There’s a good chance you didn’t even know it was going on, but last week Microsoft hosted a competition for mobile application developers on its Silicon Valley Campus in Mountain View, and yesterday announced Networks in Motion as the winner.
The startup was one of six finalists – selected out of a pool of 50 applications – invited by Microsoft to come present ideas for applications running on Windows Mobile and get certified for the upcoming Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which is supposed to become the big, central commerce and distribution point for WinMo apps that is currently lacking.
The company is widely expected to introduce the latest iteration of Windows Mobile at next month’s TechED 2009 conference in Los Angeles (11 May), although devices running Windows Mobile 6.5 won’t start shipping until after the Summer. Microsoft’s a heavyweight in the smartphone OS market but is getting some serious heat from Apple and its iPhone / App Store (which is about to hit 1 billion downloads), and is going to be facing even more stiff competition on the mobile application front from RIM / Blackberry, Nokia and Google Android in the coming years. → Read More
Windows Live may seem like a failure in the eyes of many a TechCrunch reader, but there are a number of services that continue to thrive within the scope of a vast, mainstream audience. Hence it’s worth noting that Microsoft has released a new application for Windows Mobile devices that encompasses a slew of Live services used by dozens of millions of people every day.
The new version (v10.06.0046.0800) of the Windows Live For Windows Mobile client, which is evidently free of charge, includes mobile versions of Windows Live Hotmail (works with both both pull and push sync), Windows Live Messenger (finally!), Windows Live Contacts, Windows Live Spaces, Microsoft Live Search and enhanced photo upload capabilities. The app comes in a Pro version for touch-enabled devices and a Standard version for non-touch phones, and is available in 25 languages. → Read More
WinMo 6.5′s Marketplace, basically a Microsoft App Store, is getting lots of ink this week at CTIA. 1800PocketPC has some interesting news including the addition of a 24-hour “return period,” carrier-based billing, and carrier specific stores. → Read More
Two Microsoft-related announcements coming from social networking giant MySpace today: the portal is adding support for Windows Mobile-run phones to its new mobile application, due this summer, and bringing the Silverlight runtime to its developer program thanks to a jointly developed Open Source kit.
The upcoming application will be created by MySpace in conjunction with Microsoft developers, and optimize the user experience for owners of devices running the latest version of Windows Mobile (6.1, which was introduced in April 2008). The company says it currently has 20 million mobile users and is focused on developing applications for all platforms, including the iPhone, Android-run devices, Blackberry, Palm, Nokia, etc.
Additionally, MySpace is going to include the Silverlight runtime in its Open Platform and offer a jointly built SDK, leveraging the JavaScript OpenSocial container used by most of the applications that run on the social networking service. → Read More
Two Microsoft-related announcements coming from social networking giant MySpace today: the portal is adding support for Windows Mobile-run phones to its new mobile application, due this summer, and bringing the Silverlight runtime to its developer program thanks to a jointly developed Open Source kit.
The upcoming application will be created by MySpace in conjunction with Microsoft developers, and optimize the user experience for owners of devices running the latest version of Windows Mobile (6.1, which was introduced in April 2008). The company says it currently has 20 million mobile users and is focused on developing applications for all platforms, including the iPhone, Android-run devices, Blackberry, Palm, Nokia, etc.
Additionally, MySpace is going to include the Silverlight runtime in its Open Platform and offer a jointly built SDK, leveraging the JavaScript OpenSocial container used by most of the applications that run on the social networking service. → Read More
Everybody panic! IDG is reporting that MS might charge users who send 5 or more mobile apps to the Microsoft Mobile App Bazaar in one year or update their apps too often. Why? Maybe the depression? → Read More
Not that you particularly care, but WMPowerUser is reporting that Zune functionality is coming to Windows Mobile 7 and will allow operators to charge phone users for music purchased in the Zune store, thereby opening the Zune experience up to a millions upon millions of unwitting customers. → Read More
The iPhone now accounts for 50 percent of mobile Web traffic from smartphones in the U.S., according to an AdMob Mobile Metrics report released this morning. Over the past six months, the iPhone has taken share from Blackberry and Windows Mobile. In August 2008, the iPhone made up only 10 percent of mobile Web traffic from smartphones. During the same time, Blackberry’s share has gone from 32 percent to 21 percent (with the Curve and the Pearl coming in stronger than the Storm), while Windows Mobile has taken an even bigger hit, declining from 30 percent to 13 percent. Palm is also down to 7 percent from 19 percent six months ago.
The only other smartphone operating system that is showing gains in mobile Web usage is Android, which has captured a strong 5 percent share just three months after launch. The gains shown by the iPhone and Android show what is possible when phones are built with fully capable browsers and support a rich array of Web apps.
On a worldwide basis, smartphones running on the Symbian OS (mostly from Nokia) still dominate mobile Web traffic with a 43 percent share. But that is down from 64 percent in August. The iPhone has gone from 4 percent to 33 percent of mobile Web traffic on a worldwide basis. All the other mobile operating systems are down as well. → Read More
The iPhone now accounts for 50 percent of mobile Web traffic from smartphones in the U.S., according to an AdMob Mobile Metrics report released this morning. Over the past six months, the iPhone has taken share from Blackberry and Windows Mobile. In August 2008, the iPhone made up only 10 percent of mobile Web traffic from smartphones. During the same time, Blackberry’s share has gone from 32 percent to 21 percent (with the Curve and the Pearl coming in stronger than the Storm), while Windows Mobile has taken an even bigger hit, declining from 30 percent to 13 percent. Palm is also down to 7 percent from 19 percent six months ago.
The only other smartphone operating system that is showing gains in mobile Web usage is Android, which has captured a strong 5 percent share just three months after launch. And that is up from 3 percent in January. The gains shown by the iPhone and Android show what is possible when phones are built with fully capable browsers and support a rich array of Web apps.
On a worldwide basis, smartphones running on the Symbian OS (mostly from Nokia) still dominate mobile Web traffic with a 43 percent share. But that is down from 64 percent in August. The iPhone has gone from 4 percent to 33 percent of mobile Web traffic on a worldwide basis. All the other mobile operating systems are down as well. → Read More
YouTube can now be widely accessedthrough an application on most Window Mobile and Nokia S60 devices. You can visit m.youtube.com from your phone to download the app. YouTube says that the devices will have a faster application start-up, searching capabilities, and video loading and will allows users to easily access YouTube via an icon on the device’s screen. YouTube has also improved the quality of the videos on mobile devices by providing the highest available stream quality and improved buffering (which will help videos play in weak coverage areas). Once the app is installed on the mobile device, no configuration is required outside of the application.
A year ago, Google Mobile started offering all YouTube videos on m.youtube.com, so any mobile device could access an assortment of YouTube videos via their devices’ browser. Google Mobile also added a YouTube application for some Sony and Nokia cell phones. And there’s been a custom app for the iPhone and Android for a while now. → Read More
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer confirmed on a conference call yesterday that Window Mobile 7 indeed won’t be here until next year. Although Ballmer didn’t give an exact date, it’s thought that the OS will be sent to manufacturers in November of this year and will show up in consumer devices by April of next year as previously reported. → Read More
The REDFLY Mobile Companion embiggens even the smallest of compatible Windows Mobile smartphones and PDAs. In light of this, the Memphis police department just threw down for 12,000 of the devices and deployed them in their cruisers, saying, “The REDFLYs save hardware costs while increasing productivity and also improving the quality and accuracy of the officers’ field reports.” → Read More
LG just agreed to a deal with Microsoft to not only include Windows Mobile on more of its cellphones, but to increase the number of cellphones it makes in order to prop up Windows Mobile. Now, depending on whether or not you’re one of those “WinMo sucks!” people, this is either good or bad news: LG makes decent phones (right?), but “subjecting” it to Windows Mobile may be seen, by some, as unfortunate. → Read More
Like lipstick on a pig here comes WinMo 6.5, the next amazing interface from everyone’s favorite mobile software company. I could go the “Looks like iPhone” route, but I won’t. In fact, Microsoft should have been way ahead of the game six years ago yet they clung to a dated OS for so long that this looks like catch up – the the freaking Palm Pre. While I’m sure a lot of man hours went into producing this, those man hours should have been put in before the iPhone was glimmer in Steve’s eye. Sadly, as we all know, Microsoft is Me Too and not Me First. → Read More
Once again, Microsoft is throwing some flattery Apple’s way by following its lead. Earlier today at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, Microsoft announced the latest version of its mobile operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5. The new OS takes cues directly from the iPhone. It has “an improved touch-screen interface, making it easy to take action with a finger” (so advanced) and a dashboard-like interface with different application icons in honeycomb cells (screen shots).
One of those icons will launch a Windows Marketplace with 20,000 mobile apps, similar to how the iTunes App Store can be accessed directly from the iPhone. And the phones will come with a new My Phone service, formerly codenamed Skybox, which sync contacts, emails, text messages, calendar, and pictures. Apple has a similar syncing service for the iPhone called MobileMe. The new mobile OS will appear in phones in the second half of 2009. → Read More
Microsoft just took the wraps off of the latest WinMo release. Just like the dozens of leaked screenshots indicated, the OS has a totally revamped feel with a Zune-inspired user interface. The Marketplace and MyPhone are included too although details are a bit light at the moment. There isn’t any word about about paid apps or who will host the contents, although we expect those details shortly. Screenshots after the break to tide you over until we get to poke and prod the update. → Read More
HP wants everyone to know, via a press release, that the company is supporting the recently announced Windows Mobile 6.5. Details? Yeah, right. It seems that HP simply needed something to pass along to us media types with the hopes that we take the bate and post it. We bit, but only in good humor. After all, what mobile company wouldn’t support Windows Mobile 6.5? Next up, a press release stating HP will support Windows 7. → Read More
Microsoft just took the wraps off of the latest WinMo release. Just like the dozens of leaked screenshots indicated, the OS has a totally revamped feel with a Zune-inspired user interface. The Marketplace and MyPhone are included too although details are a bit light at the moment. There isn’t any word about about paid apps or who will host the contents, although we expect those details shortly. Screenshots after the break to tide you over until we get to poke and prod the update. → Read More
Well, look at that: A marketplace icon. There have been rumors circulating that Microsoft would unveil a Windows Mobile application marketplace sometime soon and even possibly at MWC next week, but these screenshots are the first evidence of its existence. We’ll hold off on calling the Marketplace official or confirmed, but there it is. The icon is sitting smack dab in the center of the latest WinMo leaked pics that also display a much cleaner interface overall. More pics after the jump. You should like what you see. → Read More
It is probably safe to say that this is what Windows Mobile 6.5 will look like with this many screen shots. No one can deny the Zune-ish feel to ‘em either. Mobile World Congress starts next week and purhaps Microsoft is reading the upcoming OS for a preview or soft launch. Previously we learned that 6.5 will hit manufacturers in April with the devices hitting consumer’s hands sometime in September. If these screenshots are any indication though, September cannot come soon enough. → Read More
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