Twitter's Windows Phone app joins the 21st century

from cnet

The new version of its Windows Phone app brings it in line withthe design and features available for some time on iOS and Android.

by Daniel Terdiman

 February 26, 2013 9:59 AM PST

Twitter updated its Windows Phone app this morning, bringing it in line with its iOS and Android apps.

(Credit: Twitter)

Twitter today updated its Windows Phone app, adding a slew of new discovery features that had been included in the social network's iOS and Android apps for some time.

In a blog post, Twitter said that it had fundamentally redesigned the Windows Phone version of its app to be "in line with other Twitter apps," in part by adding an all-new navigation structure for those on Microsoft's mobile OS.

That structure is built around the Home, Connect, Discovery, and Me tabs that have been used for Twitter's iOS and Android apps for awhile. The Home tab allows users to see their timeline, and to tap on a tweet in order to see its full content. The Connect tab is built to let users see all their @-mentions or who has followed, retweeted, or favorited them. The new Discover tab is home to trending topics, as well as a place to find new content or people on Twitter. And the Me tab is a place for users to see and reply to direct messages, browse lists, and update their profile.

The new Windows Phone app will also feature buttons for instantly composing a new tweet, and for searching Twitter. Plus it will have "live tiles" meant to let users "pin Twitter accounts, lists and searches to your start screen, giving you quick access to some of your favorite Twitter content."

Twitter has recently been working hard to make its user experience consistent across various platforms, and today's move is just the latest in its attempts to ensure that users have a similar experience -- crucial as it builds out its advertising platform -- regardless of which OS

from abcnews

HP to Make $169 Android Tablet, Eschewing Windows

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By PETER SVENSSON AP Technology Writer

BARCELONA, Spain February 24, 2013 (AP)

Hewlett-Packard Co. is making a tablet computer that uses Google's Android operating system, steering clear of Microsoft's latest tablet-oriented version of Windows, the company said Sunday.

The HP Slate 7 will have a 7-inch screen, making it similar in size to the Amazon Kindle Fire. It will cost $169 when it goes on sale in April in the U.S.

Most tablet makers, including Samsung and Amazon, have chosen Android as the best and cheapest operating system for products that can compete against Apple's iPad. HP previously made a tablet based on Palm's WebOS software, but the effort fizzled. The company also makes a more powerful tablet with PC-type components for the corporate market, which runs a PC-style version of Windows 8. It hasn't produced a tablet using Windows RT, Microsoft's product for iPad-type tablets.

AP

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"When we looked at creating a real killer product for consumers, a very portable, very entertainment-focused device, we thought that Android was the better choice," said Alberto Torres, who signed on as head of HP's mobile devices division five months ago. Previously, he worked forcellphone maker Nokia Corp. "Of course, we continue to work closely with Microsoft on other products as well."

Torres didn't rule out using Windows RT in the future, saying the company plans a broad portfolio of tablets tailored toward different types of buyers. But HP's choice of Android for a consumer device and Windows 8 for a corporate tablet leaves little room for Windows RT, which Microsoft hopes will expand the reach of Windows beyond corporate tablets.

Torres said the Slate 7 will use a relatively "vanilla" version of Android. The company is avoiding the interface modifications Asian manufacturers apply and the deeper changes imposed by Amazon and Barnes & Noble for their tablets. The Slate 7 will ship with the ability to talk to printers, HP's forte. At $169 the device is aggressively priced, costing half of what Apple charges for an iPad mini.

HP made the announcement on the eve of Mobile World Congress, thewireless industry's annual trade show, which starts Monday in Barcelona, Spain.

Competitor Samsung Electronics announced a new tablet earlier Sunday, to launch in the April to June time frame. The Galaxy Note 8.0 will be slightly larger than the Slate 7. It will run Android and accept pen input.

Video: Getting ready for Mobile World Congress

from techhive

Martyn Williams@martyn_williams

• Feb 24, 2013 7:14 AM
• print

BARCELONA—Mobile World Congress doesn’t even officially start until Monday, but we’ve already had news coming out of the world’s largest mobile trade show. In this video report, we recap some of the companies making headlines thus far at MWC and offer a preview of what to expect in the Sunday build-up to the show’s opening.

The big news so far, of course, is Samsung’s announcement of the Galaxy Note 8.0 tablet, an 8-inch Android tablet with its own pressure-sensitive stylus. In addition to the Note, we also talk about a phone announced in advance of MWC—the HTC One.

Later on Sunday, you can expect to hear news from Huwaei, as the Chinese phone maker looks to make a bigger splash in the U.S., and Mozilla, which will unveil its Firefox OS for mobile phones.

Another example of how Microsoft's mobile approach is failing

from The Verge 

Posted by Brian_M on February 19, 2013 01:05 pm56

Check out the new HTC One being hyped up on the front page of most of the big tech sites (including this one).

It's a gorgeous device with an awesome camera that makes the Lumia 920 look decidedly dated and clunky.

HTC was planning a Windows Phone variant of this device, but had to stop development after Microsoft refused to increase the specifications for Windows Phone 8 to allow for a full 1080p display. Apparently that "goes beyond current plans" and is "more than consumers need."

It also has a camera that's very competitive with the 920's "PureView" including all the bragging rights around OIS, low light performance, etc. So that's no longer a differentiator for the WP ecosystem either.

So not only has Microsoft missed out on getting a variant of what will be the most capable phone yet released, but their existing competitive situation has been eroded even further. And when Microsoft does decide to update the "chassis specification" of WP8 to allow for a One-style phone, it will be old news in Androidland.

Windows dominated the PC landscape because it was the platform of innovation. Hardware makers could try all sorts of crazy things, and they did. Windows Phone 8 is failing because it's a platform of stagnation -- Microsoft sets all the rigid parameters and innovation is completely banned, except in tangential areas like camera resolution.

Bill Gates rightly noted that the company needs to return to innovation in order to win again. Setting Windows Phone 8 OEMs free to innovate on the platform would be a big step in the right direction to this end.

Are Businesses Waiting For Windows 9?

from informationweek.com

Michael Endler | February 14, 2013 11:06 AM

Microsoft Surface Pro: Is It Right For You?

(click image for larger view and for slideshow)

Even before Windows 8 launched, analysts were skeptical about the new OS's prospects in the enterprise. Since then, the re-imagined version of Microsoft's flagship product has posted a mixed record that compares modestly to the debut of its wildly popular predecessor, Windows 7. The upgrade has been available for less than four months, so Windows 8's fate is far from written, especially with the Surface Pro just becoming available and more powerful Ultrabooks on the way. Even so, trends suggest that businesses will continue to wait on Windows 8, and that Microsoft might have to wait until Windows 9 to reassert its enterprise status.

In an email, Paulo Camara, head of mobility services at IT firm Ci&T, said that it's possible Windows 8 adoption will pick up later this year, but because the "next Windows version certainly will include the strengths of Windows 8 and fix its main gaps," it "will have a faster adoption by enterprises." The important question, he said, is when this more persuasive OS might arrive. In the meantime, he stated that Windows 8 devices will exist primarily within specific business verticals that can benefit from mobility, such as retail departments.

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In an interview, Forrester analyst David Johnson similarly said that some companies are investigating Windows 8 in "pockets" but that few have found anything urgent enough to compel a widespread deployment. "Everyone seems to like Windows 7," he said, adding that the reaction to Redmond's new OS among Forrester clients has been "a mixed bag" and that "most of the time, the iPad is perceived as simpler and more secure to support."

"Windows 8 is still perceived as complex, as requiring user training and app redevelopment," Johnson said.

[ Have you patched? See Microsoft Fixes 57 Bugs In Windows, Office, IE. ]

It's important to point out, though, that Microsoft's leaders surely foresaw weak enterprise sales when they devised their Windows 8 strategy. Leading up to the product's launch, most businesses were still either recouping Windows 7 investments or in the process of migrating to Windows 7 from Windows XP. Given these conditions and the fact that Windows 8's touch-centric interface could only be enjoyed on new hardware, it made more financial sense for enterprises to upgrade conservatively, and businesses have since found additional reasons, such as compatibility with existing workflows and resources, to stick with their current OS deployments as long as possible.

It's not that Windows 8 doesn't offer IT-friendly enhancements; rather, as Johnson noted in a Nov. 16 blog post, it's that the enhancements only add value for employees whose jobs involve mobility. For most purposes, Windows 7 remains good enough. In another post, Johnson argued that consumers would drive Windows 8 adoption, echoing a point Gartner research director Gunnar Berger made in July.

Indeed, with the computing landscape tipping toward mobile devices, touchscreens and BYOD, Microsoft found itself without a strong foothold in the markets that will matter most in the future. It needed to establish a presence in the consumer-driven mobile space while both supporting traditional users and conditioning them to the new touch interface.

"It's a strategy of hope that people want to gravitate toward the new interface," said Johnson. Unfortunately for Microsoft, Johnson said, "initial signs are not positive." Redmond might not have been banking on enterprise sales, but it's likely the company hoped for better traction from consumers, whose initial enthusiasm for Windows 8 tablets appears to have been dampened by experience with the available options.

Forthcoming devices could still reverse this trend, of course. Microsoft could still win by focusing on tablet mindshare over enterprise adoption rates. Even so, if consumers are currently a more meaningful barometer than businesses, the progress hasn't been auspicious.

But what about the enterprise?

Page 2: Does Microsoft See 'Blue' Skies Ahead?

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