Windows Phone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

What if filling up on Microsoft Points was as easy as picking up your phone and having the cost added to your phone bill? That's how it is for NTT DoCoMo users in Japan, and hopefully, that's just a starting point.

If Microsoft is working with other carriers to make this available around the world, great. If not, they probably should. A vast majority of Xbox Live Marketplace and Zune Marketplace users probably have a mobile device of some sort - some have their reasons against directly linking their Windows Live ID and credit card together, while others don't always want to make the trek to their local store to pick up one of the many Microsoft Points cards on offer, so this third option makes a lot of sense.

"For one day only on Amazon.com, get any AT&T phone for only one penny when you purchase a new 2-year service plan. The cost of these phones is either a penny - or better than free, making the purchase cash-positive with rebate after purchase. The Tilt, BlackBerry 8820, and Treo 680 or Treo 750 are a penny or less after rebate. Get bestselling phones like the RAZR2 and the BlackBerry Curve for a drastically reduced price. Don't miss out on this opportunity -- tomorrow it will be gone."



No, your eyes are not deceiving you. All AT&T phones are on Amazon for one cent or less. Uh... less, you say? Yep, factor in those rebates and you can actually rake in a bit of cash just for picking up one of these phones. Focusing on Windows Mobile, there's the Tilt for $-0.01, the Blackjack II for $-49.99, the Motorola Q9h for $-24.99, and the Treo 750 for $-0.01. And if you're looking at other devices as well, there's a chance to pocket up to $150. Of course, these are all on a contract, but are great deals nonetheless. Better hurry - one day only!

"LG is challenging you to come up with the next great phone. You could win: money, LG LCDs, new phones and home entertainment prizes. So tear off a sheet in your sketch book or fire up your favorite design app and channel your creativity toward the next LG Phone. You have until 4/30/08."



LG hasn't offered a great deal in the Windows Mobile space, but that could change with a bit of ingenuity. Concoct something great, and you could win big. Get crackin' - only eight days to go!

"The ASUS P527 Windows Mobile 6 Professional Pocket PC phone doesn’t have a slide-out keyboard, in fact it doesn’t have a QWERTY keyboard at all. Instead it has a number pad along with two columns of dedicated menu buttons....The ASUS P527 is a quad band GSM world phone with EDGE/GPRS for data. Sorry no 3G. It’s sold unlocked for use with any GSM carrier. The PDA phone is powered by a 200MHz TI OMAP processor, with 64MB of RAM and 128MB of flash ROM. The smartphone runs the Windows Mobile 6 Professional operating system and has integrated Bluetooth v2.0 +EDR and Wi-Fi 802.11b/g. The ASUS has an integrated 2-megapixel camera with auto-focus lens and the camera application uses the 2.6” LCD as its viewfinder. For road warriors, the P527 offers built-in GPS with the SiRF III chipset, navigation software and North America maps and POIs (on the $599 version). Additional features include a microSD card slot supporting SDHC, an FM radio and Business card reader."



If you've been wanting a Pocket PC Phone in the US that ISN'T designed by HTC, your choices have been very slim. Finally, ASUS officially enters the unlocked GSM phone market in North America with it's candy-bar style P527. While it lacks 3G, which could be a problem for AT&T users, it has other benefits, including SiRF III GPS, which doesn't require a monthly subscription like aGPS. Check out the full review at MobileTechReview.

"Putting Windows Mobile 6's user interface at ease with fat fingers is a monumental challenge -- but it's not a challenge manufacturers are shying away from. Perhaps they see devices like the iPhone as a threat they can't ignore any longer, or perhaps they're simply tired of waiting for Microsoft to roll something truly revolutionary, but at any rate, companies like HTC with its TouchFLO interface are doing pretty much everything they can to keep the stylus firmly locked away. That's where the LG KS20 comes into play, which steals as much of the Viewty's identity as it can while still keeping Windows Mobile 6 under the hood."





Engadget Mobile has put together a little bit of commentary with a lot of pictures on the LG KS20. Mostly it seems to be a nice looking phone with fair capabilities, but don't expect to be wow'd by this WM 6 contender, especially with the lack of widespread North American HSDPA. From the pictures, it looks like it would be a real fingerprint and scratch magnet! Anyone played with the KS20 and if so, was it a keeper?

The concept of an integrated number keypad and QWERTY keyboard is neat, although I'm not sure if the design is a winner. The device seems a little long, but probably can't be much longer than existing Pocket PCs (or should I say, Windows Mobile Professional devices) with slide-out QWERTY keyboards. And the diagonal-sliding display? Let's hope it manages to stay securely in place even after months of use. Your thoughts on this one?