Yesterday, Microsoft launched their new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7. As a former enterprise network administrator, and Windows Mobile user, I can tell you that Microsoft does have a place in the smartphone world. Redmond fell asleep at the wheel on their mobile development over the last 6-7 years and let RIM and Apple come in and essentially run them out of the mobile game. With Apple’s “fenced in” strategy, many power users who resist that model were left with few viable options in the way of hand-held devices. Google acknowledged this opportunity in 2005 by purchasing Android Inc. It wasn’t until October of 2008 that we were able to purchase the first available Android device. According to a report released by the NPD group, Android accounted for 33 precent of the smartphone sales last quarter. For an operating system that was only released two years ago, that is an impressive figure to say the least.
Andy Rubin, vice president of Engineering at Google, was quoted recently as saying the following regarding WP7:
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On a smaller scale, the relative beginnings of the smart phone(PDA) industry have gotten started similarly to the progression of the PC market. Two of the same major players are involved, taking familiar tacts, and there is a third open-source alternative headed up by a new major player that didn’t exist during the PC’s early days. Does anyone find it incredibly interesting that three of the largest, most influential technology companies (i.e. Microsoft, Apple and Google) are now in control of the smartphone/mobile operating system industry? This fact tells us so much about the future of technology and where we can expect to see the biggest leaps made over the next 5-10 years.
For those of you who paid attention while Microsoft and Apple divided up the computer industry 30 years ago, the similarities should be pretty obvious. Out of the three companies Microsoft entered the ring first with Windows Mobile and sold their product as software that could run on any manufacturers hardware (to a certain extent). Apple later came to market with a more user friendly and consumer appealing product that was a hardware/software combination, the iPhone. A good deal later, an open-source alternative was released that offered a more developer friendly platform and could save the corporate and consumer markets millions(billions?) of dollars, Android.
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So, I love Google Voice and have been using it for years, ever since it was Grand Central. Today, I finally figured out how to reign in the problem with voicemails showing up in either my cell phone voicemail or my Google Voice voicemail. It was starting to become unbearable to have to check both places for voicemails that were left when people dialed my GVoice number. Here’s what causes the problem: When someone dials my Google number and I click ignore, or am out of service coverage, my Sprint voicemail kicks in early causing Google to think that Ive picked up the phone meaning that the calls are connected straight to my Sprint voicemail and then they would leave a message there. If I was in service but just let the phone ring, Google would time out knowing that I hadn’t picked up in which case the caller would be connected to my Google voicemail. Depending on where I was or what I was doing, voicemails could have ended up in either place. Depending on your cell phone carrier you have to enable two or three types of call fowarding so that if you click Ignore on your phone, are out of service or have your phone off, your cell carrier will forward the calls to your GVoice number. If you are on Sprint, the forwarding service is 20 cents per minute while the person is leaving you a voicemail. For me, that cost is worth it so that I dont go crazy tracking down voicemails anymore. I believe it is free on the other carriers. For instructions on enabling this feature for the various carriers, click here.
I’ve been testing a Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM on my HTC Touch Pro for about 3 weeks now. So far, it seems much faster and considerably more stable. It could be that I’m using a stripped down ROM without the carrier bloatware, but my phone feels very responsive.
Most applications that worked on Windows Mobile 6.1 also work in 6.5. One thing that seems to be missing though, is the built-in VoIP compatibility. While it may seem innocuous that one application, which very few people used, is suddenly not part of the new mobile operating system by Microsoft; I see a much bigger issue.
With the advancement and refinement of “Voice over IP” technologies like the SIP protocol…we are right around the corner from not needing to rely on old phone infrastructure (like analog phone lines) for having voice conversations. It finally looked like the stranglehold that phone companies had on us was about to be over with.
With the majority of new cell phones coming equipped with a wi-fi connection, and applications like Skype or the built-in VoIP support that Windows Mobile 6.1 had, you could make a call from your cell phone [over a free wi-fi connection] completely bypassing any major phone carrier’s network. With the right phone and enough wireless network coverage one could potentially cancel their cell-phone contract and stop paying ridiculous monthly fees. Well, as they say: “If it seems too good to be true…”
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At $489, this is not the cheapest toy you are going to find on the technology market, but it may just be worth its hefty price tag. What is the one aspect of a mobile content “reader” you would always like more of? How about more screen real estate…? The new Kindle has a 9.7 inch electronic paper display. This brings the Kindle experience closer to actually holding an 8.5 x 11 sheet of paper, which is essentially the ultimate goal of an eBook reader. The electronic ink works just like real ink meaning that you don’t need a backlight, eliminating eye strain associated with reading off typical electronic displays.
Auto-rotation seems to be another highly anticipated feature. Like many of the smart phone devices available today, the Kindle will switch from portrait to landscape mode simply by rotating the actual device. Personally, I love that feature on my smart phone.
Internal storage capacity appears to have been more than doubled to 3.5 GB. That may not seem like ton of storage when you think of it in music terms, like an iPod, but 3.5 GB can hold an enormous amount of text.
This device is thinner than a typical magazine and has a free always-on connection for downloading content, using the cell phone data networks. Just like with the previous Kindle models, you do not have to sign up or pay to use that service.
It has been said that printing the New York times costs roughly twice as much as it would to supply a free Kindle to all of its subscribers. I wonder how long it will be before that interesting anecdote becomes a reality. In any case, I would agree that the Kindle along with its now and future competitors will change the way millions of people read anything.
*Prediction* The Kindle will eventually have a touch screen and will become the standard device for signing contracts digitally, without ever needing to print hard copies.
Yesterday, Microsoft launched their new mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7. As a former enterprise network administrator, and Windows Mobile user, I can tell you that Microsoft does have a place in the smartphone world. Redmond fell asleep at the wheel on their mobile development over the last 6-7 years and let RIM and Apple come in and essentially run them out of the mobile game. With Apple’s “fenced in” strategy, many power users who resist that model were left with few viable options in the way of hand-held devices. Google acknowledged this opportunity in 2005 by purchasing Android Inc. It wasn’t until October of 2008 that we were able to purchase the first available Android device. According to a report released by the NPD group, Android accounted for 33 precent of the smartphone sales last quarter. For an operating system that was only released two years ago, that is an impressive figure to say the least.
mobile, operating systems | admin | 
October 12, 2010 10:39 am | 
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