Software giant Microsoft has released the latest version of their mobile operating system. This is the Windows Phone version 7.5 (also known as Mango). Just like Android, various manufacturers have chosen to carry the platform. Two of these phone makers are Taiwan’s HTC and Finland’s Nokia. They have released the Radar and the Lumia 800.
Mozilla announced the Firefox for Metro project in conjunction with its 2012 strategy documentation deluge.
Those tiles launch software, but when they’re on people’s home screens they also can display anything from photos to message notifications. Deeper down, Metro comes with an entirely new set of programming interfaces called WinRT that mark a big departure from the last several years of software development on Windows.
Don’t look now, but Windows Phones could become the top value-priced option for lots and lots of smartphone shoppers. Consider the HTC Radar 4G for T-Mobile, which offers Microsoft’s easy-to-use and fun 7.5 OS along with an attractive aluminum design for $99. The device features a 1-GHz processor, a 5-megapixel camera, and a bright 3.8-inch display–plus Netflix.
The HTC Radar 4G is right up there with the iPhone 4 as one of the most elegant looking smartphones in its price range. The device has a sturdy aluminum unibody design, broken up by bands of white plastic on the back and a strip of white along the bottom front edge. The mostly glass front covers the display and a white bezel. This handset felt very solid in our hand.
The right side of the Radar 4G houses a long volume control and a dedicated camera button, and a power button and headphone jack line the top. There’s a microUSB cable on the left side and a 5-MP camera, flash, and speaker on the back.
Weighing 4.8 ounces and measuring 4.7 x 2.4 x 0.4 inches, the Radar 4G is larger and heavier than the Samsung Focus Flash (4.1 ounces, 4.6 x 2.3 x 0.4 inches). However, the Radar has a larger display–3.8 inches vs 3.7 inches–and an aluminum unibody design, as opposed to the mostly plastic Flash. The iPhone 4 weighs the same as the Radar but has a slimmer 0.37-inch profile.
At an event to showcase the next update for the company’s Windows Phone 7 smartphone platform, codenamed Mango, Microsoft New Zealand’s Windows Phone business manager Mark Bishop said research indicated that by 2013 there would be 690,000 smartphones in New Zealand. Microsoft believed that gaining 20 per cent was achievable.
The Trophy features a 1GHz processor, a 3.8-in touchscreen, and 16GB of onboard storage.
Today, Android smartphones are ruling the market, outselling phones running Nokia’s Symbian OS. Apple’s iPhone is third, followed by Research In Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry, and lastly Windows Phone 7 is a distant fifth place.
The past year has been a remarkable one for smartphones, with the meteoric rise of Google’s Android OS, the restart of Microsoft’s mobile strategy with its much-ballyhooed release of Windows Phone 7 and the continuing success of Apple’s iPhone, buoyed by its new availability to Verizon subscribers. Never has there been so much choice in the smartphone market. As a result, hype and overstatement have been the order of the day.