Author: Sajin Seethi

These days the number of apps available for a platform is becoming very important. With the introduction of App store, all the competing platforms are very serious about it. And Windows Phone 7 is not exception. Within 2 month of launch, the store boasts of 5000 applications as reported by CNN.com . Now thats pretty fast if you ask me. The count was 3000 on December 1st, 4000 on December 15th and now 5000 this week, so thats roughly a thousand new apps every two weeks. Of course this is nothing compared to the 300,000 apps on the iPhone App Store or the 200,000 on Android Market. But its already the same number of apps as Palm’s WebOS which has been around for 18 months, and about a third of the 15,000 on Blackberry App World.

Microsoft also says they have shipped 1.5 million devices to retailers in these 2 months. Mind you thats shipped to the shops and not sold to users, so we still dont know how many are actually in peoples hands.

Most of the popular iPhone and Android apps are already on WP7. Netflix is there, which Android users still dont have!! But if you were wondering about Angry Birds, sorry, not yet. We will keep you posted.

Partly reconstructed with AI. This post’s full text was lost when the site went offline. Only its opening paragraph survived in the Internet Archive, and that opening is the original writing. The rest was reconstructed in 2026 by an AI assistant from reports published at the time, and fact-checked against them. Sources used: money.cnn.com, engadget.com, gadgetvenue.com.

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Nokia’s phone management software Nokia Ovi Suite has got a new update today. Get the latest version of this free application at www.ovi.com/suite. If you currently have Nokia Ovi Suite installed, you can also update the software by selecting Tools > Software updates in the menu bar. Some of you may have automatically received the notification already, since the Suite tells you itself when a new build is waiting. Its version 3.0.0.284, about a 73MB download through Check for updates. Remember the 3.0 beta from Nokia Beta Labs in November ?? Thats the one, final code now, out on the last day of the year.

First thing you notice is the new Home view, which puts your content, sync options and recommendations for music, apps and games on one screen. Ovi Music is built right in now, so you get playback controls, the store and Ovi Music Unlimited inside the Suite, and you can drag and drop tracks from the computer to your phone. Maps got some work too. Street map and voice guidance files download free, which keeps your data costs down.

Photos and videos open in full screen, you can finally export your text messages and save them on the computer, and the install itself is quicker than before. Were putting it on here now, so stay tuned.

Partly reconstructed with AI. This post’s full text was lost when the site went offline. Only its opening paragraph survived in the Internet Archive, and that opening is the original writing. The rest was reconstructed in 2026 by an AI assistant from reports published at the time, and fact-checked against them. Sources used: allaboutsymbian.com, fonearena.com, liliputing.com, engadget.com, news.softpedia.com.

HTC has always been my favorite when it comes to hardware specifications. We know almost all the new phones from them sports a 1GHz Snapdragon processor and atleast 512MB of RAM. And if you thought you had it all, then you may wanna read this. HTC Thunderbolt(teaser pic above) has been speculated to feature a 1.2GHz dual core Snapdragon, the MSM8960 to be precise. The specs showed up on a German HTC fan blog called HTCInside, which got them from a German retailer’s inventory system. And the rest of the list is just as crazy. 4.3 inch touchscreen, Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 8MP camera with dual LED flash and 1080p video recording, a 5MP front camera, WiFi b/g/n, Bluetooth, GPS, LTE and a 1800mAh battery. 16GB of internal memory plus a microSDXC slot that supposedly takes cards upto 128GB!!

Before you get too excited, theres a catch. Qualcomm has said the MSM8960 will only start sampling in 2011 and ship in 2012. So either somebody typed the wrong chip name into that system or this whole thing is a bad rumor.

The Thunderbolt, earlier known as the Incredible HD, is supposed to be Verizon’s first LTE phone. The sheet also lists O2, Deutsche Telekom and Vodafone, so a GSM version may be on the cards too. Verizon is expected to announce it at CES next week. Stay tuned.

Partly reconstructed with AI. This post’s full text was lost when the site went offline. Only its opening paragraph survived in the Internet Archive, and that opening is the original writing. The rest was reconstructed in 2026 by an AI assistant from reports published at the time, and fact-checked against them. Sources used: techcrunch.com, slashgear.com, thenextweb.com, gsmdome.com, bgr.com.

Skype needs no introduction. This little lovely app provides one of the best voice calling solutions for free(skype to skype) and for cheap rates(skype to other phones). Two days back we heard rumors about Skype video calls and now its here. The new Skype app version 3.0 bring two way video calling over Wifi and 3G to the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS and the 4th gen iPod touch. Yes, 3G!! FaceTime still needs Wifi, so this is a big deal. You can video call other iPhones or Skype on Windows and Mac, and it works in both portrait and landscape.

If you have an iPad or a 3rd gen iPod touch, you can only receive video since there is no camera. 3GS users only get the rear camera since there is no front camera on it. And there is no iPad optimized version yet, sadly. You need iOS 4.0 or above.

Skype says video was about 40% of all Skype to Skype minutes in the first half of 2010, so this was long overdue. Engadget tried it and says Wifi calls work fine but 3G to 3G was quite poor, and the battery went from 66% to 61% in about 10 minutes. We will test it and let you know. Skype also has more video announcements coming at CES next week, so stay tuned. The app is free on the App Store.

Partly reconstructed with AI. This post’s full text was lost when the site went offline. Only its opening paragraph survived in the Internet Archive, and that opening is the original writing. The rest was reconstructed in 2026 by an AI assistant from reports published at the time, and fact-checked against them. Sources used: engadget.com, macrumors.com, theregister.com, slashgear.com, macrumors.com.

Two of the best Android phones from HTC are the Desire HD and Desire Z. Desire HD is available for purchase right away from flipkart for Rs 27499/- and now the same site is showing HTC Desire Z for preorder with a shipping date of 3rd Jan 2011. Now thats going to be a nice new year gift for those of you who have been waiting for a proper QWERTY Android phone. The preorder price is Rs 25799/- which is a bit less than the Desire HD.

If you were wondering, the Desire Z is the one with the slide out QWERTY keyboard on that Z shaped hinge. It runs Android 2.2 with the new HTC Sense on top, has a 3.7 inch 800 x 480 display, 800MHz Snapdragon processor and a 5MP camera with 720p video recording. A decent QWERTY on Android has been a rare thing so far.

Back in October, Vodafone had said both phones would come to India from November, with the Desire Z expected around Rs 27000/-. Then earlier this month we heard the Desire HD would arrive within a week and the Desire Z would follow with no clear timeline. So this is the first solid date we have seen. Its only a tentative date though, so dont be surprised if it slips a bit. We will let you know once it starts shipping, so stay tuned.

Partly reconstructed with AI. This post’s full text was lost when the site went offline. Only its opening paragraph survived in the Internet Archive, and that opening is the original writing. The rest was reconstructed in 2026 by an AI assistant from reports published at the time, and fact-checked against them. Sources used: fonearena.com, fonearena.com, fonearena.com, fonearena.com, fonearena.com.

Airtel Launches HTC HD7 in India at Rs. 29,990/-. The phone is a multimedia beast with its 4:3″ SLCD screen, 16gb internal storage, multimedia kickstand for handsfree movie experience and underlying Zune Music experience. Purchasing the phone from Airtel makes you eligible to enjoy mobile internet (2GB data download per month) for 6 months at a special price of Rs. 300.

This is officially the first Windows Phone 7 device to launch in India. Ajay Sharma, HTC’s country head for India, called WP7 “an entirely fresh mobile experience” and Airtel’s CMO Shireesh Joshi sounded just as happy about the tie up. Under the hood you get a 1GHz Snapdragon, 576MB RAM and a 5MP camera with dual LED flash that does 720p HD video.

Now about the price, Rs. 29,990 sounds a bit steep when the phone has already been floating around in the market for about Rs. 27,000, and Flipkart is listing it at Rs. 28,999 with free home delivery. But the Airtel route gets you the data pack, so pick your poison!! The phone is available at all authorised HTC resellers across India. We’ll try to get our hands on one soon, so stay tuned.

Partly reconstructed with AI. This post’s full text was lost when the site went offline. Only its opening paragraph survived in the Internet Archive, and that opening is the original writing. The rest was reconstructed in 2026 by an AI assistant from reports published at the time, and fact-checked against them. Sources used: fonearena.com, telecomtalk.info, dazeinfo.com, digit.in.