Windows Mobile

Microsoft announced this morning that the next version of the Windows Phone operating system, code-named Mango, has been delivered to manufacturers, which can begin testing it on their handsets.

The move is one of the final steps before the software arrives on new phones and is delivered to existing users as a software update.

"This marks the point in the development process where we hand code to our handset and mobile-operator partners to optimize Mango for their specific phone and network configurations," Terry Myerson, Microsoft's corporate vice president of engineering for Windows phone, wrote on a company … Read more

Microsoft should consider selling Bing, says a Reuters opinion piece that's gained attention in the last day or so, after being published last Friday.

Though the search engine has grown in market share and popularity since its debut in 2009, it's still a money-losing proposition and a distraction for its parent, claims Reuters columnist Robert Cyran. Despite the flush of cash that Microsoft has poured into Bing, the search's engine's online services division lost $2.6 billion in the company's latest fiscal year, he says.

Microsoft believes Bing provides a boost to some of its … Read more

The head of Microsoft's Windows Phone division believes the company and its partners can cut the costs of smartphones running the company's mobile operating system by as much as half over the next year as a plethora of new devices hit the market.

Andy Lees, president of the Windows Phone division, told the 15,000 attendees at Microsoft's Worldwide Partner Conference in Los Angeles today that he expects the price of devices, before carrier discounts for long-term contracts, to hit $100 to $150 next year. Right now, they cost $200 or more, he said. And a year ago, those devices ran upwards of $400.

That's possible because chipmakers are now able to pack more and more functionality onto tiny processors that can fit into phones.

"You're seeing a dramatic price reduction," Lees said in a speech that was streamed online.

Lees also explained why Microsoft won't be offering its Windows Mobile operating system to tablet computer makers. The company believes that tablet users want many of the functions available to them when they use PCs such as the ability to connect to a network and the ability to print documents.

"We view a tablet as a sort of PC," Lees said.

And Microsoft's believes that tablets aren't PC replacements, as Apple's Steve Jobs has suggested, but rather pieces of the technical landscape that can all be used for different purposes. Microsoft wants to leverage its strength with its dominant Windows operating system in PCs to strengthen its position in mobile phones, where it's market share is small, and slates, where Apple dominates. Lees believes Microsoft's "unified ecosystem" will be a lure for consumers.

"We won't have an ecosystem for PCs, and one for phones and one for tablets," Lees said.… Read more

With allegations that Google infringed on several patents in its Android operating system, two of the biggest beneficiaries of sales of mobile devices that use the technology could well be Oracle and Microsoft.

Both companies are seeking as much as a $20 licensing fee per device from handset makers that choose to use Android. That'd be roughly double the amount that Google makes in search revenue, on average, from every Android device, according to Deutsche Bank analyst Jonathan Goldberg. Google gives away the Android operating system in hopes of generating that revenue.

Goldberg learned of Oracle's bid to get licensing fees over alleged Java patent infringement in Android by chatting with "various handset makers," he said. He declined to name them, except to say that "I think they are approaching everyone who has Android OS or apps."

Goldberg added that Oracle was seeking $15 to $20 per Android device as part of an early adopters program that would, in theory, indemnify those companies in the event that Oracle wins its patent infringement lawsuit against Google, filed last August.

"As far as I know, no one has signed up for this program," Goldberg said. "They are, and I am too, particularly impressed with Oracle's spirit."… Read more

After a long wait, Windows Phone 7 owners can now get their hands on Angry Birds.

The phenomenally popular game, which lets users slingshot angry birds through obstacles to attack pigs, is available for $2.99 to U.S. Windows Phone 7 owners. It's also available internationally. To let users get a feel for the game before buying, developer Rovio is offering a free trial.

The Windows Phone 7 price on Angry Birds might surprise iPhone and Android handset owners. The game is currently available in Apple's App Store for just 99 cents. In the Android Market, users can download a free, ad-supported version of Angry Birds.

Angry Birds has taken a long road to get to Windows Phone 7. Last fall, Microsoft posted a Web site for its Windows Phone 7 platform that included an Angry Birds icon, indicating the game was coming to handsets at launch. However, Rovio quickly responded on its Twitter feed, saying that it had "not committed to doing a Windows Phone 7 version" of Angry Birds. It went on to say that "Microsoft put the Angry Birds icon on their site without our permission."

Microsoft responded, saying the Angry Birds icon was mistakenly added to the site, and took it down.

Following the spat, Microsoft announced in February that Angry Birds would arrive on its mobile platform in "late spring." However, last month, WinRumors reported that the game was delayed from its original May 25 launch date to June 29.

Earlier this month, Rovio partnered with Roku in a deal that will see Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons, and Angry Birds Rio come to Roku's Channel Store. The games will be available in new Roku hardware launching this summer.… Read more

Windows Phone 7 trails rivals from Apple and Android-powered devices for a host of reasons--it was late to the modern smartphone wars, it's stumbled rolling out updates, and carriers haven't been enthusiastically selling the phones in retail stores.

But the biggest challenge Microsoft faces is that the marketplace for Windows Phone carries a paltry 18,000 applications, compared with the more than 500,000 sold for iPhones on iTunes. Microsoft realizes it can't catch up in the near future, if ever. So the company is trying to fuel creation of must-have apps by giving developers free expertise, coding help, phones, and even waiving--for up to one year--the 30 percent sales commission on ads placed on the app that it typically takes.

Microsoft offers the benefits to a select few developers, hand-picked to participate in Mobile Acceleration Week code camps it holds a handful of times a year, including the one running this week in New York. For the New York camp, held in Microsoft's midtown offices, the company has selected six developers, each of which should have working apps available from the marketplace in the next week or so.

"We want these guys to build really compelling apps and we want them to be successful," said Brian Hoskins, director of Microsoft's Emerging Business Team. "We can help them make their apps sing."

The developers get one-on-one time with Microsoft engineers to help design the apps. They work on creating compelling user interfaces and hammer out the best ways to take advantage of everything from Windows Phone's notification features to its camera. After each day's work, developers come up with coding specifications that are sent to a Microsoft partner in India, where new code is written overnight, ready for the next round of programming the following morning in New York. … Read more

The next version of the Windows Phone operating system, code-named Mango, got heaps of praise today, as embargoes lifted for reviewers to comment on a technical preview of the code they tested. But for Microsoft, there's plenty of heavy lifting left to do.

After nearly a week of testing Mango, CNET's own Bonnie Cha and Jessica Dolcourt write that "Mango is a satisfying upgrade from the original Windows Phone OS, and one that brings the platform closer to the competition."

Others were more effusive. Gizmodo's Matt Buchanan wrote "It feels alive. Everything bounces. Everything … Read more

In an effort to get more developers on board, Microsoft has unveiled a tool designed to help Android developers port their apps over to Windows Phone.

In a blog post yesterday, Microsoft cautioned that there's no "magic wand" for Android developers that can automatically port their apps to Windows Phone. But the company is hoping that a new API tool, white paper, and other technical resources can take some of the pain out of the process.

The Android to Windows Phone API mapping tool is designed to serve as a translation guide for developers, comparing different program … Read more

Microsoft is now restricting the number of Windows Phone apps that it will approve from a single developer to 20 per day.

In a blog posted yesterday, Microsoft said the new restriction is aimed at cutting down on "bulk app publishing," a process through which developers can flood the Windows Phone Marketplace with hundreds of apps over the course of just a few days.

Though these apps may meet Microsoft's certification guidelines, the company is concerned that such apps can push other recently-published apps out of the "What's New" category, thereby degrading and "… Read more