Nokia has been boasting its new Ovi Store is a huge success. Launched last year in a bizarre staggered release that saw the U.S. served after practically everywhere else worldwide, Ovi Store is Nokia's answer to Apple's App Store and similar efforts from Google Android and RIM BlackBerry.
Borrowing the classic Marlon Brando line from the movie On the Waterfront, Microsoft "coulda been a contender." The problem is that Microsoft has made a number of mistakes and omissions with the highly-anticipated Windows Phone 7 platform that greatly handicap its potential success against rival platforms like iPhone and Android.
The countersuit is a standard legal maneuver for patent infringement law suits. It is common enough that it is no longer a matter of if, but when, a tech organization challenged for patent infringement will respond with a patent suit of its own. True to form, and following the standard operating procedure, Motorola has filed three patent countersuits against Microsoft.
As of today, the first of the Windows Phone 7 smartphones are available from T-Mobile and AT&T. The launch of Windows Phone 7 is the result of a complete reboot of Microsoft's mobile OS and kicks off its attempt to regain relevance in the very competitive mobile arena.
This is the story of a cloud and its silver lining.
Windows Phone 7's commercials make it very clear that it's not about the phone's applications but about freeing a user from being obsessed with his or her smartphone. Now that the Windows Phone Marketplace has hit the milestone of 1000 applications, has Windows Phone changed its tune? Unfortunately for Microsoft, it hasn't, just as other smartphones are gaining traction.
Verizon will move to tiered data pricing Oct. 28, but the changes will probably not affect most subscribers. Currently, Verizon charges $29.99 a month for an unlimited data plan that's required for all its smartphones, and that price won't change at the end of the month.
If you line up an iPhone 4, Droid X, and BlackBerry Torch next to each other, and zoom in so you only see the display alone, the similarities between the platforms seems to outweigh the differences. Windows Phone 7, however, breaks the mold on the sea of app icons, and provides an innovative means of interacting with the information and functionality of the smartphone through tiles and hubs.
Although the iPhone has a lot of admirers, it's possible to critique a smartphone without making it seems as if we are destined to default automatically to the iPhone and only one other rival platform. There should be enough room for more than two platforms coexisting without expecting one's imminent demise.
The first thing that comes to mind when considering a desktop OS for business is Windows. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking of productivity software is Microsoft Office. The first thing that pops to mind for mobile business communications, though, is BlackBerry. Windows Phone 7, however, may have what it takes to both compete with the iPhones and Androids of the world, while also assuming its rightful place atop the business smartphone world.
Apple's new anti-"sexting" patent was approved this week and despite the uproar, it may make perfect sense for businesses scared of sexual harassment lawsuits or just wanting to keep a closer eye on employee shenanigans.
Android 2.2, or "Froyo," may still be in the process of rolling out to users, but Google is already hard at work on "Gingerbread," the upcoming version of the mobile operating system that most expect to be numbered 3.0.
You just never really know what you're going to get with Microsoft these days. You could get a platform or application that exceeds expectations--like the Windows 7 operating system, or Bing, or you could get something that flops so horrifically that you have to wonder what it was thinking--like the Kin, or the Jerry Seinfeld marketing campaign. Sometimes you get both in the same week, as evidenced by Microsoft's Zune strategy as compared with its vision for tablets.
Microsoft has finally unveiled the Windows Phone 7 platform -- including a diverse selection of ten different Windows Phone 7 smartphones right out of the gate. Despite Microsoft's struggles getting into gear in the mobile game, Windows Phone 7 looks awesome. Unfortunately, Windows Phone 7 is also a prime example of why device exclusivity is bad for all parties and handicaps the potential of the platform.
The rumors and reports surrounding the impending availability of the iPhone through Verizon are becoming more relentless -- perhaps hinting that the speculation may soon, in fact, become a reality. Assuming the Verizon iPhone reports are authentic, the question remains how Apple will make the transition from GSM to CDMA, and whether the Verizon iPhone will embrace Verizon's cutting edge 4G LTE network.