Windows Mobile

Microsoft's new smartphone platform is off to what could be considered a slower start than expected in North America. That's according to The Street, which has released a report saying that the company sold some 40,000 units on its first day on the market.

That number does not come from Microsoft, which has not yet released sales numbers and refused to comment to both The Street and CNET, but rather a source in a market research firm.

Windows Phone 7, which is the follow-up to Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.5 platform, hit shelves in the U.… Read more

Editor's note: this is the third and final part in a series of stories on the behind-the-scenes efforts by Microsoft to bring Windows Phone 7 to market.

REDMOND, Wash.--On a rather sunny August day deep within one of the many nondescript buildings that dot Microsoft's campus, a robot taps away at a prototype Windows Phone 7 to double-check that the screen is accurately reading touch input. Another robot, affectionately dubbed Wally, tests the accelerometer and other sensors built into the new phones. A building over, thousands of phones are going through a variety of stress tests, including … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--If Microsoft hopes to get back in the smartphone game, it had better hope that Windows Phone 7 makes a bigger impact than it appeared to be having at one AT&T store here.

As of midday Monday, the store had sold less than half of its supply of 20 devices.

That's not to say that folks weren't lining up. Unfortunately, nearly all of the 200 people who showed up on Market Street this morning were there to snag tickets for a launch concert featuring Maroon 5, as opposed to getting their hands on one of … Read more

While Microsoft and Google continue to be fierce tech rivals, Web search is just one of those areas where it pays (literally) to be on as many platforms as possible--even if it's the other guy's.

That much can be seen with this morning's introduction of a Google Search application for Windows Phone 7.

The app, which can be found in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace by searching for "Google Search," lets WP7 users use Google's mobile search. Like Microsoft's apps on iOS and Android, it taps into things like your phone's location … Read more

What, you say--there are already some 1,400 applications available on Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 Marketplace? Well, yes there are. But up until now, not just anyone who wanted to put their app up for sale or free download could submit.

That's no longer the case, as Microsoft has opened up the app submission process for any developer who has registered to publish apps on the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.

The last-minute opening might see a little odd to outsiders considering Windows Phone 7 hardware is set to launch on Monday of next week in North America, and … Read more

Dell is looking to market its own smartphone as an alternative to the BlackBerry and is starting the push with its own employees.

The PC maker will give its BlackBerry-carrying employees new Venue Pro smartphones in return for their existing phones. The transition is expected to save the company around 25 percent in mobile communications costs, mostly by getting rid of its BlackBerry servers, Dell's chief financial officer Brian Gladden told The Wall Street Journal.

The 25,000 employees who currently have BlackBerrys will receive Venue Pro phones with both voice and data plans; remaining employees (about 71,000) … Read more

REDMOND, Wash.--Microsoft is making a change to its policies for Windows Phone 7 that will allow applications to more easily run when the screen is turned off.

Until now, applications that wanted to run when the screen was locked had to get the user's explicit permission. Under new rules announced on Friday, programs can do so without permission--provided they first demonstrate to Microsoft that they only use a reasonable amount of battery life (allowing more than six hours of use for an app playing audio and more than 120 hours for a program that does not play audio). … Read more

Microsoft's tight design rules require all Windows Phone 7 devices to have a pretty nice camera on them; they must tout at least 5 megapixels and video capture to boot. Unfortunately, Redmond's new phone operating system has limitations that mean developers can't fully take advantage of the lenses.

Although Windows Phone 7 devices can record and upload video and pictures, application developers can't fully take advantage of those image sensors to do other fun things like video chat and augmented reality.

That means that not only will Windows Phone 7 not have as many apps as … Read more

Microsoft came calling this week with its official unveiling Monday of the highly anticipated Windows Phone 7 along with a bevy of devices built on the new mobile operating system.

Windows Phone 7 was launched to much fanfare in New York, including a lively presentation by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer who characterized the OS as "always delightful and wonderfully mine."

"Everybody should be able to take a look at a Windows Phone and say I can represent me," Ballmer said. In that vein, the launch was centered on ultra-customized features and a diverse range of hardware. … Read more