CTIA show

Internet Explorer Mobile's sexier look.

(Credit: Microsoft)

I sat down with Microsoft on Wednesday at CTIA 2009 to take a closer look at the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system first previewed at GSMA Mobile World Congress. As part of a much riskier design that users will probably either appreciate or hate, the smartphone operating system includes a complete overhaul to Internet Explorer Mobile.

IE Mobile will sport a cleaner design, with icons large enough for you to put down the classic touch-screen stylus and start using your fingers. Round navigation buttons line the bottom of the screen and then fade from view until you tap them. The hideaway menu is similar to that of Opera Mobile 9.5 and the forthcoming Firefox for Mobile.

While IE Mobile will be sleek indeed, it's also weak on features, at least if your goal is to replicate the trappings of desktop browsing on smartphones. In the initial release, there will be support for Flash Lite for videophiles to enjoy, as well as copy and paste features, but there won't be text searching within a document, image downloading, tabbed browsing, or support for browser add-ons.

What Microsoft is offering, however, is a promise of performance that encompasses swifter rendering speeds and better follow-through on complex Internet tasks, like checking into a flight online without the browser crashing. With the next Internet Explorer build, Microsoft says it will focus on increasing its success rate of completing complicated tasks.

Whether this back-to-basics model will be able to grab some of the excitement mounting around feature-rich mobile browsers like Opera Mobile and Firefox Mobile (code-named Fennec) will remain to be seen until Internet Explorer Mobile ships on the first Windows Mobile 6.5 smartphones in the latter half of 2009.

A look at Windows Marketplace for Mobile, which will be on display Thursday at CTIA.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft plans to show off its forthcoming Windows Marketplace for Mobile this week at CTIA 2009, as well as its ties to the fashion world.

Microsoft's Robbie Bach plans Thursday to discuss Microsoft's take on the mobile phone application store, an old concept that is being reinvented for the smartphone following the success of Apple's App Store. Windows Marketplace for Mobile won't arrive until later this year, along with Windows Mobile 6.5, but this week the company will demonstrate how users can select, purchase, and download an application from their Windows Mobile handsets.

We've already heard a bit about Windows Marketplace for Mobile: Microsoft plans a similar revenue-sharing model as Apple, with 70 percent of application revenue going to the developer and 30 to Microsoft. The company promises that its submission process will be "transparent," in a clear dig at Apple, and it also plans to charge developers more money for multiple submissions.

Bach will announce that Windows Mobile users will have 24 hours to return any application they purchase for a full refund. Applications can be purchased on the phone or through a Web site, and billing will be handled by credit card or through the wireless carrier's bill.

Microsoft is emphasizing that it plans to give wireless carriers a chance to get in on the mobile application fun, with plans to let carriers set up a "store within a store" on Windows Marketplace for Mobile, said Aaron Woodman, a director in Microsoft's Mobile Communications business.

Woodman declined to comment on whether or not Microsoft would be sharing any of its 30 percent cut with carriers, but it does plan to let carriers have a link off the Marketplace homepage to showcase their own applications.

While Microsoft and its partners work out the details for the Marketplace, the company is also announcing a deal to let Windows Mobile users add a little bit of style to their phones. Microsoft has cut deals with two design houses--Design Museum London and Council of Fashion Designers of America--to have artists and designers create themes and wallpaper for Windows Mobile phones. Isaac Mizrahi will be the first to participate.

Microsoft is roaring into CTIA. Redmond's grab bag of assorted announcements take in new Windows Live applications, the Windows Mobile application Marketplace (including word of that elusive Facebook app), and new themes featuring designs from haute fashionista (and Target chum) Isaac Mizrahi. The news gives Microsoft's mobile arm a much-needed jolt of excitement to follow up on its February announcement of the Windows Mobile 6.5 operating system.

(Credit: Microsoft)

Windows Live, Hotmail, Facebook
For more than a year, we've been wondering when Facebook and Microsoft were going to grace Windows Mobile phones with an official and native Facebook app like its free, downloadable applications for BlackBerry, iPhone, and Palm. While we weren't able to get anything out of Facebook back then, on Tuesday, Microsoft made Facebook's presence official. Microsoft's Facebook application is due in April, followed by a native MySpace application set to descend sometime "in summer."

For those who live in the moment, Microsoft has already made Windows Live for Windows Mobile available to download on platforms running version 6 of the operating system or higher. The Windows Live services suite installs mobile versions of Hotmail, Messenger, Live Contacts, Spaces, and Live Search on the phone. Those with older phones can still access Hotmail with a new beta version optimized for the Web, accessible at m.mail.live.com.

Windows Marketplace: Apps and refunds
Not to be outdone by Apple and BlackBerry, Microsoft is readying its own application storefront, dubbed Windows Marketplace for Mobile. The few details released in advance of Microsoft's Thursday keynote showcase application developers whose apps will be featured in the mobile Marketplace. EA Mobile, Gameloft, and Hands-On Mobile are well-known game makers. AP Mobile, Accuweather, and Pandora also stand out in an otherwise obscure lineup.

Also Marketplace related, Microsoft says it will let customers buy applications two ways--through a credit card, or as an add-on to the monthly cellular bill. In addition, Microsoft will let remorseful users return unwanted applications within 24 hours of purchasing, a refund service that neither Apple nor RIM has offered so far for the iTunes App Store or forthcoming BlackBerry App World.

The CTIA Wireless mobile phone conference this April may be much lower key in 2009, but that doesn't mean there won't be news.

In advance of the show, Opera Software announced on Thursday an update to Opera Mobile, its full mobile browser for Windows Mobile and Symbian phones (download current version). While Opera Mobile 9.7 is intended for Opera's enterprise level B2B clients, like carriers and cell phone manufacturers, the news still offers a glimpse of what's in store for the consumer download version that Opera expects to release "in the near future."

The most consumer-friendly feature, and the one that Opera sorely needs to excel on, is Opera Mobile 9.7's support for Web technologies like Flash and Ajax. In layman's terms, that means the browser will be able to better handle sites like Facebook and stream YouTube videos using Flash Lite. Video is huge here--while Opera is a dominant mobile browser, it has been slower building muscle for video playback, while rivals like Skyfire have made longer strides.

In addition to bringing on wider support for Web standards, Opera Mobile 9.7 will feature Opera Turbo, the Norwegian company's new compression engine. Previewed in mid-March, Opera says Turbo can squeeze down data by 80 percent, clearing through slow and stubborn network connections quicker. Also found on the back end, says Opera, will be the Presto 2.2 rendering engine, the same tool that brings Opera 10 alpha for the desktop its higher speeds compared to Opera's current desktop browser.

Lastly, Opera Mobile 9.7 boasts that it passes the Acid 3 test of Web standards with 100 percent, and that it supports Google Gears and the Open GL ES standard for graphics acceleration. The upcoming consumer version will share these upgrades, and in addition, is expected to have a new widgets manager that run independently from the mobile browser.

SAN FRANCISCO--Microsoft still isn't quite ready to release its new mobile browser, but I did get an advance look at Internet Explorer 6 for Windows Mobile at a Microsoft event Wednesday night.

The biggest benefit will be the fact that it is the full IE 6 rendering engine, meaning that any page that renders properly in IE 6 on the PC should do just fine on Windows Mobile. Tim McDonough, a senior director in Microsoft's Windows Mobile unit, showed me the browser running the standard MSN home page.

The current version of mobile Internet Explorer, seen here, leaves a lot to be desired. A new version, based on the same rendering engine as Internet Explorer 6 for the PC, promises Flash support and other improvements.

(Credit: Microsoft)

I saw the browser running on Windows Mobile Standard--meaning on a non-touch-screen device. The browser makes good use of a D-pad controller to go from link to link, but it's still not as elegant as on a touch screen. I'll be interested to see how the browser works on a touch-based Windows Mobile device, but am still not expecting navigation to be up to the iPhone level.

Navigation may be better on the iPhone, but IE 6 will have some advantages, such as full Flash support.

"The market today is really at 'Can I see a page?' Very quickly we're getting to 'Can I do something?'" he said. "That's where we will really shine."

Another interesting option on IE 6 is the ability to quickly shift from a site's mobile page to its standard desktop version. Just because IE 6 can show the full site, doesn't mean that's always what people want. It's particularly true in Europe where even so-called "unlimited" data plans typically have data caps that can easily be reached by loading a lot of standard Web pages. IE 6 toggles between mobile and standard Web pages by sending a different user agent, depending on which page type a user wants to see.

McDonough didn't offer much of an update on timing for IE 6, except to say that "it's still this year."

That's left Windows Mobile device makers scrambling to try to better compete against Apple's browsing experience. To fill the gap, many are turning to Opera's Windows Mobile browsing, which offers better navigation and rendering than the current mobile Internet Explorer.

HTC Touch Pro

(Credit: Sprint)

Unlike last week's slip up, Sprint managed to keep this bit of news under wraps and announced on the opening day of CTIA Fall 2008 that it will offer the HTC Touch Pro starting October 19. The ultimate replacement for the Sprint HTC Mogul, the Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone will go for $299.99 with a two-year contract and after rebates.

The Touch Pro is similar to the HTC Touch Diamond for Sprint but has three major differences: 1) the smartphone features a slide-out full QWERTY keyboard; 2) it has expandable memory; and 3) the 3.2-megapixel camera has a flash. Of course, with the built-in keyboard, the Touch Pro is also slightly thicker and heavier than the Diamond, measuring 4 inches tall by 2 inches wide by 0.7 inch deep and weighing 5.3 ounces. On front, there's a 2.8-inch touchscreen with a 262,000 color output and 640x480 pixel resolution that allows you to interact with the 3D TouchFlo interface.

For the business user, the Touch Pro offers a full range of wireless options: EV-DO Rev. A, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth with A2DP support, and GPS. To complement the latter, the smartphone works with the Sprint Navigation for real-time, turn-by-turn driving directions. The usual Windows Mobile suspects are there, including the Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, Direct Push Technology, and Internet Explorer Mobile. The Opera browser is also installed on the device.

Entertainment and multimedia goodies include the aforementioned 3.2-megapixel camera, support for Sprint TV and the Sprint Music Store, and an HTC-developed YouTube application. There's 512MB of ROM and 288MB of RAM and a 1GB microSD card will be included in the box.

We're expecting to see HTC Touch Pro in person at the MobileFocus event, so stay tuned for some first impressions and hopefully a video. In addition, we'll be receiving our evaluation unit of the HTC Touch Diamond on Wednesday afternoon, so expect to see a full review soon.

(Credit: Engadget Mobile)

While we're expecting to see the HTC Touch Pro land at Sprint or Verizon Wireless (thanks FCC) later this year, it might just be that the Windows Mobile 6.1 smartphone is also headed to AT&T. According to Engadget Mobile, a cached Google page revealed a teaser for the Touch Pro on the carrier's Web site.

Rebranded as HTC Fuze, the smartphone could be the replacement for the aging AT&T Tilt, shipping with the latest operating system out of the box and of course, sporting a fresh design. At first glance, the HTC Fuze might look like its sibling, the HTC Touch Diamond, but there's an added slide-out full QWERTY keyboard to please all the messaging fanatics. The device also has the TouchFLO 3D interface that makes the Windows Mobile OS look more easy to use; whether it actually succeeds in that is debatable.

As far as features, the HTC Fuze will support several e-mail solutions, including Microsoft Direct Push, Good Mobile Messaging, and BlackBerry Connect, and offers world roaming and push-to-talk capabilities. Wireless options are fully represented with HSDPA support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS. The HTC Fuze will be compatible with AT&T Navigator for text- and voice-guided turn-by-turn driving directions and AT&T Cellular Video.

Of course, the page did not reveal key information like release date or pricing, but we'll be keeping an eye out for any news. Who knows, perhaps we'll find out something at Fall CTIA 2008, which is just around the corner.

Motorola Q Global

(Credit: Motorola)

A new Moto smartphone joined the Motorola Q9h in AT&T's lineup on Thursday. The Motorola Q Global is largely like the Q9h except it ships with Windows Mobile 6.1 Standard Edition and comes with a pinstripe design and metallic silver casing.

We're glad that some things remain the same as the smartphone continues to offer HSDPA support, integrated GPS, and Bluetooth. In addition, rather than the standard Microsoft Office Mobile Suite, the Q Global comes preloaded with the DataViz Documents to Go Suite and Opera Web browser.

Other highlights include support for Good Mobile Messaging and BlackBerry Connect; threaded text messaging, Moto's CrystalTalk technology for clearer calls; and a 2-megapixel camera. The Motorola Q Global is available now for $149.99 with a two-year contract.

Click on the image to see the Palm Treo Pro photo gallery

(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)

While not the best-kept secret in the technology world, what with all the leaked photos and videos, we're still aflutter over Palm's official unveiling of the Palm Treo Pro Wednesday. And why wouldn't we be? The smartphone is looking pretty sharp, both inside and out.

The first thing you might notice is the new modern look. The Treo Pro sheds the outdated, clunky design of previous Treos and trades it in for a sleeker design (4.4 inches high by 2.3 inches wide by 0.5 inch deep; 4.7 ounces) and nice black casing. It also sports a 320x320-pixel resolution touch screen and features a screensaver that will show you the time, any missed calls or new text/multimedia messages at a glance. You can also see some Palm Centro influence in there with the full QWERTY keyboard, but the navigation keypad is all new.

It's not all about looks either. As the name would suggest, the smartphone is targeted at business users and on paper, it looks to be fully equipped keep up with the on-the-go types. The Treo Pro runs Windows Mobile 6.1, complete with the Microsoft Office Mobile Suite and Direct Push Technology for real-time e-mail delivery. The quad-band world phone is stocked in the wireless department as well, as it offers UMTS/HSDPA support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.

It all sounds pretty enticing, no? Itching to get one? Well, here's the skinny on availability. The Palm Treo Pro will be available in Europe starting in September through Vodafone and O2, while Telstra will pick it up in Australia. Interestingly, here in the States, it will be sold unlocked through Palm starting in the fall. There's no word on exact availability date or pricing, or whether a U.S. carrier will eventually pick it up. That said, we actually have a meeting with Palm later Wednesday so we'll see if we can get any more information out of them and also give you a hands-on report about the Treo Pro.

In the meantime, please feel free to share your thoughts on the news. I don't know about you, but I have to say this is the first time in a long time that I've really been jazzed about a Palm smartphone. You?