Microsoft and Nokia Are Official: Signing ahead of schedule, the two companies have partnered to bring Windows Phone 7 to Nokia devices. The choice to abandon the Symbian operating system wasn’t an easy one and lead to many layoffs for Nokia, but the overall outlook is upbeat. Microsoft is paying quite a lot up front for what Nokia brings to the table, but if this catapults Windows Phone 7 into a larger market share, it will even out. Microsoft
BlackBerry Playbook Hands On: Pat Moorhead, cvp at AMD, gives his impressions on the first 48 hours of using the BlackBerry Playbook tablet as a regular user. The design and feel are definitely the positives that RIM is hearing all around, but the lack of software seems to be a major sticking point for everyone. Follow @PatrickMoorhead for his ongoing saga. AMD
Apple’s Failed Facebook Integration: Many have pointed to the leaked iPhone 4 beta plan as a sign of things to come from Cupertino, including deeper integration with Facebook. 9to5Mac digs into what could have been. The deep level of Facebook integration possibilities and the relationship between Apple and Facebook make it curious that this didn’t come to light. Wonder what else was shelved. 9to5Mac
Amazon Tablet Guessing Game: Peter Rojas at gdgt lays out all the speculation about what the Amazon tablet could be and what steps it’s likely to avoid, taking examples from how Barnes and Noble used Android in the Nook all the way down to the different services that Amazon offers, like cloud storage, Prime, and of course the book store. Will it replace the Kindle or be a companion? gdgt
Police Already Using Location Data: The public world may have just figured out that Apple and other devices are storing location data, but forensic teams on police forces have been gathering this information for quite some time. There are even devices that smartphones can be connected to to grab all that data in case of a trial. While everyone is freaking out about security, let’s remember that the users put their location in the phone, the same way they put the their contact info in it, which Apple has access to as well. GigaOm
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