Cheap mobile phones to gain high-powered operating systems

MOVING UP: Smartphone operating systems such as Google's Android are set to make their way onto China's cheap mobile phones. - Relaxnews

Mobile operating systems such as Google's Android, Nokia's Symbian and Microsoft's Windows Mobile are set to make their way onto China's cheap mobile phones.

Chinese-based consumer electronics seller Chinavasion predicts that the shift from proprietary mobile phone operating systems to open-sourced operating systems will completely change China's mobile phone market, creating new opportunities for China's mobile manufacturers.

"We are looking at what is potentially the most exciting development in the cheap mobile phone sector in years," said Rose Li, PR manager, Chinavasion in a statement.

Chinese-made devices priced at less than US$130 (RM416) have typically been powered by the Nucleus real-time operating system (RTOS), but with the advent of open-source operating systems, manufacturers are now starting to make the shift.

"While the Nucleus RTOS is a very capable OS it doesn't have nearly the same potential that Windows, or Android or Symbian has," explained Rose Li.

For consumers the change means they may soon see smartphone-like features such as PC syncing, productivity tools, online browsing, email, and customisable phone applications on low-end mobile phones.

An August study by market research ABI suggests that by 2015 more than 60% (about 3.8 billion handsets) of mobile phones worldwide will be capable of surfing the Internet via a mobile web browser.

What is new in Windows mobile 7

After bulks of complaints and dissappointment on WM6, Microsoft is seems to walk out with their new game plan, Windows Phone 7 Series (WP7s). So, whats new in WP7s? According to Xbox Live general manager Ron Pessner and XNA Game Studio manager Michael Klucher, the new WP7s platform will be integrated with XBox and ZuneHD. Hence the users will have a new experience in gaming experience and more advanced graphical interface compare to the slumpy WM6. The important facto is to maintain a consistent gameplay experience amongst different hardware, and the reasoning behind limiting devices to asynchronous multiplayer.

Windows Phone 7 Series prototype device with accelerometer and touch controls, and the Xbox 360 with the Xbox gamepad. Interestingly, not only is the development cross-platform friendly, but the game itself (a simple Indiana Jones platformer was demoed) saves its place and lets you resume from that spot on whichever platform you happen to pick up. Pretty impressive stuff, and while the words “Windows Phone 7 Series” weren’t spoken by Eric Rudder, in TechEd Middle East,  the use of the prototype ASUS device and the clear emphasis that this would place on Xbox Live for making the magic happen make it obvious that this is the “wave of the future” for all three platforms — at least for casual gaming.

Apple iPad Review

Apple - iPad - The best way to experience the web, email, & photos

All of the built-in apps on iPad were designed from the ground up to take advantage of the large Multi-Touch screen. And they work in any orientation. So you can do things with these that apps you can’t do on any other device.

Price ? currently they set USD 499. I don’t know how much it will cost in RM. No price release yet by Low Yatt trader.

Double thumbs up ! i give to this gadget. Now… you can just ignore other brand from Samsung, HTC, LG, Blackberry… all windows mobile based gadget are rubish… symbian based too. Mac OS known as the mother of operating system. The most stable and the most powerful.

What I can conclude.. iPad is something like.. netbook in the pocket. Not a normal netbook… but a Mac Netbook in your pocket.

More info: apple.com

Windows Mobile 6.5 powers new phones

Microsoft and its partners unveiled a slew of mobile phones that are powered by Windows Mobile 6.5.

Omnia II

They showcased HTC Touch 2, LG GM730 and Samsung Omnia II, which are just some of the phones running the much-awaited operating system.

The software giant christened handsets with WM 6.5 as Windows phones — the name change was because the new OS is supposed to offer the same user experience as using Windows on the PC.

The first thing that users will notice is the new homescreen which is inspired by Microsoft’s Zune media player and an iPhone-like grid of applications to make it easier to select programs.

Users will also see a tighter integration with Microsoft’s Live services and the ability to share photos across social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter, MySpace and Flickr.

The mobile Internet Explorer also received a makeover — it now resembles its PC counterpart and includes features such as panning and zooming capabilities via finger gestures, auto-complete suggestions and a searchable address bar.

Also, the browser supports Adobe Flash Lite so users can access more multimedia content online.

Another cool feature of WM 6.5 is that users can still access basic features and switch screens even when the phone is locked.

WM 6.5 also comes with a free My Phone service that offers 200MB of storage for users to securely backup data such as contacts and photos online.

Following Apple’s iTunes App Store lead, Microsoft is also introducing a virtual store called Windows Marketplace from which users can buy programs to enhance their phone.

Microsoft said phones running the older Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system can be upgraded to the latest OS but it would be up to the manufacturer to release the update.