Hasta La Gadget!

We saw a Touch Diamond2 running old-skool Windows Mobile 6.1 this morning — and don’t get us wrong, the hardware’s pretty hot, but who really wants that noise when we’ve got the same thing running Windows Mobile 6.5 a few blocks away? Shortly after the fanfare of Microsoft’s press conference today, we were ushered downstairs for a walkthrough on a freshly-flashed Touch Diamond2 of virtually everything that makes 6.5 different from the versions before it, and while we’re not blown away by the sheer freshness or paradigm-shiftyness of what we’re seeing here, it’s a totally acceptable bump of 0.4 in the version number. Let’s put it this way: we still have a burning desire in our hearts and our loins for 7.0, whenever that happens. Follow the break for video and some key highlights!

Continue reading Windows Mobile 6.5 walkthrough with Engadget (now with video!)

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Windows Mobile 6.5 walkthrough with Engadget (now with video!) originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 11:53:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No big surprise here — Microsoft just announced Windows Marketplace, a unified storefront for the over 20,000 Windows Mobile applications. As rumored, that means you’ll be able to get apps directly from your phone, and Microsoft has also promised new and better tools for developers in the future. Also confirmed: My Phone, which will let you sync your phone to the cloud with access from the web. Sadly, we’ll have to wait for all this stuff — it’s coming with Windows Mobile 6.5 which isn’t due until later this year. We’ll let you know more as soon as we find out, keep it locked!

Continue reading Microsoft announces Windows Marketplace and My Phone for Windows Mobile

Filed under: Cellphones

Microsoft announces Windows Marketplace and My Phone for Windows Mobile originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Turns out LG’s fancy new feature phone UI — S-Class, as it’s called — isn’t just for feature phones. The GM730 brings the same 3D interface into the wide world of Windows Mobile, along with 7.2Mbps HSDPA, 2Mbps HSUPA, quadband EDGE, and Internet Explorer Mobile 6.0 into a package just 11.9mm thick. Sadly, LG’s elected to do nothing but 900 / 2100MHz with the 3G here, so North Americans are left out of the equation at this point — but much of the rest of the world can look into picking it up in the first half of the year.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

LG brings S-Class UI to Windows Mobile with GM730 originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 16 Feb 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Windows Mobile 6.5’s presumably going to be the big news out of Redmond here at MWC this week, but Microsoft’s also using the show as an opportunity to launch the “technology preview” of its Recite software, an ultra-simple voice note app for WinMo 6.0 and above. The concept is one of those “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that” moments, actually: one button records your quick notes, and the magic happens with a second button that you use to search your previously recorded notes by voice. For example, you can record “Sean Cooper’s birthday is May 22” and later search on “Sean,” “Sean Cooper,” “birthday,” or any combination of words you’ve mentioned in the note to recall it. Doesn’t get much more straightforward than that — and happily, you’ll pay a big, fat goose egg for the privilege of grabbing it. It’s a beta product, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing: Microsoft’s trying to gather feedback on how awesome (or not awesome) it is before deciding how to use it going forward, so give it hell and let ’em know what you think.

Filed under: Cellphones, Handhelds

Microsoft Recite brings voice search to your voice notes originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 15 Feb 2009 16:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We’re just days away from Mobile World Congress where Microsoft is expected to make a few notable announcements. Until then, we have to settle for all the hints and innuendo we can gather as Redmond attempts to win back the hearts, minds, and pocketbooks of consumers infatuated with Android, WebOS, and whatever Apple’s got cookin’. Like these supposed 6.5 screenshots above, this time showing what looks like a Marketplace store a la the Zune. We also have CNET reporting today that Microsoft quietly split its Zune team in two on January 22nd: software and services under Enrique Rodriguez, and hardware under Tom Gibbons who just happens to heads-up hardware design at Microsoft’s Windows Mobile unit. According to Rodriguez, “Zune the service needs to transcend Zune the device” adding, “The goal is to make non-gaming entertainment a first-class citizen within Microsoft’s business.” That includes expanding the Zune service beyond the Zune and onto more devices than just Microsoft’s. Or, “a little further out than just in Redmond,” to quote Rodriguez directly. While he wouldn’t say specifically when it was coming to Windows Mobile, he did say to expect products other than the Zune player to be using the Zune service sometime this year. Now, armed with those Zune-centric WinMo 6.5 screenshots and project Pink leaks, it’s not too much a stretch to expect a Zune-like WinMo experience to be detailed in Barcelona. Besides, isn’t it about time that Danger made good on that estimated $500 million acquisition?

Read — CNET interview
Read — Latest WinMo 6.5 screenshots

Filed under: Cellphones, Portable Audio, Portable Video

Microsoft readies Zune service for non-Zune devices, Marketplace appears in WinMo 6.5 screenshot originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 08:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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