Microsoft

Microsoft, the world largest software maker, has accused Motorola of using technology derived from Microsoft’s inventions in Android-based smartphones. Microsoft has requested the International Trade Commission (ITC) in Washington to halt the imports of certain Motorola phones due to infringement of seven of its patents.

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The ChevronWP7 group developed software to unlock Windows Phone 7 devices and allow abitrary app installations. Microsoft asked them to pull the app and then worked with them to produce an officially sactioned tool to do the same thing. The group announced that they will be offering a Microsoft approved service to unlock phones in the near future.

Announcing ChevronWP7 Labs

There will be a fee associated with the unlocking service that is less than Microsoft’s $99 annual App Hub fee for developers. Unlocking a Windows Phone lets developers load any application without going through Microsoft’s App Hub.

If it functions like the original unscanctioned tool, it should also allow end-users to “side load” apps without going through Microsoft’s Windows Marketplace. The ChevronWP7 Labs site link is provided below. It currently says “coming soon.”

labs.chevronwp7.com

Via WinRumors: Microsoft and ChevronWP7 team up for new Windows Phone 7 developer unlock tool

The social media tool is based on the difficulty of paying for a higher education. It is a key reason many college students fail to graduate. Past studies have shown that upwards of two million college students don’t apply for any of the nearly $70 billion in financial aid the government distributes each year, and that almost two-thirds of students find the process of applying for financial aid difficult.

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Apple has sold more than 15 million iPads so far. They have not been able to keep up with the demand for the recently launched iPad 2 which currently has a 3 to 4 week shipping delay from Apple’s online store. Microsoft itself already provides enterprise management support for iOS and Android based devices through Exchange ActiveSync and is working on further enterprise integration (see More Enterprise Mobile Device Management Options from Microsoft). Yet, we see these two separate anti-tablet messages from Dell and Microsoft. Curiously, both are published by Australian based organizations. Read more

Video: The Bing for Mobile Browse Experience Gets Even Better

The Bing Team announced significant enhancements to the Bing mobile website.

The Bing for Mobile Browse Experience Gets Even Better

The m.bing.com uses HTML5 to provide a native-app like experience in a web page. The redesigned site adds:

- Transit Directions and Real-Time Transit
- Image Search
- Shopping Search
- App Search (for iPhone)
- Movies Search

I point my Nexus One’s Android OS 2.3 browser at Bing mobile and found the features worked well on it. Here’s a tip for using Bing mobile on your mobile device: The first thing you should do is set your default location to enable local searches.

Via Search Engine Land: Bing Mobile Updated: Improved HTML5 Features, App Search & More

Mobile devices like the iPhone, iPad, and Android phones that access a corporate Exchange Server using Exchange ActiveSync are already subject to policy controls from Exchange Server. Its administrator can, for example, require a PIN, enforce the PIN type used or perform a remote wipe without requiring permission from even a personal phone.

Exchange Server Policy Settings & Windows Phone 7, iPhone, Android Smartphones

ZDNet reports that Microsoft’s System Center Configuration Manager (SCCM) 2012 will be positioned to provide even greater control and, based on the mention of System Center Virtual Machine Manager, virtual applications to a variety of mobile platforms Windows Phone, Symbian, iOS, and Android. Conspicuously absent from the list is RIM’s BlackBerry OS.

Microsoft readies tool for managing iPads, iPhones and Android devices

Bloomberg reported that Microsoft not make a fourth generation Zune multimedia player hardware product and, instead, shift its focus to other devices like the Xbox 360 and Windows Phone.

Microsoft Said to Scrap New Zune Models After Failing to Break IPod’s Grip

Despite the Zune’s inability to break Apple’s iPod dominance in the music (mostly) player market, I think this is a bad move. It means that Microsoft has no product in the large capacity music player category. Apple has a 160GB classic even though I would guess it only sells to a single digit percentage of their market. They also have a 64GB iPod touch in their product lineup. Microsoft’s largest capacity Zune HD model provided a respectable 64GB storage. Even the first generation Zune in pictured in the photo here next to Windows Phone HTC HD7 provided 30GB of storage. And even 30GB is considered small by people with large music collections. Windows Phone currently tops out at 16GB although some brave souls can attempt to install third party SD storage cards.

Catering to a small but important (and sometimes vocal) market segment in a larger ecosystem makes sense. It provides headroom for everyone else. This provides a vision and roadmap to the future as ever increase media storage demand drives devices to larger capacities. Windows Phone’s design has made adding storage difficult for most end users. Limiting users’ options is never a good thing and leads them to consider alternatives from competitors.

The long awaited NoDo update for Windows Phone 7 is still a NoShow from what I can tell. The only “update” I’ve seen is an informational one for developers on the official Windows Phone Developer Blog.

An Update on Windows Phone Marketplace; new tips, policies and regional access program

Here’s my bullet list summary of the news:

1. 9,000 apps (I thought it was 10,000 a few weeks ago?)
2. 32,000 registered developers
3. 100 new apps appearing each day
4. Developers can integrate copy and paste into their apps (users need NoDo to take advantage of this)
5. 1,000,000 copies of Windows Phone Developer Tools downloaded so far (but only 32,000 registered developers)
6. First developer payouts began in January
7. Nearly 1 out of 10 trial apps downloaded converted to a paid app sale
8. Apps with trial versions generated 10 times more revenume than apps without a trial version (on the average)
9. Trial app conversion to paid version occurs within a day with most converted within 2 hours (of the 10% of people who do convert)
10. Microsoft Ad Exchange ad impressions has increased nearly 400% since January
11. Registered developers can not get certifications for up to 100 free apps at no cost. Previously, the limit was 5
12. The Application Provider Agreement will be modified in the near future to clarify which Open Source licenses can be used in apps distributed through the Windows Phone Marketplace

There’s been a lot of discussion regarding the deal Microsoft and Nokia made for Nokia to abandon their Symbian mobile platform in favor of Windows Phone. Bloomberg Businessweek has attached a dollar figure to this deal based on two unnamed sources.

Microsoft Is Said to Pay Nokia More Than $1 Billion in Deal

It is an interesting deal with money flowing in both directions.

- Microsoft will pay Nokia $1 billion to offset marketing and development
- Microsoft’s payment to Nokia also gets it access to Nokia patent portfolio
- Nokia will pay Microsoft a currently undisclosed fee for each Windows Phone device it sells

Microsoft’s upfront payment to Nokia ensures that Microsoft does everything possible to make Nokia’s Windows Phone products a success since its payback will come in the form or large numbers of Nokia Windows Phone device sales.

Here are the four things I’d like to see in Nokia’s Windows Phone products:

1. The usual awesome camera subsystem with serious enhancements to Microsoft’s camera interface
2. Both rear and front facing cameras. A 3D dual lense rear camera would be much appreciated
3. A Bluetooth profile for Bluetooth keyboards
4. Mobile Hotspot WiFi tethering

ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reports on a Microsoft Reseach project that has a very different, low cost and low tech take on tablet computing.

A low-tech Microsoft slate for the masses

Frank McPherson and I bought use and like LiveScribe’s line of smartpens. LiveScribe’s digital pen requires paper with special microdots that its pen uses to determine X-Y positiioning. Microsoft Research’s project, however, uses ordinary writing paper on top of a digitizing surface to record position and other information. It also has a 3.5-inch touch screen display which is powered by Windows CE (the same engine that powers Windows Phone devices). The project’s goal is to conceptualize a device that costs about $100 in quantity.

Paper has been a great medium for thousands of years. Even modern electronics like the iPad can’t replace it for speed, convenience, price, and even archival retrieval. Fans of LiveScribe’s smartpens know this intuitively. I hope we see this project gain enough traction to leave the research phase and begin the road to production.