Finally, Opera has brought their browsers out of beta.  The biggest question that I had was how much??  They released them for free.  The Mini versions have always been free but the Mobile version has always in the past cost a little bit.  You can go directly from your mobile browser to m.opera.com or here from your desktop.

My personal interpretation of that is, they wanted to get this version out so they could move on to bigger and better Windows Phone things?  Just my opinion, What’s yours?

There is also an Android version (no, not just the Mini 5)  that has only been released to the OEMs.  Gizmodo has a video of it running.  The rest of you that don’t want to buy a new handset for Opera 10, you will just have to stay tuned to XDA and Modoco for them to figure that out for us.

On a personal review with only using the out of beta for a day now, it is a finished, polished version.  What are your thoughts on the new version?  What do you think will be next from Opera for the Windows Phone?

[Via Symbian-Guru]

HTC, the target of Apple’s recent patent infringement suit, has responded to the accusations leveled by the Cupertino based company.  Simply put, HTC points out that they were the first to accomplish a number of things in the mobile arena, long before Apple’s innovation (?) convinced some that they were the originator of the smartphone.  Hmm, kind of like they were the originator of the term “iPad”.  Read on for the full press release from HTC:

HTC DISAGREES WITH APPLE’s Actions

Seattle – March 17, 2010 – HTC Corporation today outlined its disagreement with Apple’s legal actions and reiterated its commitment to creating a portfolio of innovative smartphones that gives consumers a variety of choices. Founded in 1997 with a passion for innovation and a vision for how smartphones would change people’s lives, HTC has continually driven this vision by consistently introducing award-winning smartphones with U.S. mobile operators.

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA

The O2 XDA by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the world in 2002. and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition The T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the United States in 2002., our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.”

The industry has recognized HTC’s contributions through a variety of awards including Fast Company’s 2010 Top 50 Most Innovative Companies and MIT Technology Review’s 2010 50 Most Innovative Companies. The GSMA also recently awarded the HTC Hero as the “Best Phone of 2009.” Some of HTC’s technology firsts include:

• First Windows PDA (1998)
• First Windows Phone (June 2002)
• First 3G CDMA EVDO smartphone (October 2005)
• First gesture-based smartphone (June 2007)

• First Google Android smartphone (October 2008)
• First 4G WIMAX smartphone (November 2008)

In 2009, HTC launched its branded user experience, HTC Sense. HTC Sense is focused on putting people at the center by making phones work in a more simple and natural way. This experience was fundamentally based on listening and observing how people live and communicate.

“HTC has always taken a partnership-oriented, collaborative approach to business. This has led to long-standing strategic partnerships with the top software, Internet and wireless technology companies in the industry as well as the top U.S., European and Asian mobile operators,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “It is through these relationships that we have been able to deliver the world’s most diverse series of smartphones to an even more diverse group of people around the world, recognizing that customers have very different needs.”

For more information on HTC’s history of innovation, please visit: www.htc.com/history.

About HTC

HTC Corporation (HTC) is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile phone industry. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC creates innovative smartphones that better serve the lives and needs of individuals. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

I was really excited last week as MIX10 was approaching.  Now it seems that every day only makes me sadder.   While I still hold a lot of optimism for what is down the road with the Windows Phone, I am no longer holding my breath until the first devices are released.  I know that some of you still are so I just wanted to give you a heads up that there will not (at first anyways) be any copy and pasting going on.

To all of you that just can’t get enough eye candy from Windows Phone, (neither can I no matter what I say) Here is the WPS7 Metro coffee table design book. So as for me I am still torn between this upgrade or another.  Are you willing to look past this small technicality?  Or are all the small technicalities starting to add up?

[via WMExperts]

If you were wondering what the hardware was going to look like for Windows Phone 7, here is a quick look at the three phones which have been introduced so far (thanks to engadget for the picture).   From left to right, we have the Samsung Slate, unnamed Asus phone, and LG slider phone.   While I am glad to see Windows Phone become ever closer to reality, I have to say I am a little underwhelmed by the offerings  so far.  Then again, there is still no word from HTC, dell, or any of the other hardware partners which Microsoft announced last month.  I am sure there will be plenty more to come before Windows Phone 7 becomes a true reality later this year.

Not a lot is known about the specifics of these phones, though we can see the standardized hardware requirements which Microsoft’s hardware partners will have to follow if they want to use Windows Phone 7:

• a capacitive touchscreen with at least four points of contacts
• a minimum resolution of 480 by 320 (though many devices will have higher resolution)
• accelerometer
• compass
• assisted-GPS
• light and proximity sensors
• ARMv7 Cortex/Scorpion or better processor
• DirectX 9 graphics processing unit.
• 256 MB of RAM and 8 GB  of flash memory (though, hopefully we will see considerably more than that)
• at least a 5-megapixel camera with a hard button to snap photos.

This all sounds pretty impressive to me, and a great start, and I think it is great to see Microsoft taking control of the hardware.  Hopefully, they will be able to stave off the problems they faced with Windows Mobile and the runaway hardware designs.  I would still like to know more about the battery life of these devices, and I truly hope that the memory will far exceed these minimum requirements, but this is more than enough to make my mouth water.   Plenty more to come later this year, I am sure.

[via engadget and intomobile]

As we all speculated, the Marketplace for Windows Mobile was just a beta test for the real phones to come, Windows Phones starting with 7 series.  (Oh wait, they aren’t dropping support for 6.1 and 6.5, they just won’t develop for it anymore.)  Only now they added a twist.  You can’t get apps from any other place but the Marketplace.  Okay, I guess there is a lot of support for this sort of thing.  Apparently the Marketplace is pretty.   Thanks Gizmodo.  I do, however, doubt that it will take long for this “perk” to be overridden like the iPhone was.  Check out Windowsphonethoughts.com for a video of the Marketplace in action.

Then there is the question of who’s apps are going along with this ride.  And the answer is a whole lot:

“The Associated Press, Archetype International Inc., AWS Convergence Technologies – WeatherBug, Citrix Systems Inc., Clarity Consulting Inc., Cypress Consulting, EA Mobile, Fandango Inc., Foursquare Labs Inc., frog design inc., Glu Mobile Inc., Graphic.ly, Hudson Entertainment Inc., IdentityMine Inc., IMDb.com Inc., Larva Labs, Match.com LLC, Matchbox Mobile Ltd., Microsoft Game Studios, Namco Networks America Inc., Oberon Media Inc., Pageonce Inc., Pandora Media Inc., Photobucket Inc., PopCap Games Inc., Seesmic, Shazam Entertainment Ltd., Sling Media, SPB Software Inc., stimulant, TeleCommunications Systems Inc., Touchality LLC and Vertigo Software Inc.”

Thanks to Gadgetell for the list, but I am sure that before the release of these phones we will see at least a few more developers getting on board.  Okay most likely a lot more.

So with the thousands of apps that are sure to be available in the next year or so and the horrible news that multitasking and removable storage are dead, why are the specs so low.  Intomobile has a release showing at least 256 MB of RAM and 8 GB of flash memory.  these numbers are far too low to allow for a stunning device running lots of apps.  Even if there is no multitasking.  OUCH….  In my opinion if you aren’t going to allow for removable storage then you have to bring these numbers up to AT LEAST the iPhone’s storage.  So with all this news just finally breaking I am sure that all you JAMM readers out their have some big opinions with what is happening.  Leave a comment and let us know your thoughts.