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The last week or so has been filled with information from Microsoft. One of the cooler things to happen came out during the keynote presentation at TechEd Middle East in Dubai. The softie Eric Rudder played the same Indiana Jones style game on a Windows computer, a Windows Phone 7 phone, AND an Xbox 360. Gaming is about to get to blow up and MS is making it’s power play.

Not only is the game itself playable on all three platforms, but the session is maintained when you move from each device: if you’re playing on your Xbox and have to run out the door, you’ll be on the same level when you fire it up on your Windows Phone 7 Series phone. Basically, you’ll never have an excuse not to be gaming.

This all seems utterly wicked from a technology perspective and simultaneously devastating from a “get anything done/have a social life” angle. I can’t imagine a game like… Civilizations… where you have that “just one more turn” mentality!!!

MSMobiles say they have the low down on Microsoft’s Mobile World Congress announcements, and what they leaked makes quite a bit of sense.

First the bits we think we know already:

Windows Mobile 7 will be introduced with Zune, Xbox, Bing integration. It will feature a new kernel,Games and Music improvements and a new user interface, based on Windows Presentation Foundation. Development will take place in the latest version of Visual Studio.

Now the new bits:

Clearly in a direct response to Nokia and Android, Windows Mobile (not sure which version) will come with free navigation (presumably turn by turn). Also clearly in a response to all the open source mobile OS’s, Windows Mobile 6.X will be free to developing markets.

As mentioned above, these changes make perfect sense, and shows a Microsoft prepared to respond much more rapidly than before to changes in the mobile market.

Read more at MSMobiles.com here.

TechCrunch is hearing some interesting talk about a true Google Phone. By true Google Phone I don’t just mean another Android device, but a phone designed end-to-end by Google to fulfill their dream of exactly what Android can be.

Of course there have been rumors like this before, but this time there are a few distinct elements that seem credible. This all comes from Michael Arrington’s sources—his article is a bit vague, but points to an outsider-made but Google-dictated device, sort of like how Microsoft’s first Zune was actually made by Toshiba. In the case of the Google Phone there are a couple options for the possible manufacturer. The obvious choice is HTC (PLEASE let it be HTC and PLEASE let it be a slider!) who’s been the major hardware manufacturer of Android devices. However, TechCrunch hears that the source of the hardware will be Korean, not Taiwanese. So we’re probably looking at either Samsung or LG.

Samsung has a long-standing relationship with Apple, supplying tons of parts for the iPhone. Apple may not smile on Samsung for helping create the “iPhone Killer” and may in fact be ramping up to make the next iteration of the iPhone so it’s more likely that LG would step up to the plate and develop this device. LG’s no stranger to Android but has been a minor player up to this point—maybe they’ve been working on this mysterious Google Phone in the meantime, which is supposedly aiming for an early 2010 release.

Via TechCrunch

Verizon is touting its Droid phone as an Apple killer. For weeks waves of buzz surrounding the Android 2.0 Droid – the iDon’t commercials, the photo leaks, the Droid Eris, the official list of specs, a massive Droid launch event in New York City, and that cool Droid advertisement with all the stealth bombers have been pouring out. The Boy Genius Report, who had Droid specs before anyone else, and the site has been exceptionally snappy with picking up gossip on all manner of smartphone is saying that Apple will launch a $99 8GB iPhone 3G S sometime in the next month.

A sub-$100 iPhone right in time for Christmas shoppers would clearly be an attempt by Apple at bombing the Droid launch parade (yes yes, I know… it’s $99 WITH a 2 year contract).

Apple needs to do something, I wouldn’t count them out just yet, but the volume of Android phones coming out this next year is astounding. Unless Apple responds with a really beefed up iPhone I would predict Android to start chomping into their market share very quickly.

It’s been said (and it’s true) that that Wintel PCs are cheaper than Macs. While that’s a negative in this recession, it might be a positive — for thieves. At least, that’s what was evidenced at the Marlton, New Jersey Apple Store.

To answer the question above, it takes five thieves to take 23 MacBook Pros, 14 iPhones, and 9 iPods. All in 30-some seconds, no less. By the time the security guard came, everyone was gone. So was everything, apparently. It all happened Wednesday morning at 2 AM.

Watch the security footage: