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Apollo

One Windows to rule them all

In the world of making apps and games, going multi-platform is serious business. It adds cost, complexity, and can extend the amount of time developers need to push out finished products.

Microsoft wants to change that calculus -- especially when it comes to developing on its own two computing platforms that share the same name.

At its developer preview event in San Francisco yesterday, Microsoft debuted Windows Phone 8, the next major version of its mobile phone OS, slated for release alongside a crop of new phones later this year. Among the myriad announcements, perhaps the most significant was Microsoft'… Read more

No Windows Phone 8 upgrade for current devices

Well, it's official.

Although Microsoft's newly unveiled Windows Phone 8 boasts exciting features like more customization options and integration with voice-over IP, one unpleasant suspicion we had about the new mobile OS has been confirmed: current Windows Phone devices won't be able to upgrade to WP8.

We've mentioned that possibility before here, here, and here. But we still can't help feel a bit disappointed and frustrated by Microsoft's confirmation today. … Read more

Windows Phone 8 shipping on new phones this fall

Windows Phone 8, the successor to its Windows Phone 7.5 Mango mobile operating system, will ship on handsets starting this fall, according to Microsoft.

Windows Phone 8, code-named Apollo, will feature support for multicore processors, NFC with a mobile payments wallet, and support for three screen resolutions and microSD card slots.

Furthermore, the next Windows Phone OS will share a common kernel with the PC version of Windows 8, which will -- again, according to Microsoft -- allow for easier cross-platform software development between all versions of Windows 8.… Read more

Microsoft evangelist goofed on Windows Phone 8 upgrade claim

Microsoft developer evangelist Nuno Silva apparently confused applications with devices when he claimed that users of Windows Phone 7 (aka Mango) would be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 8 (aka Apollo).

Offering a mea culpa on his blog today, Silva said he was trying to echo Microsoft's own statements that existing Windows Phone apps would run under Apollo. But for some reason he gave the impression that current devices themselves would also be able to run the next version of Windows Phone.

"I mistakenly confused app compatibility with phone updateability, which caused the rumors we saw yesterday,&… Read more

Will Windows Phone 8 makers be more free to tweak the OS?

Windows Phone 8 device makers could find more opportunities to tweak the OS, at least if you read between the lines from an agenda reportedly for an upcoming Microsoft summit.

A "high level" agenda for an "Apollo" MO Summit in Reading, U.K., uncovered by Netbooknews, lists "Customization and Differentiation opportunities" as one of the topics.

Of course, that doesn't necessarily mean Microsoft is about to open the floodgates for manufacturers to tinker with the interface. But assuming the information is accurate, it could point to a more open environment for Windows Phone … Read more

No Windows Phone 8 upgrade for you?

Will Windows Phone 7 device owners be able to upgrade to Windows Phone 8? Sources are saying no, while Microsoft itself has yet to provide a straight answer.

The controversy erupted yesterday after a Microsoft developer evangelist stated in an interview that all current Windows Phone 7 (aka Mango) devices will receive the Windows Phone 8 (aka Apollo) upgrade, as reported by WMPower User. The interview was conducted in Portuguese, so the English translation may not be exact. But the translated comments seemed to confirm the upgrade path.

However, some folks are saying there will be no Windows Phone 8 … Read more

Keep on rockin' in the free version

Links from Thursday's episode of Loaded:

Spotify extends free, unlimited trial Bump Pay transfers money Free Photoshop CS6 preview Apple CEO Tim Cook visits China Kindle Fire update Amazon CEO found rockets from Apollo 11 Subscribe:  iTunes (MP3) |  iTunes (320x180) |  iTunes (HD) |  RSS (MP3) |  RSS (320x180) |  RSS HD

Amazon's Bezos to raise Apollo rockets from watery grave

Not to be outdone by "Titanic" director James Cameron, Amazon's Jeff Bezos has just announced that after searching the seafloor, he's located the rockets that thrust Neil Armstrong toward the moon more than 40 years ago and plans to bring them back onto dry land.

Writing on his "Bezos Expeditions" blog today, the e-commerce guru and would-be space explorer said his team had located the five F-1 rockets that lifted the Apollo 11 mission spaceward and then plunged into the Atlantic.… Read more

VC turns office into Apollo museum

The last time I went to talk with venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson, managing director of Draper Fisher Jurvetson, I spent more time ogling his museum of NASA Apollo gear than I did talking about his startup investments.

So I made an appointment to go see him again, with enough time to snap pictures of the equipment in his office in Palo Alto, Calif., office.

Click through our slideshow for a view into this small, private, and unique collection of space artifacts. … Read more