YTechCity.com

The debate between Apple’s iOS and Android can get heated pretty quickly. I (in some cases) would rank someone’s mobile OS preference right up there with their political views. It can get that serious.

But whether you prefer Google’s open platform, or Apple’s more fenced-off approach, you have to agree with one thing: Both OSes are killing it. The proof is in the numbers, as 9to5Mac points out in Millennial Media’s Mobile Mix report…

In August, the mobile advertising firm tracked which mobile operating systems folks were using. And out of Millennial Media’s 15,000 users, 54% were using Android, 28% were using iOS, and only 13% were using RIM’s BlackBerry OS.

Perhaps the most surprising number was that only 1% of users were sporting Windows Phone OS, which a lot of folks believed to be gaining traction in the market. Obviously this research doesn’t cover every mobile user, but it is indicative.

When it comes to hardware, Apple topped the other manufacturers. Of those tracked in last month’s Mobile Mix report, 23.19% were using Apple devices, followed by HTC at 16.33% and Samsung at 14.55%. Palm came in last at 0.22%.

With the Cupertino company rumored to be announcing multiple new devices this Fall, on multiple new carriers, it’ll be interesting to see what these results look like in 6 months. How much will Android’s share decrease? How much will Apple’s share increase?

Here’s the latest piece of new from the official Windows Phone blog. Eric Hautala the General Manager of Customer Experience Engineering says in a blog post that the much awaited Mango release of Windows Phone 7 is expected to roll out “in the next week or two”.

Mango will bring to the Windows Phone 7 platform a whole host of features (like multitasking and much, much more) to put it on par with the likes of iOS and Android. Closer to home, the lack of local support for the Windows Phone Marketplace is a major issue for users, so we hope that gets fixed in the upcoming release as well.

Full excerpt below:

Hi everybody. Given all the recent speculation around the timing of our Mango update, I wanted to bring you up to speed on what to expect next.

For months, we and dozens of our partner companies have been laying the groundwork for the Windows Phone 7.5 update—and making solid progress. As a result, we now expect to start rolling it out in the next week or two. At that time, we’ll also refresh the Where’s My Phone Update? table to reflect the worldwide rollout status.

This also seems like a good time to caution against installing unofficial or leaked copies of Windows Phone software.

During the official Windows Phone 7.5 update process, every Windows Phone will also receive software from the handset manufacturer. This matched and paired firmware has been painstakingly tuned so your phone—and apps—work with all the new features of Windows Phone 7.5. Since your phone requires the proper firmware to function as designed, my advice is simple: steer clear of bootleg updates and homebrew tools.

By the way, in case you missed it, we recently released new versions of both the Windows Phone 7 Connector for Mac and the Zune software for PCs, which you’ll need to update your phone. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to install it. I think you’ll like the update-related improvements, which speed up the overall update process and give you more control over backups. A small favor: When you update to Zune 4.8, you’ll be asked to participate in improving the update process. Please consider doing so.

I know you’re eager to get your hands on the next release of Windows Phone—and everyone involved with Windows Phone is equally excited and eager to deliver it to you. Please hang on—we’re almost there.

Eric Hautala

General Manager, Customer Experience Engineering

[source]

The HTC 7 Mozart which runs on Windows Phone 7 is now being offered on Maxis. Similar to its HTC HD7 bundle, it comes with an option of 12 months or 24 months contract with a bolt-on data plan.

The HTC 7 Mozart is priced at RM2099 outright but on contract, it goes for RM1499 over 12 months or RM1299 over 24 months. To be on contract, you have to pick between a 1.5GB data plan at RM78/month or 3GB data plan at RM88/month which is bolted on a Maxis Value Plus postpaid plan 50 and above. There is also additional rebate of RM10 for each data plan on this contract.

For more detail, you can visit Maxis’s official website: http://www.maxis.com.my/personal/windows/index.asp

Compared to the HD7 offer, the 7 Mozart is slightly cheaper with a smaller 3.7″ screen vs HD7’s 4.3″ but it has a 8MP Camera and SRS WOW HD virtual surround feature. However the HTC 7 Mozart comes with 12 months warranty as opposed to the HD7’s 24 months warranty as shown above.

Earlier on DiGi too has started offering the HTC 7 Mozart. As comparison, DiGi offers the device at RM1499 over 12 months and RM1249 over 24 months.

[Source], [HTC HD7], [HTC 7 Mozart]

Another great news from Maxis, Maxis’s website finally showed its bundled pricing of HTC HD7 since the launch of the HTC HD7 a few day ago, read my previous post regarding HTC HD7. HTC HD7 running on Windows Phone 7. It is offered from RM1399 for 24 months and RM1699 for 12 months contract with a 1.5GB or 3.0GB data plan.

The plan & pricing was earlier revealed for pre-registered users last week. It is also worth mentioning that the bundled data plans are given a RM10/month rebate. This means a 3GB data plan would cost only RM78/month from the usual RM88/month, giving a total savings of RM240 for 2 years subscription. For greater peace of mind, the device comes with 24 months warranty.

[Source], [HTC HD7]

According to a Bloomberg report, Sony Ericsson is phasing out Nokia dominated Symbian platform as they claim that the ecosystem isn’t as good as Android. Its CEO Djurberg also added that a X10 successor is expected to be announced this quarter and they would need to launch a Windows Phone 7 device soon. Sony Ericsson is the 3rd mobile manufacturing to offer Windows Phone 7 just after HTC and Samsung.

Sony Ericsson did a horrible job on Symbian and did even worse on Android platform. Now they want to jump right into Windows Phone 7? When Sony Ericsson started to offer Android, we’re pretty excited as we would expected them to make feature-packed phones with no compromises.

Today, their latest Android line up is still running an older Android 1.6. Even the latest Xperia X8 was not spared while its Android rivals are churning out Android 2.2 Froyo devices right now. Their last flagship Symbian device, the Satio was utterly rubbish when it comes to usability. Our point is simple, if they can’t even do a proper job on Android, why bother with Windows Phone 7?