Besides the whole turkey and family thing, one of our holiday traditions is flipping through all the black Friday ads to come up with a game plan for the next morning. If you end up making lists and compare the best deals, you are going to love the spreadsheet they've put together over at DealVista. Currently 5,212 deals, with categories and filters for your spreadsheet loving pleasure. Take a look and let us know if you see any screaming deals worth getting up super early and battling the crowds for.

While I have to stress this is really heresay (a rep's opinion doesn't count as official), this isn't completely unexpected given the relative age of the X1. But then again, it demonstrates that manufacturers aren't terribly keen on supporting their own WM devices for very long, something we've had to live with through the last ten years. Which is a shame, since the X1 isn't that dated, and I suspect the hardware is more than up to the demands of WM6.5.

"In what appears as another nod towards confirming how Windows Mobile 7 will look like when it is released next year, Microsoft has posted the Office Mobile 7 UI concept that we reported on a few weeks back on their main Office website as a screen shot of Office Mobile 2010. The image can be found on this page, although we are unsure how much longer it will be up. Huge tip of the hat to Stephen Chapman who originally reported this on his site, MSFTKitchen.com. This is yet another confirmation that this will indeed be the layout of Windows Mobile 7 when it is released. Only time will tell as we get closer to the scheduled release."

I wondered when we'd see an Office Mobile 7 story surface. I sure wish this was coming out sooner. But you know, if Office Mobile is created robustly, Microsoft could have a productive, professional hit on their hands. With the Sharepoint Workspace, users can feel like they truly have their office with them. I was messing around with the new Office 2010 beta on my desktop and for the most part - I like it. I hope Office Mobile seamlessly blends in well. What do you all think? What does Windows Mobile 7 absolutely have to have to be successful?

"Following the successful technical preview program, today at the Microsoft Professional Developers Conference (PDC) Microsoft is unveiling the public beta of Office 2010, SharePoint Server 2010, Project 2010, Visio 2010, Office Web Apps for businesses and Office Mobile 2010."

Office Mobile 2010 has hit beta and is up for grabs in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile for all Windows Mobile 6.5 phones. The latest version of the suite includes the favourites, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, as well as OneNote and SharePoint Workspace. If you've tried it out, don't hesitate to drop your thoughts in this thread.

The M20 is a mid-level, half decent handset that really focuses on GPS navigation (as you'd expect). The good news is that like a few recent device releases, the M20 is getting an update to WM6.5. The really bad news is that Garmin-Asus seems to have forgotten two not so insignificant markets - North America and Western Europe - or at least, that's what's implied by the press release. That's just...strange, unless we're really talking about carrier-imposed delays again.

"The Opera Mobile 10 beta for Windows Mobile looks and feels similar to the Opera 10 desktop browser and Opera Mini 5 beta. Opera is creating more cohesion between its products by introducing a unified look across many of its platforms. Opera maintains its powerful arsenal of features in this beta, including Speed Dial, tabbed browsing, a password manager and its super, server-side compressor, Opera Turbo."

Opera Mobile has for some time now been the best alternative (outside North America at least) to IE Mobile - now they've gone and upped the stakes with Mobile 10 beta. Just about any feature you're used to on Opera's desktop browser has been translated for the small screen, including tabbed browsing and Opera turbo (server side compression). Best of all is the price tag - free during the "beta" period. I can't find any info on feature or date limitations, or how long "beta" testing will last, but this one's getting loaded on my phone in a hurry. Click the link to check out the full press release.

At every Mobius event I've been to in the past, the content has been a mix of presentations that we can talk about, and some that we can't. This event so far has been radically different - the entire day was made up of presentations that we've agreed not to talk about. There was some truly eye-opening stuff; stuff that reminds me again that so many of the rumours we read about online are utterly and completely false. I think if every blog or news site went back correct the rumours they've been wrong about, they'd be too embarrassed to publish rumours...for at least a day or two. I lump myself in this group as well; hot and highly-speculative rumours are always fun to ponder, but they often bear little resemblance to reality.

Here's a list of who's in attendance, and the sites they are representing:

• Alex, Akihabara News
• Arne Hess, the::unwired
• Chris Ziegler, Engadget Mobile
• Dieter Bohn, Smartphone Experts
• Gianni Carfagno, SoloPalmari.com
• Jenneth Orantia, freelance writer
• Jerome Tranie, MobiFrance
• Derrick Ngan, Pocket PC Channel
• Joel Evans, Geek.com
• Judie Lipsett, Gear Diary
• Leigh Geary, Cool Smartphone
• Lisa Gade, MobileTechReview
• Matt Miller, ZDNet Smartphones & Cell Phones
• Michael Gartenberg, Gartenblog
• Paul O'Brien, MoDaCo.com
• Philip Berne, InfoSync World
• Rafe Blandford, All About Symbian
• Remo Knops, MobilityMinded
• Rich Brome, PhoneScoop
• Ryan Block, GDGT
• Sacha Fuentes, Xataka.com
• Sascha Segan, Gear Log
• Shane Chiang, Mobinauts
• Vincent Nguyen, Slash Gear

After the day of presentations, where each attendee received a 32 GB Zune HD (my first time seeing the platinum Zune HD in person - the colour looks better than I thought), we had an evening of dining and drinks, getting to see some of the interesting pubs in the downtown neighbourhood we're staying in. I don't drink alcohol, but I ate my weight in food this evening. There were some tasty dishes! HTC gave everyone a Touch HD2, which was an unexpected occurrence - I know that I was hoping I'd get a chance to see this Windows Mobile uber-device, but being able to leave with one was a great treat. My initial impressions? It's a large device - perhaps too large for some - but the performance and screen (great gods of pixels, the screen!) is truly fantastic.

That's about it for day one of this event. I'll update this article with further information if there's anything to share - but don't hold your breath; we've been told day two is going to be much like day one in terms of NDA content.

Over the years as the Windows Mobile Professional and Windows Mobile Standard platforms have gotten closer and closer together, I've looked forward to merging Pocket PC Thoughts and Smartphone Thoughts into a single site. Many of you have no doubt noticed over the past year especially that the content on Smartphone Thoughts has been largely mirrored from Pocket PC Thoughts. So much of the news about the platform is the same, only the application development for each platform - and the hardware differences - kept them apart. I've wanted to merge these two sites together under a single site name - a site name that reflects the current Microsoft branding - for quite some time, and it's been painful to have my flagship site bear the name of a brand (Pocket PC) no longer in use...yet I held off merging the sites, waiting for the day when Microsoft finally had only one mobile brand. Well, the Windows Phone brand is about as close to that as I can get today, so I'm taking this opportunity.

I'm also going to commit to re-energizing my efforts in the Windows Phone realm - we're going to staff up here at the site (stay tuned for the public call for volunteers), focus on expanding our review team to review more phones, software, and accessories, and strive to be even better at publishing the latest Windows Phone-related news and commentary. I want Windows Phone Thoughts to be the first place that you'll come to for the latest and greatest news and views about Windows Phones and the Windows Mobile platform. Let's be honest - right now it's hard to be a Windows Mobile enthusiast, but I believe that the best is yet to come from Microsoft in this space and I want to continue to support their efforts here - and, of course, speak openly when I think they're screwing up.

It will be hard retiring the name Pocket PC Thoughts - a site that has existed for longer than any other online property I've ever created - but all the great content, and you, the great community behind it, will live on under a new name. The same goes for Smartphone Thoughts - I'll miss that eye-catching orange design, but that core of what made that site great was the community and the fantastic volunteer Contributing Editors that have poured their efforts into it over the years. All that will continue to exist as I move the content from the old forum locations into the new forums. I should also add that more than a few things will be a bit...broken over the next few days as we fix glitches here and there - some things can't be fully completed until after everything goes live.

I welcome you to Windows Phone Thoughts!

"After last week's news, I'm pleased to tell you that Windows Marketplace for Mobile has today reached another major milestone by adding support for Windows Mobile 6 and 6.1 devices. This is an especially proud day for Microsoft because it marks our fulfillment of the Marketplace vision that we put forth only 9 months ago at Mobile World Congress. Last week we expanded the Marketplace experience to the PC and updated the developer portal to include stronger anti-piracy protection features for developers. Today, Marketplace is delivering some great free new features that enhance and expand the Marketplace experience to even more Windows Mobile customers."

Windows Mobile Marketplace is now available for pre-6.5 phones as a download. While I suppose you could have gotten it on your phone prior to now... the release today is suited for older phones and official!

"Konami has recently announced its 6 applications for Windows Mobile: Dance Dance Revolution S, Mobile Pawafuru Proyakyu (baseball game), Konami Sudoku, Konami Solitaire as well as the shooting games Gradius II and TwinBee. Except for the Mobile Pawafuru Proyakyu (available only in Japan) , all of them will be able to be downloaded not only in Japan but also in the US and Canada."

Konami, known for games the world over (and for codes that bear their name), is set to release 6 games for Windows Mobile in the upcoming months. And to think, their are people who think Windows Mobile isn't a fun platform!

A couple of things jumped out at me as I watched this video: first, that the Snapdragon processor/chipset of the HD2 allows Windows Mobile to finally be as responsive as the iPhone - and in fact, I'd argue it's even more responsive. HTC has continued to evolve TouchFlo 3D - seeminly now officially re-named to HTC Sense - and with this new release they've gone deeper into the guts of Windows Mobile and replaced even more than previous devices. You can finally create new calendar appointments in a finger-friendly way, and HTC Sense has been expanded in terms of built-in functionality; there's now a Twitter client, and the photo viewing software taps directly into Facebook photo albums and allows you to browse them as if they were local to your device. The rich, deep functionality of HTC Sense and the associated apps that HTC has created is truly impressive.

The question is, will HTC release this new version of HTC Sense for the Diamond2 and Touch Pro2 via a future ROM update? Or will they continue to use HTC Sense as a "buy a new device to get the new software" ploy that alienates HTC customers? Only time will tell...

"I've been honoured to have the HD2 in daily use for the last six weeks (thanks O2) and I'm very impressed with all aspects of its design and function - The Sense tabs that replace the Titanium interface work beautifully well and the deeper integration that HTC have done to hide the somewhat finger unfriendly WM6.5 interface make the device a joy to use - and yes I can say that the stylus has not been missed at all. The speed of the HD2 has to be seen to be believed (videos to follow) everything feels fast and smooth from the transitional tab navigation in the Sense screen to the speed of scanning photos in flow mode, or flicking through large pictures in the Album itself. Transitions from portrait to landscape modes in applications is nigh on instant and the same can be said when zooming in and out of photographs using the two finger pinch system. At one point I actually found I had fourteen applications loaded in the background (including heavyweight items like the Album) and there was no slow down in operation and no applications had auto-closed in the background. During the time I've used the HD2 there have been no problems with the device heating up or behaving in an adverse manner in any way."

I normally don't like to quote as much as I did above from 4WinMobile's review. However you can believe me when I say that I'm not quoting any more than my normal percentage! This thing is massive! And with more screenshots than you can shake a stick at (ANY stick.. large or small), it is worth a read. And I'm fairly sure it would make even the most ardent iPhone supporter admit that the UI is quite nice!

"According to ZDNet Taiwan, the mobile OS is now on track for a release to OEMs for testing (the so-called "Maldives" program) sometime in the first quarter of 2010, and will be launched publicly sometime in the third quarter of the year (or about a year after the release of Windows Mobile 6.5) -- all of which more or less lines up with earlier rumors of a release to manufacturing in Spring 2010."

To quote Inigo Montoya, "I hate waiting". While WM7 is still on track for a late 2010 release, that seems like a lifetime away especially since the code will be more or less complete within the next 3-4 months. The competition is getting more formidable by the day, and Microsoft risks losing relevance in a fast expanding market space. Will the improvements in WM7 make up for being Johnny-be-lately? One can hope.

"Holy. Crap. I don't think we have any unbruised skin left on our body to take any more lumps regarding our mobile strategy. The Microsoft Mismanagement theory is in full force as we throw any willing body into the Mobile effort...Look. Let's talk about device loyalty. I first started with owning PocketPCs. An HP Jornada. I loved it. When upgrade time came, HP had bought Compaq and abandoned the Jornada for the iPAQ (what, they had the iThing first?). So, unable to upgrade to the next CE, I cursed a little and bought one of those iPAQs. But HP decided not to allow it to be upgraded. So I switched to Dell to get their latest Axim PocketPC. Dell would be a safe bet, right? And Dell gave up on the line. My latest act of company loyalty: getting a powerful HTC WinMo 6 device. It was cut-off the 6.5 train, and soon, I'm going to be buying a new phone. And I'm going to buy an iPhone."

The blog run by Mini-Microsoft has always been a fascinating read, though I confess I haven't checked it out in quite a few months - I really wish there was an RSS to Email subscription form because I'm RSS-phobic now. But I digress...Mini-Microsoft is a Microsoft employee, likely in a fairly senior position, who uses anonymity to write some very poignant things about the state of Microsoft as a company. His (her?) take on the state of mobile at Microsoft is particularly accurate - Microsoft's decision years ago to completely cede authority to the carriers has resulted in a long string of bad decisions and poor treatment of customers. The carriers may want customers to think of their expensive smartphones are being disposable, but most customers don't think that way when they've spend $200+ (or much more unlocked) for a high-end smartphone. Mini-Microsoft correctly pegs this problem as one of leadership - and while I hear things are getting better, these new leaders have a lot of damage to undo.

I read recently that one of the reasons why Microsoft hasn't done better in the mobile space is because the revenues simply don't amount to much - Microsoft never took this space seriously in the past because it wasn't making enough money off it. They entered this business because they felt they should be in the space rather than let their competitors completely control it - just look at the Zune for another example of this - but ultimately, they didn't really care about it. Given what we've heard from Steve Ballmer over the past 12 months about Windows Mobile, I think that the leadership finally does care about the mobile space. The question is, what are they going to do about it?

"The HTC HD2 is the world's first Windows Mobile-toting phone with a capacitive screen, and also packs the world's largest mobile phone display too. It's also the first WinMo phone to use HTC's Sense UI, previously used on the company's Android handsets, bringing with it Facebook integration and direct Twitter access, as well as masking well the operating system beneath it."

In an extensive review of the HD2 TechRadar compares it to the iPhone (What else is new?) and while a complete review in it's own right, it does make me wonder: Is it fair to compare a business-oriented OS to a consumer-oriented? Or is it just that Windows Mobile doesn't fit nicely into purely business or purely consumer spaces?

"Just when I thought Windows phones had already one too many layers between the end-user and Microsoft, they've just decided to add in one more for good measure. Announced today, Microsoft has signed on a third-party, Bsquare, to be the first and currently exclusive distributor for Windows Mobile licenses worldwide."

This seems to be a total outsourcing move. According to the blog post, not only will Bsquare take over licensing of the OS to mobile phone manufacturers, but they will "also provide reference designs, communication stacks, technical support, training, testing and the like to OEMs."

Licensing doesn't bother me. That is the business end of Windows Mobile and has little to do with the platform itself. I do worry though that by turning over testing, tech support, reference designs, testing and more that Microsoft is further insulated from the device maker, retailer and end user. I am not sure how this will lead to improving the platform overall. Windows Mobile is woefully behind the competition in the marketplace today. Does anyone think this will help close the gap? I'd love to hear the reasoning behind such a view because the logic of it totally escapes me.

"Bell and Samsung today announced the exclusive availability of the Samsung OMNIA II touchscreen smartphone - the Official Mobile Device of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games - to operate on Bell Mobility's all-new HSPA network in November. The Samsung OMNIA II will be the perfect device for accessing Bell Mobility's upcoming offering of exclusive 2010 Winter Games mobile content. Clients can also personalize their Samsung OMNIA II with an included Samsung Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games decal."

Image courtesy of WM Experts

The most interesting part of this news isn't that the Samsung OMNIA II has been made the official phone of the 2010 Winter Olympics - it's that Bell, one of Canada's two CDMA carriers, is launching their HSPA network this month. Telus, the other CDMA carrier, is going to be doing the same - and both are doing so as a step toward an LTE-based 4G network.

"The results from the Mozilla Creative Collective's "Firefox Goes Mobile" design challenge are in, and I'm happy to announce that the winner is "Pocketfox", by Yaroslaff Chekunov. As the official emblem of the upcoming mobile version of Firefox, we'll be using this image as an avatar on social networking sites, on mozilla.com, on t-shirts and more. It makes a great addition to our portfolio of Firefox imagery!"

Somehow, hiding in a pocket isn't quite what I expected - but I'm not sure any of the runners-up were any better in capturing what Firefox could potentially bring to mobile browsing. At least, this has the advantage of simplicity. Agree, disagree? Sound off in the comments.

What's what? You want to completely immerse yourself in the Touch HD2, learning everything you can about it? Paul over at MoDaCo went off the deep end - in a good, geeky way - and shot a whopping 43 minute video about the Touch HD2. Pop some popcorn, grab a drink, and settle in for a massive deep dive into the Touch HD2.

"We have waited long for this device, but finally it's here. There were a lot of rumors about the HD2, also known as HTC Leo. Some people believed it would be a (killer) Android device and others told us that it would be the first HTC device with the 1 Gigahertz Snapdragon processor and a capacitive screen. The last party was right. The HTC HD2 has been released to the public with a Snapdragon processor, a large 4,3″ capacitive touchscreen, lots of ROM and RAM and all this in a 11 mm tick housing. Currently there is no other phone with these impressive specifications and comparing it to an iPhone 3GS only reveals that HTC has done a very good job and beats the iPhone in every single way!"

This article is a great walk-through of the HTC HD2. I learned several new things about the HD2 after reading it - the most interesting of which is that HTC has created a Wi-Fi Router application. It takes your 3G connection and shares it out via Wi-Fi, which is quicker than setting up the built-in Internet Sharing application. I'm curious how badly it beats up the battery life though - when I'm using Internet Sharing over Bluetooth, I can practically watch the battery on my Samsung Blackjack II drain. The HD2 is a very exciting device - and if it really does arrive in North America by early 2010, it just might become my next device.