Author: Surur

We posted recently on SanDisk’s $200 32 GB microSD card, but of course very soon new users of Microsoft’s new mobile OS will not be able to take advantage of these developments.

Fortunately embedded flash disks actually progress faster than removable storage, mainly due to less constraints on the size of the modules, meaning SanDisk’s announcement of a 64 GB embedded flash module for smartphones (the module on the left) at CTIA yesterday does not come as much of a surprise. 

Of course, unlike removable memory, users have no control over the amount of storage they add to their devices, and we can only hope one of the differentiators Windows Phone 7 OEMs will employ is massive storage, but given that little else remains this is however quite likely.

Via Gearlog.com

As we know well from the run up to Windows Phone 7, a lot of info can leak via Microsoft’s job postings.

In this case its the explicit mention of Microsoft Courier on a job site by Thomas Kohnstamm, which was then rapidly deleted.

The post mentions:

Do you already know everything about Project Natal and the Cloud? Is Blaise Aguera y Arcas’ jaw-dropping TED talk on augmented-reality Bing Maps and Photosynth last month’s news? Then check out some of the online chatter surrounding new releases of Window Phone 7 series handsets, Internet Explorer 9 and the upcoming Courier digital journal."

… and also mentions Courier in its tags.

Of course it may just be an over-enthusiastic marketer taking advantage of the recent Microsoft buzz, but we can hold out hope.

Take a look at the Courier mockup video below again after the break.  Interestingly, looking at it through Windows Phone 7 eyes, its actually quite striking that the feature we find most exciting about the OS is the liberal use of cut and paste and multi-tasking.  Of course with 2 screens it does make a lot more sense…

Via Engadget.com

Wirefly, who has brought us one of the earliest reviews of the T-Mobile HTC HD2 have now published this 15 minute comparison with the Google Nexus One.

Am I being biased by calling the HTC HD2 the clear winner?  Let us know below.

Press Release: Today, HTC announced the launch of its e-commerce site at www.shopamerica.htc.com. On this website, consumers can now browse and purchase from a range of HTC phones and accessories, as well as activate their new handset by selecting a rate plan from one of the four nationwide US operators.

“As HTC continues to grow its brand and customer base, we believe it is important to have one place for our customers to find very best devices, plans and accessories to match their lifestyle and needs. Personal choice guides our products, and it is also what we are looking to bring to the online shopping experience that we are announcing today,” said Jason Mackenzie, Vice President of HTC America. “We realize that there is no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to smartphones and service plans, which is why HTC is committed to delivering an experience that makes it easy to find the right solution for individual needs.”

When a customer accesses the site, available devices can be filtered by carrier, type of rate plan and desired features. After making the selection and checking out, activated devices and accessory orders of at least $50 are sent to the customer with no shipping charges. HTC also offers a 15-day money back guarantee allowing any equipment purchased online to be returned within that time frame free of charge. Additionally, customers also have the option to finalize their purchases over the phone.

The www.shopamerica.htc.com site also stocks a wide selection of hard-to-find accessories for customers looking to truly personalize their mobile experience. Items ranging from wrist straps and gel skins to home audio cables and international travel kits are all easily available in one place for the first time.

via theunwired.net

Anandtech has published this video showing Microsoft’s much vaunted replacement for copy and paste on Windows Phone 7 in action.  While this solution is said to satisfy 80% of users needs, and Microsoft has insisted that the solution is superior, we have also heard rumours that Microsoft is planning to implement copy and paste in a future update which would be rather good news.

One possibility which has occurred to me for the delay is that Microsoft intends to implement a more advanced version of copy and paste than just the text-based version we are familiar with.  On the iPhone for example one can copy and paste images rather easily, and one can imagine a web-clipping version like on Courier, which funnily enough in fact now seems all about copy and paste.

Could Microsoft be planning to bring us a better copy and paste?  Let us know your opinion below.

Good news for those who found even the $199 that T-Mobile USA is charging for the HTC HD2 too steep.  According to reports from PPCGeeks Radioshack will be selling the mobile powerhouse for only $149.00 to new subscribers and $249.99 for upgraders.

Like the Walmart early sales, officially you will have to wait all the way till the 24/03 for the handset, but it turns if you bed enough they may just give you one early.

Have any of our US readers picked up a HTC HD2 yet?  Let us know about your experience below.

Via FuzeMobility.com

Microsoft has hooked up with Yap, a cloud-based speech recognition services provider, to provide a text-to-speech service for Sprint’s Blackberry users.

Through Sprint’s Talk to Text mobile application, which Microsoft developed specifically for the carrier’s line of BlackBerry devices, users will able to speak their text message and emails.

Fortunately for Windows Mobile and future Windows Phone users however, the service does not have to remain on RIM’s devices.

“We are a cloud service, completely in the network with no dependency on the device or operating system or being an on-premise device structure,” Typrin said. Microsoft now has the right to deploy Yap’s technology across any of its devices, including potentially its Windows Phone 7 Series handsets. Yap’s vice president of marketing and product management, said that Microsoft was able to integrate Yap’s technology into its Talk to Text app with just a few lines of code.

The move may however confuse long-time readers, who know Microsoft owns a similar service called Tellme, which was meant to have been integrated into the Windows Mobile 6.5 platform, but has so far only shown up in one Windows Mobile handset on Sprint. Hopefully the Yap partnership will see higher penetrance than Microsoft’s wholly-owned subsidiary has so far.

Read more at ConnectedPlanetOnline.com here.

SanDisk has announced the release tomorrow of their 32 GB microSD card.  The removable storage is expected to retail for around $200, which is a pretty steep premium on the around $50 a 16 GB microSD will cost, but as usual with flash memory we can expect a pretty steep price drop in the coming months.

For Windows Mobile fans the cards come at a pretty poor time, with Microsoft phasing out removable storage support, but if you are planning not to buy a Windows Phone 7 device until a few years have passed this may be a great investment.

Via Unwiredview.com

The LG VS750 has been slowly winding its way to the market, and according to PhoneArena the smartphone’s specs has just shown up on Verizon’s site.

The device is a global roaming smartphone with an included SIM card and will support CDMA 1x/EVDO Rev A. 800/1900MHz, and GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/900/1800/190MHz and UMTS/HSDPA up to 7.2 Mbps. It will use Windows Mobile 6.5 Professional, and have a 3.2" 800×480 pixel WVGA resolution resistive touchscreen, slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Wi-Fi 802.11b/g, 3.2MP camera with VGA video recording, Bluetooth, 3.5mm headset jack, 512MB Flash/256MB RAM, and will support microSDHC cards up to 16GB.

The smartphone is rumoured for release in the middle of April on Verizon, and while with a resistive screen and 3.2 megapixel camera it will certainly not be upgraded to Windows Phone 7, it is interesting that it does seem to have the 3 required keys the OS demands.

The VS750 is listed to be blue in colour and will measure 4.53"H x 2.20"W x 0.65"D and have a weight of 5.36 oz. Included in the retail package will be a stylus, USB cable, wall charger with international plug adapters for Europe, Asia, and Australia

Read more at PhoneArena here.

Much like HTC with its Sense UI, which includes interesting features in the user interface meant to surprise and delight, Microsoft includes so-called “delighters” in the UI, designed to improve the user interface ever so slightly.

Long Zheng from the istartedsomething blog gave two examples recently. The first above is the smilie-face on the pending messages, which as can be seen changes progressively depending on how many messages are in the queue.

The other, seen after the break, is the flipping people’s tile, showing recent facebook updates.

Of course to some the effort Microsoft invests in these minor software features while complaining of not having enough time to implement basic features such as cut and paste may result in the opposite of delight, but then those people are probably not Microsoft’s target audience after all.

According to iSuppi, despite an unprecedented decline in global per capita income in 2009, global revenues for hot electronic products increased for the year, reflecting a fundamental shift in how consumers are prioritizing their spending.

"There’s been a measurable shift in how consumers are spending their disposable income," said Derek Lidow, president and chief executive officer of iSuppli. "In a time of great economic distress, when people had less money and spending on essentials like food and rent declined, consumers surprisingly used a disproportionate amount of their money to purchase new consumer electronics products."

Despite worldwide per capita income in 2009 declined by 2% to US$10,500, global revenues from shipments of smart phones rose by 9.6% for the year, while LCD TVs experienced a 14% increase and netbook PCs surged by a stunning 90%.

"For global consumers, the latest electronic products have become top-priority spend items," Lidow said. "They are willing to spend on these products at the expense of other desirables, such as jewellery, vacations and dining out. This trend will continue as the economic recovery gains momentum, causing global revenue for consumer electronic products to rise in 2010 and beyond."

One major factor allowing consumers to increase their spending on certain electronic products is decreased expenditures on vacations.

"Rather than spending on travel, people are opting to take ’staycations,’ where they stay home during their vacation time," Lidow noted. "To make their staycations more enjoyable, consumers are buying products to entertain themselves in their homes, including LCD-TVs."

Consumers around the world have also been increasing their spend on devices that enable them to be connected to the Internet as they move from place to place.

As travel become increasingly expensive and the world more and more homogenised, and social networking platforms like Facebook penetrate more and more of the general population, are we currently engaged in a fundamental shift in how we relate to the real world, substituting electronic experiences for real ones? Let us know your thoughts below.