You can’t get enough of the newly announced Microsoft OS for mobile devices?

Go visit the new dedicated site at www.WindowsPhone7Series.com and you will be able to watch demo videos and play with the emulator.

After the registration on the “Backstage” zone of the site, you will be able both to join the conversation and to win some prizes.

Via: WMExperts

Today at the Mobile World Congress Microsoft has finally shown to the market the results of its recent development effort in the OS area: Windows Phone 7 Series.

In the following we credit Engadget for images and the live coverage of the event.

The new OS, called “Windows Phone 7 Series”, has been introduced by Steve Ballmer himself.

The first approach to the new OS is its new start screen, where we find “Tiles”. These can be arranged in several ways and will serve to launch applications, take actions on selected contacts, link music playlist and seemingly more. No word was made about third party customization.

The system will support multitouch and multitouch gestures.

The UI resembles the Zune HD: bold text, lists with text cut off on the sides of the phone, and additional (hidden) space to navigate thanks to left and right arrows. The interface seems extremely clean and neat, with a linear design (no bells and whistles here). I’d say I like it, as I don’t like baroque solutions.

The interface introduces something called “Hubs”, which are integrated centers of activities. During the conference MS demonstrated or shown live the following hubs:

• People
• Pictures
• Office
• Music+Video
• Games

All of the above will do what you expect them to, and with the UI you are able to access your local content as well as remote content, e.g. contacts and pictures on Facebook for your mobile usage. Recent contacts and documents have their own place to help you access them easily with speed.

The Office and Games hubs were not really demonstrated, but only shown are being there and hopefully they will be finalized in time for the release. However, the Game hub will features Xbox LIVE.

The Music hub could be interesting for those Zune owners: every 7 Series phone is currently a Zune, and it will behave as such with your PC (and there is also a Pandora Train radio tile…).

The calendar has been shown with an Exchange and personal appointments merged in a single effective view.

The search function is left to Microsoft Bing and the browser is based on the desktop version of IE, so it will be highly compatible with lots of webpages.

Also Pocket Outlook has been revamped, with flags, attachments, and multiple message. Threaded message is not there, though.

They say they will continue to invest in 6.5, but WM 7 Series is a new generation, thus you should expect to thrash the existing app catalogue…

Windows Phone 7 Series will count on several OEM partners:

• Qualcomm
• Dell
• LG
• Samsung
• Garmin-Asus
• HTC
• HP
• Sony Ericsson
• Toshiba

thus showing the interest into the platform. I here notice the absence of Motorola.

AT&T and Orange have also been on the show to support their enthusiasm for the upcoming MS platform.

Windows Phone 7 Series will be available this holiday season, 2010.

It’s too early to evaluate if the work done by MS has taken the right direction, as very few of the new OS have been shown, and many of the leaks of the previous days remain uncertain.

Currently the OS seems more a multimedia device with phone, office and PIM capabilities rather than a more versatile business device, but maybe this is the real the aim of the new WM7, what do you think?

Via: Engadget

Question of the Day:  What does XDA mean to you?

Thanks to Brett for today’s question!  I guess, first, we should probably ask “what is XDA?”.  Chances are if you use Windows Mobile or possibly even Android, your quite familiar with these three letters.  So, what does XDA mean to you?  Hit the comments below to let us know your thoughts.

PS – I’ll weigh back in this evening so that I don’t give anything away….

Robo for Windows Mobile

PocketGear is running a Valentine’s Day special, allowing users to get Robo for Windows Mobile for FREE.  Robo is a quirky little puzzle game developed by HeroCraft, and is definitely worth picking up.  You can see more information about Robo here.

Be sure to use the promo code:  ROBO100

And remember, grab Robo today, as the promo code to get it for free is only valid for February 14, 2010.

We have been talking a lot lately about Seagate and their FreeAgent Go drives.  I have to come clean and tell you that I am a huge fan of these portable drives, and have really been impressed by the quality and breadth of the accessories which are available for them.  Today, we will be checking out another FreeAgent accessory, the DockStar, which turns your portable FreeAgent Go drive into a networked drive, which you can access from anywhere.  Sounds too good to be true?  Seagate was kind enough to send me a DockStar unit to check out, so let’s take a closer look.

At first glance, this unit looks just like the standard FreeAgent dock.  But upon closer examination, you will notice three USB connections and an ethernet port.

Just connect the DockStar unit to your router using the included ethernet cable (which feels so 2000…why not make it wireless?)  Which leaves us with the three USB connections, and this is pretty cool.  In addition to the FreeAgent Go drive, you can add up to three other external drives.  Which means you can use the Dockstar to connect up to four external drives, and if you are familiar with Seagate products, that can mean multiple Terabytes of data.

Before you can get started connecting your drive or drives, you will need to sign up for an online account with the Pogoplug service.  This is a pretty painless process which took a matter of seconds for Pogoplug to find my DockStar and my Freeagent Go Drive.   The whole DockStar system is based on Pogoplug, which is an online service that allows you to keep everything in sync.  When you buy the DockStar, you will get a year for free.  After that, the service will cost $30 per year.   Don’t worry though, you only need the service to access your files remotely.  You can still access your DockStar connected drives from any computer connected to the same network, even without the service.  Still, I did find it odd that the DockStar came with only a one year subscription, while Pogoplug’s self-branded device, which offers similar features, includes free lifetime service.

Once you have the DockStar system and Pogoplug service setup, you will have several options available to access the data on your connected drive.

First, you can use the Pogoplug Internet interface.  What is pretty cool about this is that you can access your connected drive from any computer anywhere in the world using the Pogoplug interfade.   This interface worked well enough, although I found it be a bit slow, since it does not actually upload any data to the Internet.

Now for the bad news.  I searched Pogoplug’s website and forums and could find no information about the security of their system.  This is a real concern, which Pogoplug has failed to address, despite numerous requests in their forums.  This made me extremely nervous. Unlike other online services, which allow you to manually determine which folders or files to sync, the DockStar’s main attraction is that it allows you to access every file on the connected drive via the Pogoplug system.  With no further information about security, this means that anyone in the world could potentially have access to anything on your connected drives as well.  Now, if you are like me and use your drive mainly for storage of videos, music, photos, and general archiving, this may not present a real concern for you.  However, if you store your business information, financial information, or any other private data on your connected drive, well this could pose a significant deterrent to your use of this system.  The lack of information about the security of the Pogoplug system presents a significant and surprising concern.  In this brave new world of cloud computing, security is a well known and common concern surrounding all of these online services.  Pogoplug’s failure to address the security of its system is disappointing and irresponsible, as it could present a potentially devastating impact if someone were to access your important data.

Notwithstanding these security concerns, the Pogoplug system really does present a nice alternative to other file syncing services.  It does not require time consuming uploads, nor does it require you to spend hours selecting the files and folders to sync.  Additionally, the Dockstar along with the Pogoplug service allows you to share files over the Internet in several ways:

• Invite others to share your files and media (again, this will give them full access to your entire drive)
• Share media on Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking sites

You can even set the system to send an email to your friends and family when you add files to a particular folder.

Fortunately, you do not need to utilize the online service in order to enjoy the DockStar.  By simply downloading a small file from Pogoplug, you can access the connected drives via your home network, without sending any data or information over the Internet.  This is really the feature I was looking for when I started using the DockStar.  As long as you remain connected to the same network as the DockStar drive, every file on the drive will be available via your regular file explorer.  As you can see in the above screenshot, the dockStar drive (which is named Pogoplug and appears as Drive P) will appear identical to any other drive connected to your system.  This means no more dragging my FreeAgent Go drive around the house with me.

Additionally, if you use an iPhone or iPod Touch, you can download the free Pogoplug app.  This really worked well, in my opinion.  Just log into your account for instant access to everything on your connected drive from the Palm of your hand.  The best part was that I was able to play most of my multimedia files (including music and video) directly from the Pogoplug app, adding hundreds of Gigabytes of storage space to my iPod Touch.  I really hope to see this app come to additional platforms, like Windows Mobile, Android, and Symbian (a Blackberry version is currently available, though it is still a Beta).

I have to say that I was much more impressed by this system than I initially expected to be.  In the end, though, the very feature which made the DockStar so easy and convenient to use, was the same feature which gave me pause.  Specifically, it automatically provides access to everything on your drive, from any Internet connected computer in the world.  On the one hand, unlike many other online sync programs, the DockStar allows you to avoid the tedium of determining which files to sync and which to leave behind,ensuring that the one vital file never gets left behind.  On the other hand, everything on your drive is available online, meaning it is all one hack away from being publicized well beyond what you intended.  With no real information about Pogoplug’s security, all I can say is that you will access the DockStar’s convenient online features at your own risk.  Still, the DockStar offers a fantastic means of accessing your FreeAgent Go (or other external drives) from across the room or across the world from any computer, even those which fit in the palm of your hand.

The FreeAgent DockStar is available from Seagate for $99.99.  You should also be prepared to spend an additional $30 per year for the Pogoplug service after your initial one year service expires.  More information about the Pogoplug service is available from Pogoplug’s website.

– network drive’

– popplug online interface

– iPhone/iPod touch

Not wireless

Requires Ethernet cable (included)

Requires online activation, which is no problem

Access any files on drive from Internet interface

Need to download additional software to access files on other networked computers

Requires a yearly subscription