Just when many (including us) were writing off Windows Phone 7 and waiting for their more-anticipated next generation of phones and software, Microsoft leaked plans to bring 3 or more LTE Windows Phone 7 devices “within the next half year”, all on AT&T. This information refers to US markets only. As VentureBeat put it, the phones are going “to blossom” in 2012. We will learn more at CES, but right now the speculation is split as to whether the phones will run 7.5 Tango which was supposed to be for lower-end phones or if it will stick with the current OS. Either way, it will be enough to continue to…

There is little doubt that technology has changed things completely for western society in the last two decades. Computers are smaller and much faster. Games are graphically enhanced to resemble reality. Just about anything we would want to know that used to require a trip to the library can be found on Google or Wikipedia. The internet might be the most profound technological advancement in the last 20 years, but cell phones in general and smart phones in particular have made the transition to a digitally-driven world much more pronounced. Do you remember what it was like when you got your first…

Yes, Microsoft is making great strides with Windows 8. Yes, Microsoft is making a document reader. Yes, it is a document reader… but there is a reason why this is noteworthy. Why? It’s called AppX. This Windows 8 document reader is the first known application for Windows 8 that will utilize AppX technology. AppX is a new packaging technology that will make applications act more Windows Phone 7 apps. They will be self-contained packages that can be used to run and install applications to the operating system. And if it sounds a lot like what Mac OS X already does… well… yeah…: Of even more interest,…

Microsoft and Nokia have one thing in common: they like to do things extraordinarily slow. It appears that their newfound relationship which makes Nokia the future hope for Windows Phone 7 is also going to take it slow. Any hope for a WP7-powered Nokia device this year is fading fast. The managing director at Nokia revealed that the company has a 12-month plan to integrate WP7 with Nokia devices. This would put a release date around the first quarter of 2012 if all things go according to plan. Only then will we learn if WP7 and Nokia was a wise decision. Until then, Nokia has around 20 Symbian-powered…

Let the money exchange flow both ways. That’s what is starting to transpire in the Nokia/Microsoft deal and there are a lot of zeros involved in the transactions. Microsoft is set to pay Nokia Oyj over $1 billion for the development and promotion of Windows-based phones. In exchange, Nokia pays Microsoft for each copy of Windows used in its phones. Stocks have fallen over 25% since the announcement of the agreement between the two companies less than a month ago. According to Colin Gillis, analyst at BHC Partners, “This gives Microsoft scale and allows Nokia to rip out costs. Microsoft is getting…

While Microsoft was preoccupied with its conquest for desktop supremacy, something crazy happened. They called it the mobile revolution. This was when the notion that an iPod was only a music player and a computer was only only something used at a desk quickly faded away. It was a time when devices were getting smaller, smarter, and sexier. Microsoft, unfortunately, didn’t get the memo. Apple did. Apple took control of mobile with the iPod Touch and the iPhone, notebooks with with Macbook/Macbook Pros, digital distribution with iTunes, third-party developers with the iOS ecosystem. Everything…

If you’re not an iPhone-toting Macolyte, you may be following the adventures of Windows Phone 7, the little operating system that could – and in particular, Nokia’s recent decision to ditch Symbian (the little operating system that couldn’t) to the curb in favour of it. Most tech heads, shocked at the partnership, cried foul, decrying the move as bad for both Nokia and Microsoft. But come on, guys, Windows Phone 7 isn’t that bad. It’s functional (in this blogger’s opinion, every bit as much as iOS) and if it isn’t the most gorgeous, chrome-free interface a phone’s ever seen, nothing is. Anyway,…

The past year in technology was among the more surprising ones we’ve had. Even the most astute, insightful tech observers would have had trouble predicting some of the things that happened this year. The iPad and Kinect have become the fastest selling electronic devices in history. Android exploded at a rate few could have seen coming. Facebook and Twitter kept up their blistering expansion rates, while Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7… is actually good. But what about this coming year? What events and happenings will not only define 2011, but also cause tech-heads to look back in a year from now…

Microsoft was satisfied enough to announce that they had sold 1.5 million units of their Windows Phone 7 platform for the past six weeks it has been available. Not too amazing, sure, but it is a start. However, we were just thrown a curve ball when it was revealed that these numbers are not the actual sales to consumers. No, these figures represent the number of Windows Phone 7 phones sold by phone manufacturers to retailers and mobile providers. So the picture just became more complicated. The numbers might not be true sales to consumers, but they are — at least when argued by Microsoft — competitive….

As much of an advocate I am for competition, I can’t help but laugh on the inside when I see yet another favorable impression of Windows Phone 7. I want to say great things about it. No, I really do! But I can’t! It’s because I know that this is a failure from the start. So before we get into detail about the competition and the hoopla surrounding Windows Phone 7, let’s start with the company that is behind all of the commotion: Microsoft. Microsoft’s Problems Microsoft has an identity problem. If you ask a teenager to explain what Microsoft does, you will, without question, hear them mention Windows….