Windows Mobile

Tricking out a car with Windows sounds, well, sort of lame on its face. But suppose it came with a heads-up display that let passengers play Call of Duty against their buddies?

Or cameras around the car that let you use your smartphones to check out who might be eyeballing your ride? Or turning that phone into a microphone you could use to ask -- nicely, of course -- lookie loos to step away from the car?

That's what the folks at West Coast Customs, working with developer evangelists at Microsoft, have put together for their television program, Inside … Read more

Owners of Nokia's Lumia 610 can use their phone as a hot spot to provide Wi-Fi coverage for up to five different devices.

Nokia's Lumia 610 Web site specifically lists that feature under the Sharing and Internet category. The feature pages for the Lumia 710 and the 800 don't yet make any mention of hot-spot capability.

But sit tight, Lumia owners. A Nokia spokesman confirmed to CNET that the company will add hot-spot functionality to the 710 and 800 in a future software update.

Nokia's Web site doesn't yet provide details on the Lumia 900, … Read more

HTC has beaten out ZTE, Nokia, and other vendors hoping to capitalize on the growing Chinese market.

After opening a flagship store in Beijing yesterday, HTC is said to have started accepting preorders for the HTC Titan. The move reportedly made the Titan the first Windows Phone sold in China, beating out the line of devices that HTC's competitors have planned for the country this year.

According to Chinese site Weibo, which first reported on the story, HTC is selling the device for about $700 without a contract.

The HTC Titan is one of the more capable Windows Phone … Read more

Microsoft's multibillion-dollar Skype acquisition is starting to pay off.

The software giant today announced that Skype for Windows Phone Beta is now available. Windows Phone 7 device owners can opt to download the software directly to their device or from the Marketplace on their PC.

Skype for Windows Phone Beta comes with features one might expect, including free audio and video calls to other Skype users over 3G, 4G, or Wi-Fi, as well as the ability to call landlines or mobile phones for a fee. Group chats and one-to-one instant messaging are also available.… Read more

Nokia may finally offer a peek at its new Lumia 610 and 900 phones early next week.

Sources told Reuters that the mobile phone maker will show off both Windows Phone handsets in a news conference scheduled for Monday at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain.

Little is known about the 610 except that it's supposed to be a budget-friendly phone, cheaper than some of the other Lumia handsets. The Lumia 900 has gotten most of the buzz so far, with proud parent Nokia demonstrating the device at last month's CES.

Nokia's first LTE-based … Read more

The wild, nearly out of control growth of smartphones and tablets has computer makers rethinking what goes into their desktop operating systems.

Notably, Microsoft and Apple are taking significant measures to address the success of mobile on their next desktop operating systems by making them closer to their smaller counterparts.

So how do these early "fusion" OSes hold up?

Let's start with Apple's new version of OS X, which made its debut earlier today in the form of a preview to developers. Apple's calling it Mountain Lion, and as the name would suggest, it's … Read more

Smartphone buyers eager to preorder the Nokia Lumia 900 may have missed their window of opportunity.

Microsoft has shut down the preorder deal for the Windows Phone-based 900, a company spokesman confirmed to CNET today. No specific reason was given as to why the offer was stopped after only one week. But the rep said that its Microsoft Stores do continually update such offers.

"Customers who are interested in purchasing a Windows Phone Nokia Lumia 900 should stay tuned to the Microsoft Store Facebook Page for store offers in the coming months," advised the rep.

Unveiled earlier this … Read more

Smartphone buyers eager to grab the Nokia Lumia 800 face good news and bad news. The Windows Phone handset will reportedly hit the U.S. next Tuesday, but it could carry a price tag of $899.

Citing "sources close to Microsoft's Lumia launch plans," The Verge picked up this latest scoop on the phone (Note: this links to a Google-cached version of the story--the Verge link isn't working for unknown reasons.)

But consumers expressing shock over the price should know that it's for a so-called Lumia 800 "bundle" that includes a Nokia Play 360 Wireless Speaker, … Read more

Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer told you all you really need to know about the importance of the company's Metro user interface at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas last month.

Ballmer's keynote speech was a virtual Metro-palooza. He showed the sleek, tile-based interface in Windows Phones. And then he displayed it again in the upcoming Windows 8 operating system. It made another appearance in a demo of the released version of Xbox Live. The Metro rectangles even found their way in his Power Point slides.

"Metro will drive the new magic across all of our … Read more