, including the high-end Lightning Windows Phone 7 slider and Thunder Android set. We also got wind of the mid-range Flash and Smoke Android phones, as well as the Looking Glass seven-inch Android tablet, and to round things out we scored more details on the Aero and Streak. Yeah, it was a hell of a night, but we’ve got it all rounded up for you right here, so click on through if you missed anything!

Lightning: the ultimate Windows Phone 7

Thunder: 4.1-inch OLED, Android, Hulu app

Flash: Android Froyo in ‘dramatic’ package

---

Smoke: ‘Like a Pixi but awesome’

Looking Glass: 7-inch tablet with Tegra 2

Streak: Android 2.1 in September

Aero: Spec’d

Dell’s mobile outlook

Dell’s Lightning, Thunder, Flash, Smoke and more: rounding up a storm of mobile leaks originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 22 Apr 2010 15:19:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

Though much of Microsoft’s technical strategy for Windows Phone 7 materialized at MIX last month, the company stayed hazy on a handful of key details — portions of the hardware specifications were left to guesses and hearsay, for instance, as was the software update strategy. Much of that appears to be coming to light now thanks to a leaked “architecture guide” slide deck where we seeing that retail devices will be required to feature cameras (that could be a problem for corporate devices in high-security environments), FM radio tuners, compasses, and proximity sensors, among other more obvious features like capacitive touchscreen displays; of course, these are requirements for the initial volley of launch devices at the end of 2010, and it’s probably reasonable to assume that future chassis specs will be tweaked.

Moving to software, the deck confirms that a Windows Live ID will be required to set up the handset — much the same way that Android strongly encourages the use of a Google account — and that application purchases will be tied to the ID. The update mechanism, which has all but failed Microsoft in Windows Mobile thus far, looks to be very well controlled this time around — like Kin, small updates will over the air, while larger updates will require tethering and management through the Zune software on your PC. Microsoft will manage the process — not the manufacturer or carrier — though device- or carrier-specific customizations can be pushed through the same mechanism. Speaking of OEM customizations, the deck emphasizes just how tightly Redmond will be controlling them: IE’s default search engine can be changed, but everything else on the phone will still go through Bing, for example. OEMs can add no more than six (or 60MB) worth of custom apps, and while custom home screen tiles can be added, none of the standard Microsoft ones can be changed or removed. It’s pretty draconian, yes — but considering how desperately these guys are in need of a fresh, starkly different mobile strategy, it’s probably a good thing.

Leaked slides show Windows Phone 7’s update strategy, Windows Live ID requirement, more originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 20 Apr 2010 19:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |  Tweakers.net  | Email this | Comments

When deciding how to bring technologies to market, companies face the decision of whether to offer them in its own products, pursuing a strategy of vertical integration, or license constituent elements for inclusion in others’ products. In the wireless operating system space, Apple, RIM and Palm (since Web OS) have chosen the former strategy while Symbian, Google (via Android and Chrome OS) and Microsoft have generally pursued the latter. It is difficult, if not unwise, for a licensing company to compete with its partners. Attempting to avoid this dynamic led to the disastrous split of Palm, Inc. into the PalmSource software company and PalmOne hardware company back in 2003. With the imminent release of its teen-targeted, social networking handset, though, Microsoft is seeking to have its Kin and eat it, too.

Continue reading Switched On: Kin dread spirit

Switched On: Kin dread spirit originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink   |   | Email this | Comments

In the weeks since Microsoft’s MIX conference, the company has obviously done a little introspection and refined its message around Windows Phone 7 — there’s no greater example of that than the fact that they simplified the name at the public’s urging. Microsoft’s Charlie Kindel, who’s been leading up developer evangelism for the platform, has gone on record a few times recently with some interesting tidbits around their post-launch strategy, including the very good news that they want to “do the right thing” with copy / paste — not a meaty answer to the problem, obviously, but a heartening sign that they’ll end up adding a clipboard into the mix at one point or another. Managed multitasking — something similar to what Apple has announced in iPhone OS 4.0 — also appears to be on the docket, though it’s not something we can expect in the first volley later this year.

Speaking in more generic terms, Kindel says that the company is well aware that “some things are missing at the launch,” choosing to concentrate instead on getting a limited set of functionality perfectly polished for version 1.0 — a distinctly different philosophy than in versions past. Fortunately, both OTA and tethered updates will be possible, though it sounds like Microsoft will be using a mix of the two depending on the size and complexity of the update — you can’t pick your own poison, the way you can with BlackBerrys and Android devices today.

On a related note, we wanted to take this opportunity to spruce up our complete guide to Windows Phone 7, which you’ll be able to use over the course of the year to stay abreast of the latest and greatest information we have about the platform as we get close to launch. Check it out here!

Charlie Kindel on Windows Phone 7: some things will be missing at launch originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 14 Apr 2010 23:09:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink WMPoweruser.com  |  Tweakers.net (1), Tweakers.net (2)  | Email this | Comments