LAS VEGAS -- We were promised more answers at MIX10, and now we're getting them. Microsoft this morning announced its developer tools for Windows Phone 7 Series.

Front and center is Silverlight. The Silverlight 4 Release Candidate is now available, "which will enable developers to create and deploy even more robust applications and rich interactive experiences." It finally brings what was born as a Flash alternative to the mobile space -- and not just as another way to view content in a browser. Silverlight's a major player here, folks, along with the XNA framework that's already been discussed.

Developer tools are free, including Expression Blend, and a preview of Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express is part of the download. What, you're not up on your Expression Blend? It's a "development workflow tool which includes features such as Path Layout to enable developers and designers to build and animate innovative UI design via ground-breaking visual layout mechanism, without the need to write code. The beta also supports Silverlight 4, .NET Framework 4 and Visual Studio 2010." Think of it as more of a visual tool, rather than coding line by line.

Windows Phone Marketplace replaces the Windows Marketplace for Mobile (finally, Microsoft manages to find a shorter name for something), which brings "a new merchandising tool that will enable developers and designers to bring applications and games to market and increase the discoverability of applications with customers while supporting one-time credit card purchases, mobile operator billing and advertising-funded applications."

There's tons more to come this week, and we'll dive deeper into things as the week progresses.

It has been quite a few weeks since Opera graced us with a new beta of Opera Mobile 10 and we've been wondering just what have they been up to in the mean time.

The answer is they've been busy adding Flash Lite support to the browser in addition to improving speed by 50% (according to them).  Not bad, not bad. Then again, they were rumored to be adding Flash lite one year ago.

To refresh, Flash Lite is what Mobile Internet Explorer has been using for at least a year already (Microsoft really doesn't get enough credit for that fact). It's not full Flash, but it will allow you to watch YouTube and some other embedded videos within the browser, which is a start. In fact, due to the aging OS and standard hardware, doing full Flash would really drag the device down.

Other fixes/changes include:

• keypad/smartphone support
• Flash Lite 3.1 support (disabled by default)
• Complete bookmark sync in Opera Link
• BIDI support also for language extensions
• phone numbers in plain text are converted to links
• support for background sound
• general bug fixing (stability, UI)

That's right Standard users, you finally get keypad support!  Looks like Opera didn't forget you exist.  To turn on Flash Lite, since it is off by default, go to Tools --> Settings --> Advanced and set Plug-ins to “On”.

Grab the browser here: www.opera.com/mobile/download

[via RedmondPie]

Whew, busy day for software.

Crashing in on Google Map's update today is none other than Microsoft who has effectively re-launched their Bing service.

First up is the browser client, which now offers a "Streetside and enhanced aerial view" in addition to normal maps and uses Silverlight (something we heard about yesterday) to power it all.  There's also an "application gallery" which

...will give users the opportunity to develop “geospatially rich data visualization applications.” Users can seek out applications such as Travel Webcams and Twitter Maps, which uses Twitter’s newly released geolocation tool to map their geographic location as they tweet — even from the Streetside mode.

In conjunction, Microsoft has also revamped Bing Mobile v5.0, which was something it needed as the old user interface was...well old and not very touch friendly.

Overall, the visual changes go a long way to making this standout program even better and the new"wait screen" is a nice twist. However, they also took out some things like gas prices and it is a little slow to load and keep in the background.  Still, we'll assume it will only be improved  upon.

Sound off in comments on your likes/dislikes or new things you found!

• Web:  www.bing.com
• Mobile: (via Mobile IE, not Opera): m.bing.com\download

[Microsoft Press Release]

For those who just can't wait till Opera 9.7+ and want to add Flash support to your existing in-ROM Opera Mobile browser, aDEO at XDA has updated that amazing little tool called fixOperaFlash.

Hacking Flash into Opera has been around for awhile, but aDEO's app makes it the process a matter of clicking a few buttons with a fancy and sophisticated installer. The program was just recently updated to v1.5.2, with updated Flash library package and some minor bug fixes.

Basically you just download the .exe, put it into your \Windows\Opera direction, run it and follow the directions so detailed here.  Make sure you choose the right device from the selector.

So how does it work? Pretty well though any limitations come clearly from our aging MSM processors, which struggle to run Flash inside of the resource intensive Opera Mobile browser--in other words, don't plan on too much multi-tasking when watching embedded YouTube videos! Still, it works well on the Touch Pro 2.

Having said that, this is a great example of smart programming, so give it a spin if Flash is what you need.

How nice for him. [via]

Though we'd be straining to tell you specifically what has changed with v2.23 since Google evidently doesn't believe in change logs or auto-updates via software (rolls eyes), we can tell you that this is a newer version from v2.09. Yep. That's why we get paid the big bucks here at WMExperts.

Actually, some of the controls during play seemed to have changed a bit (shrunk down?) and there seem to be some nice animation effects. But perhaps that's just out imagination. Maybe you can help discern the mystery.

Anyways, go here to directly download the .cab to your phone.

In what amounts to a direct shot across iTunes' bow (or it's a direct imitation of, depending on who you ask), Samsung is now offering movie downloads to customers in the UK and Germany. [via Engadget]

You get the option to buy or rent a DVD-quality flick, plus a mobile copy. For example's sake, The Dark Night's going for £16.99 (about $25 U.S.) to buy; £3.99 ($6 U.S.) to rent. The selection isn't half-bad, but we wouldn't really recommend trying to watch a movie on something smaller than an Omnia. But, hey, they're your eyes.

Check out all the fine details at www.SamsungMovies.com.

It’s been a busy few months for the Windows Mobile market. There has been at least least half a dozen new devices (Treo Pro, Samsung Epix, HTC Touch Pro/AT&T Fuze, HTC Diamond, and Samsung Omnia to name a few). Asides from the new devices that have already hit the shelves, we have the Sony Xperia and now are hearing rumors of a Motorola WM phone. There has been a lot of activity for an operating system that many are considering dead.

While I’m excited about the new products hitting the market as well as the commitments Microsoft has put into place to develop WM 6.5, a stepping stone to WM 7.0 I have to wonder what’s happened to WM Standard? Is this the Windows Mobile that everyone is considering out to pasture? Sure, I'm happy to see the BlackJack II get top honors from Consumer Reports, but that's not exactly a new device.

Where are the WM Standard devices?

Read the rest of this entry »

There have been a number of ways to settle bar bets using Wikipedia from your phone. Wapedia … iPhone apps … Use Skyfire to hit up the full site.

But Wikipedia.org had never provided true mobile WAP access, until now. [via]

Hit up mobile.wikipedia.org from any mobile browser (that’s Opera Mobile 8.65 above) for easy access to the site. You still get links and pictures. And, more important, the ability to win money off your friends.

Smartphone France has scored images of what appear to be legitimate screenshots of Windows Mobile 6.5. What we're looking at here appears to be a new, sliding-panels-inspired today screen and also a pretty cool and interesting hexagon/beehive shaped shortcut screen. It's a nice change from your standard square look, though we wonder how a 5-way dpad would handle that.

The look, at least on the sliding panels portion you see at right, has a decidedly Zune-feel too it (of which we approve), and we also like that the non-selected items display information too (note the weather and the email lines).

In all, it certainly looks like 6.5 is going to give Windows Mobile some shiny, good-looking elements. It remains to be seen what sort of added functionality we'll be getting in addition to the above. Cross your fingers for that Music icon!

[via wmpoweruser]