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Microsoft Patents “Whacking” Feature for Phones

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Microsoft has recently filed a patent that would elicit two specific responses from mobile phone users. First is “why didn’t they think of this earlier?” The second is, “what possessed them to call it whacking?”

The patent Microsoft filed basically involves a new way of triggering a phone to go on silent or stop making a sound by “whacking” the device. You have to acknowledge that the process of whacking a phone to keep it quiet is, well, genius. It’s one of those things that’s so obvious, so basic that you wonder why no one implemented this feature before. [Read more…]

Microsoft May Introduce Curved Onscreen Keyboard for Windows Phones

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A recently leaked photo online showed what may be a new innovation that Microsoft is going to bring to its Windows Phones. The photo shows a curved, onscreen keyboard that you’re supposed to operate with just one hand.

The photo was leaked by website WMPoweruser, which also reported that the curved keyboard has been in development since a year ago. The curved keyboard looks like it is just going to be a secondary function or option to the more well-established QWERTY keyboard that has been implemented with smartphones and touchscreen phones. [Read more…]

New Survey Reveals BlackBerry’s Drastically Reduced Market Share, Android Still Top Smartphone

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The IDC recently released new survey results regarding smartphone market share and the results are very alarming for Research in Motion and its once mighty BlackBerry phone.

According to the IDC report the market share of BlackBerry has drastically fallen to 6.4 percent this year. Contrast it to the 13.6 percent market share it was enjoying just last year and you’ll realize that the BlackBerry is really in jeopardy. [Read more…]

Nokia Windows Phones to Be Announced Next Week

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Nokia has been taking a beating in the world market the last few years. The mobile phone manufacturer was once the top dog in the mobile phone industry. But its failure to adapt to changes in the mobile phone preferences of consumers – mainly from the typical mobile phones to smartphones – has resulted in a dwindling market share. In fact, the situation has gotten to a point where it is leaving certain markets because of poor sales. For example, Nokia has basically left Japan and it also hasn’t released any new phones in the United States for the last couple of years. [Read more…]

Microsoft Unveils its New Windows Phone, Social KIN

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Microsoft in cooperation with Sharp, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone has officially announced the new Windows Phone called KIN. Microsoft calls KIN as a new mobile device banking heavily on social networking features – the Loop, Spot and Studio. Manufactured by Sharp Corporation, Microsoft KIN will be exclusively distributed by Verizon Wireless in the U.S. starting in May and Vodafone in Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom starting this autumn.

To be available in two models simply called KIN ONE and KIN TWO, both of these Windows phones feature touch screen display and slide-out keyboard. The KIN  TWO also features a larger screen and keyboard and a 8 megapixel camera. While the KIN ONE  features a 5 megapixel camera. Both cameras boast image stabilization and LumiLED flash.

As a social phone Microsoft KIN automatically brings together feeds from leading Microsoft and third-party services including Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. The phone also allows you to select your favorite contacts who will given priorities for status updates, messages, feeds and photos when displayed on the phone’s “always-on”  home screen called the KIN Loop.

Aside from these the phone also features the KIN Spot which allows you to focus first on people and the stuff they want to share rather than the specific application you want to use.  It allows you to easily share videos, photos, text messages, web pages, location and status updates by simply dragging them into a single place on the KIN’s spot.

Another interesting feature of the phone is KIN Studio which automatically backs up text, call history, photos, videos and contacts in the cloud. KIN Studio gives you tons of storage space on Microsoft servers, hence you’d have more space in your phone’s storage.

Finally, Microsoft KIN will integrate Microsoft’s Zune interface for music, video, FM radio and podcast playback as well as access to Zune Marketplace.

So there. Microsoft has officially rejoined the smartphone arena with these two social phones. The question is – are you interested at all? Will this recapture Microsoft’s lost glory in the smartphone market?