There are two sides of the coin for this delay. Obviously, the lack of updates in Windows Mobile will give chance to its competitors to move forward with their mobile phones and software. The mobile phone industry is a very volatile industry that by the time Windows 7 Mobile would come out, everyone has already established their position and there might not be enough space for Windows 7 Mobile. The partner manufacturers of Microsoft are already frowning in this move and although they can’t just transfer to other OS, it’s still a possibility.

On the other hand, there is a good reason why Microsoft has put a hold in its latest offering of Windows Mobile operating system. Obviously, Microsoft didn’t want to send out another Windows CE OS that really won’t get any nods from tech reviewers.  They wanted to send out an operating system that could easily compete with iPhone, Blackberry and the recently released Android. It’s said that Microsoft will be coming out with an OS that could handle Ajax and Flash based applications. The handling of Ajax has become clearer now that Microsoft now uses JQuery as its library. JQuery is a very powerful library for Ajax based applications used by a lot of developers worldwide. That means IE and possibly Pocket IE could have the ability of handling Ajax based websites soon in the future.

Windows 7 Mobile may not be here yet until late next year, but expect a great buzz once this OS for mobile phones is released.

There a lot of questions being asked right now that could be answered in this Alpha version. Among them is the integration of Multi-Touch interface. A lot of talk about this feature and Microsoft has already shown their wares through Microsoft Surface. The multi-touch interface of Microsoft is already being used in Sheraton Hotels and even in MSNBC.

The doubt for the multi-touch interface being integrated in Windows 7 stems from the earlier than expected release of Windows 7. Vista has never gathered enough positive reviews and sales that have pushed Microsoft to stand by the latest OS for a few more years. As the damage of Vista has already been admitted, Microsoft will release Windows 7 earlier with the hopes of repairing the dwindling perception of Microsoft especially on its operating system. Because of the rush, the multi-touch interface might not be integrated yet. No one really knows and it can only be answered during PDC. It is expected that the stable version of Windows 7 will be available at the end of 2009 or early 2010.

Additional add-ons are expected in Windows 7 such as Windows Live downloads. The boot up time as well as general design is expected to improve in the upcoming version of Microsoft’s operating system.

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The sandbox application

Gravitoy is a physics application with 2 modes (Sandbox and Stacks).
Sandbox is an environment for drawing objects and interact with them through physics.

Sandbox

Sandbox

Stacks is an object stacking game where 2 players play against each other to stack different shaped objects, with the goal to build the highest tower and reach point X. To make the game a bit more interesting, we have added options to change gravity and remove and add objects to the other players field, to increase the difficulty level.
This physics based application that we developed is a good platform to further develop multi-touch games on and to enrich our other future applications.

Stacks

Stacks

Aside to that, we launched a 3d model viewer application which allows users to interact with 3d models. This is a good application for companies showing their products, for example cars, shoes or other products in retail stores that can be placed in a 3d environment to enable users to easily see products from all angles. Imagine the ability for architects to digitally interact with their buildings that they are conceptualizing, with this 3d model viewer.

3d model viewer

3d model viewer

Today it has been confirmed by Jason O’Grady that the image is in fact fake but he also offers some details on the future MacBook Pro.

On his blog O’Grady states that he’s heard that the new MacBook Pro will retain its more traditional square edged look instead of adopting the tapered edges of the MacBook Air. In addition O’Grady believes that the new MacBook Pro will be much thinner than the current incarnation, “as much as a half-inch narrower” he writes. That space saving is said to come from around the screen.

The blogger goes onto write that the MacBook Pro will adopt the black “flat top” keys of the MacBook Air and could also include a trackpad smaller than the current MacBook Pro but also with the addition of a split two-button trackpad button.

Finally O’Grady notes that the MacBook Pro will incorporate “full multi-touch support”, but offers no details on exactly what he means.

In addition AppleInsider adds that Apple will remove the FireWire 400 port in favour of a backwards compatible FireWire 800 port on the new MacBook Pro. Also in what will most likely be a controversial decision the 28-pin DVI-I port used for connecting external displays has also reportedly been replaced with a mini-DVI port like the one found on the current MacBook and iMac.

It has been suggested in the past that the new MacBook Pro and MacBook will be released on October 14th.

If you’ve been anywhere outside of a cave over the course of the last few months, you have likely heard of the Mojave Experiment that Microsoft carried out.  It was designed to trick people into using Windows Vista and then to catch the surprised expressions on their faces when they found out that the system they enjoyed using (Windows Mojave) was actually a system they were conditioned to hate (Windows Vista).  The message on the part of Microsoft was that Vista was a fantastic system but also one that was highly misunderstood by its critics.

Well, Windows Vista has been a big bomb in spite of the Mojave Experiment and in an effort to save face (not to mention market share), it appears as though Microsoft has decided to up the ante on their Windows 7 operating system, bringing it onto the market in beta form a lot earlier than many people may have thought possible.  However, many in the technology market are very suspicious at this latest turn of events and some have even gone so far as to suggest that the beta of Windows 7 might be another Windows Mojave, designed to trick people into using Windows Vista under another name.

One of the elements that seem to have disappeared from the drawing board is the massive Multitouch support that Microsoft had promised to introduce throughout Windows 7.  That support appears to be nowhere near as intense now, leaving Multitouch fans to hold their collective breath until the beta comes out.

Features Include:

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Windows 7 Mobile in many ways is arguably more anticipated than its counterpart for conventional computers.  The Windows 6.1 Mobile system had a number of problems with it, suffering from bloating in the same way that Windows Vista did.  While it is not known whether Windows 7 Mobile will correct this problem, the leaked documents do describe Multitouch functionality that is far greater than anything Windows has brought to the market before in its mobile devices.

Theoretically, people with Windows 7 Mobile would be able to use a combination of their fingers and a stylus to input information onto a touch screen.  They can use just the stylus, just one finger or a combination of multiple fingers to input commands and they can use gestures like finger swipes much in the same way that users of the iPhone already can.  Additionally, Windows 7 Mobile appears to support jiggling motions, allowing you to shake a device or flick it to make different things happen.  A lot of this is speculation based on a leaked document of unknown authenticity, but it certainly does present some interesting ideas.