The writing is on the wall with Windows Phone 7. It looks like Microsoft will be pushing huge with this new device into the consumer space later this year. It's a case of finally catching up to Apple. I've never been one to underestimate Microsoft when they have started behind - in fact in my experience this is where MS has been most lethal - just look at what happaned with Internet Explorer.

Some interesting links to consider regaring the Windows Phone 7, the launch and commentary around it:

Neowin is picking october for the launch:

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-windows-phone-7-in-october

Microsoft is setting up a dedicated gaming studio (MGS) specifically for the new platform:

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-to-open-a-new-gaming-studio-for-the-wp7-platform

Computerworld on the gamble MS is taking with Windows Phone 7 being focused on consumer rather than enterprise (not so black and white actually!):

http://blogs.computerworld.com/16622/windows_phone_7s_achilles_heel_no_enterprise_app_deployment_tool?page=1

The possibility of a launch event in Australia for late august:

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-phone-7-launch-events-rumored-for-late-august-asus-device-leak-and-more

Beyond Windows Mobile 7 - Project Menlo:

http://www.neowin.net/news/microsoft-menlo-project-uncovered

Complete guide to windows phone 7 on engadget:

http://www.engadget.com/2010/03/18/windows-phone-7-series-the-complete-guide/

I bought an iPad when they were released in NZ the other week. I couldn't help myself and my initial feeling is one of being very impressed with all the different things this device can do. I'll probably blog later on some of the cool things I'm doing with it, but in the mean time I'm looking at iPad mindmapping software and came across this good comparison site:

http://mindmappingsoftwareblog.com/mind-mapping-apps-for-the-ipad/

I'm thinking I will need some mindmapping software as I run around in my new job trying to absorb all the new information hitting my brain!

I'm also going to see what type of modelling / architecture software exists for the iPad.

This infoworld article on a very recent preview of Windows Phone 7 is disturbing. Very disturbing. If this is truly what Windows Phone 7 will be then it's going to be a diaster for sure. I hope MS improves it drastically before shipping. No multitasking and no cut and paste are big "WOWs" - especially after several MS people I know baged iPhones for the very same things!

I won't be personally getting one in a hurry but I am looking forward to my new iPhone 4 next week!

At WWDC 2010 Steve Jobs announced details of the new iPhone 4. As suggested on the iPhone 4G dissected post:

• Front-facing video chat camera (CHECK!)
• Improved regular back-camera (CHECK!)
• Camera flash (CHECK!)
• Micro-SIM instead of standard SIM (CHECK!)
• Improved display. (CHECK!)
• What looks to be a secondary mic for noise cancellation, at the top, next to the headphone jack. (CHECK!)
• Split buttons for volume (CHECK!)
• Power, mute, and volume buttons are all metallic (CHECK!)

Other facts:

• Hitting the US stores on June 24 - three weeks!
• Aluminosilicate glass - 20 times stiffer, 30 times harder than plastic
• 326 pixels per inch - 960x480 resolution. Finally a decent super res on a small device!
• Based on the A4 processor - Apples own after recent purchase of P.A. Semi
• Gyroscope and Accelerometers - Means measuring direction and angular momentum - much more useful for gamming interfaces
• Shots HD (720p) Hi Def video with direct youtube integration
• Significantly increased battery life - finally!!!

A good round up of the details on a Silicon Alley Insider article. Trying to find out when it hits NZ!

Good round up on Google TV from Business Insider. 

"Google TV takes your existing television experience and adds the internet to it. In short, you will be able to watch TV just like you do today, but you'll also be able to watch web video, surf the web, read websites -- whatever you do on the web on your big screen television. No longer will you have to crowd around the laptop to watch web video. No longer will you have to use half-way solutions like browsing through a Playstation, Wii, or Xbox."

Very interesting to see this technology coming out from Google. To see it being baked into Sony TVs as well as development platform from day 1, apple should be worried - as this is a disrupting to iPads and iPhones as a interaction device for the home. Microsoft should be equaly worried as this will definitely be a huge disrupter to MCE, especially considering how hard it is to develop for MCE (My biggest bug bear to be honest.... MS missed the boat on this one). I'm current using XBMC and I can get pretty much a lot of what Google TV does - but I can see how Google TV will be something else with a open dev environment. Definitely one to keep an eye on. Be interesting to see if it works in NZ.

This is also on the back of a huge amount of new projects Google announced just in the last little while. Very interesting indeed!

Good overview of the announcement from Apple last friday on iPhone OS 4 features. Scroll down quite a bit to get to the meat of the detail.

The most significant thing is full multitasking and app swapping. Very interesting to see how seemless it feels and although usability wise it's very simple it appears there is significant engineering innovation here. Especially if the drain on the battery is minimised. The APIs seem very straight forward and not only for the iPhone but for the iPad too.

The folder idea is excellent - one of my personal gripes about the iPhone is how hard it is to group like applications - so I'd glad to see this included.

Unified mail and multiple exchange accounts is good - finally be able to get all my calendars from my multiple hoster all in one place.

Probably one not to underate will be the social gamming network. This will bring some very very interesting possibilities!

iAd is interesting and an excellent platform - but they really need some better ad formats. Like Admixa :) !

A very very interesting article on the iPad as a productivity tool from Michael Gartenberg. One of my primary interests in the iPad is "Will it be a useful productivity device?". This article gives some very early insights and I still personally think there is far more to come. For Joe (or Joanne) consumer this device holds massive promise. If I had this option when I bought my ex a laptop (which was running vista), I would have given this to her for university ten times over - especially considering iWork should work with Google quite nicely for centralised storage. This could seriously start cannibalising the MS desktop/laptop consumer market and even light business use.

The iPAD has gone on sale this weekend in the US. 700,000 units sold. Pretty hot indeed. Downside is that because of all the US pre-orders it looks like poor old NZ is going to be left behind in terms of release dates. We aren't in Phase 1 - as we should have been tied to Australia but it looks like we are in Phase 2 with dates still to be confirmed.

Good article from Engaget with first impressions.

And below a preview video below of the iPad and how it looks and how it works.Very interesting - especially looking a video interactivity, gaming and social networking. My Microsoft friends will ride me for this - but I really do think this heralds a completely new era in interactivity, finally a slate anyone can use - even your grandma. I'm predicting this is the start of very big things. Wonder if MS (or anyone else for that matter) can even begin to match this!

Good video summing rumours on the iPhone 4G. Dual cameras, LED flash, slightly taller, dual core processor, more space, OLED screen. Personally I'm waiting for this rather than upgrading to a 3GS.

From the huffington post - some pictures and info on the rumoured Google tablet. Based on a version of Chrome OS, it will be interesting to see how quick this will be commercialised and available.