Of all the companies competing in the cellphone industry, it is perhaps more than just a little poetic that Microsoft should be the first to offer a truly compelling product to rival Apple’s iPhone. I never thought I’d write that sentence. Yesterday at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Steve Ballmer unveiled Microsoft’s newest phone platform, awkwardly-titled Windows Phone 7 Series . Quick rundown; it’s based on Windows CE kernel 6.0 (the latest WinMo is 5.2) is finger-friendly everywhere with swiping, pinching and multitouch, sports a virtual keyboard and offers music and video playback via the awesome Zune UI. Oh, and, there’s not a stylus in sight. And here’s the thing; Windows Phone 7 Series actually looks good. I mean, it looks really good, even though it’s clearly unfinished. As such, the UI is a bit slow, finger touches are sometimes ignored, and it’s clear that the fancy animations and transitions are something of a drag on the processor. Microsoft engineer Joe Belfiore said of the new OS; “What we’re doing is building and delivering a different kind of phone […] a smart design that puts the user at the center of their experience. We’re moving beyond the phone as a PC-like item that moves beyond separate applications and brings together the key things that are important to people […] like pictures, and music and video, and productivity. Users have one simple place to go and access their web services, access the functionality in their applications, and access the data on their phone.

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There’s a backlash in the tech community against Apple’s iPad. Perhaps because the geeks and tech-heads are disappointed the iPad didn’t meet their every expectation. I wonder though if it isn’t just the result of a lack of imagination. Techies moan endlessly about the iPad’s lack of a physical keyboard and how “no one can do real work on that.” I have to wonder what they mean when they say “real work?” Are they suggesting, for example, all computer users regularly commit themselves to Jessica Fletcher-esque writing marathons? Do the vast majority of us really write 10,000 word screeds every week? Of course not . Most everyday computing consists of a few minutes of light email and web surfing. If a 10,000 word essay is the goal, the iPad might not be the ideal platform (though I suspect we’ll see plenty of people doing very lengthy prose with the optional keyboard). However – not being ideal out-of-the-box for essay writing doesn’t invalidate the utility of the iPad. There are a great many other complaints about the iPad, and they all end this same way. To those techies fond of finding fault with the iPad, I say this; the iPad is not for you . Instead, the iPad is designed for everyone else in the world, the colossal majority of non-techy folk who simply don’t care about cameras, physical keyboards or “closed” operating systems. Imagine this scenario; Meet Carol, a busy wife and mother. She just saw her eldest two kids off to bed and the baby is (finally!) asleep in her arms. This is a rare moment of blissful peace and quiet

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Section: Haven’t caught all of the Appletell news this week?  Here’s your chance to catch up on this week’s top 10 articles! Appletell reviews Camera Plus Pro and POV for iPhone “The iPhone camera is not the best. We get that. But with the help of the myriad camera apps out there, you can still get some pretty good functionality or pull off some good tricks. Here are two inexpensive but powerful apps to help you get more out of your…” MORE » iPad Keynote condensed to 3 minutes; full of great, awesome, and beautiful ”  Although Apple has posted the video of Steve Jobs’ media presentation last week, it may be a little lengthy for most of us. This is especially true considering most of the content in that video is a…” MORE » Apple awarded touch sensitive bezel patent ” Does the iPad’s extra wide bezel bother you? I know it bothers me. It’s consistent with other displays that Apple produces, such as on the MacBook Pros, but I still hate to see that much wasted space. Apparently Apple has…” MORE » Appletell reviews the CorePack Fly and AftPack laptop bags from Speck “Remember the good old days before the iPod and the iPhone, when you couldn’t rely on your iDevice case to convey your personality? Back then, you had just one thing to carry around—your computer—and that alone let passersby know every tiny detail about who you are. Well, some of us…” MORE » AT&T spending $2 billion extra to fix network this year; is it too late? ” AT&T, the company we all know and love hate, has stated in their quarterly earnings call that they plan to beef up their network quite heavily this year. Beyond what they already spend to upkeep their network, they plan to…” MORE » Google Tablet concept very similar to iPad ” Just as Apple announces their iPad, Google quietly begins posting images and videos on the Chromium Project’s site visualizing what a possible Chrome OS tablet could look like. While the interface they show looks nothing like the Chrome OS…” MORE » 101 Apple shirt designs for the Apple geek in you ” In order to be considered a true Apple geek, you need to own at least one shirt themed with Apple, Steve Jobs, or any of their products. There are numerous companies that make shirts geared towards this group of people, but…” MORE » iPhone OS 3.1.3 released “This week Apple released both the operating system as well as its SDK for the 3.1.3 version of the iPhone software.

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Section: Apple News In order to be considered a true Apple geek, you need to own at least one shirt themed with Apple, Steve Jobs, or any of their products. There are numerous companies that make shirts geared towards this group of people, but it can be a pain having to find the designs yourself. Thankfully, a blogger by the name of Coty has taken the time to compile 101 of the best designs and put their links and images all on one post. After looking through the list, I was delighted to see I already own some of the shirts, such as the one you see in the image above. However, I was also surprised at how many of the designs I hadn’t seen before. Not only that, but most of them are actually worth buying, too. The best part about shirt designs such as these is they have a style, color, and message for almost anyone looking to buy one. For instance, they range from politically themed shirts with Macs demonstrating “change” (much like President Obama) to shirts that help fuel the Microsoft-Apple debate. The list is definitely worth a look for anyone in the market for a new shirt or two. And for those of us who don’t work at the Apple Store and get those awesome employee shirts, these are the next best thing. Via [ Coty Gonzales ] Full Story » | Written by Josh Holat for Appletell . | Comment on this Article »

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Who knew Hitler was such a geek?

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Section: Apple , Rumors , iPhone , Carriers , iPhone In what can only be described with the word “finally!,” Hot Hardware is reporting they have information from an inside source that AT&T will be losing the iPhone exclusivity deal this Wednesday, the same day as Apple’s rumored tablet event . Part of the reasoning behind this is AT&T’s inability to beef up their network as millions and millions of data using iPhone customers pound on it in ways networks have never seen before. This is quite unfortunate for AT&T, as the iPhone brought their company hundreds of thousands of new customers, something that a good company should’ve taken advantage of and used as an impetus to become the best network. Instead, they have let is tarnish their image and network beyond a degree from which they can soon recover, in my opinion. While Hot Hardware doesn’t have any information on which company will be getting the iPhone on their network if this rumor does turn out true, they believe that AT&T is planning to announce many more smartphones on their network to compensate. However, losing the iPhone will probably be the worst thing that could happen to their company, so they’d better hope some of those phones are better than the ones we’ve seen from Android, etc. All I know is geeks worldwide will rejoice this Wednesday if AT&T loses their exclusivity, and I can’t wait to see it. Via [ Hot Hardware ] Full Story » | Written by Josh Holat for Appletell . | Comment on this Article »

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This is the week, folks. Just as time can be neatly divided into BI and AI (Before iPhone and After iPhone), it’s quite possible that after this coming week, the world will fall into pre-tablet time and post-tablet time. Whatever that tablet may be called. Join us, won’t you, in this last installment of the best Mac|Life articles from those innocent days before we all went gaga for a real, actual tablet. Features: – How You’ll Get Google Voice-like Features on Your iPhone – Google Voice users were naturally bummed when the App Store not only denied the GV app but pulled a couple apps that made use of this Google feature. Explanations were given, but they never rang true. Demonstrating that no matter how tall you build your walls, someone will find a way over, under, or around them, Riverturn, one of the app developers burned by Apple’s odd decision, has set up this tidy little workaround. With Black Swan, a so-called "weblication," Riverturn has created an app that works with HTML 5 and JavaScript in Safari to deliver something that’s a pretty impressive alternative to jailbreaking your phone for Google Voice goodness. – 10 Best Alternatives to the iTunes Store – Sure, the Store is basically built into your Mac through iTunes, but it’s not the only fish in the sea. While Apple may have finally decided to get rid of the dread DRM recently, a proliferation of alternate mp3 stores exist online, ranging from the confusingly designed to the chock full o’ tracks. We’ve looked at the best and the only so-so, the cheapest price to the highest bitrate, and we’ve got it all spelled out for you. So whether you kick it old school with Napster or pinch your pennies at the WalMart mp3 joint, we run the choices down for you. Reviews: – Call of Duty: World at War: Zombies – So much promised with Nazi zombies needing headshots, so little delivered in this mobile version for the iPhone

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You don’t often hear about geekware being associated with Valentine’s Day, but that’s just what Uniea has done.  Uniea makes cases for iPhones, iPods, MacBook, and more. And now through February 14, if you buy any case from their online store and you can get a case for your sweetheart at 40% off.  It doesn’t even have to be the exact same case.  Go to the product page of something you’re interested in, and at the bottom of the page you’ll see all the potential combos you can put together at 40% off. Uniea is also the company that donated 10% of all its online sales last weekend to the Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti. And if you don’t have a sweetheart, your humble writer here has an iPhone 3G, an iPod classic 4G, a MacBook Pro…

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Section: iPod + iTunes , iPod touch , iPhone , iPhone , iPhone SDK & Apps , Originals It’s been a while since I’ve posted a bunch of game demos, so it’s time that’s changed. This week I have three, along with some other great apps for your downloading and installing pleasure. Don’t be a geek, take a peak…at the list below. Sorry, I heard that in Vegas a couple of weeks ago and I was just dying to use it somewhere.  Anyway, here’s this week’s list: Rock Band Free – It has only one song, “Learning to Fly” by the Foo Fighters, but you can play any of the instruments in the game. There’s guitar, bass, drums and vocals in three levels of difficulty. I’m sure you already know the gameplay, but just for good measure, it’s very similar to Tap Tap Revenge and other tapping games. You have to push the right buttons at the right time, just like a real rock star. Should be great fun, and remember, you can always use a sound system to really rock out with your dock out! The White House – The official app of the White House and the Obama administration.  It provides you with updates from just about everywhere. There’s info, pictures, and videos, and next week they’re even going to live stream the State of the Union address, though we’ll likely be doing something much more tablet oriented around that time. Labyrinth 2 Lite – The sequel to the immensely popular Labyrinth game. You control the table with which to guide the marble from point A to point B. Obviously, it’s harder than it sounds, and this sequel doesn’t make it any easier. More challenging, and more fun.  You’ll like this one.

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Section: iPod + iTunes , iPod touch , iPhone , iPhone , iPhone SDK & Apps , Originals It’s been a while since I’ve posted a bunch of game demos, so it’s time that’s changed. This week I have three, along with some other great apps for your downloading and installing pleasure. Don’t be a geek, take a peak…at the list below. Sorry, I heard that in Vegas a couple of weeks ago and I was just dying to use it somewhere.  Anyway, here’s this week’s list: Rock Band Free – It has only one song, “Learning to Fly” by the Foo Fighters, but you can play any of the instruments in the game. There’s guitar, bass, drums and vocals in three levels of difficulty. I’m sure you already know the gameplay, but just for good measure, it’s very similar to Tap Tap Revenge and other tapping games. You have to push the right buttons at the right time, just like a real rock star. Should be great fun, and remember, you can always use a sound system to really rock out with your dock out! The White House – The official app of the White House and the Obama administration.  It provides you with updates from just about everywhere. There’s info, pictures, and videos, and next week they’re even going to live stream the State of the Union address, though we’ll likely be doing something much more tablet oriented around that time. Labyrinth 2 Lite – The sequel to the immensely popular Labyrinth game. You control the table with which to guide the marble from point A to point B. Obviously, it’s harder than it sounds, and this sequel doesn’t make it any easier. More challenging, and more fun.  You’ll like this one. Sherlock Holmes: The Game is Afoot Free – Every good movie needs a good game, right? Here you are.

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