Windows Mobile

Microsoft today began sending out an update to Windows Phone 7 devices that prepares them for the first of two software updates that will add new features.

"This first update for Windows Phone is designed to improve the software update process itself," the company said on the Windows Phone blog. "So while it might not sound exciting, it's still important because it's paving the way for all future goodie-filled updates to your phone, such as copy and paste or improved Marketplace search."

The software update that will bring those new features is slated for … Read more

Microsoft has brought its first piece of software to Apple's Mac App Store.

The digital software storefront, which launched just last month, is now home to Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Connector software. This is the application that lets Mac users sync up their iTunes and iPhoto libraries with Windows Phone 7 devices. It's also the way Mac users will be able to update the system software on their phones when Microsoft pushes out its first big update next month.

Microsoft first offered up the software in beta in October, and continues to offer it up as a standalone download … Read more

BARCELONA--Apple gets plenty of praise for advancing mobile browsers with its iPhone's version of Safari, but an audience greeted its performance with some laughter as Microsoft compared it to an upcoming version of IE9 for Windows Phone 7.

Joe Belfiore, a Microsoft corporate vice president, showed off the browser here at the Mobile World Congress show during a keynote speech by Chief Executive Steve Ballmer. Specifically, Belfiore showed it running a Microsoft fishtank demonstration that's been in widespread use since the hardware acceleration work began in earnest among personal computer browser makers last year.

And he got a … Read more

A burst of activity in Windows Phone 7 projects may be a sign that developers see promise in a Nokia-Microsoft tie-up, according to analytics firm Flurry.

Even before Nokia and Microsoft revealed late last week their proposed deal for Windows Phone 7 on Nokia phones, speculation about it apparently led to a surge in developer interest. Tracking the mobile platforms based on new projects started by developers, Flurry said it had seen relatively flat numbers for Windows Phone 7 for the month or so prior to last week.

But with speculation making the rounds early last week about a possible … Read more

This post was updated at 12:34 p.m., PT with a clarification on the Microsoft Kinect feature.

BARCELONA, Spain--A year ago, Microsoft unveiled Windows Phone 7 at Mobile World Congress and this year the company gave us a glimpse of what lies ahead for the platform.

Outlined by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer during his MWC keynote, Microsoft said it will push out two software updates in 2011.

The first will bring the much-awaited cut-and-paste functionality, performance improvements, and support for CDMA networks.

This update will be rolled out in the first two weeks of March, with CDMA Windows Phone … Read more

Microsoft and Nokia announced a broad mobile phone partnership today that joins two powerful but lagging companies into mutually reliant allies in the mobile phone market.

As expected, Nokia plans to use Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system as part of a plan to recover from competitive failings detailed in Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop's "burning platform" memo.

But it's deeper than just an agreement to install the OS on Nokia's phones. Instead, the companies call it an attempt to build a "third ecosystem," acknowledging that competing with Apple's iOS and … Read more

It looks increasingly likely that Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 will get a starring role in Nokia Chief Executive Stephen Elop's attempt to turn around the ailing phone giant.

Reports from Bloomberg and The Wall Street Journal indicate Nokia's turnaround plan will involve phones using Microsoft's new and still immature mobile operating system. Elop plans to detail his strategy for overhauling Nokia tomorrow at an analyst day in London.

Google's Android, another contender for a software alliance, doesn't look like it has good prospects at Nokia at present. "Two turkeys do not make an … Read more

Microsoft is making it a little easier for developers to get their hands on Windows Phone 7 devices for building and testing applications.

In a blog post this afternoon detailing some previously announced updates to the Windows Phone Developer Tools, Brandon Watson, who is Microsoft's director of developer relations, said that the company has partnered with Zones.com to let developers buy Windows Phone 7 devices without a voice or data contract.

The phones, which include HTC's HD7 and Surround as well as the Samsung Focus, come carrier-locked, but can be had for about $500 without venturing to … Read more

It's hard to know what to make of Nokia these days. Though it still holds a huge worldwide market share and sells more phones than its competitors, it doesn't quite capture the buzz it once had, and its presence in the United States has dwindled.

Sure, the Finns maintain a healthy business selling low-end handsets in emerging markets, but over the last three years, smartphones are where the action is. And though Nokia still succeeds in that space occasionally--we quite liked the Nokia N8, for example--its strategy has been rather unclear.

To its credit, Nokia is aware of … Read more