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Leaked: Nokia 800 Windows Phone

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 20:11:29 +0000

Nokia is set to launch its new Windows Phones at Nokia World next week, but some renders have leaked of the 800, formerly code named Sea Ray. The phone sports the Meego-based N9′s industrial design language, paired with a 3.7″ screen and Windows Phone 7.5 (Mango). It should be available in black, blue, and pink.

Some other findings from these images: Nokia has replaced Windows Phone’s default Segoe WP font with its own font, Pure, and the phone shows Nokia Music, so where will Microsoft’s Zune Marketplace go?

Rumored specs include: 3.7″ ClearBlack AMOLED screen, 1.4 GHz Qualcomm CPU, 16GB storage, 8 MP camera with Carl Zeiss lens, 1540 mAh battery.

Source: PocketNow

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Microsoft discontinues Zune HD

admin — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 22:31:38 +0000

As long suspected, Microsoft is discontinuing its dedicated Zune music players, instead focusing on the Zune music service that runs on Windows, Windows Phone, and Xbox. Microsoft will continue to honor warranties on the Zune HD and other models. An update on the Zune site says, ”Windows Phone will be the focus of our mobile music and video strategy…we will no longer be producing Zune players.”

Source: Zune.net

Microsoft buys Skype for $8.5 billion

admin — Tue, 10 May 2011 16:58:24 +0000

Announcing the largest deal in its 36 year history, Microsoft said earlier today that it would acquire internet telephony firm Skype for $8.5 billion, all-cash. The Redmond software giant will integrate Skype into Xbox, Kinect, and Windows Phone, along with its Outlook/Lync/Exchange enterprise platform. The company is investing heavily in mobile technology, and integrating the world’s most popular VoIP voice/video chat service should give that effort a shot in the arm, while also further extending the company’s enterprise leadership. Microsoft says Skype users who don’t run Windows or Windows Phone shouldn’t worry, as it will continue to “to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms.”

Skype’s current CEO, Tony Bates, will head the new Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Skype boasts 663 million users worldwide, and its users made 207 billion minutes of voice and video calls last year. Most of these calls, however, were free, which has made it difficult for the company to make money since it was founded in 2003.

Rumors swirled over the last few weeks that Google was looking to buy Skype, but an IPO was the most likely option, so Microsoft’s offer had to be high enough to convice Skype shareholders that life in the Microsoft fold would be better– hence the hefty price premium. Microsoft is an investor in Facebook, which may now be able to tap into Skype’s network via Microsoft. Apple appears to be building massive server capacity to make a big telecommunications play (perhaps by extending its current FaceTime video chat service), and Google of course has its Google Voice service, so we’re likely to see a three-way internet telecom battle between the Microsoft-Skype-Facebook combine, Apple, and Google.

eBay first bought Skype in 2005 for $2.5 billion, but having found little potential for synergies, it sold off most of the company to an investment group led by Silver Lake in 2009 at a valuation of $2.75 billion. Microsoft’s purchase price today is over three times that. With this deal, Skype will gain a permanent home and likely a central role in Microsoft’s bid to gain prominence in Internet services and the mobile arena. Microsoft has an estimated $48 billion in cash reserves, and the Skype deal would be its largest deal in 36 years. The operating system giant’s last big-ticket acquisition was its $6 billion purchase of online ad firm aQuantive in 2007. The Skype deal has been approved by both companies’ boards of directors and is expected to close by the end of the year.

Press release after the break.

Microsoft to Acquire Skype
Combined companies will benefit consumers, businesses and increase market opportunity.

REDMOND, Wash., and LUXEMBOURG – May 10, 2011 – Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: “MSFT”) and Skype Global S.à r.l today announced that they have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Skype, the leading Internet communications company, for $8.5 billion in cash from the investor group led by Silver Lake. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors of both Microsoft and Skype.

The acquisition will increase the accessibility of real-time video and voice communications, bringing benefits to both consumers and enterprise users and generating significant new business and revenue opportunities. The combination will extend Skype’s world-class brand and the reach of its networked platform, while enhancing Microsoft’s existing portfolio of real-time communications products and services.

With 170 million connected users and over 207 billion minutes of voice and video conversations in 2010, Skype has been a pioneer in creating rich, meaningful connections among friends, families and business colleagues globally. Microsoft has a long-standing focus and investment in real-time communications across its various platforms, including Lync (which saw 30 percent revenue growth in Q3), Outlook, Messenger, Hotmail and Xbox LIVE.

Skype will support Microsoft devices like Xbox and Kinect, Windows Phone and a wide array of Windows devices, and Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities. Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms.

“Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world,” said Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. “Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world.”

Skype will become a new business division within Microsoft, and Skype CEO Tony Bates will assume the title of president of the Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Ballmer.

“Microsoft and Skype share the vision of bringing software innovation and products to our customers,” said Tony Bates. “Together, we will be able to accelerate Skype’s plans to extend our global community and introduce new ways for everyone to communicate and collaborate,” Bates said.

“Tony Bates has a great track record as a leader and will strengthen the Microsoft management team. I’m looking forward to Skype’s talented global workforce bringing its insights, ideas and experience to Microsoft,” Ballmer said.

Speaking on behalf of the investor group that sold Skype to Microsoft, Egon Durban, managing director of Silver Lake, said: “We are thrilled with Skype’s transformation during the period of our ownership and grateful for the extraordinary commitment of its management team and employees. We are excited about Skype’s long-term future with Microsoft, as it is poised to become one of the world’s most dynamic and comprehensive communications platforms.”

Founded in 2003, Skype was acquired by eBay in September 2005, and then acquired by an investment group led by Silver Lake in November 2009. Skype has made impressive progress over the past 18 months under Silver Lake’s leadership, increasing monthly calling minutes by 150 percent, developing new revenue streams and strategic partnerships, acquiring the intellectual property powering its peer-to-peer network, and recruiting an outstanding senior management team.

Other members of the selling investor group led by Silver Lake include eBay International AG, CPP Investment Board, Joltid Limited in partnership with Europlay Capital Advisors; and Andreessen Horowitz.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions. The parties hope to obtain all required regulatory clearances during the course of this calendar year.

About Skype
Skype is communications software whose purpose is to break down barriers to communication. With an Internet-connected device, families, friends and colleagues can get together for free with messaging, voice and video. At low cost, they can also call landlines or mobiles virtually anywhere in the world. Skype has recently introduced group video, allowing groups of more than two people to do things together whenever they’re apart.

Founded in 2003 and based in Luxembourg. Skype can be downloaded onto computers, mobile phones and other connected devices for free.

Nokia Windows Phone 7 concept phone revealed

admin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 22:22:55 +0000

Engadget has come across the first concept rendering from Nokia of what a future Windows Phone 7 handset from Espoo might look like. In classic Nokia fashion, the phone is shown in three different colors (black, pink, and cyan). The rendering combines Nokia’s design language with the simplicity of WP7′s three-button interface for a sleek-looking package overall.

Combine it with solid internals and Nokia’s traditional strength in phone camera optics, and we’re sold. Just hurry up and get this on the market, Nokia.

Source: Engadget

Nokia CEO responds to Google VP’s “two turkeys” tweet, clarifies WP7 strategy

admin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 20:20:53 +0000

Two days before the Nokia-Microsoft alliance was announced, Google’s Vic Gundotra attacked the two companies by tweeting that “two turkeys do not make an Eagle.” Now Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop has responded with a tweet saying “two bicycle makers from Dayton Ohio, one day decided to fly”– referencing the Wright brothers.

Separately, Elop and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer provided some more details on the deal. The arrangement is not exclusive– Microsoft will continue to work with other phone manufacturers on Windows Phone 7, though Nokia will get some “unique” benefits out of the deal. When asked if Nokia would be able to customize “everything” on Windows Phone 7 (unlike current WP7 licensees), Elop said yes, but clarified that Nokia was unlikely to do so, as it preferred maintaining full compatibility across the Windows Phone platform.

Read on for more details.

WP7 will become Nokia’s primary smartphone OS, but the company will continue to ship Symbian phones for the next several months and will probably continue the Series 40 platform for non-smartphones beyond that. It will also ship one MeeGo phone this year, but “not as part of another broad smarpthone platform strategy, but as an opportunity to learn.” (for what it’s worth, Intel says it’s still committed to MeeGo, which was created as the merger of Nokia’s Maemo and Intel’s Moblin Linux) Nokia expects to significantly cut its R&D spending but boost productivity.

Elop said Nokia did have discussions with Google about Android but felt it “would have difficulty differentiating within that ecosystem” and the “commoditization risk was very high — prices, profits, everything being pushed down, value being moved out to Google which was concerning to us.” Nokia felt it could play a more significant role in the high-end smartphone arena by throwing its considerable weight behind Microsoft’s upstart OS and turning it into a “three-horse race” between Android, Windows Phone, and the iPhone.

Asked about Tablets, Elop said Nokia could go with Microsoft’s strategy in that space or pursue its own technology.

To close on an amusing and somewhat related note, John Biggs of CrunchGear just tweeted:

I’m glad the Nokia/Microsoft deal solved the Egypt crisis.

Nokia announces strategic alliance with Microsoft: Windows Phone 7, Bing, Xbox Live, Office

admin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 12:04:50 +0000

Nokia just dropped the bombshell we predicted yesterday: a wide-ranging “strategic alliance” through which:

Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS will become Nokia’s “principal smartphone strategy”
Microsoft’s Bing and adCenter will provide search and advertising for Nokia Windows Phones
Nokia’s Ovi Maps content will become part of Bing Maps
Nokia’s app and music stores will integrate into Microsoft’s (Windows Phone / Zune / Xbox) Marketplace
Like all Windows Phones, Nokia handsets will now also feature Xbox Live and Office

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop (former head of Microsoft’s Business Division) and Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said:

“There are other mobile ecosystems. We will disrupt them. There will be challenges. We will overcome them. Success requires speed. We will be swift. Together, we see the opportunity, and we have the will, the resources and the drive to succeed.”

Read on for more about the Nokia-Microsoft deal.

As we indicated yesterday, the deal could make a lot of sense: Nokia is still at the top of its hardware game, producing among the highest-quality handsets on the market, but its software efforts (Symbian, MeeGo) have foundered. Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 OS provides arguably the smoothest user experience in the industry but has a lot of ground to regain in market share against Apple’s iOS and Google’s Android.

A combination of Microsoft’s mobile software prowess and strong developer relations with Nokia’s hardware design and global retail presence, especially in emerging markets, could be a force to reckon with. A potential risk for Nokia lies in the fact that Microsoft tightly controls the user experience on Windows Phones to ensure uniformity and high performance. As a result, Nokia might not be able to sufficiently differentiate itself from other Windows Phone 7 handset manufacturers, from HTC to Samsung, LG, Dell, and the like.

Nokia says it plans to innovate ”on top of the platform” — what that will entail remains to be seen. The first Nokia Windows Phones should hit the market in late 2011 or early 2012. The company is planning a significant cut in R&D staff and has entirely reshuffled its leadership to match the new strategy. Symbian and MeeGo are most likely dead as consumer OSes, and Nokia is unlikely to support its Qt framework, which WP7 does not support. Windows Phone 7 remains a smartphone OS, though — and one that requires serious hardware capabilities, at that — so Nokia will still need a separate platform for feature phones, likely Series 40.

Here’s the official announcement:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Press Release:

Nokia and Microsoft Announce Plans for a Broad Strategic Partnership to Build a New Global Mobile Ecosystem

Companies plan to combine assets and develop innovative mobile products on an unprecedented scale.

LONDON – Feb. 11, 2011 – Nokia and Microsoft today announced plans to form a broad strategic partnership that would use their complementary strengths and expertise to create a new global mobile ecosystem.

Nokia and Microsoft intend to jointly create market-leading mobile products and services designed to offer consumers, operators and developers unrivalled choice and opportunity. As each company would focus on its core competencies, the partnership would create the opportunity for rapid time to market execution. Additionally, Nokia and Microsoft plan to work together to integrate key assets and create completely new service offerings, while extending established products and services to new markets.

Under the proposed partnership:

• Nokia would adopt Windows Phone as its principal smartphone strategy, innovating on top of the platform in areas such as imaging, where Nokia is a market leader.

• Nokia would help drive the future of Windows Phone. Nokia would contribute its expertise on hardware design, language support, and help bring Windows Phone to a larger range of price points, market segments and geographies.

• Nokia and Microsoft would closely collaborate on joint marketing initiatives and a shared development roadmap to align on the future evolution of mobile products.

• Bing would power Nokia’s search services across Nokia devices and services, giving customers access to Bing’s next generation search capabilities. Microsoft adCenter would provide search advertising services on Nokia’s line of devices and services.

• Nokia Maps would be a core part of Microsoft’s mapping services. For example, Maps would be integrated with Microsoft’s Bing search engine and adCenter advertising platform to form a unique local search and advertising experience

• Nokia’s extensive operator billing agreements would make it easier for consumers to purchase Nokia Windows Phone services in countries where credit-card use is low.

• Microsoft development tools would be used to create applications to run on Nokia Windows Phones, allowing developers to easily leverage the ecosystem’s global reach.

• Nokia’s content and application store would be integrated with Microsoft Marketplace for a more compelling consumer experience.

“Today, developers, operators and consumers want compelling mobile products, which include not only the device, but the software, services, applications and customer support that make a great experience,” Stephen Elop, Nokia President and CEO, said at a joint news conference in London. “Nokia and Microsoft will combine our strengths to deliver an ecosystem with unrivalled global reach and scale. It’s now a three-horse race.”

“I am excited about this partnership with Nokia,” said Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft CEO. “Ecosystems thrive when fueled by speed, innovation and scale. The partnership announced today provides incredible scale, vast expertise in hardware and software innovation and a proven ability to execute.”

Please visit www.nokia.com/press for press materials.

Halo: Combat Evolved HD remake on the way

admin — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 04:52:06 +0000

Joystiq reports that Microsoft is remaking its 2001 smash-hit, Halo: Combat Evolved, which helped launch the company’s then-new Xbox and grew into the one of the most successful video game franchises in history. The remake will not simply be a version of the old game with higher resolution graphics; rather it’s being fully remade on top of a new graphics engine.

The Halo remake is apparently being made by Saber Interactive of New Jersey, under the guidance of 343 Industries, which has several ex-Bungie employees and is also working on another Halo title. The game will feature online co-op mode in addition to traditional single- and multiplayer modes.

The new game, which is likely to support 1080p and 3D, is on track to release on November 15, 2011, a full ten years after the original launched alongside the first Xbox.

Source: Joystiq

Reports: Nokia may use Windows Phone 7; Microsoft India, Google execs hint at partnership

admin — Thu, 10 Feb 2011 13:29:56 +0000

Nokia CEO Stephen Elop (L), then head of Microsoft's Business Division, with Nokia VP for Devices Kai Oistamo (R) in 2009

Observers have been wondering what Nokia’s next step will be following its CEO’s Burning Platform memo yesterday. The Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported this morning that Nokia is in talks with Microsoft to license the latter’s Windows Phone 7 operating system for use in its devices and that a deal may be announced at an event in London tomorrow. The company has also been in talks for several months with Google about its Android OS, which seem not to have panned out. Google’s flamboyant VP of Engineering, Vic Gundotra, posted a tweet yesterday presumably bashing Nokia and Microsoft after the Android negotiations fizzled:

Separately, a Financial Chronicle interview yesterday with Microsoft India’s new Managing Director, Amit Chatterjee, on the Indian launch of Windows Phone 7 included an interesting tidbit:

While HTC has already launched a couple of devices to support the Windows 7 phone, Microsoft is likely to join forces with Nokia for exploring the Indian market, he added.

Similar rumors have been flying for a while, but the most recent set seem unusually intense, and Nokia-Microsoft deal might make a lot of sense now. Nokia’s new CEO, Stephen Elop, is a former Microsoft exec who left the software giant on amicable terms. Nokia continues to produce class-leading hardware but has seen its smartphone OS efforts (Symbian and MeeGo) founder in light of strong competition from Apple iOS and Google Android.

Microsoft, once a strong smartphone player with its Windows Mobile OS, has completely rebooted its phone OS with a new offering, Windows Phone 7, that offers an entirely new UI paradigm and smooth experience but has a lot of catching up to do in market share. While Google’s Gundotra was seemingly quick to dismiss the potential of such a deal, a combination of Nokia’s hardware prowess and global retail presence (especially in emerging markets) with Microsoft’s slick new OS could form a strong mobile competitor for Google and Apple.

One potential downside of the deal is that Microsoft tightly controls the WP7 user experience, at most allowing phone makers to include some custom apps (vs. Android — and Windows Mobile before it — which allows for full UI customization). As a result, Nokia could be reduced to just another player in the smartphone spec race unless Microsoft cuts it a special deal. Also, Nokia’s emerging market presence is important because of its drive to “democratize” smartphones– WP7, however, has stringent hardware requirements that low-end handsets cannot meet today.

Whatever the case, we expect tomorrow’s announcement to at least include a high-level management shakeup at Nokia, if not this possible revamp of the company’s strategy.

HTC HD2 triple-boots Windows Phone 7, Android, WinMo 6.5

admin — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 23:15:24 +0000

Vying for the title of the most customizable smartphone ever made, HTC’s legendary HD2 can now triple-boot Windows Phone 7, Android, and Windows Mobile 6.5, courtesy to posters at XDA-Developers. The 4.3″ phone, grandfather of HTC’s current large phones, has similar specs to today’s high-end smartphones (1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon, 512 MB RAM) and runs all three OSes smoothly (not at the same time though).

The triple-boot system entails running Windows Mobile 6.5 as the native OS, with Android and Windows Phone 7 installed on the phone’s MicroSD card. See the thread for instructions on how to make sure you’re cooler than people who have just two OSes on their phones.

Windows Phone 7 now fully works on the phone (earlier issues with accessing Windows Live services like the Marketplace have been solved). The HD2 has also seen ports of Ubuntu and Meego, so we could soon see a quad- or penta-OS HD2.

Source: XDA-Developers

Google removing H.264 video support from Chrome

admin — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 23:29:26 +0000

Google just announced on its Chromium blog that it will be removing support for the H.264 video codec from the Chrome web browser, in favor of supporting only its own open WebM codec (which, as we covered earlier, is based on On2 Technologies’ VP8) for HTML5 web videos using the tag.

Earlier, Microsoft, Apple, and Google had decided to support H.264 (the dominant high-definition video codec) for HTML5 web video, while Mozilla and Opera supported only Google’s WebM codec. Now, Google’s move leaves Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9 and Apple’s Safari 5 as the only major browsers supporting the H.264 codec without plugins. Ironically, since the vast majority of HTML5 video on the web today is encoded using H.264, Google’s move will likely reduce the usable installed base of HTML5 video-capable browsers.

Read on for more about Google’s web video codec move.

It’s certainly a gutsy move on Google’s part. Open-source advocates point out that H.264 is not an open standard, but its patent holders have agreed to waive licensing fees for Internet video, so for the vast majority of content producers, it’s basically free today. H.264 is backed by hardware acceleration across the board, particularly in the mobile space, where non-accelerated video codecs deliver sub-par performance and eat up precious battery life. Google’s pushing for chipmakers to build WebM acceleration into their designs, but so far, its results pale in comparison to the H.264 hardware ecosystem.

Detractors point out that WebM (On2 VP8) may in many ways be an inferior codec to H.264, and even WebM’s “free” status may be in question. It’s free for now, but many (including Apple) have pointed out that there may be unknown “phantom” patents, on the basis of which patent holders could sue browser makers, web developers, and others if the codec became broadly used. These patent trolls, they say, are likely waiting for the codec to become popular, because they could then sue for significant damages.

Microsoft’s Tim Sneath responded to Google’s move with a tongue-in-cheek blog post likening WebM to the Esperanto language. Writing as the “President of the United States of Google,” he decides to change the country’s official language from English to Esperanto:

Though English plays an important role in speech today, as our goal is to enable open innovation, its further use as a form of communication in this country will be prohibited and our resources directed towards languages that are untainted by real-world usage.

This should turn out to be an interesting battle, pitting Microsoft and Apple against Google, Mozilla, and Opera. Of course, it’d be ironic if this codec fight were to stall HTML5 video’s progress as a whole in favor of content owners just sticking to Adobe’s tried-and-true Flash.