Windows Phone 7 to Make a Killing on Black Friday. #wp7

In contrast to my massively dis-liked article concerning Windows Phone 7 and it’s supposed “flop” status, it appears for the most part that Black Friday will be a very good day for Microsoft and Windows Phone 7 alike. For instance, AT&T will be running a BOGO sale this Black Friday on all Windows Phone 7 hardware. Amazon is going even further, offering up Windows Phone 7 hardware for a mere $50. a pop.

It’s win-win for Microsoft. If people snap up these heavily discounted Windows Phone 7 devices, that means a whole lot of new users for Microsoft and more market share for WP7. On top of that, they don’t have to foot the bill for the discounts when all is said and done.

With as fierce as competition has been in the mobile sphere in 2010, this year’s Black Friday sales results regarding mobile platforms will be mighty interesting to see.

Poll of the Day: Which Smartphone OS Do You Use — Results

Wow! This latest poll had quite a bit of respondents. To those who took a few seconds to check a bubble, thank you. As for the subject matter, this time we looked at what smartphone platforms Gadgetsteria readers use. The results were actually quite surprising. I was expecting a fairly high iOS turnout. That simply didn’t happen. In fact, I was quite shocked to see the #1 OS — webOS!

Out of 92 total votes, webOS ran away with a full 50% (46 votes). Android came in second with 30% (28 votes), while iOS trailed a very distant third with a mere 8% (7 votes). Rounding out the bottom end, Windows Mobile garnered 4% (4 votes), Symbian snagged 3% (3 votes), and “other” claimed another 3% (3 votes) on its own. Finally, BlackBerry came up last with a single, solitary vote.

Of course, my poll is hardly conclusive. 92 respondents is far too small to make any knowledgeable conclusions. But it’s interesting nonetheless.

Thoughts?

HTML/Javascript Security Hole to be Patched in Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). #gingerbread #android

Over the last year and a half, Android has gone from a tiny nobody to a massive player in the mobile market. That size and growth come chiefly because of the open nature of the OS and how it allows everyone from end users to carriers to manufacturers to tweak the OS how they see fit. Of course, as good as that is, there are some cons. And the biggest con that seems to be on everyone’s minds as of late is security.

So what is the latest threat that Android users need to be weary of…?

Another Patent Shows iPad with Second Dock Connector. #ipad #apple

We’ve seen a couple of Apple iPad patents crawl through the USPTO already, showing amongst other things, a dual-dock design. That’s interesting because thus far, all Apple devices have featured a single dock on the bottom of the device. It’s also intriguing because a second dock on the side would hint at new iPad docks for gen 2.

As is always true with new features and designs in patents, however, they’re far from final. Many times over we’ve seen new things appear in patents that never make it into a finished product. This dual-dock iPad 2 design could be another example of that. But with three patents passing by now over the last 5 months all featuring the dual dock design, it’s looking more and more believable. I certainly wouldn’t mind. A choice of dock orientation would be a pretty nifty feature for an already great tablet. What do you guys and gals think?

Free City-wide WiFi Stagnant. Blame the Economy, Capacity Woes.

Free, city-wide WiFi has been the dream of many consumers for several years over. With the internet expanding into more and more areas of our lives, having cheap or free access is a great thing to have. And for a while, it looked like countless cities around the country were on track to go wireless. That is until the economy tanked, taking city-wide wireless funding with it.

Now, several years after the big push began, you’d be hard pressed to find cities actively deploying city-wide WiFi or even talking about it. Why…?

Noctua Outs New Monster CPU Cooler, the NH-C14. #noctua

Custom PC builders are a funny bunch. (I know, I happen to be one of them.) They spend an insane amount of time scrutinizing every tiny aspect of their machines. On top of that, overclockers (again I raise my hand) take the obsession to another level. On the topic of overclocking, keeping that extra heat under control is priority #1. That’s where gigantic air coolers like the new Noctua NH-C14 (above) come in handy. Where the stock CPU coolers from Intel fail miserably, these behemoths can squelch heat like none other.

So what does this new NH-C14 model have over the equally impressive NH-D14?

Microsoft Kinect Struggling in Japan. Sony Move Taking the Crown. #kinect

The Japanese game market, specifically the hardware market, has never been Microsoft’s forte. Sure, they’ve tried. But time and time again the hype stateside hasn’t materialized into boast-worthy numbers in the land of the rising sun. Though the Kinect looked like it could finally change Microsoft’s fortunes as motion gaming is huge right now. Apparently it has not…