microsoft smartphone

Microsoft and component suppliers in Asia are in the initial stages of testing a smartphone design, according to a report Thursday in the Wall Street Journal.

A source cited in the report says the phone has a screen size of between four and five inches.

Top smartphones from Samsung, Apple, HTC, and Motorola all have screen sizes in that range.

But officials at component suppliers added that they're not sure if the Microsoft phone would go into mass production, according to the report. Microsoft did not respond to a request for comment.

If Microsoft does follow through and pushes … Read more

Your smartphone or tablet will soon be able to control and display games and movies from an Xbox 360.

Set to be released along with Windows 8 this Friday, Microsoft's new SmartGlass app is designed to bridge the gap between the Xbox and mobile devices.

The free app will naturally support Windows 8 and Windows RT tablets and PCs as well as Windows Phone 8 devices. But it will also run on iOS and Android devices.

As described in a blog by Yusuf Mehdi, chief marketing officer for Microsoft's Interactive Entertainment Division, Xbox 360 owners will be able … Read more

Although Windows Phone 8 handsets aren't expected to launch until October 29, rumor has it that several will be ready for pre-order from AT&T as early as October 21, according to The Verge.

Inside sources have revealed to The Verge that the carrier will begin taking pre-orders on the HTC 8X, Nokia's Lumia 920, Samsung's Ativ Smart PC, and the Asus Vivo Tab RT.

AT&T is slated to sell both Nokia's Lumia 920 and 820 Windows Phone devices, which are the latest in the carrier's lineup of mobile devices. The Lumia … Read more

Previously showcased as the ZTE Orbit during this year's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, the ZTE Render is a Windows Phone 7.5 Tango handset available from U.S. Cellular.

The phone sports a 4-inch WVGA display, a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash, and 4GB of onboard memory.

It's also powered by a 1,600mAh lithium ion battery and a 1GHz processor.

In addition, as a Windows Phone device, the Render features Xbox Live, Zune music and video portals, Microsoft Office, and 7GB of SkyDrive cloud computing storage.

Interested users can nab the device for $80, after … Read more

Apple scored the greatest gain in market share among cell phone makers last quarter but was stuck in third place behind Samsung and LG.

Looking at the three months ending with June, ComScore pegged Apple with a 15.4 percent share of the U.S. mobile-phone market, up from 14 percent the prior three months. Such growth surpassed that of the other top three players, each of which saw a dip in market share.

Samsung's chunk of the market fell to 25.6 percent from 26 percent, but the company remained the dominant player. In second place was LG … Read more

Microsoft may be making a branded tablet, but that doesn't mean it plans to extend the same strategy to phones.

Information Week quoted Greg Sullivan, the senior marketing manager for Windows Phone, shooting down that rumor. Asked in an interview whether Microsoft planned to apply that strategy to the smartphone market, Sullivan said: "No. We do not."

The denial came after Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund last week floated the idea in a research note -- though he did not suggest Microsoft had firm plans to build its own phone. "It is unclear to us whether this … Read more

Apple fans have long had plenty of outlets for displaying their brand loyalty, perhaps most noticeably through Apple logo stickers on the back windows of their Subaru Foresters. Now Windows Phone fans can get in on the nerd pride action with clothes and accessories from the online Windows Phone Gear Store.

The Windows Phone logo done up in the style of an "I heart..." message is available on everything from a large Thermos bottle to an infant bodysuit. You can never be too young for brand loyalty. … Read more

In addition to the BlackBerry Bold debut, Research in Motion also announced this morning an agreement with Microsoft to bring its Windows Live services to BlackBerry smartphones. Specifically, this partnership will allow BlackBerry customers to access their Windows Live Hotmail accounts as well as Windows Live Messenger.

For Hotmail users, you can opt to have e-mail automatically sent to a dedicated in-box on your device or combine them into a single in-box with your other messages. As usual, you will get BlackBerry's push technology for real-time delivery and synchronization, and there will be full HTML support. Meanwhile, Windows Live … Read more

Of the four major mobile operating systems (Palm, Symbian, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry), we hear plenty of complaints from users that Windows Mobile devices are the hardest to use because of the laborious navigation. And we certainly agree. Seriously, do you really need to go through several steps just to open or close an application? To be fair, Microsoft has heard the cries and made some headway in making its smartphones easier to use with Windows Mobile 6. But there's plenty of room for improvement, and the company is hoping its latest build will solve some of the problems.

At … Read more