Thoughts about Windows Phone 8
While Phone 7 and the Phone 7.5 update were billed as the future, apparently they weren't as now there will be Windows Phone 8, which is.... completely incompatible with Phone 7/7.5. And why? Because Phone 8 will supposedly share the same Windows kernel that "real" Windows has ... [read more] -- Posted Friday, June 22, 2012 by chb
Microsoft unveils Windows Phone 8
Windows Phone 7, we hardly knew you. At the Windows Phone Develop Summit Microsoft discussed the upcoming Windows Phone 8. Right upfront: since the Windows 7 core was still based on Windows CE and Windows 8 will have a shared Windows core (yes, it's back to Windows on all devices), Phone 7 devices cannot be upgraded to Windows Phone 8 (but there will be a Windows Phone 7.8 for "legacy devices."). Initial Windows Phone 8 devices will be dual-core, offer higher resolution (up to 1280 x 768 pixel), have microSD card support, and early hardware will come from Nokia, Samsung, HTC, and Huawei. As expected, the interface is using the tile approach already known from Phone 7 and the preview versions of the Windows 8 Metro interface. -- Posted Wednesday, June 20, 2012 by chb
Motorola Solutions buying Psion!
Motorola Solutions announced it will acquire Psion in a transaction where Motorola Solutions will purchase all Psion shares for about US$200 million. Psion currently has over 800 employees and had 2011 sales of about US$275 million, dwarfed by Moto Solutions' 2011 sales of US$8.2 billion. Greg Brown, chairman and CEO of Motorola Solutions, said: "Psion is a compelling opportunity to strengthen our industry-leading, mobile-computing portfolio with ruggedized handheld products and vehicle-mount terminals that will deepen our presence in the global markets in which we compete." Our take: Psion, of course, started with consumer handhelds, but ever since the acquisition of Teklogix in 2000, the Teklogix side of rugged computing devices took over and eventually became all of Psion. The rugged computing side of Motorola Solutions is really Symbol, and there seems very considerable product overlap between the two companies. The US$200 million purchase price is almost pocket change for a company like Motorola Solutions, and it should be interesting to see how this all plays out. [See Motorola Solutions press release] -- Posted Friday, June 15, 2012 by chb
New Balance selects Psion Omnii XT15 for distribution centers
Psion announced that global athletic and lifestyle company New Balance has selected the Psion Omnii XT15 as the mobile handheld for its distribution centers. New Balance has purchased hundreds of Psion Omnii XT15’s to streamline order tracking in its factory and distribution centers across the country. New Balance plans to roll out the Psion Omnii XT15 to all of its distribution centers in 2012. [See Psion press release] -- Posted Wednesday, June 6, 2012 by chb