Microsoft is currently testing the much awaited Skype app for Windows Phone. Ever since Microsoft acquired Skype, users have been anxiously waiting for Skype integration in their beloved mobile OS or even just an app. Seems as if Microsoft has been working on this internally and a stand alone app will be released very soon for Windows Phone 7.5 and full fledged people hub integration will follow in Windows Phone 8.

As per The Verge, Microsoft initially promised to release the Skype app in late 2011 but that never happened. As we all know, Skype can really boost the usage of Windows Phone and I’m sure Microsoft knows that well too.

If the app is cleared after testing, we can hope for a green signal for Microsoft to unveil the Skype app at the upcoming Mobile World Congress this month. The app is rumored to follow the Metro guidelines, and why shouldn’t it? We strongly expect Microsoft to stick to their design language for their own apps.

Skype is a voice and video calling app used by millions around the world. Not only does it allow free video and voice calling across desktop, tablets and phones but it also lets users call landlines and mobiles for extremely cheap rates. Skype was acquired by Microsoft last year for a whopping $8.5 billion and ever since, deep Skype integration across all Microsoft products such as Windows 8, Xbox, Office, Messenger and Windows Phone is being anxiously awaited.

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iThinkDifferent - All things different about Microsoft, Apple, Google and the Internet.

The biggest issue that most people have with Windows Phone, including yours truly, is the lack of marketplace availability in many countries. What use is the platform if you can’t buy its apps or games? Apple has had this covered since the beginning, even in places where iPhone isn’t officially available but only iPod Touch is. Android has been following slowly but has covered most countries as well. We’re not sure why Microsoft, a company with global reach, is being so slow at it though.

We’ll still give them the nod of approval for their effort though as they’re slowly expanding in more countries. As per the news coming out today from the Windows Phone blog, Marketplace is now available in five new countries: Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru and Philippines. Since this announcement, it might take a few hours for it to be available for all.

Just one note thought: you’ll need to have Windows Phone 7.5 installed to be able to access the Marketplace goodies in these new countries. There’s no reason why one should still be on Windows Phone 7 anymore so don’t complain if you are.

Microsoft announced Windows Phone 7 back in 2010 with a brand new Metro UI and design language. While it wasn’t a breakthrough of a platform to start with, it has had some effects on competitors though such as Apple’s inclusion of Game Center as Windows Phone ships with Xbox Live built in. Similarly, Google has taken many design cues from Metro in their latest Android updates.

Microsoft followed up with an update to Windows Phone 7, dubbed Mango, and bumped up the version number to 7.5 to include features such as multi-tasking, better performance, new features in camera and default apps and much more. Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 8 update, called Apollo, is expected to have support for more screen resolutions, multi-core processors and more. With Windows Phone, Microsoft definitely has a mobile OS that can take the third place in the market.

You can find out more about Windows Phone here.

Related posts:

1. Microsoft: Windows Phone Marketplace Has 22,000 Apps, New Phones Announced [Updated, Video]
2. Windows Mobile 6.5 Marketplace Apps will be for sale in only 29 countries; OS built in 9 months
3. Mango update for Windows Phone 7 to bring Silverlight and HTML5 in Fall’ 2011 – ‘Apolo’ Windows Phone 8 expected in 2012
4. Windows Phone Mango Development Completed Ahead Of Schedule
5. Microsoft creates a tool that allows your iOS app to be ported to Windows Phone 7

iThinkDifferent - All things different about Microsoft, Apple, Google and the Internet.

Titled Facebook Messenger, Facebook has officially released an app for Windows which lets you chat with your friends, watch their recent posts in the news ticker as well as stay up to date with notifications. According to Facebook, the app is being rolled out to a limited number of users, which answers the question as to why there isn’t an official page on this but just a help topic entry only. Strangely, despite being in trial period, Facebook hasn’t called the Messenger app beta.

Facebook has previously released Messenger apps for mobile platforms namely iOS (Read more about Facebook Messenger for iPhone here and here), Android and Blackberry. Lucky for us, Facebook decided not to go with any third party framework such as Adobe ‘hog’ Air to build the app but has used native Windows APIs. The app even supports Aero Snap in Windows 7 – you can drag it to the side of the screen to make it stick there – similar to how Windows 8 metro apps work.

The app shows friend requests, messages previews and notifications. Underneath, it shows the news ticker, friends for chat and then the search bar. An annoyance we’ve faced during testing was that the look and feel of messages is horrible when compared to the Facebook Messenger apps for mobile platforms. You can’t see previews of images and videos in messages like you can on Facebook and on the mobile Messenger apps. Clicking on any of the messages in the dropdown in the header takes you to Facebook in your browser instead of opening a messenger window which really beats the purpose of this app. You can’t even change your online/offline status from the app itself either so in many ways, the app is very restricted.

For version 1, the app is pretty decent but we would like to see this app improved as these tiny bugs make it annoying sometimes. The notifications on the desktop make it worthy enough for any Facebook addict’s desktop though.

Download Facebook Messenger for Windows (Supported only on Windows 7)

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5. Microsoft Connecting LinkedIn and Facebook Chat to Hotmail and Windows Live Messenger

iThinkDifferent - All things different about Microsoft, Apple, Google and the Internet.

Apple is continuously saying that the desktop PC is dying. They claim that we are in the “post-PC era”. This is a very controversial idea, because most people don’t agree with it.

Microsoft has also rejected the idea of a “post-PC era”.  The software giant claims the PC isn’t even middle-aged yet. While Apple also agrees, certain things cannot be done on the iPad, that can easily be achieved on a Mac or PC, they do say that the PC is almost dead and the iPad is the future.

Microsoft has said that they believe tablets will accompany desktop PCs for some time, but they will by no means replace them.

“I’ll be the first to admit that these new “non-PC” objects do a great job at enabling people to communicate and consume in innovative and interesting ways. That’s not surprising, because they were expressly designed for that purpose. But even their most ardent admirers will not assert that they are as good as PCs at the first two verbs, create and collaborate.  And that’s why one should take any reports of the death of the PC with a rather large grain of salt. Because creating and collaborating are two of the most basic human drives, and are central to the idea of the PC.  They move our culture, economy and world forward. You see their fingerprints in every laboratory, startup, classroom, and community.”

We’re not sure whether Frank Shaw is directly attacking tablet manufacturers because Microsoft does not yet have a fully tablet optimized operating system. Or, he if really does think that the “post-PC” term doesn’t make any sense.

Tablets are nothing new to the table, however when Apple introduced the iPad, they completely changed everyone’s perspective of a tablet. After the iPad, many companies have tried to copy the iPad, but clearly some have failed. The Apple iPad still dominates the tablet market, and analysts believe it will continue to do so in the future.

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2. Microsoft cancels Courier Tablet Project – at least we know it was in the works
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5. Is Microsoft working on a Tablet PC?

iThinkDifferent - All things different about Microsoft, Apple, Google and the Internet.

Who was that saying that Windows Phone Mango devices will only be available this holiday season? That’s not true according to Peter Wissinger who is Microsoft’s Director of Mobile Business in northern-Europe.

He released an official statement regarding the matter, claiming that Microsoft has now finished Windows Phone Mango (ahead of schedule) and it’s upto manufacturers to release it to phones.

Microsoft initially planned to release the “Mango” update this fall to OEMs, so it could get to users by late 2011. But according this new report, it seems OEMs and wireless carriers will have more time to try out and approve the update for their users.

There is no other information indicating when or how existing Windows Phone users will get their hands-on “Mango”, however if manufacturers get their act together this could be fairly soon.

Microsoft first revealed Windows Phone 7.5 codenamed “Mango” this year during MIX ‘11. Microsoft’s Joe Belfiore demoed the update, which included multitasking support, new Bing features and Twitter and LinkedIn integration. More information regarding “Mango” was released during other events throughout the year. For example, Fujitsu is already preparing their first Windows Phone which will run Windows Phone 7.5. Also, Nokia is preparing their first Windows Phone which they seem to be very excited about.

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2. Nokia Windows Phone Mango Device Leaked [Video]
3. Windows Phone 7 Series development documents leaked – development in XNA and Silverlight, multitasking available
4. Microsoft Releases New Windows Phone Build For Developers
5. Acer W4 Windows Phone Running WP7 Mango OS Revealed [SPECIFICATIONS]

iThinkDifferent - All things different about Microsoft, Apple, Google and the Internet.

With the release of Windows 8 rumored to be April of 2012, and new builds coming out practically on a biweekly basis, we can only expect the rumor mill to get rolling. However, the newest fact about Windows 8 is not necessarily a rumor, but confirmed by Stephen Sinofsky, the project leader for Windows 8.

A new blog post about Windows 8 Development, titled Building Windows 8, goes over how Microsoft has broken up the development of Windows 8 into teams.

It is tempting for some to think of Windows as one entity or group, or for some to think of Windows as just a set of specific people. Sometimes someone speaks at a conference or has a blog, and that comes to represent the product for you. In reality, Windows is always a product of the whole team and much of Microsoft.  Nearly every development group contributes to building Windows 8 in some form or another.  And Windows contributes efforts to most other groups as well.

Sinofsky went on to explain in the blog that each team works on individual components of Windows 8. One of those components, is the App Store. That’s right, an App Store will be featured in the next version of Windows. We are assuming the App Store will run similar to OSX, allowing users a central place to download and install software, and get software updates. Below are the teams working on Windows 8:

• App Compatibility and Device Compatibility
• App Store
• Applications and Media Experience
• App Experience
• Core Experience Evolved
• Device Connectivity
• Devices & Networking Experience
• Ecosystem Fundamentals
• Engineer Desktop
• Engineering System
• Enterprise Networking
• Global Experience
• Graphics Platform
• Hardware Developer Experience
• Human Interaction Platform
• Hyper-V
• In Control of Your PC
• Kernel Platform
• Licensing and Deployment
• Media Platform
• Networking Core
• Performance
• Presentation and Composition
• Reliability, Security, and Privacy
• Runtime Experience
• Search, View, and Command
• Security & Identity
• Storage & Files Systems
• Sustained Engineering
• Telemetry
• User-Centered Experience
• Windows Online
• Windows Update
• Wireless and Networking services
• XAML

One thing that is not certain is how Microsoft will regulate software in the store? Will they have requirements similar to Apple? Or will they be a bit more open. Knowing Microsoft, it won’t be totally open. With Microsoft working on porting Windows 8 to Tablets as well, the app store would be a necessity there. So it’s no wonder they are also implementing it into the desktop version of the OS.

We can expect more announcements of the features of Windows 8 in the near future, with the BUILD conference coming up next month. Let’s hope Microsoft doesn’t blow this one like Vista and really pulls through.

Related posts:

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3. Windows 7 box art confirmed by Microsoft Store
4. Microsoft to open Microsoft Store on 22nd October
5. Microsoft Shows off Windows 8 at Computex

iThinkDifferent - All things different about Microsoft, Apple, Google and the Internet.

Remember the good old days of Yahoo! Mail and Hotmail, the time we only had a megabyte or two of storage? And then when Google announced Gmail with 1GB of storage, that seemed unbelievable.

Those days are long gone, Yahoo! seems to have disappeared, Microsoft did a complete refresh to their services, Google has more services than we care to know and new competitors have entered the market.

The three most incredible online services are the old Windows Live Services, Google services and the new, unborn Apple iCloud.

There is no doubt that all three of these services are to aid their respective mobile operating systems. All three tech giants want their customers to have a seamless experience. The question is who does it best?

Mail, Calendars, Contacts

Email is one of the most important needs in our lives today. Without it, we can’t communicate with our friends and family. With all the business work, school work and household work we have today in our lives, it is essential that we have Calendars that are smart and can notify us of an event before it’s too late. Most people today, also have hundreds if not thousands of contacts in their lives. Important and exporting them individually could be (almost) impossible. For all three of these services, we need storage, synchronization and a seamless experience.

All three services offer a great way to do all of this. Now it’s time to go into details.

Gmail: This service has been around for quite some time. In this time, it has had quite some time to evolve, and it has. Users now get over 7GB of storage, and all of this data can be synced very easily. Email, Contacts and Calendars used to be different apps, however now Contacts is integrated in Mail, but Calendars still lacks. This should be alright for most users, but for those who need to make calendar appointments regularly; this could a slight problem.

Hotmail: Microsoft’s service has been here for a little longer, but unfortunately Microsoft didn’t add much functionality to the service until recently. But, thankfully the service looks so much better today than it did six months ago. Users get 25GB of storage, which is more than enough for the average user. Email, Calendars and Contacts are synced quite well, there is one app where you can do everything, opposed to Gmail which has several applications which users need to visit to achieve an action.

iCloud: Apple’s iCloud is new to this game. In fact, it hasn’t even been released yet. According to Apple, this service is set to have better synchronization. The service will completely sync all email, contacts and calendars. One very compelling feature of iCloud is that it works with your existing iPhone apps, so there’s no need to install new apps or to visit a webpage. Another ‘feature’ Apple is really promoting is that there is no ads whatsoever. Apple’s service limits the storage at 5GB.

Winner: Google. They have been doing a great job in improving their service over the years and it works great. Gmail can work on virtually every smartphone. And that’s why they are the winner here.

Backup Services

Using cables to sync your phone is so 2010. Today, we want to wirelessly sync our data, and “cut the cord” to our PC.

Google: Google offers a service that backups all of the user’s phone settings and applications. This way, when the users decides to get a new Android phone, they can automatically get all of their applications back, without having to back it up manually. There is no limit to how much data can be stored.

Windows Live Services: Microsoft does not back up any user data from the phone to the cloud as of now.

iCloud: Apple has again stepped up the game here. iCloud is said to sync user applications (including App data), iBooks, music, device settings, SMS & MMS, ringtones and list goes one. All of this data is synchronized seamlessly between devices. The user only needs to sign in once, when setting up their iOS device. On top of all of this, Photo Stream also syncs the last 1,000 photos taken or imported, which none other services offer. Furthermore, documents are also synced between user devices.

Winner: Apple. This is clear, no-one comes near Apple in backing up data. They have nailed it.

Find My Phone

Loosing your phone can be very frustrating, whether it’s under the couch or really stolen. Not having the ability to their where you’re phone is, can be a deal-breaker for some.

Google: There is no official way to find your lost or stolen phone on Android.

Windows Live: Windows Phone users can find their lost or stolen phone, using GPS coordinates or using nearby WiFi signals. The service is very similar to Find My iPhone by Apple. Users are able to make their phone ring, send a message and view the location on a map.

iCloud: Apple has shifted MobileMe’s Find My iPhone service to iCloud. The service is basically the same. It allows users to track their phone using GPS or WiFi signals, make it ring and send a message. In addition, this service also allows Mac users to “Find My Mac”.

Winner: Apple, Microsoft. Both services are almost identical, but Apple can get a slight edge due to the “Find My Mac” service.

Extras

We have covered three most important features a user may want when choosing a service. There are more features a user may like as an addition.

Google: Google has countless services, we discover new ones every day. Anyway, other services that you may like are Google Docs which lets you create and edit documents. The service only has an online version, and can be accessed from a desktop, tablet or phone. Google Music is also another great service, it will allow users to purchase and upload their existing music to the cloud. The service is currently in beta, and pricing has not yet been announced.

Windows Live: Like Google, Microsoft also allows users to use online documents editing for free, the service is very advanced but is very slow and sluggish. As users get 25GB of storage, they can upload more-than-needed documents, photos and videos and share them with friends.

iCloud: For music lovers, Apple has iTunes in the Cloud, which will let you sync your music online. So, it gets to all of your devices instantly. In addition, it will upgrade your songs to 256kbps AAC for an annual fee of $24.99. Users can also create documents on their Macs, iPhone, iPod and iPads and they will be synchronized seamlessly. Apart from iTunes Match all other Apple services are free.

Winner: Apple. Once again, they have nailed it. They have kept prices down, and offered more than anyone else.

Conclusion

While all three of these services are great, and offer a great way to do mail, backups and find your stolen phone. Which one should you have?

The answer is much harder than you might expect. In today’s tech industry, whether companies say they are open or not, they are acting very closed and exclusive. That is clearly visible from all three of these services, they support all operating systems to some extent, but the core features are only supported by their respective operating systems.

Google claims they are “open”, but lately they have been the complete opposite. We don’t know why, it could be because Apple won’t allow it. But, that doesn’t matter to the consumer. They want the best, and don’t care why a service doesn’t have certain features.

All in all, Google, Microsoft and Apple have/are doing a great job with their online services. But, clearly Apple is the best here. They are new, and may not look the best at first but they are a whole bunch of these small features. And it is these that make Apple the winner of the best online service provider.

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4. Microsoft’s New Commercials Promote Windows Phone 7 and Windows Live Services
5. Apple now owns the domain iCloud.com

iThinkDifferent - All things different about Microsoft, Apple, Google and the Internet.

Kinect for Windows SDK beta has been refreshed by Microsoft and is now available for download. The new beta includes various improvements and bug fixes, aimed at developers looking to create applications for Windows with support for Kinect, the Xbox 360 motion controller. The official statement from a Microsoft’s representative regarding this update is as follows:

“In support of our commitment to encourage researchers and enthusiasts in their exploration of the exciting possibilities of the Kinect sensor, we have now released a refreshed version of the SDK.”

The beta refresh includes:

• Driver enhancements: stability fixes to prevent crashes, including those that appear when a PC goes into sleep mode
• Runtime enhancements: refinements to a number of APIs, improvements in time-stamping, and the removal of non-functional APIs to alleviate confusion (they will be reinserted if and when the functionality becomes available in future releases)

Download Kinect for Windows SDK – 32bit

Download Kinect for Windows SDK – 64bit

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[vai WinRumors]

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iThinkDifferent - All things different about Microsoft, Apple, Google and the Internet.

Analyst Gene Munster surveyed 216 mobile phone users in Minneapolis, MN about smartphones. While this is not a very reliable report (due to the low number of users surveyed), this does put a picture in our minds what the average mobile phone users might be thinking.

The report shows that over 94% of the surveyed iPhone users wanted to purchase the next generation iPhone. While only 26% of BlackBerry users want to buy another one, and even more surprising; only 42% Android would consider buying another Android phone, despite its high marketshare.

BlackBerry’s figures do not amaze us, as we’ve clearly seen RIM’s marketshare going bonkers after the introduction of the iPhone. Most surprising is Android’s figure, because despite the fact it is the No. 1 mobile OS in the U.S. it achieved a fairly low number.

People could be buying Android users because of the way Google advertises it to be “open”, but the fact is that users have to wait months to get updates. In fact, HTC Desire users finally received the Gingerbread update today, nine months after its release, when Android Ice Cream Sandwich is just around the corner.

Another reason reason could be that people were forced to buy phones compatible with their wireless carrier. People probably choose not to purchase the iPhone 4 when it came out on Verizon as it was already “last year’s hardware”.

Munster claims that the iPhone’s smartphone marketshare will explode when the next generation iPhone is released. Especially on the big carrier; Verizon Wireless. (via Business Insider)

Below are included some of the charts Munster released:

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5. Android Market and iPhone App Store to accept PayPal really soon

iThinkDifferent - All things different about Microsoft, Apple, Google and the Internet.

PRNewswire conducted a survey in the U.S., and concluded Apple iOS to be the most popular operating system in the smartphone market.

According to the report over 51% of consumers plan to purchase an iPhone 5 within its first year of release. When asked what they would like to see in the next generation iPhone, most people choose a better battery life and a close second was a cheaper price. Other features people would like to see are:

• Battery life (59 percent)
• Cost reduction (55 percent)
• 4G Network (46 percent)
• Larger screen (45 percent)
• Improved camera (42 percent)

Further on in the report, people were asked their what their preferred smartphone OS would be. The Apple iOS got an overwhelming 48 percent, whereas Android only got 19 percent, despite its high marketshare. Microsoft’s Windows Phone got seven percent and it beat Blackberry by one percent.

It is very surprising that both iOS and Windows Phone got more votes than expected. The Apple iOS operating system is still in the lead, despite Android having a much larger marketshare. This indicates that while consumers are still buying Android devices, they may be doing it due to carrier restrictions or high prices. Speaking of Windows Phone, it also got a received a big number votes, regardless of its 1 percent marketshare.

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iThinkDifferent - All things different about Microsoft, Apple, Google and the Internet.