Windows Phone 7 is only a matter of weeks away, and Microsoft signified this by releasing the final version of the Windows Phone 7 Developer toolkit today.

This final version will let developers bring their applications up to speed for release in the Windows Phone Marketplace which will open in early October, and it also includes the Mobile Advertising SDK for app monetization, and the Bing Maps Control SDK for integrating Microsoft's mobile mapping data, as well as 'Metro' UI design control elements called Panorama (which stretches information out beyond the screen edges) and Pivot (which lets users arrange visual data in different ways.)

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That's a question for you to answer. Not analysts. Not armchair pundits. Not me. But you. Internet Explorer 9 beta is the most significant Microsoft browser release since IE3 launched in August 1996. IE9 is streamlined like no Microsoft browser before it, radically departing from recent versions' more cluttered interfaces. Microsoft also is touting IE9's adherence to Web standards, which is a trend among all major browser developers. Somebody pinch me: Wasn't IE3 the first browser supporting CSS (even if only partially), something Microsoft is big-time promoting for IE9?

I want to essentially crowdsource my IE9 beta review, putting Betanews readers' reaction in front. If you've downloaded IE9 beta, please share in comments or by e-mail (joewilcox at gmail dot com) your reactions and assessments of the browser. Some readers regularly bitch about my writing style. Fine. Shut up and put up. Your responses will be my IE9 review. If you don't like how I write, then instead of complaining you should tap, tap, tap the keyboard and post your IE9 reaction in comments or by email. I would prefer to identify responders by real name rather than something like fglpss. Please email, even if you comment.

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Halo: Reach, the latest installment in Microsoft's wildly popular video game franchise, is proving to be the fastest-moving title in the series yet, Microsoft said on Wednesday.

In the first 24 hours that Halo: Reach has been available, it has pulled in more than $200 million in sales in the US and Europe, making it the fastest-selling game Microsoft has ever released.

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In addition to releasing the iOS 4.2 beta to registered Apple developers, Apple on Wednesday announced AirPrint wi-fi printing functionality that will be soon coming to consumers.

"AirPrint is Apple's powerful new printing architecture that matches the simplicity of iOS--no set up, no configuration, no printer drivers and no software to download," said Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing, Philip Schiller in a statement Wednesday. "iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users can simply tap to print their documents or photos wirelessly to an HP ePrint printer or to a printer shared on a Mac or PC."

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Coinciding with Microsoft's launch of the Internet Explorer 9 beta, Adobe today rolled out a preview version of a new Flash Player it's calling "Square."

Because of the hot demand for a native 64-bit Flash Player, Square adds to the existent Linux 64-bit version by offering support for both Windows and Mac OS. Adobe says users of the previous 64-bit Flash Player for Linux will find this version to be faster and more reliable.

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Now that I'm comfortably satisfied with iPhone 4, it's time for a quick review -- and big whack against Consumer Reports, which has once again disavowed a smartphone its editors highly ranked. This morning, Instapaper creator and Tumblr developer Maro Arment tweeted: "Consumer Reports got hooked on inflammatory Apple traffic." I thoroughly agree. The only Death Grip remaining is Consumer Reports clutching to pageviews and trying to save face, which the organization really lost by rating iPhone higher than other smartphones but later giving a no-recommendation.

Apple's newest handset is the first I enthusiastically recommend -- that after dissing the first-three generation models; I found the number of dropped calls to be unacceptable and, more importantly, battery life to be inadequate to support the functions. In stark contrast, calling experience is superb on iPhone 4, by every measure. No longer am I having calling problems -- dropped or failed connections -- anywhere in the San Diego, Calif. area.

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Right on schedule, Microsoft has made the long-awaited Internet Explorer 9 beta available for download. The new version of Microsoft's popular browser offers support for the most cutting-edge Web technologies, a new look but familiar feel, and an overall faster browsing experience.

Much has been said about Internet Explorer's shift from leading browser innovation and market share, to playing second fiddle to Firefox. But Internet Explorer 9 looks to be ready to change things.

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Competing with the headline-stealing Nokia World 2010 in London today, mobile phone maker HTC held a press conference to announce two new Android smartphones, the Desire HD and Desire Z.

These new phones are interesting because they reveal a common theme to HTC's "Desire" label: they are, in effect, different versions of already-released HTC phones.

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At a press conference in San Francisco Tuesday, popular microblogging site Twitter co-founders Biz Stone and Evan Williams announced the site will be rolling out a new user interface similar to the one used by the critically acclaimed Twitter iPad app.

Like the iPad app, the new Twitter interface is broken into two columns, the left will be the usual view of your feed, and the right hand side will contain detail overlays. For example, when users include links to photos, video or music, the linked content is embedded in Twitter.com, shown in the right hand column. According to the site's founders, one quarter of the 90 million tweets that are sent every day contain links, that's 22.5 million daily reasons for users to navigate away from Twitter. This move will keep users of the Web interface more stuck to the site.

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The entertainment industry may have encountered another setback in its efforts to protect its content Monday as a hacker has reportedly cracked high definition content protection, more commonly referred to as HDCP. A supposed "master key" has begun to make its way around the Internet, although its validity has yet to be confirmed.

With the master key, the system no longer works, as hackers would now be able to create their own source and sink keys, both of which are needed to playback content on HDCP-protected devices. Thus a perfect connection could always be ensured between transmitting and receiving devices.

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Last week, Mac virtualization software company Parallels announced the latest version of its flagship software, Parallels Desktop 6. But the company had a secret up its sleeve: iPad compatibility.

Today at the DEMO fall 2010 conference, Parallels announced the Parallels Mobile app integrates with Desktop 6 and MyParallels to bring Windows and its highly desirable functions like printing, Flash, and Outlook compatibility to iOS.

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Short-sighted armchair analysts, pundits and Microsoft managers will rejoice in Bing snatching the No. 2 spot from Yahoo in U.S. search share. Everyone should cool their jets. Yahoo's losses are Microsoft's losses. The only gain that matters: Search share taken from Google, which isn't giving up much of anything to either Microsoft or Yahoo.

The problem: With Microsoft now serving up Yahoo search, the two are really one from a share perspective. Bing is starting to cannibalize Yahoo search, which simply isn't good for Microsoft.

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Verizon appears to be moving further away from Android's Google and open source core premise this week as it has begun to ask for submissions to its own app store, expected to debut as early as next week. The carrier appears to be following a similar structure to that of Apple, where apps must go through an approval process and revenues are split between Verizon and the developer.

It is not clear from reports that originally appeared on Android enthusiast site Android and Me Monday whether or not Verizon plans to replace the Android market with V CAST Apps. However it would not be the first time the company would have altered Android.

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At the Intel Developer Forum Tuesday, Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson unveiled its two newest mobile broadband modules: one is the first embedded 21Mbps HSPA+ module, and the other is the first module optimized for use in tablets running on Intel's upcoming "Oak Trail" processors.

Intel's Oak Trail mobile processor platform will be the cornerstone of the forthcoming crop of Windows tablets, with products from Dell, Asus, MSI, Sony, Fujitsu, and Toshiba all expected in early 2011. The platform is ideal for tablets and netbooks, Intel claims, because it runs on 50% less power than its other Atom-based platforms.

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Microsoft's funeral for BlackBerry and iPhone is eerily foreshadowing. Apple 2.0 blogger Philip Elmer-DeWitt asks "Who Will Bury Whom?" It's the right question, but there's no easy answer. Last week, Gartner and IDC released seemingly non-congruent forecasts about mobile operating systems' futures. Whom should you believe? Gartner, IDC or Microsoft?

Windows Phone 7's release to manufacturing, which the mock funeral celebrated, is Microsoft's bold assault to recover lost territory. Before Apple released iPhone in June 2007, Windows Mobile's market share trailed only giant Symbian. Fast forward to 2010, and Microsoft's mobile OS is No. 5, whether measured by smartphones or all handsets, according to Gartner. Can Microsoft retake market share territory captured by upstarts Apple and Google?

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