Posts filed under Microsoft

Microsoft seem to be on a bit of a roll at the moment. Not content with rewriting their mobile OS and unleashing Windows Phone 7 Series on us, they’re also rumoured to be developing their own range of mobile phones.

Called Project Pink, the phones form part of a new range from Microsoft that comprises the Microsoft Pure, and, oddly, the Microsoft Turtle, each of which is a new smartphone based on its new mobile OS.

Today we learn that the phones will be released on Verizon in the US on April 20th, and across the UK and the rest of Europe on Vodafone shortly after.

But what is Microsoft Project Pink phone, and are the phones any good?

Read on after the jump for more details.

It’s rumour time again, with a number of rumours we’ve heard before suddenly surfacing again, this time with renewed plausibility (or not, depending on your level of cynicism!)

First up is Microsoft, who are apparently working on their own smartphone according to analysts at Broadpoint AmTech. The aim of the smartphone is to act as a showcase for the forthcoming Windows Mobile 7 and to “…tightly integrate hardware and software”, like Apple’s iPhone or RIM’s BlackBerry.

Broadpoint AmTech speculated that a Microsoft phone would be based on the NVIDIA Tegra chipset that HTC will soon be using, and so will be capable of supporting 3D and HD video.

More likely, with the current smartphone market threatening to crowd out Windows Mobile (Android, the Palm Pre, the iPhone, Symbian, and Blackberry all offer better alternatives to the shoddy design of Windows Mobile 6.x), Microsoft know that soon no-one else will be building a Windows Mobile phone, so they’d better do it themselves to keep the OS alive!

More news on Dell and Twitter after the jump.

PDA phone, smartphone, smart PDA phone – whatever you call it, PDA phones have been the talk of the mobile phone world throughout 2008. There are now tonnes of different PDA phones on the market, and with a bewildering array of phones to choose from, finding the right one has become a nightmare!

To help you through the PDA phone maze, we’ve compiled a little guide to the best smartphones to buy for Christmas 2008.

In a surprising move, Nokia have announced that they are working with Microsoft to port Microsoft Silverlight onto the Symbian S60 platform. Silverlight, for those not in the know, is Microsoft’s brand new cross platform web-based multimedia software that enables the delivery of Rich Internet Applications and HD video onto your browser. It’s set to be a fierce competitor with Adobe’s similar AIR technology, which itself is based on Adobe Flash.

Today’s announcement that Silverlight will be available on Nokia and other S60-based phones is a huge boost for the technology, as S60 is used in over 50% of all smartphones – that’s 150 million phones that Silverlight has access to.