TamsPPC – the Windows Phone Blog

Microsoft’s approach to software development is pretty unique – more than one book has been written on the topic.

Technologizer now spoke with the project manager behind the original version of Windows:

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At that point Windows was no longer considered the company’s star project, as it had become a bit of an embarrassment. Even internally there were doubts among some in the company that Windows would ever ship. Also, because Ballmer had already burned though four product managers to try to get there–people who now had been either reassigned or were no longer at Microsoft–the product was developing a reputation for career death.

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Further information can be had at the URL below:
http://technologizer.com/2010/03/08/the-secret-origin-of-windows/

iSuppli has done quite a few extremely interesting reports in the past – their latest one looks at Windows Mobile and starts out as follows:

Despite intensifying competition and the loss of some high-profile licensees, the usage of Microsoft Corp.’s Windows Mobile operating system in smart phones will nearly triple from 2009 to 2013, allowing it to reclaim the No.-2 position in the global market, according to iSuppli Corp.

In 2013, 67.9 million smart phones will use the Windows Mobile operating system, up from 27.7 million in 2009. This will give Windows Mobile a 15.3 percent share of the global market in 2013, second only to the Symbian operating system, which will control 47.6 percent.

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Further information can be had below:
http://www.isuppli.com/News/Pages/Reports-of-Windows-Mobiles-Death-are-Greatly-Exaggerated.aspx

Don’t ask me what eekers the man pictured on the left has – Mike Channon has created a web site containing literally thousands of useful documents related to HTC’s handsets.

He describes his page as follows:

Here you will find a collection of Service Manuals, User Manuals, dismantling guides and disassembly videos.

The emphasis is placed on PDA Phones manufactured by HTC, but some of the more popular models form other makers are included. Many of the manuals are of a technical nature and are not designed for the everyday user. In fact, using these guides to dismantle your phone will invalidate your warranty

As all of the stuff seems to be free, hit the link below for a really cool resource:
http://www.mikechannon.net/

The US roll-out of HTC’s Touch Pro has kept us busy for the last weeks – now that AT&T has burned its fuze out, Sprint and Verizon remain waiting. Here’s what we know:

Verizon gets Touch Pro November 24th
Engadget Mobile reports that the Verizon version of the Touch Pro (with slower CPU) will become official on the 24th of this month; and will hit stores on the 1sr of December.

The machine will cost whooping 419$ on a 2yr contract (!!!) – the 70$ mail-in rebate brings the device down to still-insane 350$ (unlocked GSM Touch Pros currently go for 600 Euros).

Fuze reviewed
BrightHand’s Ed Hardy brings a small preliminary review of AT&T’s Fuze. He generally likes the device, but is annoyed by the aggressive AT&T branding.

Supporting bloggers and online journalists has not always been easy for traditional PR agencies: while people like your truly can have huge reader counts that exceed these of many magazines, their demand for high-speed access to samples can easily overburden PR agents (there are no deadlines – its minutes that count).

Nokia’s blogger relations are handled by a firm called TalkingHeads, who do an excellent job most of the time. Sony Ericsson now cloned their web site with a portal called xperiancers:

As of now, the web site is devoid of useful content – as it looks now, it will be centered around lifestyle stuff rather than information useful to readers of TamsPPC. The page’s layout doesn’t make your life easier either…

Brave souls (with loads of time to waste) can give them a click at the URL below:
http://xperiancers.com/

The boys at PocketNow’s recently reviewed the Touch Pro, and didn’t like it too much. Tracy&Matt’s review follows a few days afterwards – and their impression is more positive.

Mr. Matt concludes that the Touch Pro:

… is by far the best phone I have tested; I think it is a great size, not too big or too small. It has all the functionality and speed that I need day to day.

The price tag? Well, anything worth buying is invariably not cheap, and this is no exception, it is relatively expensive in the PDA world, but it is probably the best on the market at this time.

Is it the Ultimate device? It is very close, I am sure they could get it a little thinner in time, the camera and rear speaker could do with an upgrade, in my opinion, that apart it is very impressive. …

Get the full scoop here:
http://www.tracyandmatt.co.uk/blogs/index.php/2008/08/22/htc-touch-pro-review

I have really liked the so-called Music Genome Project’s streaming radio service called Pandora – unfortunately, licensing concerns no longer allow them to send to Europe.

Nevertheless, Windows Mobile users in the USA will soon be able to enjoy Pandora on the go (if they have a hefty data plan). Tom Conrad, the CTO of Pandora’s mother company, stated that a version of Pandora is upcoming for WM in a recent wmpoweruser.com interview:

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Without question I’ve learned a lesson about commenting on unreleased products… truth is it was almost two years ago when I shared on our blog that we were working on a Windows Mobile build of Pandora. At the time I really believed it was less than 90 days away from release. I guess it’s never a good idea to talk about products that you haven’t yet released.

…. our deals with Sprint (and then later AT&T) came through. With those deals in place we started shifting our mobile development priorities to sync up with what the carriers wanted us to do — without exception that was to so-called “feature phones” and not smart phones. …

The good news is that we do have a team working on Windows Mobile versions of Pandora. Given my track record it’s probably best not to comment on the “when” but it’s certainly not a question of “if”.
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The folks at BrightHand’s have managed to somehow generate stats that show which devices stir up the most “user activity” – their results are posted once a month and usually provide pretty interesting reading.

When looking at the chart, we see Apple, Windows Mobile and PalmOS powered devices and a dumbphone. the Palm TX managed to get back into the list, while the HTC Mogul, Nokia N96 and the ipaq 110 flew out:

Here’s the exact ranking:

1. HTC Touch Diamond
2. iPhone 3G
3. HTC Touch
4. ipaq 210
5. HTC Touch Pro
6. Samsung Instinct
7. Xperia X1
8. Palm Centro
9. iPod touch
10. Palm TX

In case you feel like comparing it to last month’s mind share rankings – please use this link!