More Windows Mobile 7, Dual Boot Android/Windows Mobile, Freebie

Microsoft has now confirmed a Windows Mobile 7 announcement at Mobile World Congress later this month. This week I want to point you to specs and news about WM 7 and the HD2, as well as the interesting development of the ability to dual boot Windows Mobile and Android. And I want to note the great AP Mobile freebie.

Windows Mobile 7 Announcement Coming

In an interview on Fox News, Microsoft CFO Peter Klein said that Windows Mobile 7 will be announced in February at the Mobile World Congress. You can see the six-minute video interview on WMPoweruser. Peter talks about the current status of the company and the success of Windows 7, Bing, and other products and services, as well as forthcoming products, including Office 2010 coming in June. The Windows Mobile part comes at the four-minute mark.

Windows Phone Thoughts says that Windows Mobile 6.6 will be launched at Mobile World Congress and that Windows Mobile 7 devices will start appearing between the fourth quarter of 2010 and early in 2011.

PocketNow reports that Windows Mobile 7 specs requirements have been leaked and include a 1GHz processor, a 3.6-inch WVGA display, 8GB of memory, and a 5-megapixel camera. The post also says that Microsoft may have a dual strategy of targeting WM 7 for high-end users while retaining WM 6 devices for lower-end devices.

And CNET suggests that Windows Mobile 7 will be a clean break — hence, not backward compatible — from its Windows CE past.

Dual Boot Windows Mobile/Android

If you’re hankering for an Android device, now you can have both Android and Windows Mobile on a single device, thanks to some clever hackers at XDA Developers, where you can download the free app. There are versions for VGA and WVGA devices, and it works with both WM 6.1 and 6.5.

Android is really storming the smartphone market and appears to be quite a popular touch interface. Plus, an advantage of Android is the tight integration with Google’s wide range of services.

PocketNow has a demo video of the free DualBOOT software, including instructions on how to get it working on your device.

T-Mobile HD2 Specs Better than Current HD2 Models

There’s still a lot of buzz about the imminent HTC HD2 from T-Mobile, the device with a great touch interface (called Sense) and a 4.3-inch screen.

Specs for the device have begun popping up online, and the T-Mobile version compares favorably to the HD2 devices already on the market abroad. According to Engadget, the specs include 1GB ROM, 576GB RAM, and a 16GB microSD card.

Free Apps: AP Mobile News, Shopping List

I really like the AP Mobile app, which you can download for free from Microsoft’s Windows phone site. It gives you access to all the news from the Associated Press, plus local news from over 1,200 newspapers. The many categories include top stories, sports, local news, science, technology, tennis, wacky news, and many more.

Also, one of my readers recommended InTheBagShoppingList.com. It’s a simple shopping list website that you can access via your desktop computer or phone. It works best with the Opera browser on Windows Mobile devices.