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"Microsoft’s new mobile development policies and procedures are designed to be the antithesis of Apple’s."

I wonder if they allow you to sell your software on other stores at the same time, or to advertise outside of Microsoft's marketplace....

That's a good way to get a lot of coverage anyway.  Handango has been out for years, and extra exposure is always welcome by developers.

Are they going to let people dev for Windows Mobile with the express versions of their dev tools?  I didn't see that mentioned, but free dev tools is still anice plus for the iPhone.

There's good Windows Mobile devs out there now, they just need to get more folks onboard.

It's a bit embarrassing that with all the R&D that Microsoft likely put in to figure out how to best offer applications to Mobile users, they wound up with exactly the same system as Apple, right down to the split percentage.

That must be an easy department to work in.

Please pardon the OT post. I got into the appropriate thread after it was closed, but I had to comment on this "Waethorn" gem:

"I've used some of the original versions of RenderMan on PC.  A few I've used back in Windows 3.0, long before Pixar started making films."

As "Wae" him/herself would say: "LIAR!"

Windows 3.0 was released in May of 1990. Pixar started making films in 1984 while they were still under Lucasfilm, and in 1986 released "Luxo Jr.", the first official Pixar film. I know this very well, because at the time I was using a Mindset II computer for video graphics work, and took a couple animation courses where we studied the Pixar films of the era. So unless "Waethorn" was utilizing a magical time machine, there's no way s/he could have been using Windows 3.0 prior to 1984.

Get your facts straight, Wae.

"It's a bit embarrassing that with all the R&D that Microsoft likely put in to figure out how to best offer applications to Mobile users, they wound up with exactly the same system as Apple, right down to the split percentage."

Yeah, how "embarrassing". I bet they cant even show themselves in public.

In fact I really want to beat the sh!t out of them for it being exactly the same. That's how personally PO'd at this F'ing embarrassing, humiliating FUBAR situation!!!!!!!!

"Pixar started making films in 1984 while they were still under Lucasfilm"

Pixar didn't produce the films under their own name though.

"in 1986 released "Luxo Jr.", the first official Pixar film"

It was a short.  Not a full-length feature.

Get your facts straight.  They didn't produce their first full-length feature film until Disney started working with them.

Besides that, your primary source of facts says this:

"Pixar has made 9 feature films beginning with Toy Story in 1995"

en.wikipedia.org/.../Pixar

So, :p

Oh and BTW losta:  Luxo Jr. started out as a technology demonstration for their computer systems.

Microsoft has lost to the iPhone. Windows Mobile is the new Palm.

robertsjoe: If you think Microsoft has lost to the iPhone, you'd better check out the  NPD sales figures from last quarter:

- Windows Mobile sold 4.7 million units (bringing in $70 million to Microsoft)

- Apple only sold 4 million units (bringing in ... what ... $2.67 billion?)

Never mind ...

"Apple only sold 4 million units (bringing in ... what ... $2.67 billion?)"

Apple sells hardware.  Microsoft only licenses the software.  Monetary comparisons aren't valid.

@robertstroll

And OSX has lost to Windows.

I guess they need to get that stupid OS off the market before they get embarrassed by Win7, right?

Isn't that how that garbage you pass off as logic work?

MJF really only posted one possible difference. The detailed feedback about their app-certification application throughout the approval process via the developer portal. Other than that, she gives no further comparison. I guess it will give a developer comfort to know exactly why they get turned down. A nicer form of rejection, but still rejection. Still, that does beat the pants off the way Apple is doing it, or even removing already approved apps.

Microsoft tryingt o squeeze even more from developers:

"But this part won't win any goodwill: If you want to submit more than five applications per year to the "Windows Marketplace for Mobile," Microsoft will charge you $99 per app -- a fee Apple does not impose."

www.businessinsider.com/why-is-microsoft-nickel-and-diming-windows-mobile-developers-2009-3

With the Palm Pre getting some major buzz, let's not kill Palm before its time. Also, if Windows Mobile 7 is a full refresh that addresses the issues with WinMo 5, 6, and 6.5, Microsoft could end up back in the game. However, they are down considering the buzz on the Apple side. However, I would add that Samsung is working on both the Instinct Mini and the Instinct 2, which adapts and competes well to the iPhone. Also Samsung is making versions with similar features to the Instinct with both Windows Mobile and the Android platform.

If anything, it is pretty impossible to predict what is going to happen on the smartphone and consumer cell phone market.

But to provide some context, since mostly the concerns here are about North American markets, we rarely address what happens in Europe and Japan. In Japan, the iPhone isn't quite the hit as it is here. In Europe, its sold for free or a little under 2 bucks in Europe.

techon.nikkeibp.co.jp/.../153419

For the very same reasons why American consumers are critizing the iPhone, the carrier in Japanese carrier Softbank has dropped calls and pricey phone plans. So this isn't just an AT&T issue, this is happening in other countries.

In European countries, you can get the iPhone for free in the UK or Spain. In Germany, it sells for a 1.40 subsidy. Also, the minimum average phone plan for an 8 GB iPhone is $51 to $64 or for a 16 GB ranges from $107 to $152 dollars. Ouch.

What really sucks about this, is that if good carriers and reasonable prices, the iPhone could be a much bigger hit with consumers world wide. If Apple would loosen its grip on the App Store, lower the prices, push carriers for better subsidy's, and require at least 2 carriers of the phone per market. Then you'd have a healthy and competitive environment for the iPhone while fostering competition.

However, Samsung is the world's second largest mobile phone maker with plenty of Windows Mobile phones. So I think with the right designs and a major refresh, WinMo could be back. However, Microsoft has to take it seriously and put in some elbow grease.

As for me personally, I really dislike Windows Mobile phones. I have never owned one for personal use.  I was forced to use one for work purposes and a PDA with WindowsCE edition. YUCK. Clunky and froze often. Made work at times impossible. Microsoft has its work cut out.

Even after I jailbroke my iPhone, I never had any dropped calls, but 3G is all over my areas. What the heck is going on with Apple and the Cydia store? If anything, Cydia adds more users since it's got apps that many want, but Apple won't allow. Heck, I just found a free app called xGPS 1.2 that has turn by turn voice prompted  navigation.  I know it works with 3G. but the built in GPS may have a problem with EDGE.

One other thingy, the IT guys at our hospital are now bringing in netbooks rather than a WinMo phone. If Win 7 doesn't work out for a netbook, maybe WinMo 7 will.

"Pixar didn't produce the films under their own name though."

"Pixar has made 9 feature films beginning with Toy Story in 1995"

Oh, where to begin...perhaps you should get your own damn facts straight:

- You didn't say "feature films", you said "films"

- You said you were using RenderMan on Windows 3.0 "long before Pixar STARTED MAKING films" (emphasis mine). Even if one accepts your backpedaling tale that you were talking about feature films, clearly "Toy Story" was STARTED long before Windows was released.

- You spewed the nonsense that "Pixar didn't produce the films under their own name though", which is BS. When Jobs bought the company, he named it "Pixar", and "Luxo Jr." was released under the Pixar name.

- "Luxo Jr." was nominated for an Academy Award™ in 1987. For Pixar (the company that "doesn't produce the films under their own name"). Note of clarification, "Waethorn": the academy only nominates FILMS. You know, the ones you say the nonexistent Pixar wasn't producing.

- "Tin Toy" (another "film") won an Academy Award™ for Pixar (again, the company you claimed didn't release films under their own name) in 1989, a full year before Windows 3.0 was released.

- You, sir/ma'am, are a jackass.

"You didn't say "feature films", you said "films""

No, the emphasis was on that *THEY* didn't release feature films, which they didn't.  They only did special effects for movies.  Try to twist it all you want, but they didn't release a single feature film until Toy Story.  Luxo Jr. was a technology demo released at SIGGRAPH and Tin Toy was forgettable - not even the entire Pixar listing on Wikipedia mentions it.

"clearly "Toy Story" was STARTED long before Windows was released."

You are just SO WRONG!  1991 was when they signed the deal to start making films for Disney and Toy Story was released in 1995.  Windows 3.0 was RELEASED a whole year before they even signed the deal.  If we're talking start times, Windows was started well before that.

":"Luxo Jr." was nominated for an Academy Award™ in 1987. For Pixar (the company that "doesn't produce the films under their own name"). Note of clarification, "Waethorn": the academy only nominates FILMS. You know, the ones you say the nonexistent Pixar wasn't producing."

WRONG!  It was nominated for an award in 1986, and the academy nominates not only films, but individuals, groups, and companies for technical merits and acheivements.  You should try watching TV or movies sometime to get your facts right.

"You, sir/ma'am, are a jackass."

The jackass is the person that lost this argument about 3 articles ago and took this article completely off-topic.  That jackass is you.

"No, the emphasis was on that *THEY* didn't release feature films, which they didn't.  They only did special effects for movies."

...and Academy Award-nomintated and -winning short films, as well as commercial work. Are you really that stupid, or are you just pretending

You really are a twat, Wae. Read your original comment (if you know how to read, that is). You said you were using RenderMan on Windows long before Pixar released FILMS. My gawd, you are so intransigent when you're wrong.

"It was nominated for an award in 1986, and the academy nominates not only films, but individuals, groups, and companies for technical merits and acheivements.  You should try watching TV or movies sometime to get your facts right."

LOL...Yeah, I'm sure "watching TV or movies" is how you get your facts right in Canada. But again, you're obfuscating because you're wrong. Pixar was nominated for a film. Check YOUR facts: According to Pixar's website, "the film "Luxo Jr." received an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short Film. www.pixar.com/.../1987.html See that, "Waethorn"? Read it again. 1987. Film. Pixar. You're wrong*...get over it.

* You are right about one thing. I screwed up when I referenced the start date for "Toy Story". You, however, are completely and utterly wrong about everything else.

"Oh and BTW losta:  Luxo Jr. started out as a technology demonstration for their computer systems."

Yes, and it wound up being the first CGI film (Yes! A Film!) ever nominated for an Academy Award®.