Windows 7 Eclipses Windows XP Marketshare In April 2011.

Finally: Windows 7 is about to do (or already done) what Vista should have done several years ago — overtake Windows XP in total market share. According to the latest StatCounter metrics (pictured above) Windows 7 has finally edged out Windows XP in market share. The 10-year veteran continues its decent into the realms of locked IT cabinets and recycle bins as Microsoft’s latest and greatest finally woos people over, unlike their previous attempt with Vista. Overall, it’s pretty joyous and simultaneously sad that a 10-year old OS is finally being unseated from its reign at the top.

The next big test: Consumer adoption of Windows 8 vs. Windows 7.

Microsoft Responds: “Use Unofficial NoDo Upgrade Tools At Your Own Risk”.

In recent days we’ve seen a lot of back and forth commentary as to whether the Windows Phone 7 NoDo update utilities are actually harmful to future updates. Developer of ChevronWP7.Updater, Chris Walsh has maintained that his utility isn’t flawed. Naysayers have said that it has the potential to prevent future updates from happening. And today, Microsoft weighed in on the issue with their own official commentary. As one would assume, Microsoft’s stance is that NoDo utilities that forcefully and unofficially update phones can cause issues down the road up to and including updated devices from receiving future, official updates from Microsoft and carriers.

Of course, the debate could go on for days on end with people both for and against such tools. Taking a trip through various Windows Phone 7 forums will find plenty of users that have updated without any hassle whatsoever and then even received official upgrade notifications afterwards.

In short: if you’re paranoid or not the most technologically literate, wait. The way we see it is that if a future issue does crop up, the active dev/hacker community will find a way to fix it. They already “fix” phones unnecessarily gimped by manufacturers and carriers for monetary purposes. Why not this?

Windows Phone 7 “NoDo” Update Hitting T-Mobile HD7 March 29th.

We’ve heard a couple times now that the Windows Phone 7 “NoDo” update was facing an imminent release only to be let down. But alas, we have a bit more proof this time in the way of actual documentation from T-Mobile themselves with “March 29th” plastered all over the place. As a quick refresher — faster app loading, marketplace and WiFi enhancements, bug fixes, and most importantly copy & paste. The only thing missing from this happy ending is a firm date as to when the NoDo update rollout will hit 100% completion. Nevertheless, tomorrow is “the day”, so be sure to let us know how it goes (or doesn’t) for you!

Verizon’s First Windows Phone 7 Device Spotted On Camera.

CDMA users in the U.S. may not have much longer to wait if it is Windows Phone 7 that they seek. An image of a Verizon-branded HTC Trophy was leaked to Engadget, showing what is believed to be the carrier’s first Windows Phone 7 device. Strictly speaking, the Trophy isn’t anything too exciting in the hardware department (1GHz Snapdragon QSD8250 processor, 576MB of RAM/512MB of ROM, 8GB of internal storage) especially considering the recently announced HTC Arrive heading to Sprint. But for customers of Big Red, we’re sure any news is good news none the less. Right?

Windows 7 SP1 Released To OEMs Today. Public Release Inches Closer.

Contrary to Microsoft’s previous flop — Vista — Windows 7 has enjoyed increasing success since its release back in October 2009. While this more refined offering from Microsoft hasn’t garnered nearly as many headlines in regards to system incompatibilities and crashes, no piece of software is perfect. Hell, XP started out as an ugly step child. But by the time Windows 7 was released, it was a 3 service pack strong tried and true platform.

Today, Windows 7 inches one step closer to such a goal. Microsoft’s Senior Technical Product Manager for the Windows Server and Cloud Division announced that Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is being released to OEMs today, with the public release scheduled for February 22nd.

Besides your typical bug fixes and performance enhancements, Service Pack 1 actually brings two useful new features — Dynamic Memory and RemoteFX. Dynamic Memory is a fancy term for more versatile virtual memory management, while the latter is a new technology that can virtualize GPU features on a remote server, allowing users to drive down costs of multi-device networks.

Anyone getting upgrade fever?

116-inch 7,680 x 4,320 res plasma — need I say more?

Recent mumblings of Panasonic’s 4,096 x 2,160 res TV’s may be drool inducing, but as is customary in the tech world, such claims to fame rarely last very long. And so falls my interest in Panasonic’s 4,096 x 2,160 uber TV in favor of NHK’s new 7,680 x 4,320, 116-inch prototype.

In actuality, the 116-inch measurement comes compliments of (4) 58-inch 1920 x 1080 monitors. But the real numbers to the story reside in the 0.33mm pixel shift which make the whole big shebang possible at this size and scale. It of course is a sight to behold too.

Is it cheating? Perhaps. But such things don’t really matter to me once I’m sitting 6′ from a 116-inch, 7,680 x 4,320 display. Video after the jump…

Microsoft Pure and Turtle Mobile Phones (Project Pink) early specs revealed: You had me until the “Windows 6 CE” verbiage…

As much as I and I’m sure many of you like to drool over the highest quality smartphones, not everyone wants, needs, or can afford such lavish expenditures. For such individuals, more mid to lower-range smartphones with a basic web browser, full qwerty, and decent email support are enough. It looked as if the much lauded “Project Pink” handsets from Microsoft (dubbed the Pure and Turtle) were going to be quite the hot ticket item for lower-end smartphone sales — and then I read the spec sheet.

Windows 6 CE? CE?! Eck. Granted, the UI will most likely be heavily skinned, power will be rather impressive thanks to an Nvidia Tegra chip stuffed inside, and if a decent SDK were released for these little phones, gaming wouldn’t be half bad. In that light, they don’t seem half bad.

But I can’t help the constant flashbacks I keep getting of the old mobile POS systems that I used to deal with in retail. Ya, that was a nightmare. But again, CE is just the base of the OS (still that’s unfortunate) with every trace of the aged system being replaced with more “Zune-like” appearance.

Let’s hope Microsoft doesn’t spend all of it’s time and resources just making Windows Phone 7 all it can be. You have to look out for the little guys too. Anyone anxious to pick up a Windows CE phone?

Electronista > WM Experts

Windows Phone 7: Everything you (almost) want to know!

Today hold’s host to what is quite possibly one of the biggest, most important releases for Microsoft in the companies history. Yes, Windows 7 for the desktop was a much needed (and now successful) revelation, moving users from the gut-wrenching experience that Vista bestowed upon the company. On the mobile front however, Microsoft has been lagging for several years now. So for all intents and purposes, Microsoft needs Windows Mobile (now renamed) Phone 7 to be a slam dunk and then some. With rumors pegging huge improvements in UI and social networking as well as tight integration with Zune and Xbox Live, Windows Phone 7 is set to thrill. So come on in for the full rundown of anything and everything you could possibly want to know about Windows Phone 7…

The entire basis of Windows Phone 7 Series is about real-time, media rich information and entertainment. The new OS is broken into several large and encompassing categories: People, Pictures, Games, Mustic + Video, Marketplace, and Office. A few quick examples of the new categories — People is a phonebook on steroids with not only basic contact information, but said contacts’ social networking info and status all bundled into one. Games + Video is pretty much the entire Zune environment bolted into Windows Phone 7 — and that’s not a bad thing by any means. But there’s plenty more to know.

People

As we touched on previously, People is a contact list/phonebook and then some. Instead of a static list of text, “People” in Windows Phone 7 is an always connected contact information mecca with strong ties to social networking services for constantly updated information. Supported People services include Outlook, Facebook, Gmail, and more.

Pictures

A huge departure from photo browsing on pre-Windows Phone 7 hardware and software for sure. As with many other aspects of Windows Phone 7, the new Pictures hub is stylized heavily on the Zune interface and layout. **Bonus for Facebook junkies: Facebook photo uploads integrated straight into the photo app. Now there isn’t a reason not to share.

Besides uploading content to Facebook, albums on the social networking site are also pulled down to your phone and displayed right alongside the local albums — nice touch.

Games

Perhaps the coolest and most exciting thing (for me anyway) about Windows Phone 7 is the Xbox Live integration. Now, you obviously can’t play Xbox 360 games on your phone. However, there will be special Windows Phone achievements and “mini” games of sorts that can be synced back to your “full” Xbox 360 game and Xbox Live. So in a sense, you do get some mobile Xbox Live gaming to chew on.

Besides the mobile gaming aspect, badges, achievements, profiles, chatting (we hope), spotlight updates, requests (game invites) and more! Are included. Sadly, we’ll have to wait for more information on Xbox Live integration as well as Microsoft stopped right there. No game demos or any further dive into Xbox Live integration. Somewhat of a letdown on this front. Moving on…

Music + Video

Finally — “Every Windows Phone 7 device will be a Zune”. Ok, so now the iPhone has a direct competitor (for real this time) from Microsoft. One nice feature that was shown off during the unveiling was a Pandora tile within the Zune application. Having an infinite library via Pandora streaming radio baked right into the Zune app and OS as a whole is a really nice feature for music buffs and should make for a very robust music listening experience on Windows Phone 7 going forward.

Marketplace

Ok, let’s get this out of the way: All Windows Mobile apps won’t work or work right on Windows Phone. Does it suck? Ya, a bit. But it’s needed — drastically. Of all the Windows Mobile apps I’ve seen, most of them still looked as if they belonged in ’95 and operated about as well. Windows Phone 7 is a fresh start for developers and end users alike. Let’s hope that devs get to it and help provide a vast assortment of apps come Windows Phone launch day later this year.

Office

What do you want to hear? It’s basically Microsoft Office reconfigured for mobile use. Unfortunately, at the grand unveiling, there wasn’t much Mobile Office to see. Looks like we’ll be waiting (again) for the official launch for more info and pics.

Besides the 5 main hubs broken down above, there are numerous other things to talk about…

• Browser: Clearly one of the most important apps on any modern smartphone, the browser is literally the window to the outside world. Based off of the latest IE 8 desktop version, the new mobile IE browser in Windows Phone 7 claims to be Redmond’s fastest and most enjoyable browser yet. One of the more important features that stood out to me — “pixel position” — a more advanced form/variant of “Cleartype”. Sweet.

• Multi-touch: Going above and beyond — Windows Phone 7 features 4-point multi-touch support. Given the smallish nature of smartphones (even the larger 4″+ sizes), I’m not sure how fun or comfortable four fingers on screen will be. But hey, it’s an option I’m more than happy to play around with.

• Manufacturer Partners: Just take “Everyone” as literally meaning just about everyone. Qualcomm, LG, Saumsun, HTC, HP, Dell, SonyEricsson, Garmin.

• Carrier Partners: Again, (Everyone) — AT&T (dear god), Orange, T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, SFR, vodafone, Telstra, Telefonica

• AT&T and Orange “Premiere Partners”: I understand the iPhone platform as a whole is worth copying/imitating, but please for the love of god Microsoft, do not tarnish Windows Phone 7 by copying the worst aspects of the iPhone (ie: AT&T dependence in the US and lack of multi-tasking — more on multi-tasking later this year I presume).

• Availability: Windows Phone 7 will be ready for public consumption “Holiday Season 2010″. See you at Christmas!

So far, Windows Phone 7 definitely has some potential to compete head-on with Apple and Google in the mobile sphere. Unfortunately, what we saw today was rather limited and all that Microsoft would divulge for now. There are still plenty of questions in my head and I’m sure plenty of yours as well. For more information on Windows Phone 7 — especially the software/developer front — we’re going to have to take another look at MIX later this year. Until then, let us know what you think of Windows Phone 7 below!

Gallery

**All pictures property of Engadget

WindowsMobile 7 to feature free navigation apps. WinMo 6.x getting chopped to free?

I don’t cover WidnowsMobile happenings a whole lot but that may soon change. Windows Mobile 7 is looking more and more exciting as MWC draws closer with my only hesitations being focused on the issues of multi-tasking and Marketplace-only app installs. Other than that, it’s looking good. Really good. New word from MS Mobiles today has revealed some exciting news for travelers (and those whom find themselves lost more often than not) — Free navigation!

Much like Android and Symbian already offer, the next version of WindowsMobile will throw in Navigation outright, making the use of standalone units even less necessary for the mass population. I’ve only used the Google Navigation a couple of times but find it highly accurate and easy to use. Microsoft has a nice bullet point on their hands here. It begs the question: If more OS’s come standard with maps and robust navigation capabilities, how much longer will companies such as Garmin, Navigon, and TomTom last in the mobile software realm?

With all of the hub bub surrounding Windows Mobile 7, previous versions of Windows Mobile have been receiving little, if any news coverage. If you’re fishing for some breaking announcement regarding older versions of WM, sorry to say that feature wise, that ship has pretty much set sail. However, there is still good news to be had. The same source of MS Mobiles is also claiming that without a doubt, after Windows Mobile debuts, Microsoft will cut Windows Mobile 6.x down to FREE.

Such a move may increase the number of low to mid-range WM handsets that get released in the next 6-12 months. Though as fast as the mobile world is moving, I don’t see too many people sticking around with WM 6.x, even if it is free.

The rest of the rumors concerning WM 7 such as Xbox and Zune integration as well as a completely revamped UI still stand. With all of the news we’ve seen the last several weeks, 2010 could be the first year I actually want a WinMo device. Traveling in the same boat as me?

Unwired > MS Mobiles