Microsoft has recently released an emulator of its new operating system. It was intended solely for developers: thus, most of the OS features were blocked out.

However, tweakers quickly found a way to “Unlock” the emulator so that it provides access to the entire operating system. This means that one can now play around with all applications which make up the OS.

The 9 minute video below gives you a nice walk-through:
http://www.viddler.com/explore/engadget/videos/1231/

The arrival of Windows Mobile 7 has essentially ended all future development for the form factor known as WMS – the touchscreen-less Windows Mobile-based smartphone.

It traditionally was more popular in the USA than it was in Europe. However, the French carrier SFR now takes a final stab by releasing an “MSN Messenger phone” with an unknown version of Windows Mobile:

Further information can be had via the French web site below:
http://messengersurvotremobile.com/messengeredition251bysfr/

When Windows Mobile 7 was first announced, most of us scratched their head and wondered. By now, I guess that quite a few of you have freaked out – if not, find out more below:

No cut&paste
The first idiocy comes from “focus group research”. Microsoft claims to have figured out that users never use Copy&Paste – and has thus omitted it from the (P)OS.

No real multitasking – J2ME model only
The next embarrassing fact is that Microsoft seems focused on resurrecting the J2ME multitasking model used on old featurephones. It essentially means that one app runs, while all others are halted.

Engadget furthermore got the state machine below:

Marketplace has kill switch
Finally, a rather obvious thing – the Marketplace has a remote kill switch.

When it comes to mobile devices, analysts usually look just at the processor. However, the CPU alone does not make a device – it also takes the baseband processor which handles communication.

Strategy Analytics performed a tally of baseband makers, and ended up with the following chart – it shows who produced how much in Q3 2009:

Source: Strategy Analytics

Traditionally, integrated development environments were file oriented – if you edited code, you edited it on a file-by-file basis.

Code Bubbles is an experimental Java IDE which goes a different way. In it, functions are the elemental parts of an application: you edit code on a per-function level, and can open calling and called functions easily.

A video showing the concept is below – set it to a lower resolution on a slower machine:

We’ve seen quite a few leaks showing Windows Mobile 7 before the official introduction at the Mobile World Congress this year – most of them looked like the ones in the slide below:

Engadget reports the following about them:

…Microsoft’s Albert Shum — one of WP7S’ chief designers who we had the pleasure of meeting back at MWC — just confirmed the accuracy of those leaks in a session here at MIX10. Discussing the reboot of the WinMo 7 program that happened inside Microsoft about a year ago …

So: who of you prefers the design above? I sure as hell do…

Microsoft has just opened its official developer program for Windows Mobile 7. Developers who hit this link can sign up…

Unfortunately, various limitations of the platform were disclosed at the same time. The bullet-point list of horror contains further information:

• No user-exchangeable memory (aka no MicroSD cards)
• No real multitasking
• No way to install apps except for the marketplace
• Ultra-strict hardware guidelines: if you have 5 buttons, no WM7 for you

Not much to add here…

Microsoft’s latest announcement (at the MIX) should give all mobile computing pundits a nice bit of food for thought – they stated that their new operating system was developed for “Life Maximisers”.

Engadget captured the two slides below, which explain the concept further:

Cutting a long story short: businessmen and power users are no longer interesting. Of course, this makes sense – for most of us, sticking to our smartphones for an extra year would not be a real issue (read: we are difficult to sell to).

Life Maximisers, on the other hand, usually don’t have smartphones yet – and don’t really care about good keyboards either…

The US smartphone market is especially interesting for mobile developers, as it has traditionally been extremely strong when it comes to moving content. The US-based company comScore has just released a bit of data on the matter.

First of all, a look at the vendors on an OEM level – this figure includes both dumbphones and smartphones alike:

Another classic metric is the one showing the platforms – here is ComScore’s take on this matter:

Further information can be had via the URL below:
http://www.comscore.com/index.php/layout/set/ …

One year ago, LG could best be described as “enthusiastically WM” – their CEO announced intentions that most of their future smartphones would be based on Windows Mobile – and not the then-up-and-coming Android.

Mobile Business Briefing now reports the following:

LG, the world’s third-largest handset vendor, yesterday launched a smartphone based on Google’s Android operating system in South Korea, its home market. The model LG-KH5200, which will be sold by the country’s second-largest mobile operator KT, will compete against Motorola’s Android-based smartphone MOTOROI launched earlier this year through top carrier SK Telecom. LG plans to boost its smartphone offerings with some 20 models this year, half of which will be based on Android.

Is it just me, or isn’t Microsoft’s game plan as great as they thought it was? Hmm…