Skype for Windows Mobile no longer available!!!

"This isn't a decision we've taken lightly, but the reason is simple. Neither of these apps offered a great Skype experience." SO what is a great Skype experience? I find this decision strange for an application that has been in the mainstream so long. When software are outdated, you are usually offered an upgrade that fixes the bugs. They are not removed.

Imagine what life would be if Microsoft, Apple and others just pulled out there software because THEY think the user experience is not good enough. If that was regular and accepted business practice, I guess we'd be running our gadgets without software. We'd be carrying bricks around pretending to make a call over IP; pretending to be enjoying a fabulous user experience on our phones that Microsoft and Apple developed and then pulled out.

Clearly this is a decision taken lightly. So long Skype.

Changes to our mobile lineup

Maurisystems announces availability of the HD2 in Mauritius.

Finally the HTC HD2 will reach mauritian shores at the end of February. The HD2 is the first device to host the 1gHz Snapdragon processor and the first Windows phone with a huge capacitive screen. Unfortunately, Maurisystems does not mention the price of the device on their website.

Specifications

Processor Qualcomm® 1GHz SnapDragon™

Memory ROM: 512 MB, RAM: 448 MB
Dimensions and Weight 120.5 X 67 X 11 mm , 157 gms
Display 4.3-inch Capacitive touch-sensitive screen WVGA 480X800 resolution

Network Quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE, HSDPA 7.2Mbps
Device Control TouchFLO™ 3D with HTC Sense

GPS Internal GPS antenna

Connectivity Bluetooth® 2.1, Wi-Fi®, HTC ExtUSB™, 3.5mm Audio Jack

Camera 5 megapixel auto focus with dual LED flashlight

Audio supported formats AAC, AAC+, AMR-NB, MP3, WMA, WAV, AAC-LC, MIDI, OGG
Video supported formats WMV, ASF, MP4, 3GP, 3G2, M4V, AVI

Battery Capacity: 1230 mAh, Talk time: 380 mins Standby: 490 Hrs

Expansion Slot microSD™ expansion (SD 2.0 compatible)

Special Features G-Sensor, Proximity Sensor, Ambient Light Sensor, Digital Compass, FM-Radio


http://www.maurisystems.com/hd2.html

HTC HD Mini introduced by HTC

The device is powered by Windows Mobile 6.5.3. No Windows Phone 7 yet. The HD Mini has a 3.2inch capacitive screen, a 600mHz Snapdragrom processor. In terms of connectivity, the device supports 3G, wifi, GPS/AGPS and Bluetooth.

Read more here.

SPB Mobile Shell 5.0 Arrives, Brings Support for Symbian and Android Along » Press Releases » SPB Software

SPB Mobile Shell 5.0 Arrives, Brings Support for Symbian and Android Along » Press Releases » SPB Software

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Windows Phone 7 Series features video.

Overview: Windows phone 7 series.

Windows Phone 7 series brings a whole lot new experience.

I hope you did not miss the conference. Windows phone 7 bings an entirely new user experience. You're having a hard time believing me? well, check this out. You have to watch it for yourself:

http://windowsteamblog.com/blogs/windowsphone/archive/2010/02/15/windows-phone-7-series-show-and-tell.aspx

Toshiba brings another capacitive phone to WM portfolio.

Toshiba showed its second 1gHz processor phone with capacitive screen. The device has a 4.1 inch screen and has a slide-out keyboard. Known as the Ko1, it is powered by Windows Mobile 6.5.

Source: Engadget

Windows Phone 7 face appears on wall in Barcelona.

I spotted this on engadget. Windows phone 7 got captured by Learnbemobile. The interface looks to be very finger friendly with xBox intragation. Visit Engadget for more pictures.

Windows Mobile 7 countdown.

This is just a reminder for the upcoming Mobile World Congress which will be held in Barcelona starting tomorrow. All eyes will be on Microsoft who will announce Windows Mobile 7. The conference will be hosted by Steve Ballmer tomorrow at 6:00pm local time. You will be able to watch the conference live through the link below:

http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/windowsphone

Opera Mobile Beta 3 for Windows Mobile.

Opera announced yesterday the availability of Opera mobile beta 3 that includes an experimental version of Flashlite 3.1. According the post, flashlite performance on the HD2 was "quite good" and on other devices, performance varied "from mediocre to poor". Note that Flashlite is disabled by default. To enable it, go to Tools -> Settings -> Advanced and set plug-ins to "On".

Read more here.

Winter Sports Live for your phone.

Handmark is offering an application that will let you get news, scores photos and more in real time on your Andoid, Windows phone, Blackberry and iPhone. Winter Sports fans will certainly appreciate having this free application on their devices.

Winter Sports Live can be downloaded free here.

I'm more a summer sports and FIFA world cup fan. Hopefully, there will be a similar application for these events.

Steve Ballmer to host Windows Phone press conference at MWC on Monday 15.

Mark your calendar as Microsoft will hopefully steal the show at the Mobile World Congress with the announcement and public demo of Windows Mobile 7. While I don't expect to see any hardware for the new O.S to be showed, it will nonetheless be interesting to see what Microsoft has devised to counter Google's Android and and Apple's iPhone. This is going to be fun. No stomping Mr. Ballmer :)

Point your browser to http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/presskits/windowsphone/ to watch the press conference.

The event will start at 6:00pm local time.

Google Buzz released.

Google Buzz lets you post information on places you visit. for example, you may share your thoughts about a great restaurant and point it's location in Google Maps. Buzz is tightly integrated with Google Maps and Gmail. The latter lets you invite followers from your contacts. This did not work for me. It did display some folks from my contacts, but they had the wrong email address. Hopefully they will fix that soon.

Buzz seems to be a cool product and it works with Android and WinMo. Not sure if Google Maps 4 has been released for WinMo, but Buzz can be accessed through the browser by going to Buzz.google.com. Watch the video below or go to www.google.com/buzz to learn more.

Battery notification in Windows 7 not a bug says Microsoft.

Users have reported that Windows 7 was displaying a message "considering replacing your battery" on laptops. The blogosphere obviously went abuzz urging Microsoft to recognize a bug in Windows 7. Microsoft responded on the Windows 7 engineering blog through no other than Steve Sinofsky, the Windows president. This is what Mr. Sinofsky wrote to explain the issue:

"Essentially the battery was degrading but it was not evident to the customer until Windows 7 made this information available. We recognize that this has the appearance of Windows "causing" the change in performance, but in reality all Windows 7 did was report what was already the case."

Then he goes on to provide a list of points that contributed to their understanding of the reports. Read the complete article on the Windows 7 Engineering blog.

New software updates for Nexus One phone.

Owners of the Nexus One will receive an over-the-air update on their phones soon. The update not only fixes some issues with the phone and brings some more functionality:

Google Goggles
Google Maps 3.4
Pinch to zoom functionality
3G connectivity.
Learn more on the official blog of the Nexus One:

http://googlenexusoneboard.blogspot.com/2010/02/new-software-update-for-nexus-one.html

Sent from my HTC Touch Pro 2.

Update for HTC Touch2

I noticed a new update for the Touch2 on HTC's website: http://www.htc.com/www/SupportDownload.aspx?p_id=291&cat=0&dl_id=858

"This update allows for your MP3 to be set as ringtones for incoming calls."

If this is important to you, remember to keep the update handy as you will need to re-apply it after a hard reset.

Sent from my HTC Touch Pro 2.

Apple announces the iPad.

The highly anticipated slate-type device has been revealed to the world by Steve Jobs yesterday. I must admit that it is the first time that an Apple product gets my attention to the point that I'm planning on actually buying the device. With prices starting at $499, it's worth considering. Why? Well, it's thin as opposed to the devices in that category; Has wifi and, most importantly, 3G connectivity. And here are the specs:

Weight: 1.5 pounds
Display: 9.7 inch with multi-touch; 1024x768 resolution
Connectivity: Wifi, UMTS/HSDPA;Bluetooth.
For more specs, check it out here.

All you need to know about the iPad including Steve Jobs keynote and videos can be found here and here.

What do you think about the iPad? Is it worth the purchase now or wait for 2.0 to come out or Apple to drop prices?

Announcing SPB Quads contest.

In order to participate, you must be the owner of an iPhone and of course, a Windows phone.

That said, to participate, just play the game on the device in "time quad" mode and publish the result on SPB website. The contest will last from 12:00 PM GMT January 20 to February 8 at 12:00 PM GMT.

3 players will be awarded with the following prizes:

1. Amazon certificate worth $150.
2. Amazon certificate worth $100.
3. Amazon certificate worth $50.

More prizes will be offered by SPB.

To learn more, visit www.spb.com/pocketpc-software/quads/contest.

Good luck and have fun.

Sent from my HTC Touch Pro 2.

Bill Gates launches new site

The idea of this new website is to share what's on his mind, share information from trips, talks with world leaders, experts in various fields including namely, philanthropy, science, environment etc. The website address is www.gatesnotes.com.

Also, you may want to follow Bill Gates on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/billgates

Sent from my HTC Touch Pro 2.