Once again analyst fuel the speculation that Microsoft will bring to market it’s own mobile phone hardware. Jefferies & Company analyst Katherine Egbert has speculated that the company will soon launch a Windows Mobile 7 powered smart phone. The new Windows Mobile 7 operating system, or “Seven” as Microsoft has designated it, is expected to debut at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress.

The OEM hardware manufacturers for Project Pink have yet to be revealed. After the recent poor consumer response to the Nexus One, due mostly to Google’s fumbling of end user support for it’s hardware, Microsoft may be having second thoughts about releasing it’s own handset. Hopefully they will offer a more well planned experience for the user rather than the “take the money and run” approach of Google.

Two mobile flavors of Seven are planned, the Business Edition and a Media Edition. The desktop computer edition of Windows 7 is also part of the line designed to give Microsoft a uniform OS presence across computing platforms. Mobile Seven Business Edition will be capable of some forms of media playback including video and an application for live document collaboration. The Zune phone with Seven Media Edition is rumored to have impressive mobile video capabilities.
photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/zac-attack/

Google has issued a statement that it suspending the January 20 launch of its Android mobile phone products in China. The mobiles were developed in cooperation with Motorola and Samsung specifically for the China market and were to use China Unicom as service carrier. This leaves rival carrier China Mobile in position to expand it’s market advantage.

The phones use Google’s open source mobile platform similar to the Nexus One and Droid phones which marketed in the US. Google sources sated that it would be “irresponsible” to start service at a time when the company’s future presence in the country is in question.

Many commentators have tied Google’s threat to leave China with a corporate stance against government censorship and cite the company’s superseded motto “Don’t be evil.” Google has operated under censorship since starting operations in China 2005, and has been working with the government of China to restrict and filter search results in order to gain a foothold in this burgeoning market. Google has implied that the hackers who targeted the email accounts of Chinese dissidents were so sophisticated that they must have had support from some unnamed government.

In a bold act of commercial espionage, the hackers also breached Google’s source code repository, threatening the search giant’s core business.

My favorite mobile game is Snake Classic. It is a free game that comes with Nokia mobile phones. It is a classic game and it has not lost its charm even though it is many years old. The game is about a snake that has a specific area to roam and can collect food to grow larger. Once you run out of space and bite yourselves the game is over. I started playing it on my Nokia 1100 phone. It didn’t have any option for wireless internet. Then I have been playing this game in many newer handsets. The latest versions of the game does not offer the experience offered by the classic one. It is a game that you will never get tired of. You feel like playing it again and again. It is exciting as well as enjoyable. Once you are hooked to it, it’s hard to stop playing. You tend to try to better your high score every now and then. This game never gets boring. It demands sharp response to play the game at higher levels. I think it has helped me to improve my hand eye coordination. Till now I’ve never found a game that is as interesting and addictive as this one. The feeling that you get when you beat the high score is absolutely priceless. Even high end games are not able to bring this kind of excitement in a game. I would recommend everybody to try this game out and enjoy the amazing experience of this outdated but classy game.

Quadrapop is a java game created by Sony Ericsson. It is free game and is sometimes found factory pre-installed. I am using a Sony Ericsson p90i mobile and it came with my phone. For those who want to install it on other models or brands, they can download it via the web site http://www.sonyericsson.com free of charge any cost. There are three different versions of the game available for free download.

I often play Quadrapop too much I suppose. This game can be played online with players via wireless connection or GPRS/EDGE (Internet) connection since it is a multiplayer game. In my opinion it is one of my best mobile games since it features many levels of play. I find too easy to pass the time playing Quadrapop. Though the game is easy at first, as the levels increases, it becomes quite tough. Previously I used to play Tennis on my mobile phone but after completing the first few levels I felt bored playing Tennis game since it lacks many higher levels. Tennis also is a multiplayer game but it takes too much time to get connected via Internet.

Quadrapop does have one problem, i.e. the game continues on after exceeding the high score of 99999 but the score stops at that point. Yes I DO score that high:) Quadrapop is an exciting game. And I still play the game even after I have completed all the levels and maxed out the score because it is much more exciting and fun game than any other I have found for my mobile phone.

photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/rayand/ / CC BY 2.0

The competition between Apple and Google is heating up. Apple has acquired Quattro Wireless for a purchase price of $275 million and they would now be building their own mobile advertising business for the iPhone and Apple tablet. This is a direct challenge Google’s mobile advertising business. On the other hand, Google has just launched its own Nexus One phone to much fanfare (and some might say typical Google hubris) and also opened its own new mobile store initiative.

In November Google acquired AdMob thus giving the pinch to Apple in the field of mobile advertising. This $750 million investment by Google is aimed at building up its a mobile advertising franchise on a large scale. Additionally Google’s Android platform is proving itself to be the most threatening competition for Apple’s hugely successful iPhone product line.

One reason for this is the potent software package that is Android. But another major aspect is that Google has decided to distribute Android freely to any mobile phone vendor. This strategy has consequences for all mobile carries such as Verison, Motorola, LG, Sony and Ericsson.

Apple is planning to announce the launch of its tablet computer in this month. Not so coincidentally Google’s Android would also be used as an operating system platform for tablet computers. Both Google and Apple want to convince game and application developers to invest their time and efforts in their own mobile platforms to increase the usability and options available for their users.

But in this area Apple has the upper hand. The strategy of both the companies is different. Google has adopted a policy of “openness” and free distribution, whereas Apple is following their corporate philosophy of very restricted and proprietary technological development. This conflict of strategies has fueled the cold war between the two tech giants, and is taking the shape of a direct head-on fight as Apple has fired a opening sdalvo by keeping two Google apps off its iPhone – Google’s Voice Phone Service and Latitude social networking service. This recent battle between the two companies led to the initiation of FCC investigation making the relationships between the two turning bitter.

Google is also adding fuel to the firefight with the launch of by Google of OS X via Chrome OS, a lightweight operating system for Web-focused computers. Additionally, Google is rumored to announce the Video rental service, which would directly compete with Apple’s cash cow iTunes. Another front in the war is the arena of e-mail. Gmail is Google well known e-mail service. But for just $100 a year, Apple’s MobileMe offers free unlimited e-mails and Web hosting space and calendar syncing, and more. Whereas Google’s Gmail, Google’s Calendar and Picasa are available free of cost to its users MobileMe offers smooth integration with Apple’s large iPhone userbase.

Google hopes consumers will opt for its Android Phone platform, which tightly integrates with Google’s Gmail and Calendar services and will feed their advertising revues. These skirmishes are soon going to develop into a battle royale between the two giants of Silicon Valley, and when they start competing in many other areas in the who is going to benefit from the fight? The consumer, of course.

photo credit http://www.flickr.com/photos/woodpool/ / CC BY 2.0