MicroTechXP

Don’t think for a minute that Microsoft is ignoring the iPhone. In fact, the software giant is probing the gadget for profit opportunities.
For a little more than a week, a team of the company’s Silicon Valley software engineers has been examining the iPhone software development kit (SDK for short), a set of tools Apple (AAPL) released this month that let outsiders build software for the iPhone and the iPod touch. Microsoft (MSFT) executives aren’t sure yet whether they’ll find worthwhile opportunities to sell iPhone software – but they seem eager to find out.
“It’s really important for us to understand what we can bring to the iPhone,” Tom Gibbons, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s Specialized Devices and Applications Group, told Fortune on Monday. “To the extent that Mac Office customers have functionality that they need in that environment, we’re actually in the process of trying to understand that now.” [CNN Fortune]

If you have an iPhone, I just wanted to let you know that Apple has made available an unlimited plan just for you. That is for a fortune and a half that is. The plan is $119.99/month. It comes with unlimited voice calling, unlimited email and web surfing, Voicemail, 200 SMS Text Messages, and free Rollover Minutes and  Unlimited Mobile to Mobile. Looks like Apple is stepping their game up with the iPhone. We first learned that the iPhone would be getting java and now a “unlimited” plan just for it. Only thing I am surprised as is the 200 SMS per month limit. What is up with that? Considering SMSing is one of the most popular features on a phone, I still find it hard Apple would limit this. [GeekMadness]

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In addition to unveiling the App Store, a section of the iTunes Store devoted to selling software for iPhones and iPod touches, Apple today announced that it would enable selected developers to create their own private pages on the App Store to distribute content to a limited audience, rather than the entirety of the Apple customer base. Developers interested in creating their own App Store pages must register for the iPhone’s $299 Enterprise Program, rather than its standard $99 program.

iLounge Editor Jesse Hollington notes that private pages have already started to appear on the iTunes Store for limited distribution of standard media, such as unprotected audio and video, as shown in the screenshot above. These pages can be university- or company-specific, providing educational or other types of materials, and are not visible to the general iTunes user population. In the Education First Educational Tours example here, a user registered with an international travel tour is provided access to TourCast audio and video tracks through the iTunes U section of the iTunes Store. Unusually, the private page features an image of a touchscreen iPod/iPhone-style device with curves and a Home button-pressing dock never seen before; it is unclear whether this is meant to generically suggest iPod and iPhone compatibility, or represents a yet-to-be-announced Apple product.

News Source: iLounge | Engadget

The strategy to get its rich Internet app on cell phones is part of Microsoft’s effort to make the browser plug-in a cross-platform, cross-browser product. Microsoft’s bringing Silverlight to cell phones, partnering with Nokia to bring the rich Internet app browser plug-in to devices that use Nokia’s popular S60 software platform. Nokia will also make Silverlight available on its Series 40 devices and its Internet Tablet devices, the companies are expected to announce Tuesday.
The strategy to get Silverlight on mobile devices — and particularly on the Symbian OS — is part of Microsoft’s effort to make the browser plug-in a cross-platform, cross-browser product in order to get as much penetration as possible on the Web. The company is also working on a version of Silverlight for Windows Mobile, a beta version of which is due out soon.
Microsoft is coming from behind. Adobe has had a strong mobile presence for Flash for years. It has distribution agreements with 18 of the top 20 device manufacturers worldwide including Nokia, and according to Adobe, 450 million devices have been shipped so far with Flash Lite, which is a trimmed down version of Flash. That, of course, compares to zero for Microsoft. According to Adobe, Flash Lite has seen a 150% growth in the past year. [InformationWeek]

This morning Apple started sending out invitations to an event to be held Thursday, March 6. The topic? The long-awaited iPhone SDK. The invitation read: “Please join us to learn about the iPhone software road map, including the iPhone SDK and some exciting new enterprise features.” Finally!
Finally, indeed. Waiting 5 months for details about the SDK has been akin to torture. All will be revealed, soon. At 10 a.m. on Thursday, March 6, Apple will host one of its Town Hall meetings at its Cupertino headquarters to discuss the state of the iPhone. Apple will likely divulge information about the SDK itself, the approval process for applications, and information on how the applications will be distributed. Most people suspect that apps will be made available through iTunes.
The “exciting new enterprise features” also should cause you to raise your eyebrow a bit. Enterprise? Really? Does that mean full enterprise e-mail support? Better security? Or partnerships with mobile enterprise software makers? Only Apple knows at this point, but Over The Air will provide you with all the juicy details after the news conference is over.
One thing to consider. Apple didn’t say that the SDK would actually become available next week. It only said “iPhone software road map.” Since it already has missed its own self-imposed deadline of getting the SDK out the door by February, what’s another week or two before the SDK is really, really ready?
Link: Full Story @ Information Week

Competition is great, but jumping into a market “just because everyone else is doing it”? Not the best idea. Now, we’re not saying that AOL’s recently announced Open Mobile Platform isn’t something worthy of your consideration. The question, however, is whether or not we really need another another entry into the mobile platform mar ket. Either way, consider AOL a part of the picture. The former Internet giant is throwing their hat into the mobile OS sphere, throwing together a package that includes open source access to an XML-based development language, a mobile device client, and an application server. The company will also be providing open-source access to many of its current software offerings, including AIM, AOL Mail, AOL Video, Mapquest, Winamp, and more. The inclusion of AIM and Mapquest are noteworthy additions, but we’re pretty sure this will flop soon after it hits the market sometime this summer. Then again, we’re just one voice among many. Would you buy an AOL handset? Why or why not? [AOL via BGR]

Out of left field, Microsoft has bought Danger Inc.—best-known as the Hiptop/Sidekick’s daddy—for an undisclosed hunk of cash. Fear not, Sidekick fans, it’ll be business as usual on that front. But this pretty much confirms that Microsoft’s new growth strategy in areas it’s obsessed w ith but weak in is simple, ill-fitted assimilation. Obviously, the goal is to grab Danger’s mobile expertise, but I’m not really seeing the mesh here. Well, two words, maybe: Zune Phone. The full, official details after the jump. [Gizmodo]

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Sony Ericsson, the world’s fourth-largest cellphone maker, and Microsoft have stareted to cooperate in making smartphones, with the first Sony Ericsson handset based on the Windows Mobile operating system on sale by the end of the year. This deal means all the world’s top handset makers apart from Nokia, which is #1 with a 40% market share, will now have Windows Mobile versions. The Sony Ericsson model, na med the “X1,” will be a slider phone with a typewriter-style qwerty keyboard and touch screen. The marketing manager of Microsoft’s mobile business, Scott Horn, told Reuters he was confident of reaching the company’s goal of selling at least 20 million smartphones with partners by the end of Microsoft’s fiscal year at the end of June.

“We’d love them to do it,” said Microsoft’s Horn about Nokia. “We have a very good relationship with them. I think our hope is that at some point they say: ‘Why not just license the whole thing?‘” [Reuters]

That alleged leak of Moto’s 2008 lineup last year in Amsterdam is looking more and more legit pretty much by the minute. First, we got a glimpse of what appears to be the Skarven — a phone that’ll probably become the Z12 kick slider at retail — a few days ago, and now an alleged shot of the TEXEL candybar has turned up. As much flak as Motorola has taken recently for yawnfest industrial design, we’ve gotta say that we’re sort of digging what they’ve thrown together with the TEXEL here (assuming it’s real, of course). The striped keypad is vaguely attractive, the display looks plenty big, and we’ll always take a few touch sensitive controls to turn up the sexy factor a notch or three. If the originally leaked specs on this one turn out to be accurate, it’ll be a ROKR-branded piece with a morphing keypad in the same vein as the E8 and should break cover in the first few months of the year. We’re going to cautiously — nay, very cautiously say that you’re headed in the right direction here, Moto. [Engadget]

Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced major software updates for its iPhone and iPod Touch devices. iPhone users now can send SMS messages to multiple people and iPod Touch users get access to several applications that have been available on the iPhone: Mail, maps, stock quotes, notes and weather reports.
Most significantly, however, is the addition of a GPS-like positioning feature: Rather than using a GPS receiver, Apple consulted with Google and Skyhook Wireless to come up with a technology that uses triangular Wi-Fi and cellular beacon layouts to determine the location of a device. iPhone users will be able to take advantage of the new feature through the free iPhone software upgrade 1.1.3, while people who already have purchased an iPod Touch will have to shell out an extra $20 for the upgrade. All new iPod Touch devices will come with the positioning feature without extra cost. [Toms Guide]