By Megan Fleet

Let’s be honest, the latest hero device from the Nokia cell phone line-up, the Lumia 900 wowed spectators at the CES. From the keynote Microsoft address that showed an impressed audience the fruits of its partnership with Nokia and how the device works with Microsoft peripheral devices like the Xbox. The stellar performance of the Nokia Lumia 900 was duly recognized by CNET which named the smartphone as its category winner at the 2012 CES.

The move from Symbian to Windows mobile OS and the added bonus of BlueStack’s technology which will bring Android apps to those customers has sparked excitement and hope into both Nokia and Microsoft that 2012 will bring a 180 degree shift in sales and market share.

What is better news is that the vague announcement that the Nokia Lumia 900 will be available in “the next few months” may be whittled down to a more accurate date if the rumor mill is based in any kind of truth. Even more reliable is that the March 18^th date is being bandied about by Windows gurus Paul Thurrott and Mary Jo Foley. These two “all about Windows” people came together to work on TWiT and discuss March as the release month in the latest Nokia developer newsletter.

Mister Thurrott is apparently not one for vagueness by making it clear that the Nokia Lumia 900 will be released precisely on March 18^th. Hopefully his crystal ball or tea leaves are accurate as anxious customers are bound to seek out this sleek unlocked cell phone as soon as possible.

Surely the smartphone manufacturer will make more accurate announcements that will include date of availability, the cost, and start touting more of the peripheral accessories that will heighten the handset’s popularity and longevity in a fickle, competitive and ever changing mobile tech market.

By Aldo Panessidi

Despite its performance to date in the mobile tech, Microsoft, who currently owns 2% of the market share, is still managing to effectively keep itself in the public eye with newsworthy and surprising actions. Case and point is the Microsoft sanctioned and collaborated jailbroken Windows Phone 7.   Discover an extensive array of Android wireless devices innovative protective cases and skin accessories designed to  deliver modern style, stunning design and smart protection.  Make your mobile devices stand out.  Customize your look – how cool can you be?

Announced in November of 2011 by the Chevron WP7 team that had initially brought the technology and work-around to Microsoft, the mobile world was set back on its heels. Considering the reaction of Research In Motion after the Blackberry PlayBook tablet, jailbreak, this writer is inclined to say Microsoft marketed itself well in taking the high road.

What did this sanctioned jailbreak really mean though? Between Chevron WP7 and Microsoft they created a device that would empower users to actively break into their Windows Phone OS and install their « homebrew applications » while bypassing the huge Marketplace availability  of side loaded apps. This is indicative of an ever growing community of consumers that leverage the power of unlocked cell phones to choose their preferred service providers and break away from long term service contracts… while customizing their phones with both apps and cell phone accessories of their choice.

For the more tech savvy crowd out there, the ability the customize a smartphone is a huge selling point that could make Microsoft more competitive in this market. In fact, the Chevron WP7 team is sold out! Clearly demand has been higher than expected and the initial 10,000 unlocked tokens went fast. According to Rafael Rivera, a spokesperson, those tokens were sold at $9 a piece with the revenue to be split between Microsoft and the Chevron WP7 team.   Enhance your mobility and turn your device into a power tool! Discover select accessories, such as stylus & pens, SD Micro memory cards, batteries, speakers and glider gloves all specifically designed to make your devices functionally efficient and performance rich.

So what is next? Why not simply make additional tokens available with another agreement with Microsoft and continue to increase sales and promote the Windows Phone? Well, it looks as though the team does not want to press its luck with the Goliath technology company. In the interim, WP7 customers can invest in accessorizing their device with peripheral technologies (speaker docks, hands-free headsets, and the myriad of other fun gadgets available). For those not satisfied with acquisition, there are other jailbreak methods available to Samsung Galaxy cell phones or HTC Jetstream tablets, but these are not manufacturer endorsed. But, customers may have an easier time finding these same devices unlocked to exercise some of their consumer power.

In his own personal blog, Mike Chambers, who is the principal Product Manager for developer relations for the flash platform at Adobe, announced that, “Adobe and Microsoft are working together to bring Flash Player 10.1 to Internet Explorer Mobile on Windows Phone 7 Series.” While he did not offer a timeline or any other specifics he did mention that it is something that Adobe and Microsoft are working closely together on.

This is very welcomed news in the tech world as many unlocked mobile device users have complained about Adobe’s Flash platform not being present on any current mobile devices.  This can really be quite a pain when you are trying to surf the web from your Android or iPhone mobile phones and come across some websites that use the Flash program.

I have never really understood why Adobe would not allow their Flash product to be used on mobile web browsers but it appears as though they are listening to consumer’s cries about the same thing.  This is expected to give Windows 7 phones a major competitive advantage over their competitors.  By having the Adobe Flash program on their unlocked mobile phones will certainly set them apart from the other companies and give them a great product to market to their loyal customers.