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It remains to be seen how readily shoppers will embrace such aggressive merchandising, which will generally require them to download free applications onto their phones and consent to being tracked electronically while in a store. But many stores are betting they will go along. After all, people already wander city streets guided by maps on their mobile phones. Why shouldn�t the same technology lead them to the toilet paper in Aisle 3?

Hoping to use the technology as a competitive advantage, some big chains are reluctant to discuss their plans. The Sam�s Club division of Wal-Mart, Crate & Barrel, Kerr Drug of North Carolina and Disney stores are among the retailers that confirmed they were testing various mobile technology or planned to do so soon. (Source: Stephanie Rosenbloom, The New York Times)

After generating disappointing results in our tests last spring, AT&T�s 3G network is now the top performer in our 13-city tests, with download speeds 67 percent faster than its competitors'.

In the past year, Sprint and Verizon--like AT&T--have seen a marked increase in the number of 3G smartphones that rely on their networks. Our speed results suggest that Sprint is upgrading its network capacity fast enough to meet the demand, while Verizon may be having trouble keeping up. Nevertheless, both networks� reliability (the likelihood that a user can connect to the Internet at a reasonable speed) improved in the most recent tests over how they fared last spring.

We tested the T-Mobile 3G network for the first time in December and January, and found that it supported download and upload speeds that were competitive with Sprint�s and Verizon�s in most of our test cities. In one city--New York--T-Mobile�s network even delivered download speeds that are usually associated with 4G networks. (Source: Mark Sullivan, PCWorld)

Alaska Airlines to offer Wi-Fi on all aircraft

Carrier to charge $4.95 and up, based on length of flight and device used

ska Airlines, a unit of Alaska Air Group Inc., said Wednesday it will join other airlines and offer Wi-Fi service on its flights.

The carrier said it will offer Aircell's Gogo service on all its aircraft. That is the same technology used by several other airlines. (Source: CNN)
Posted Wednesday, February 24 2010 by ChrisD
Rating: 3.2 Comments (0)

Steve Ballmer Hosts Windows Phone Press Conference at MWC

Feb. 15, 2010

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer hosts a press conference at Mobile World Congress 2010. (Source: Microsoft.com)

Today at Mobile World Congress 2010, Microsoft Corp. CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled the next generation of Windows^� Phones, Windows Phone 7 Series. With this new platform, Microsoft offers a fresh approach to phone software, distinguished by smart design and truly integrated experiences that bring to the surface the content people care about from the Web and applications. For the first time ever, Microsoft will bring together Xbox LIVE games and the Zune music and video experience on a mobile phone, exclusively on Windows Phone 7 Series. Partners have already started building phones; customers will be able to purchase the first phones in stores by holiday 2010.

�Today, I�m proud to introduce Windows Phone 7 Series, the next generation of Windows Phones,� said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft. �In a crowded market filled with phones that look the same and do the same things, I challenged the team to deliver a different kind of mobile experience. Windows Phone 7 Series marks a turning point toward phones that truly reflect the speed of people�s lives and their need to connect to other people and all kinds of seamless experiences.�

With Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft takes a fundamentally different approach to phone software. Smart design begins with a new, holistic design system that informs every aspect of the phone, from its visually appealing layout and motion to its function and hardware integration. On the Start screen, dynamically updated �live tiles� show users real-time content directly, breaking the mold of static icons that serve as an intermediate step on the way to an application. Create a tile of a friend, and the user gains a readable, up-to-date view of a friend�s latest pictures and posts, just by glancing at Start.

Every Windows Phone 7 Series phone will come with a dedicated hardware button for Bing, providing one-click access to search from anywhere on the phone, while a special implementation of Bing search provides intent-specific results, delivering the most relevant Web or local results, depending on the type of query.

Windows Phone 7 Series creates an unrivaled set of integrated experiences on a phone through Windows Phone hubs. Hubs bring together related content from the Web, applications and services into a single view to simplify common tasks. Windows Phone 7 Series includes six hubs built on specific themes reflecting activities that matter most to people:

�	People. This hub delivers an engaging social experience by bringing together relevant content based on the person, including his or her live feeds from social networks and photos. It also provides a central place from which to post updates to Facebook and Windows Live in one step.
�	Pictures. This hub makes it easy to share pictures and video to a social network in one step. Windows Phone 7 Series also brings together a user�s photos by integrating with the Web and PC, making the phone the ideal place to view a person�s entire picture and video collection.
�	Games. This hub delivers the first and only official Xbox LIVE experience on a phone, including Xbox LIVE games, Spotlight feed and the ability to see a gamer�s avatar, Achievements and gamer profile. With more than 23 million active members around the world, Xbox LIVE unlocks a world of friends, games and entertainment on Xbox 360, and now also on Windows Phone 7 Series.
�	Music + Video. This hub creates an incredible media experience that brings the best of Zune, including content from a user�s PC, online music services and even a built-in FM radio into one simple place that is all about music and video. Users can turn their media experience into a social one with Zune Social on a PC and share their media recommendations with like-minded music lovers. The playback experience is rich and easy to navigate, and immerses the listener in the content.
�	Marketplace. This hub allows the user to easily discover and load the phone with certified applications and games.
�	Office. This hub brings the familiar experience of the world�s leading productivity software to the Windows Phone. With access to Office, OneNote and SharePoint Workspace all in one place, users can easily read, edit and share documents. With the additional power of Outlook Mobile, users stay productive and up to date while on the go.

Partners from around the world have committed to include Windows Phone 7 Series in their portfolio plans. They include mobile operators AT&T, Deutsche Telekom AG, Orange, SFR, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telef�nica, Telstra, T-Mobile USA, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone, and manufacturers Dell, Garmin-Asus, HTC Corp., HP, LG, Samsung, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba and Qualcomm Inc. The first phones will be available by holiday 2010. Customers who would like to receive additional information about Windows Phone 7 Series and be notified when it is available can register at http://www.windowsphone7series.com.

To watch the full replay of Steve Ballmer�s press conference at Mobile World Congress, and to experience Windows Phone 7 Series through an online product demo, readers can visit http://www.microsoft.com/news/windowsphone. (Source: Press Release)

EXCLUSIVE Breaking News : Windows Phone 7 Details Emerge From The Depths

-The User Interface is based upon codename �METRO�. It will be very similar to the Zune HD User Interface with a complete revamp of the �Start� screen. The UI is �Very Clean�, �Soulful� and �Alive�
-Unfortunately there will be no Flash support at the get go as there was not enough time to implement these features.
-Windows Phone 7 will only support application installation through service based delivery. (i.e Marketplace). Application installation via storage card will not be possible.
- No Multi-Task support. Applications will �Pause� when in the background, however will support notifications via push notifications.
-Marketplace will now support �try before you buy� as well as an API
-No NETCF backwards compatibility. This means the original rumor of no backward compatibility for applications holds to be true. That being said, there are high hopes of porting the NetCF to the newer platform easily.
-Microsoft is confident that devices will be ready by September 2010
-Full Zune Integration
-Windows Mobile Device Center will no longer be used. Zune software to take over syncing via PC.
-OEM Interfaces will not be allowed to run on the device. Say goodbye to Sense UI / SPB Mobile Shell / Point UI / Infinity, etc, etc
-Full XBOX Gaming Integration (Gamer tag, achievements, friends, avatars, merchandising, etc)
-Full support for social networking(Source: MightyMike, PPCGeeks)
Posted Friday, February 12 2010 by ChrisD
Rating: 3 Comments (1)

Windows Phone 7: No Multitasking, Stricter Microsoft QA

Obviously, the big shocker is no multitasking. The rumours states that applications can "pause" instead, but what exactly that entails it doesn't say. To me, that sounds like quiting the applications but saving their state, so that when you relaunch them, you can continue where you left off. For example, if you were busy editing a Word document, then Pocket Word (or does it have a new name?) would save the state when it quits. If you re-open Word, you would be right back where you left off: cursor in the right place, document properly scrolled/zoomed, etc. Push notifications will be part of the package as well.

Application installation will go through things like the Marketplace alone; so you won't be able to 'side-load' applications onto the device. This seems like a major step backwards to me, but hey, it worked for Apple, right? I doubt this part of the rumour is true - there will probably (hopefully...) be an advanced switch or something. (Source: Thom Holwerda, OS News)
Posted Friday, February 12 2010 by ChrisD
Rating: 2 Comments (0)