1800PocketPC

After the successful unveiling of Windows Phone 7 Series at MWC2010 every one is excited about WP7 but since we wont get our hands on one of these till Dec2010. We have to check out the WM6.5 devices that will come out before WP7. One such device from HTC is the HTC HD Mini . Our review site brings a new windows phone software I LEft My Phone at Home – this app will let you grab your sms and call info remotely. For Windows mobile gamers we review Resco Snake a windows phone accelerometer game .

MobileSpoon:

Following Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 Series announcement (followed by the Windows Phone Classic rumors, we came to an understanding about Microsoft’s unique mobile strategy, and we actually like it. With all the talking about iPhone, Android, and WinMo, we almost forgot BlackBerry continues to lead the US market… And, for the Techie guys, check out our: how does direct Push work? guide.

JAMM:

We’ve just launched a new series at JAMM, in the form of a question of the day.  Everyone can sound off or rant on the topic, just like a full fledged blogger.  If you’ve got the time, we’d love for you to drop us a comment occasionally!  Additionally, we dove into some of the more technical aspects of Windows Mobile here, with our look at processes and their effect on multi-tasking.  Finally, we dove into SKKV Software’s awesome CABIntegr, which allows for on board CAB creation.

PocketNow.com

Mobile World Congress was in full swing, and Microsoft chose the event to unveil Windows Phone 7 Series. Perhaps the best news is a promo piece where we saw the HTC HD2 running Windows Phone 7 . We also took a walk down memory lane with Windows Mobile 7, also known as Photo. SPB did give us a demo of Mobile Shell 5. For our Android feature, we showed how to side-load apps onto your Android phone.

MobilityDigest:

We finally laid eyes on the long awaited Windows Phone 7 and examined the idea behind changing their marketing and not having backward compatibility for older applications. But MS continued to show support for Windows Mobile 6.5 by releasing a new version of Marketplace which supports SD Card storage and the ability to purchase from any countries market. We even got our hands on the Blockbuster video app (that will permit downloading movies directly to your phone) and the Amazon MP3 app from the HD2.

The Smartphones Council:
- MobilityDigest
- 1800PocketPC
- The Mobile Spoon
- JAMM – Just Another Mobile Monday
- PocketNow.com

Site owners, wanna join the Smartphones Council? Contact us.

Question of the Day: From whom do you buy your software?

With today’s announcement from PocketGear that they have acquired Handango, two of the major competing mobile software distributors have come under one brand. This eliminates one of the major players in the game of electronic software distributors, leaving only PocketGear, Mobihand and Handmark, that I can name off the top of my head.

Each of these three offer a venue for developers, charging a percentage of each sale in exchange for a developer having a potentially global marketplace. Over the years, these percentages have grown, with them sometimes reaching near 50 percent of the application price.

Of course, then there is the iTunes App Store. The ONLY (approved, that is) electronic software provider for the iPhone and iPod Touch. They charge a percentage as well, taking nearly 30 percent of the proceeds for an application.

We can’t dismiss that we are starting to see a LOT of individual application stores starting to appear. We have the Windows Mobile Marketplace, we App World for Blackberry, the Ovi Store, and so on. Each of these are attempts to capitalize on the success of the iTunes App Store.

Finally, you have the option, in most cases anyway, of buying direct from the developer’s site. This is a great way to reward the developer, as there is no corporation taking a percentage of the profits for an application that they don’t have any real stakes in.

In the past, I’ve bought from a number of different sources including PocketGear / PalmGear, Mobihand (the JAMM Store), Handango and individual developers. Buying direct from the individual developers is a great way to go when the opportunity arises, but sometimes the sales offered by the app stores is just too tempting. After all, even though I want to reward the developers, I have to watch out for my pocket book’s best interests as well.

So to wrap it up, fellow JAMMers, where do you buy your software?  Hit the comments and let us know!

SCOTTEVEST is preparing for their 9th anniversary sale, offering a whopping 40 percent off.  Check out the promo tomorrow, Wednesday, February 24 at 11 AM CST.  Be sure to head over to http://www.scottevest.com tomorrow morning to check out the details, and go ahead in getting a sneak peak with the press release below.

It’s that time of year again!  Our 9th Anniversary Sale starts TOMORROW Wednesday February 24th, 8AM PST/11AM EST. Click the video to the left to visit our sale page and get a full video explanation of the sale, or scroll down to see which items are featured! This is my favorite sale of the year because it’s the BIGGEST.  We always sell out of our most popular items, colors and sizes so set your alarm for tomorrow and come to the sale page on our site for the SECRET PROMO CODE you need to unlock the savings and have fun! Due to the popularity of the sale, we ask that you please order online and do not call… we just can’t keep up with the phones.  And, as always, there is some fine print (clearly marked on the sale page) but I know you’ll find it fair.  On with the show.

SALE ITEMS - 40% OFF STARTING WEDNESDAY WITH PROMO CODE

We love to interact with our fans, so be sure to become a fan of SeV on Facebook, follow SeV on Twitter, and check out SCOTT TV on our SCOTTEVEST/Connect page. If you have a moment, please fill out this new survey to help us plan for 2010.

PocketGear

Big news in the world of online app stores today, as PocketGear has announced the acquisition of Handango. Handango, the one time giant, is now a part of the PocketGear portfolio. This is definitely interesting as it kind of creates a mega store in the world of electronic software distributors.

I’m curious if this is going to benefit or hurt some of the other ESD’s, including Handmark and Mobihand.  Time will tell whether PocketGear’s approach is both developer and customer friendly, which will ultimately spell success or demise.

Let’s hope that the transition goes well, and that user accounts from both stores are merged properly! You can read the full press release below.

PocketGear Acquires Handango, Creating the World’s Largest Cross Platform, Open App Store

PocketGear’s App Store supports 2,000+ mobile devices and every major OS platform, connecting consumers in 175+ countries with 140,000+ paid and free titles

Durham, NC – February 23, 2010 – PocketGear, Inc. today announced the acquisition of Handango, the leading provider of smartphone applications globally, creating the world’s largest cross platform, open app store and content marketplace with a catalog of more than 140,000 paid and free titles that are available for discovery and download by the more than 4 billion consumers worldwide using Android©, Symbian OS©, BlackBerry©, Windows Mobile©, Palm©, Linux, and Java© powered mobile devices. PocketGear and Handango are the two largest independent app stores and combined to date have generated over $400 million in mobile application revenues from customers living in more than 175 countries and using over 2,000 unique mobile devices.

With the acquisition, PocketGear’s mobile app marketplace has been expanded to connect more than 32,000 developers in the PocketGear Developer Program with over 40 PocketGear- powered storefront and distribution partners, including 4 of the world’s top 5 handset manufacturers, 4 of the top 5 mobile operators in the US, 3 of the top 10 mobile operators globally, and leading media and ecommerce companies including Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Research in Motion, Microsoft, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless. The reach of PocketGear’s direct to consumer app stores has also expanded to include the largest independent app store, Handango.com, joining PocketGear’s app store network that includes
PocketGear.com, Mobile2Day.de, SymbianGear.com, AndroidGear.com, RIMGear.com, Smartphone.net, and PalmGear.com. In addition, more than 1,000 app developers are now using PocketGear’s developer storefront solutions to market and sell their mobile apps directly to consumers from their own websites and other marketing channels.

Upon closing, Jud Bowman will remain as President and CEO of PocketGear and Alex Bloom, current chief executive of Handango, will become Chief Operating Officer of PocketGear.

“Our vision is to facilitate an open app store ecosystem that supports every mobile device, every application, and every carrier network globally,” said Jud Bowman, President and CEO of PocketGear. “By combining the two largest independent app store companies, we’re creating significantly more scale and value for all of the stakeholders in the open app store ecosystem.”

Bowman added, “Handset manufacturers, carriers, and media companies now have a single marketplace where they can quickly and easily connect with developers, source a catalog of apps developed specifically for their supported devices, and create a branded, revenue generating storefront and app discovery engine that works across all devices, platforms, geographies, and
carrier networks.”

“This is an exciting time in the app store market and we’re thrilled to be joining forces with PocketGear,” said Alex Bloom, CEO of Handango. “As we increase our scale, not only can we further accelerate speed to market of new devices and applications in a rapidly changing marketplace, but we’re also better positioned to help our distribution and developer partners increase the overall revenues per download from both paid and free apps.”

PocketGear was represented in this transaction by Kip Johnson of Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC.

About PocketGear, Inc.
PocketGear is the world’s largest cross platform, open app store and content marketplace with a catalog of more than 140,000 paid and free titles available for discovery and download. To date, PocketGear has generated over $400 million in mobile application revenues for the more than 32,000 developers in the PocketGear Developer Program. PocketGear powers storefront and content solutions for over 40 partners, including 4 of the world’s top 5 handset manufacturers, 4
of the top 5 mobile operators in the US, 3 of the top 10 mobile operators globally, and leading media and ecommerce companies, including Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson, Research in Motion, Microsoft, T-Mobile, AT&T, and Verizon Wireless. In addition, PocketGear operates the largest network of independent app stores, including Handango.com, PocketGear.com, Mobile2Day.de, SymbianGear.com, AndroidGear.com, RIMGear.com, Smartphone.net, and PalmGear.com.

PocketGear is headquartered in Durham, NC with offices in Munich, Germany and Irving, TX. For more information, please visit http://corp.pocketgear.com.

About Handango
Handango is the leading provider of smartphone applications globally for the BlackBerry©, Palm©, Windows Mobile©, Symbian OS©, and Linux platforms. Leveraging its 140,000+ apps, network of 23,000+ content partners, and vast distribution network, Handango delivers top-selling mobile applications including games, business and entertainment apps and productivity tools to millions of consumers. Applications can be downloaded via www.handango.com, partner Web sites, SD cards and Handango’s proprietary on-device catalog, InHand, the industry’s leading content delivery platform that allows consumers to purchase mobile apps directly from their smartphone and download them over the air. Handango’s unparalleled content expertise has attracted numerous mobile industry partners, including Microsoft, Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile,
Alltel, AT&T, 3UK, LG, SoftBank, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, Best Buy, The CarPhone Warehouse, CNET, and AOL.

Rewind to a week ago last Saturday. My wife and I took my nearly one year old daughter to Tulsa to find her a new car seat. She’s just about to outgrow her current rear facing seat, and is now of age to face forward. This is something that all three of us have been looking forward to for a while.

Fast forward just a bit. After a long day of shopping, a baby getting just a bit fussy as well as a wife doing the same, and the car ride home starts. It’s nothing major, only about an hour. I can endure the two. I’ll be home soon.

My Touch Pro rings. Who is it, I wonder. It’s the same person it always is. A family member in need of some technical assistance. But I was stuck in a car, in heavy traffic, with two fussy people. The odds that this was going to be a calming call were slim. I slowly answered: “Hello”. A voice on the other side started rattling off questions, to which the summary is that they wanted to print a document from their Windows 7 laptop. They had never printed anything from it though, and walking this family member through the process of searching for a driver on the internet and installing it isn’t fun. I gave them the quick summary, hoping that it would at least ward them off until I returned home, where I could help them better. At least they couldn’t hurt anything, right?! Finally, I was off the phone. Trying to enjoy my ride home as best possible.

Fast forward about ten minutes. My Touch Pro rang again. Same person. I could only assume that something had gone drastically wrong, to which I was supposed to have the solution while driving in traffic in Tulsa. Aarggh. I answered, slowly. The voice on the other end “You won’t believe what happened…”, as my heart skipped a beat. “I plugged in the USB cable from the printer and turned it on. A bubble then popped up telling me that Windows was searching for a driver. It then downloaded something and I was able to print. The whole thing took about five minutes.”

To which I can only say to Microsoft: THANK YOU.