The Smidgen

For anyone who somewhat actively follows the mobile phone world (especially of the smart phone variety) it should come as no surprise that Microsoft has finally officially announced and revealed it’s new smart phone OS, Windows Phone 7 Series, at the MWC (Mobile World Conference) in Barcelona today.  There are hundreds, if not thousands of different portals on the interwebs where you can read the details of what 7 Series has to offer, read the liveblog of Microsoft’s announcement at MWC or check out a 22 minute long demonstration of the new OS, so I’m just going to summarize here and give you what you really want, my take.

The Quick (Details and such)

So what’s new, short and sweet?  I know it sounds trite but seriously, what isn’t new?  Hell even the OS’s name has changed from Windows Mobile to Windows Phone 7 Series (not exactly roll-off-the-tongue good but, hey).  Now if you take a quick look you’ll see that it looks nothing like WinMo 6.5.3 or any other previous MS Mobile OS, however, you will think right away (if you’re me or an equally techie webnerd) that it does look strikingly similar to the Zune HD.  Coincidence?  Not even remotely.  The interface theme is called Metro and it actually started with the refresh to Windows Media Player a while back, moved on to the Zune and has now found a new home in the 7 Series.  Large, bold text and lacking the ‘chrome’ or flashy graphics from other systems.  Simple, clean, wholly un-MS like from the start … except now it’s part of one of their main OSes, which is some sort of paradox I don’t want to think about right now.  If you stop to think about it (and you are actually interested in that sort of thing), it’s pretty impressive that MS, as big and unwieldy as it seems, was able to shed the WinMo skin so completely, though of course they desperately needed to. continue reading…

Got that spiffy new Zune HD but feel like your squandering your Tegra powered goodness?  Well fret no more as the latest firmware update 4.3 (released last Friday) opened up the world of 3D gaming to Microsoft’s plucky little PMP.

Along with fixing that odd little playcount issue, the 4.3 player update added support for upcoming 3D games and apps which have now arrived on the Marketplace.  Though the list is still rather small the good part is that all the games are (as promised) free!

On a personal note I seriously hope this means that support for full-on community development, and a paid marketplace to encourage said community, is on the way.  The day of Xbox Live Arcade merging with the Zune Marketplace is coming, I can feel it.

Here’s the game list:

• PGR: ferrari edition, a 3d racegame
• Lucky lane bowling, a 3d bowling game
• Vans Sk8: Pool service, a 3d Skate game
• Piano, a simple piano where you can play your own tunes on
• Audio Surf: Tilt, ride your music – you choose a song that the game will turn into a roller coaster track for you to ride
• Checkers, I don’t think you’ll need a description for this one

Update: Engadget fired up PGR on their Zune HD, uploaded a video and had this to say about it.

That Tegra chip is no joke — the graphics in PGR: Ferrari Edition are easily on par with the PSP and quite possibly better, with intricate textures, high-quality reflections, and smooth framerates. The other games aren’t nearly as intense, but they’re just as smooth.

Image courtesy of Engadget

As everyone should know by now, the Zune HD is out and it’s a thing of beauty but a lot of reviewers aren’t quite sold on it.  Why you ask?  Lack of apps.  For me, it’s a PMP and a damned good one so I’m not really bothered by the limited amount of apps available on the Zune marketplace, however, inevitable lines are drawn to the iPod Touch with any new PMP and since the Zune HD actually has app capability, the lack thereof is going to be noted.

Fear not though, fans of the Zune, for while all apps for the Zune HD in the near future will be created by MS only (and free I might add) XNA has received an upgrade to version 3.1 and included libraries for things like the HD’s multi-touch screen and accelerometer.

So what the hell does that mean?  Well from the site XNA is “composed of industry-leading software, services, resources, and communities focused on enabling game developers to be successful on Microsoft gaming platforms.”

Broken down XNA is the platform used to develop Xbox Live Arcade games and with access to Zune HD tech in version 3.1, any developer who belongs to the XNA club can develop games and apps for said device.  Good eh?

So when will they be available?  No word on that yet but you can bet MS is working hard on figuring out all of the logistics.  For now we can just enjoy the “etch-a-sketch” work in the photo above.  Multi-touch draw, erase with a shake?  I’ll take it.  It’s simple but hey, not bad for a day’s work.

Image from CNET

It appears that CNET has gotten their hands on a full working version of Microsoft’s upcoming spankin’ new Zune HD and they are thoroughly impressed.  Click the link to check out the full details straight from the horse’s mouth or continue reading for my highlights.

The big thing for the new Zune is of course the 3.3 inch capacitive OLED touch screen.  Along with the solid and expensive feeling hardware the glass covered OLED screen is big, bright and beautiful.  It also sports a resolution of 480×272 which may seem odd considering the next feature.

720p HD resolution support for movies that you can rent and download straight from the Zune Marketplace.   The movies will be scaled back to the Zune’s native resolution when viewing on screen, however, if you want to hook it up with a dock you can send the full 720 right onto your big screen.  So much for grabbing a couple of DVD’s and bringing them to a friend’s to watch, just dump them on the Zune and go.

The new Zune uses NVidia’s new Tegra processor which should help to give the Zune plenty of power and better battery life then previous incarnations.  That’s good news considering when you’re using WiFi you can open up the Zune’s new web browser and cruise around.  According to CNET’s Donald Bell

… the Zune’s new Web browser smokes. Not since first using the iPhone have I been this impressed with a mobile Web browser.

Still no flash support on this mobile browser either so forget streaming Pandora but at least you can hit up Facebook and Twitter if you want.