Microsoft’s Windows Phone is a pretty neat OS and analysts predict that by 2015, Windows Phone would be among major market share holder in smartphone category.

We knew that Windows Phone sales are a bit disappointing and then  LG’s Marketing Strategy and Planning Team Director said bluntly that Windows Phone is boring. But how boring really? According to research firm , Gartner, Microsoft’s Windows Phone market share has slipped even below 2 percent. Even Samsung’s homebrewed OS Bada has managed to gain more market share than Microsoft’s Windows Phone. At 1.9% market share, Bada is above Windows Phone’s 1.6% market share.

This questions Nokia’s decision to go all way Windows Phone. But if rumors are to be believed that Microsoft will be releasing Tango update for low end phones that Nokia plans to bring in market, Windows Phone does have a hope to conquer a few more percents. But having said that, Samsung’s Bada OS is one of the most polished OS I have seen considering it’s age.

This is from techknots.com

Michael DeGusta of The Understatement posted an excellent infographic (that is, a truly useful one) this week showing just how poorly the Android community, namely Google (NSDQ: GOOG), phone makers, and carriers, have supported their early adopters with new versions of the software. Click through for the full graphic, but the stats are telling: of Android phones launched prior to June 2010, several of which are still under contract with their respective carriers, “12 of 18 only ran a current version of the OS for a matter of weeks or less” and “10 of 18 were at least two major versions behind well within their two year contract period.”

Simply put Maxthon is one of the best mobile browsers out there. Let me tell you why I feel that way :

Under the hood : Click on your “Menu” button and you get a transparent dashboard that pops up on the lower part of the screen. Here you get “Options”. Go into that and you get a list of really cool features and often another level when you click on those. My favorite are :
– Browser settings that allow you to clear cache, delete cookies and stuff that we usually take for granted on our PCs but that are painful on your stock browser on Android.
– Screen rotation settings : How many times have you been lying in bed reading something in landscape and it keeps flipping back and forth ? Now it is easy to solve.
– For the geeks you can change the User Agent ! Force it as a desk top, iPhone or iPad.

The tab feature : I mean serious try and navigate between several windows on your Android. On Safari on the iPhone it is ok… but here it is very similar to using Chrome or Firefox on your PC. When you click on a new tab you get a window favorite sites (obviously editable).

Again from the “Menu” button you get “Downloads”. here you see the things you downloaded while using the browser and you can delete them…

PC to Web. Here if you download the web version you can sync favorites for example on your PC to your mobile.

Themes. Again something you took for granted on Firefox for example… well now you can do it on your phone.

Oh and did I mention.. that it is lightening fast ?

Try it on your PC too… it is definitely an alternate to Chrome and Firefox.
Simply put Maxthon is one of the best mobile browsers out there. Let me tell you why I feel that way :

Under the hood : Click on your “Menu” button and you get a transparent dashboard that pops up on the lower part of the screen. Here you get “Options”. Go into that and you get a list of really cool features and often another level when you click on those. My favorite are :
– Browser settings that allow you to clear cache, delete cookies and stuff that we usually take for granted on our PCs but that are painful on your stock browser on Android.
– Screen rotation settings : How many times have you been lying in bed reading something in landscape and it keeps flipping back and forth ? Now it is easy to solve.
– For the geeks you can change the User Agent ! Force it as a desk top, iPhone or iPad.

The tab feature : I mean serious try and navigate between several windows on your Android. On Safari on the iPhone it is ok… but here it is very similar to using Chrome or Firefox on your PC. When you click on a new tab you get a window favorite sites (obviously editable).

Again from the “Menu” button you get “Downloads”. here you see the things you downloaded while using the browser and you can delete them…

PC to Web. Here if you download the web version you can sync favorites for example on your PC to your mobile.

Themes. Again something you took for granted on Firefox for example… well now you can do it on your phone.

Oh and did I mention.. that it is lightening fast ?

Try it on your PC too… it is definitely an alternate to Chrome and Firefox.
 

 

”Have you ever forgotten to send a birthday message to a friend or a relative? Ever needed to remind your colleagues about an important meeting at a specific time and date?”

That’s the introduction to SMSTimer. An iPhone application that will make your day (life) a whole lot easier.

Morten Mørken, one of the co-entrepreneurs behind the SMSTimer explains the app as following:

- SMSTimer is one of the apps that is actually fulfilling a real need. We actually came up with this idea at work. I was missing the opportunity to send a reminder to the representatives of a Board meeting at work, and thought ”there’s an app for everything, there must also be an app for that”. After some time searching the AppStore for relevant apps, it was clear that no-one had made this app before us.

Even though that was the initial thought behind the application, it is most known for being ”the birthday app”.

- SMSTimer has been given a lot of focus as a birthday app in Norwegian media, Mørken continues.

One of the reasons why journalists (and others) have been focusing on the birthday-part of the app, is of course the Facebook-sync function. When downloading SMSTimer to your iPhone, the app contains no birthdays. Then, after hitting the ”sync with Facebook”-button, all your Facebook-friends’ birthdays will appear in the app. Sorted by month and date. Easy and brilliant.

Now Mørken, and many happy customers, are enjoying the SMSTimer both at work and in other occasions. Daniel Støen, the other co-founder, agrees that the app is convenient for many purposes.

- I guess we all have a relative or a friend that is too close to only be given a ”congrats” on the Facebook wall, but at the same time not so close that you have to call that someone, Støen adds.

In those matters, SMSTimer might be that perfect birthday app. Start being the one who always remembers!

There are now a couple of competitors on the market, with very similar names. Don’t mix the copies with the original SMSTimer; look for the blue logo.

Vopium is a VOIP app that works across several OSs and provides when you download several SMS and/or minutes of calls to any destination in the world. They are similar to other Skype likes although their story is quite interesting, founded by a Pakistani entrepreneur, with headquarters in Denmark and funded by an Indian tycoon.

Of course as soon as I installed it the first thing is a tried was sending an SMS to some remote destination. I choose the Maldives as many telco operators don’t route SMS to such destinations. It worked perfectly. Then I tried calling. What is cool is that it integrates directly with your phone book and allows you to choose when making an overseas call wether to pass through Vopium or go through your telecom provider. When you initiate the call it thinks for about a second and then sends you through a local number (this in Europe or the USA). You then hear dialing and your call is connected. The call quality is perfect.

You can also select to pass your calls through your 3G settings or Wifi. What is cool is it runs in the background and from what I can see consumes very little battery. Also all the commands are lightening quick which is a nice change to Skype which often gets stuck.

What I didn’t like was the chat feature. The app says that it works with your Gtalk, Yahoo, MSN, AIM, ICQ, Facebook and Twitter accounts. Which it does but it doesn’t tell you how to login and it is only by trial and error that I figured it out by clicking on the icons that I found out where to login. So would have been great to have some sort of explanation. Also would be great if it worked with your Skype account too.

Vopium has some awesome calling plans. For example an unlimited call package to mobiles in the USA and Europe or country specific packages like 750 minutes to India. rBut you can only know about them by going to their web site ! It is as hame that we can’t get that info directly on the mobile.

All in all a very cool app/service. Keep it up guys.

Who Cares? – Anyone who is traveling. It is very helpful in finding everything you need on a trip.

Is it user friendly? – I actually think it is easier to navigate than the website and it works across Android, Blackberry, Java, iPhone and iPad.

Why download it? – If you are ever planning a trip Kayak has everything you would ever need to plan it.

Kayak is a travel planner originally done through their website, and also available in an app. For those unfamiliar with travel planners, Kayak provides deals on hotels, flights, car rentals, and usually offers cheaper prices than commercially advertised in order to sell unsold rooms and tickets.

Once you have downloaded and opened Kayak you will see a menu list which has links to hotels, flights, cars, and everything you will need for your trip. I really like the ease of access for flight information by simply putting the city you are in and the city you want to travel to. The process is basically the same thing for booking a hotel room and renting a car. Some of the more useful features with Kayak are the ability to check a flight status, and compare fees that come with certain airlines. My favorite feature is the buzz link which shows you what the average price of any trip, and what you can expect it to be in the near future.

Kayak makes the entire process of planning a trip all the way to providing a travel itinerary easy. Since Kayak is free and easy to use I would suggest travelers downloading it. There are other apps that offer similar services so you should check out our reviews of other travel planners to see which one you like best.