Steve Ballmer – We’ll Be Back

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has made a surprise appearance at Microsoft’s LA Build conference, in which he proudly announced that half a million copies of Windows 8 Beta had already been downloaded within 24 hours of its release. The Microsoft boss conceded the OS was still far from complete, and stressed the importance of Windows [...]

Windows 8 – All Things To All Tablets

Microsoft demonstrated a range of advantages of its next OS at the Windows 8 developer preview this week. One such is the enhanced touchscreen capability achieved through wider support for sensors, such as accelerometers, gyrometers, and compasses. One of Microsoft’s aims for Windows 8 is to ensure support across multiple devices from the various manufacturers. [...]

KK U1000 Smartbook Phone – Runs Windows Mobile

Here is a 5-inch Smartbook/MID, from a company called KK. The KK U1000 runs Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional OS and has a WVGA display. It uses Marvell PXA310 processor that runs at 624MHz.

It comes packed with a lot of wireless radios – WiFi b/g, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS and Quad-Band Phone radio. There is a 3.2MP camera at the back.

The U1000 has a custom 3D UI for finger friendly navigation. Battery capacity is 1900mAh which is pretty good for an ARM device. For storage, you get meager 256MB, but that can be expandable via micro-SD card (upto 32GB). For running apps, you get 128MB that should be enough for running any Windows Mobile app out there.

Using Windows Mobile on a 5-inch screen is surely going to be a bit of fun. On a serious note, the whole UI will suddenly become much more finger friendly than before.

Pricing details are no-where mentioned

DEC 2: OMNIA II on Verizon

Samsung Omnia 2 is set to land on Verizon on December 2. The OS is surprisingly Windows Mobile 6.5 and the smartphone can be in your hands after a $100 rebate for $199.99 (2 yr contract). The phone will be available online as well as in stores.

Toshiba releases 3 new MIDs – Toshiba K01, Toshiba K02 and Toshiba L1 – Run Windows Mobile

Toshiba is showing off 3 new MIDs: K01, K02 and L1. All of them sport touch screens. First MID, the K01, comes with an 4.1-inch slider touch screen and has thickness of mere 0.6 inches. Second MID, the K02 has an 3.5-inch screen having 800×400 (WVGA) resolution. It is equipped with a 10-key keyboard.

Third one, the L1 has a bigger screen than aforementioned 2 models. It has a massive 7-inch screen. These MIDs will be released by end of the year 2010 and will run on Windows Mobile 6.5.

Commentary: It is interesting to see manufactures still churning out MIDs based on Windows Mobile platform. This means that there is still a good market for the Windows Mobile MIDs since it also has its own advantages over the webOS, iPhone or Android OS., apart from the bucketfull of disadvantages when compared to other mobile operating systems.

C-motech Mangrove – Best Windows Mobile device/MID ever?

Here is a MID from C-Motech that comes with the mighty 1GHz Snapdragon CPU. It is powered by Windows Mobile 6.5. The most interesting thing about this MID is its 7-inch display that has WVGA (800×480) resolution (which is the maximum a Windows Mobile device supports).

C-Motech has worked hard to make this look as sleek as possible. Its huge 3200mAh battery should keep your device running for days. If that was not enough, there is an optional 4000mAh battery, which we think is way too much for a device that is based on ARM-platform. Despite its huge dimensions, it still manages to stay light at 300gm.

It is every single radio that you can imagine: 3G, WiMax, WiFi and GPS. For storage, you get 512MB and for running apps, there is 256MB RAM, which is more than enough for any Windows Mobile application out there.

Some more pictures of the Qi Smartbook U1000 MID – Based on Windows Mobile platform

Few days back, when we mentioned about this Qi Smartbook U1000, we only had few press shots in hand which just do not tell clearly how the device looks in real life. Now, we have got hold of a couple of pictures of the Qi Smartbook that show how the device look in flesh. To be honest, it just look like any other Windows Mobile device to us. The only difference is the use of huge screen instead of comparatively smaller displays that we generally find in Windows Mobile devices.

In case you have a weak memory like me, this beast has a 5-inch display with WVGA resolution and runs Windows Mobile 6.1. It also has a huge 1900mAh battery that will make it run whole day even in the hands of a power-user.

HTC LEO – Is it a MID?

Over at our sister website, WindowsPhoneMix.com, we have published some tasty pictures of upcoming HTC’s flagship model, HTC LEO. Immediately after taking a quick glance at its specs, it was pretty clear that this phone is big. But, is it big as a MID? It is still very much pocketable and slim just like iPhone (which is also a powerful MID, which, unfortunately, cannot multi-task).

The HTC LEO is rumored to be the first Windows Mobile device to sport a capacitive display just like iPhone. However, HTC LEO has much higher screen resolution than iPhone: WVGA (800×480), which will allow you to see much more information at a particular time. Oh and the display size is 4.3-inches!

Qi Smartbook U1000 – Windows Mobile 6.1 based MID

Meet the Qi Smartbook U1000, a Windows Mobile MID that comes with a 5-inch screen and has 800×480 resolution (WVGA).

It has a mighty 624MHz processor to keep everything breezy. It has built-in WiFi and a huge 1900mAh to make sure you are able to use the MID full day. There is a camera at the back of the unit too.

The reason why this MID does not have more than WXGA resolution is the fact that Windows Mobile does not support more than WVGA (800×480) resolution. However, there is no excuse not to bundle it with Windows Mobile 6.5, which is the latest Windows Mobile version.

HTC TOUCH HD as a Mobile Internet Device (MID)- Review

This time we are going to review it from a different perspective – AS A MOBILE INTERNET DEVICE. If you have been following the windows mobile scene from the past couple of years, you must have observed that the display size of the mobile phones has decreased in size over the years. Whether we all like it or not, but it was the iPhone that brought the big screen to attention to the mobile phone manufactures.