The above infographic should serve as a guide for developers targeting the African continent.

Source: Afrographique

Skyfire is the proxy-based browser that delivers rich multimedia experience on smartphones across a range of platforms. The developers have announced that they are phasing out service to Windows mobile and Symbian.

From the Skyfire blog, Retirement of Legacy 1.0 Product:

we are announcing that we will complete the phase out of our legacy v1.0 product on Windows Mobile and Symbian on December 31st, 2010 for remaining countries. This two-year old product used a “proxy browser” approach which is no longer our vision. It was a revolutionary product when introduced and offered for free, but the fast-moving mobile market has changed significantly since 2007, and as a small tech start-up, we need to keep innovating forward.

Our new 2.0 product is built for the next generation of smartphones and tablets with full support for html5, offline browsing, javascript, WebKit, and full-screen video. The 2.0 architecture is exponentially more data efficient as well, and better fits the technology roadmaps of our B2B customers (wireless carriers and handset makers).

We do expect to bring Skyfire 2.0 to additional platforms, and have begun discussions with some carriers and OEMs to decide which will be our next OS. Microsoft’s new Windows Phone 7 and Nokia’s MeeGo platform are both shaping up as platforms with a lot of potential and the recent launch of the new Blackberry OS 6 with a WebKit browser core makes for interesting potential for a future release of Skyfire 2.0. We value feedback from our users, so please let us know what platform you would like to see Skyfire on next and just as importantly let your wireless carrier know that you want Skyfire!

Matthew Miller is one of the most objective writers around in the world of mobiles. He is one of the few people who understands the mobile space and is not bitten by fanboyism for any platform.  In other words, he is like me. He is kindred spirit. When I need to get away from all the hype and noise, I read Matthew Miller’s blog, Smartphones and Cellphones.

Mr. Miller has owned and used devices from vitually every platform and clearly understands their strengths and weaknesses. One of his owned devices is the new HTC HD2, a Windows Phone. You know, the one with a monster 4.3 inch display and monster specs. But his expertience with this flagship Windows Phone device has resulted in his giving up on Windows Phone. The user experience simply has him frustrated.

Matthew writes:

I have spent the last 10 days or so in near constant frustration every time I tried using the HD2 and I am just tired of the lock screen freezes, scattered operating system menus and pieces, inconsistent media experiences, limited 3rd party application availability, and more.

While Matthew is only one person, it is a sad day for Windows Phone when someone as level-headed as he is gives up on their platform. It speaks volumes.

Of recent, I was shopping for a smartphone for long-term use. By long-term, I mean at least 365 days. My options included three Windows Phones – Sony Ericsson X2, Samsung B7610, and an HTC Touch Pro2. Honestly, I couldn’t get over the vanilla interface of the Windows Phone OS, yet every available interface modification by individual manufacturers presented issues that I found difficult to overlook.

Either the modifications introduced inconsistencies in the user interface (one of the reasons I loathe using Symbian S60 5th Edition at the moment), or they consumed resources that hampered usability in some way e.g. the B7610 – having two media players, two calendars, two contacts apps, et al. For every stale-looking app in Windows Phone, Samsung created a pleasant-looking alternative co-existing with the vanilla version on the device. How intuitive is that?

I eventually chose something apart from Windows Phone.

Like several others, Matthew has walked. Too many people have walked away from Windows Phone over the last few years, such that its marketshare has diminished to critically low levels. Windows Phone is an endangered species. Can Windows Phone 7 reverse the trend?

In the beginning, we had Windows Mobile. Then came along Windows Phone 7 and we thought that was all. But almost everyone forgot Microsoft’s earlier acquisition of Danger, the company behind the Sidekick phones.

What Microsoft has done now is create a new Windows® Phone designed specifically for people who are actively navigating their social lives. What has been severally refered to as “Project Pink” has now been officially revealed as KIN.

KIN is a new social experience from Microsoft Corp. that combines the phone, online services and the PC. Designed for the socially connected consumer, and with unique features such as the Spot, the Loop and Studio, KIN helps you navigate your social life. It brings together who and what you love in a whole new way.

KIN is a product of collaboration between Microsoft, Sharp, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone.

From the Microsoft website:

REDMOND, Wash. — April 12, 2010 — Microsoft Corp. today announced KIN, a new Windows® Phone designed specifically for people who are actively navigating their social lives. Brought to life through partnerships with Verizon Wireless, Vodafone and Sharp Corporation, KIN is designed to be the ultimate social experience that blends the phone, online services and the PC with breakthrough new experiences called the Loop, Spot and Studio. KIN will be exclusively available from Verizon Wireless in the U.S. beginning in May and from Vodafone this autumn in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom.

KIN is a new social experience from Microsoft Corp. that combines the phone, online services and the PC.

“Working closely with our partners, we saw an opportunity to design a mobile experience just for this social generation — a phone that makes it easy to share your life moment to moment,” said Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft. “We built KIN for people who live to be connected, share, express and relate to their friends and family. This social generation wants and needs more from their phone. KIN is the one place to get the stuff you care about to the people you care about most.”

A New Kind of Social Phone
With KIN, social networking is built into the fabric of the phone. KIN has a fun, simple interface, which is designed to help people publish the magazine of their life by making the people and stuff they love the focus rather than menus and icons. The unique hardware design was developed in partnership with Sharp to create a new kind of social phone. There are two models called KIN ONE and KIN TWO. Both phones feature a touch screen and slide-out keyboard. ONE is small and compact, making it a perfect fit for a pocket and to operate with one hand. TWO has a larger screen and keyboard, in addition to more memory, a higher resolution camera, and the ability to record high-definition video. The 5 and 8 megapixel cameras in ONE and TWO, respectively, are designed for use in low light with image stabilization and a bright LumiLED flash.

The New Way to Share
The home screen of the phone is called the KIN Loop, which is always up to date and always on, showing all the things happening in someone’s social world. KIN automatically brings together feeds from leading Microsoft and third-party services such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter all in one place, making it easier to stay connected. Customers can also select their favorite people, and KIN will automatically prioritize their status updates, messages, feeds and photos. Another unique feature, the KIN Spot is a new way for people to share what’s going on in their world. It lets them focus first on the people and stuff they want to share rather than the specific application they want to use. Videos, photos, text messages, Web pages, location and status updates are shared by simply dragging them to a single place on the phone called the Spot. Once all the people and content are in the Spot to share, the consumer can choose how to share, and start broadcasting.

Your Phone, on the Web
KIN Studio is your phone online. Almost everything created on the phone is available in the cloud from any Web browser. Photos and videos are freed from the confines of the phone and presented in an online visual timeline so they are easy to view and share. The KIN Studio automatically backs up texts, call history, photos, videos and contacts, and populates a personalized digital journal so it’s easy to go back in time to relive a crazy weekend or recent birthday. And the KIN Studio gives customers tons of storage to keep all those photos, videos, contacts and texts so they’ll never run out of space on their phone and lose a memory.

Music and More
KIN will be the first Windows Phone to feature a Zune experience — including music, video, FM radio and podcast playback. With a Zune Pass subscription, customers using Zune software on their PC can listen to millions of songs from Zune Marketplace on their KIN while on the go, or load their personal collection. KIN also has other features customers want in a phone including a rich browser with the ability to share pieces of the Web, local and Web search by Bing, and an RSS feed reader to pull down information on people and stories from the Web.

Two Kin devices have been announced – Kin One and Kin Two.

KIN One: 5 megapixel camera, 4GB built-in storage, no memory card slot, GPS receiver, Zune media player, and multi-touch

KIN Two: 8 megapixel camera with HD video recording and flash, 8 GB built-in memory, no memory card slot

Visit the KIN website and the KIN Virtual Presskit.

In a tweet today, Microsoft announced that they are dropping the “series” in the name of the new version of their mobile OS. Now, its just Windows Phone 7.

Yes; what were they thinking before? Anyway, all’s well that “ends” well. Windows Phone 7 is good enough. We can abbreviate it to WP7 too whenever our mouths are full (or fingers aching for typing so much. Cool.

Here’s the Tweet: Twitter / Windows® Phone: Tis the season for Series …

Via

It is good to appreciate Microsoft and the windows phone 7 seeming anomalous marketing. It’s no one’s secret that windows mobile phones have been doing badly in sales as of recent. With the advent of the iphone and android in the mobile phone world, the fortunes of the windows mobile have been dwindling even further.

To understand Microsoft’s policy of appraising itself competitively against these behemoth “foes” you need to appreciate the diametrically opposing world of the Google Android Smartphone and the Apple iphone. One is closed and the other is open source. One has defined offering and quality assured products throughout the retail units of their mobile devices while the other have a powerful OS but ubiquitous mobile products.

Apple feels that users should have the same user interface on their device. This OS can be thus used across similar devices as part of a large ecosystem of Apple products. On the other hand, Android provides a solid open-source approach to their powerful Smartphone line-up, and many manufacturers are allowed to alter them and use them at their will.

You see in some instance, Samsung, HTC and even Acer, adding their own UI on top of the Android OS. So, when you buy an android product, you cannot predict to 100% accuracy what you get in terms of functionality or user interface. A Samsung Android phone may be different in operability from a Samsung or Motorola’s Android device. Even an android application that runs well in a HTC phone for instance may fail to launch on a Motorola Android phone. Perhaps Microsoft wants to avoid this!

Now, Microsoft wants to regulate and strictly enforce a minimum standard for their windows phone 7. They want to use the model depicted above for the Apple iphone into their Windows Phone 7 series. They want to have a closed ecosystem complete with even an apps store known as the windows phone 7 market place, where you can buy monitored apps, analogous to the Apple apps store format.

They want a situation in which if you buy a windows phone from Samsung in Lagos, Nigeria and buy another windows phone from HTC in the UK, You will have the same user experience and you can predict the UI, functionality and similar apps would run in both phones impeccably.

Merit
One of the problems facing the windows mobile is the same that may lurk out at the Android platform later on. This is an inherent problem in open source OS, which is a lack of standardization. And possibly, universality. With this new approach by Microsoft, they intend to bring about uniformity in their products and perhaps they will ensure a quality assurance too.

When you buy a windows mobile phone you are sure of the minimum RAM (256 MB), in built Memory (of at least 8GB), No removeable memory card, One of the three hard ware requirements and possibly upgradeable OS via later firmwares. There is also a quality regulated application store, where apps from third party manufacturers are scrutinized and approved ala Apple apps store format. Microsoft even promises a more open approach to its apps store.

This system also serves their enterprise partners well. There is nothing better than consistency in their Business enterprise users. Their core business enterprise users will have a choice of different manufacturers and third party applications with the assurance that they will get a single OS, the same UI, and apps interoperability, no matter the source of the Windows Phone 7 series.

Shortcomings
This attempt by Microsoft to revamp its OS is not without criticism albeit forthrightly. For one, it is not all about updating and repositioning, but taking into account the preferences of their users and customers.

This new policy has its controversies because Microsoft in their zeal to bring about their new OS, have dived headlong into it, and have ignored some of the mistakes of their arch rival, Apple. For the sake of simplicity this will be enumerated below:

1. No multi-tasking at launch. Microsoft does not want to include multi tasking ab initio in the WMP 7 so as to emulate this function of the iphone and for simplicity. Whether it is to improve battery life or just for a simple interface, no official reasons were given in the MIX event. Not long ago, the Apple iphone was criticized for lack of multi-tasking and from the intensity of this it was clear that users love this feature. Why Microsoft should ignore such as an astounding feature seems difficult to appreciate.

2. No removeable memory card. This is self explanatory.

3. No copy and paste; even the iphone corrected this shortcoming in their OS 3.0. update.

4. No flash in browser; The lack of flash baffles me. In fact they were able to put silverlight (Microsoft version of Flash) in the OS and UI but exclude it in the most important area that mattered which was the mobile internet browser.

5. Tightly regulated Apps store; this may serve as a strength as well as weakness. The Apple apps store has been criticized for its lack of openness. Let us see if that would not be the case with WMP 7 marketplace.

6. The closed environment or ecosystem; There are many people who love the Apple closed system. Others prefer openness and carrier/ manufacturers configurability of an existing OS. That is why the likes of IG (with due respect) will prefer to jailbreak their iphone to get an increased user-configurability. But whatever model you choose, the most important thing a user may prefer may be quality assurance and similar User interface and ease of use in all the Operating systems of one product.

You do not have to start learning again and mastering the User interface of an android phone or a windows mobile phone each time you change a Manufacturer. I, myself prefer a closed but quality assured user interface. Like the PC Windows 7 for instance. It is closed for instance, yet accepts so many third party software/applications.

Whether you buy windows 7 from Dell or Acer or HP, you know what you’ve bought. It has a single OS and UI in all and similar software will run similarly in all three manufacturers. Perhaps that is what Microsoft is after. But then, they should not starve the OS of features!

Conclusion
New devices running WMP 7 would not be out until the “Holidays”. Perhaps it is too early to tell if Microsoft has a winner in its hands. But suffice to say that their policy has merits and demerits. Microsoft has created an easy to use platform, and also removed the lackluster UI of windows mobile. They want to attempt to create a successful mobile model in line with their PC OS model.

The WMP OS is simple enough and allows developers to make good thirdparty applications. The iPhone was criticized before but they have gradually improved their features and are still improving and selling in droves. Perhaps Microsoft will tow the same line if it has a compelling and fluid UI like the iphone.

The taste of the pudding is in the eating, and perhaps we should just wait and see how all this turn out. What will surely help Microsoft will be further improvement of features with subsequent firmware or OS update. If their policy is well thought out, and if they offer accompanying compatible customer support, we just might have a winner in our hands.

About two weeks ago, brym! sent Yom a mail with a complaint about comments posted via Opera Mini 5 for Windows Mobile. Here is the body of the mail:

Have you received my comments on your latest post? I also commented on the opera mini native post but didn’t see it. Both comments were posted using the new opera mini 5 native application for WinMo devices.

Of course, we hadn’t seen any of the comments that brym! submitted.

This morning, kay123 also submitted the following comment with regards Opera Mini 5:

Why can’t i post a comment from opera mini 5? Comments typed on OM5 results in time wasting, I have been observing this for some time.

It looks like there is a bug with the new releases of Opera Mini. Has anyone experienced this? If you have a Symbian, Windows Mobile or Android phone, could you install Opera Mini 5 and post a comment on this thread?

Meanwhile, here’s how to submit good bug reports to Opera.

Custom ROMS abound on a variety of mobile platforms. They usually spring from attempts by users to address one or more core and unresolved failings in a device’s firmware.

Take the modding scene for the Samsung i8910 HD, for example: Samsung promised a device that offered 720p video recording at 24fps, but that came out delivering much less on both audio and video formats. Samsung later released a fix for the audio, but that only messed up the video some more, leaving users with a bitter taste in the mouth. In addition, a powerful multimedia device such as the i8910 should not come with the 18mb free space on drive :C, as it does (latest firmware).

Thanks to the modding scene, Samsung’s failings with that device have now been addressed.

• Faster operation, more free space on disk C: (around 80MB! The official latest Samsung firmware has only about 18MB free)
• Full 24fps 720p video recording with higher quality audio capture; using the same settings as Vivaz
• Pre-autofocus in video recorder; re-enabling what Samsung couldn’t make work in the prototype firmwares
• Full kinetic scrolling across whole interface
• Better theme transitions

Source

This scenario of a lone individual or a group of individuals so improving on a device that the results produce a much better device can be replicated across other mobile platforms. For example, a great deal of such work goes on at XDA Developers.

The subject of the necesitty of custom ROMs naturally raise a few issues, which we present below.

Manufacturers
Why is it so hard for manufacturers to deliver devices with optimised firmware and that deliver what was promised? For example, is it so hard for Samsung to produce the same results as obtains with the HX-V3-17 custom ROM? Or Nokia with its litany of crippled devices?

Why sell crippled devices in the first place? Are there no testing procedures or is it that commercial interests override these? What of consumer protection? Any channels for legal redress?

Where a manufacturer has pushed out a crippled device, they should push out firmwares to resolve any issues as fast as possible as a matter of integrity and best business practice. A situation in which firmware issues remain unresolved a year after a device’s release is simply unacceptable.

Lastly, we love the way that Android handles firmare updates – even the most technology-ignorant users can get their devices updated with the latest firmware. Its all done over-the-air and in the background, though the option to do it manually is available as well.

Asking users to go through complex procedures of updating firmware by installing PC suite and connecting phones by data cable, backing up user data et al is simply ice-age and so not user-friendly. We would love to see the day that all manufacturers implement background OTA updates.

Consumers
If you have had the bitter pill of buying a device that does not deliver on its promises forced down your throat and you really want to get the best of your device via custom ROMs, do note the following:

1. custom ROMs invalidates your warranty (but what good is the warranty offered by a manufacturer if they can’t even deliver on their promise?)
2. the risk of bricking your phone (rendering it unusable) is always there. If it happens, you are on your own
3. lastly, the search for improvements to a device can be time-consuming and addictive. Depending on how busy you are with real life, it may turn out to be a tremendous consumer of your precious time flashing and trying out one ROM after the other

WMExperts have published news items confirming the following about WindowsPhone 7 Series:

• 3rd party apps cannot run in the background; only apps from Microsoft can
• Sideloading: the only way for consumers to get apps on Wp7S is to get them through marketplace
• No copy-and-paste
• Silverlight not available in Internet Explorer mobile, though Silverlight is built into Wp7S itself

It is looking like Wp7S is launching as what the first generation iPhone was. How smart is that?

It is almost unbelievable that Microsoft would do something like this. Would it really hurt them to give us the fancy user interface plus multi-tasking plus side-loading plus copy-and-paste?

Was it really that hard to implement these features that they had implemented for years in their existing mobile OS? Sounds like a step forward and three steps backwards to us. But, what do we know?

This strategy may work for Microsoft in terms of overall sales (it worked for the iPhone), but then Windowsphone will lose the patronage of mobile “power users”.

Read the full news items:

1. Wp7S Apps: No Sideloading, (virtually) no background multitasking
2. No copy-and-paste for Windows Phone 7 Series

Freewarepocketpc.net is a website that has been providing freeware for Windows Mobile devices for years. Now, the people behind that site have developed an alternative app store to Microsoft’s own Marketplace for Mobile on Windowsphones.

From the Freewarepocketpc.net site:

OpnMarket is compatible with most of the Windows Mobile Professional devices with touch-screens, once installed it lets you browse, download and install FREE applications directly on your device. OpnMarket will use you mobile network connection or a WiFi connection to download softwares to your phone. It’s simple, instant and FREE!

I downloaded it and working well on my i-mate 8502. OpnMarket is available for download from the Freewarepocketpc.net website.

CDMA mobile operator, ZoomMobile, has an ongoing “Xmas offer”. The offer provides five (5) smartphones and one (1) feature phone at extremely rock-bottom prices.

• Treo Centro (Palm OS): N11,999.00
• Motorola Q9c (Windows Mobile): N11,999.00
• Samsung 830W (Windows Mobile; Dual Technology: GSM + CDMA): N11,999.00
• Motorola Q (Windows Mobile): N9,999.00
• Treo 755P (Palm OS): N11,999.00
• Tech 101 (Dual Technology: GSM + CDMA): N7,999.00

Unfortunately, the ZoomMobile website is outdated in terms of information. You won’t find this information there.

However, should you be interested in any of the above, dash down to the nearest Zoom centre to pick your copy up. Hurry! Promo may end anytime (christmas is over!).

Note that both the Treos and Motorolas are EVDO-compliant, so high-speed mobile internet is in view with those devices, but you need to subscribe to the ZMBlast internet plan in order to have EVDO access.

Update:
For the benefit of those interested, we are publishing the various mobile internet plans from ZOOM below.

ZOOMmobile Internet Plans

1x Service Plans

• Easy Time (24 hours for 30 days): N10,000
• Busy Time (24 hours for 14 days): N5,000
• Business Time (Day Time for 30 days): N7,000
• Relax Time (6pm – 11pm for 30 days): N5,000
• Rest Time (11pm – 7am for 30 days): N5,000
• Cool Time (8am Fri – 10pm Sunday for 30 days): N5,000

EVDO/Broadband Service Plan

• ZMBlast (24 hours for 30 days): N15,000

Pay As You Browse (Pay B) Options

• Pay B 1,000 (10 hours across 5 days): N1,000
• Pay B 3,000 (40 hours across 18 days): N3,000
• Pay B 5,000 (100 hours across 30 days): N5,000
• Pay B 10,000 (300 hours across 60 days): N10,000

Nigerian mobile brand, Anabel, has unveiled an addition to their line-up of Windows Mobile powered smartphones, the PS212Y.

Classified as an Executive Digital Assistant, the PS212Y runs Windows Mobile 6.1 on Samsung’s ARM9 400MHz processor. Other specifications include:

• GPRS/EDGE network data
• 2.8 inch TFT QVGA
• 64mb built-in
• 2.0 Megapixel Camera
• Wi-fi, Bluetooth, USB port
• 1,100 mAh battery
• GPS

Other smartphones in the Anabel stable include: PS100 and PS185Y, which were premiered in February 2009.