SAN FRANCISCO - Windows Phone 7, a dramatic upgrade of Microsoft’s mobile operating system, looks fairly impressive out of the gate. In addition to a stylish user interface that’s strongly influenced by the underappreciated Zune HD media player, Windows Phone 7 is tightly integrated with Redmond’s Bing search engine.

Tap the Search button on a Windows 7 device, for instance, and a Bing window appears. Microsoft says the Windows Phone interface is locked, that its hardware partners won’t be allowed to replace the UI. Might those rules extend to the default search engine too? It’s a given that Bing, not Google, will be the default search engine for every Windows 7 phone that ships. Users will likely have the option of digging into the settings to select another search tool (e.g., Google or Yahoo), but most won’t bother.

The Bing Push

If Windows Phone 7 is a big success, Bing’s market share would rise. Redmond has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to build and market Bing, which has become a very capable alternative to Google and Yahoo. Despite Microsoft’s aggressive campaign, however, Bing still has a small fraction of Google’s market share, albeit one that’s rising slowly.

The most recent comScore data for January 2010 shows Google leading the U.S. search market with a 65.4 percent share, down 0.3 percent from December. Bing, by comparison, garnered 11.3 percent of the U.S. market in January, a 0.6 rise from the previous month. (Yahoo Search had 17 percent of U.S. searches last month, a slightly drop from December.)
Android vs. Windows Phone

Mobile devices are the latest battleground in the search wars, and a revitalized Windows Phone 7 would make for a more bruising fight. Google, of course, is gaining mobile market share too. Its Android OS is slated to debut on dozens of mobile devices this year, all of which will have tight hooks into Google Search.

As for Apple’s iPhone, rumors persist that Bing may soon become the device’s default search engine. Cupertino’s relationship with Google continues to sour, particularly in light of Google’s Android push and its iPhone-like Nexus One handset.

A Google vs. Apple battle may be very, very good for Bing. Healthy sales of Windows 7 phones wouldn’t hurt either.

SAN FRANCISCO - On the eve of Mobile World Congress, Samsung launched its first Bada OS phone, the Wave, in what can only be described as a splashy event.

Wall-to-wall videos of waves, blue-colored cocktails and sea creature-liked dancers almost made me forget I was at a phone launch.

Luckily, I had the opportunity to get some hands-on time with the Samsung Wave and Bada OS after the event.

Light Touch

The Wave feels great in hand: Its aluminum body feels smooth and ergonomic with curved, soft edges and a seamless design. It is also quite slim, measuring only 0.4 inches thick. It is quite light, too, though Samsung didn’t disclose the Wave’s weight.

The Wave also showcases Samsung’s new Super AMOLED technology, which has touch sensors on the display itself as opposed to creating a separate layer (Samsung’s old AMOLED displays had this extra layer). Super AMOLED is fantastic; my low-light photos truly don’t do it any justice. Colors burst out of the display and animations appeared lively and smooth. Samsung also says that this design reflects less light and therefore handles better outdoors. Our showroom was quite dark so I couldn’t really put this claim to the test.

Bada Impressions

I only got a short amount of time playing with Bada OS, but I liked what I saw. It has some features we’ve seen on other operating systems, like a unified inbox, integrated contacts from all of your social networks, and a synchronized calendar. It also has a notifications system that was quite reminiscent of webOS. It isn’t anything revolutionary, but at least Bada is keeping up with the competition in terms of features.

Aesthetically, the TouchWiz 3.0 user interface is quite clean and didn’t feel as muddled and confusing as previous versions. It was also very responsive and quick thanks to the Wave’s 1GHz processor.

From an apps perspective, Bada has some potential: It is an open platform, the UI supports Flash and Samsung already has an app store. Samsung really seems to be reaching out to developers, too. Though there weren’t any content partner announcements at the event, Samsung did show a demo of EA’s Need for Speed on the Wave as well as a few other popular games. I also spoke to a developer at the event who said he was initially hesitant approaching Bada, but now he’s thinking otherwise.

Overall, Samsung really isn’t bringing anything new to the table with Bada: Its features are really no different on what you’d find on the iPhone, webOS phones or Android phones. But suspect that is not Samsung’s main focus here. Samsung sees Bada phones as being accessible to everyone, no matter what your income or tech experience may be. It is hard to predict how Bada will compete with the legions of Android phones taking over the mobile world, but phones as nicely designed as the Wave are hard to ignore.

SAN FRANCISCO - Macworld Expo without Apple is a smaller, lower-key affair, but that hasn’t kept Apple enthusiasts from attending the show. The show floor is as packed with attendees as ever, despite Apple’s absence. And in a sense, the lack of Apple isn’t such a bad thing, as it lets the show’s focus shift from the giant Apple booth to smaller vendors, some of which had impressive wares.

As you might expect, most of the products are Mac-only, but they’re interesting and unique enough that any geek will appreciate them. Here are a few apps and gadgets that caught my eye during a day on the show floor.

Inklet: Turn Your Trackpad Into a Tablet

Inklet is a software add-on for Mac OS X that lets you use the multitouch trackpad on recent Apple notebooks as a graphics tablet. To use it, hit the designated hotkey; a drawing area will appear on your screen. To draw, you can either use your fingertip on the trackpad, or use the Pogo Sketch stylus ($15). In my brief hands-on, I found it a little awkward to use, so you’ll probably experience a bit of a learning curve. The Inklet software costs $25, but you can download the trial from the Ten One Design site.

GameSalad: Develop Games Without Learning to Program

GameSalad is a developer tool that makes it possible for anyone to create a game without having to learn how to write code. It uses a drag-and-drop interface similar to that used in Apple’s Automator scripting software.

Drag in an image–a space ship, for example–then add in “rules” which tell it how to respond to your interaction. In a brief demo, I dragged in a spaceship image, then assigned rules which told it to turn left when I pressed the left arrow key, and right when I pressed the right-arrow key.

Using GameSalad, you can create games for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Mac OS X, and the Web. The (Mac only) development kit is a free download from the GameSalad site, though you’ll need to pay an annual fee to create and publish iPhone games (fees start at $99 per year). If you’re less interested in building games and more interested in playing them, see the GameSalad games browser.

Djay: Remix Your iTunes Library

Are you a DJ or music enthusiast? If so, you may want to look at Djay. This $50 Mac application lets you remix music directly from your iTunes library. With it you can mix multiple songs, “scratch” the virtual records with the trackpad, or create an “automix,” which will automatically mix your music. Djay also works with the Vestax Spin controller, a $250 MIDI controller available through the Apple Online Store.

Tunebug Shake: Turn Your Bike Helmet Into a Speaker

The Tunebug Shake is a portable Bluetooth speaker that’s similar to the Kerchoonz K-Box: It turns the surface it comes in contact with into a speaker. In the Shake’s case, the surface in question is your bike helmet. The Shake comes with two mounts: The Gecko Mount for skater and snowboard helmets, and the TuneStrap mount for more typical bike helmets.

You can preorder the Shake–and its sibling, the Vibe–from the Tunebug site. The Shake costs $120, while the Vibe–effectively a corded version of the Shake–costs around $70.

SAN FRANCISCO - Speculation is mounting that Microsoft will show off the Windows Mobile 7 operating system at a wireless industry conference in Barcelona next week. Customers have waited through a series of delays and setbacks, but if those predictions turn out to be true, it could help to generate some renewed excitement over the waning mobile platform.
The Windows Mobile 7 platform is rumored to have an interface based in large part on the Zune HD which has received a fair amount of praise. There are also rumors that Microsoft is forking its business mobile platform and its consumer offering with the addition of a platform based more on social networking and aimed at a teen audience.

Microsoft did develop an interim mobile platform–Windows Mobile 6.5– to add some incremental improvements over Windows Mobile 6, but compared with platforms like Android and iPhone, Windows Mobile is lacking and Microsoft has seen its lack of progress reflected in declining market share.

On the other hand, Microsoft is still in third place for smartphone platforms in the United States. It is behind RIM and Apple, but at 18 percent of the market it is solidly ahead of Palm and Google. It has dropped out of second place, and lost a percent of market share over the last quarter, but if any of the other platforms (with the possible exception of the iPhone) were to experience the delays and setbacks that Microsoft has encountered, the market share drop would be much more dramatic.

The relatively small decline in market share for Windows Mobile can be attributed in large part to attrition and impatience. As business professionals lose or break older Windows Mobile devices, or contracts expire and they switch wireless providers, they are forced to choose a new smartphone and the current Windows Mobile does not offer a very compelling platform compared with iPhone and Android.

I personally represent that group. I held out as long as I could–even falling back on an older feature phone for months–waiting patiently for a new Windows Mobile. I didn’t find Windows Mobile 6.5 to be enough of an incentive, but I needed a smartphone and couldn’t continue holding out for Windows Mobile 7. So, now I have an iPhone…for now.

The fact is, barring an announcement that it is simply throwing in the towel and giving up on the mobile operating system altogether, Microsoft still has an audience anxiously waiting to see what it will deliver. Even in third place, Microsoft is easily within striking distance to reclaim second place from Apple, and it could pose a challenge even to RIM’s BlackBerry dominance if Windows Mobile 7 can live up to expectations.

While Microsoft has struggled with its mobile operating system, it still occupies a dominant stake of the server operating system, desktop operating system, business productivity software, messaging, and Web browser markets. Bells and whistles aside, it’s hard to argue with the potential of a smartphone platform that can seamlessly tie in with the platforms and tools that businesses rely on.

RIM, Apple, Palm, and now Google, all recognize and respect Microsoft’s presence in the enterprise. These other mobile platforms realize that integration with Microsoft backend tools–particularly Exchange Server–is imperative to success in the enterprise. No matter how hard they try, though, the solutions are often clumsy or cumbersome, and have a sort of “square peg in the round hole” feel to them.

The core appeal of a Microsoft mobile operating system is the inclusion of native tools that naturally integrate with the existing server, desktop, and office productivity environment. Windows Mobile is uniquely suited to deliver a seamless and familiar experience for business professionals.

Expecting Microsoft to introduce unique innovations or raise the bar in any way for mobile operating systems is probably a recipe for disappointment. Assuming that Microsoft can at least improve Windows Mobile to the point that Windows Phones are more or less on par with next-generation smartphones like the iPhone or Droid will be enough, though, for Microsoft to get the ship pointed in the right direction and begin to reclaim some of its lost mobile platform market share.

Microsoft has a built-in audience and the game is Microsoft’s to lose.