Author: Clinton

There has been a lot of press today regarding CircuitIQ, the application that runs in the background on Android and Blackberry devices that provides carriers (Verizon has been identified here in the US) information on how the phone in question is being used.  The principle, while benign enough, is to provide information to the carriers about phone and network performance.  The problem is that it captures a tremendous amount of information about how, were and what you do on your phone.  To say that it is a privacy issue is likely a big understatement.

The good news for Windows Phone users is that it isn’t there on these devices and it never has been.  Joe Belfiore, the Windows Phone Program Management Director stated on Twitter today that Windows Phone doesn’t have it.

That is about as direct an answer as you can get.

CircuitIQ represents the latest challenge of consumers versus carriers.  To be fair, carriers need to know how their networks are performing and the devices on them so they can make improvements.  But this type of thing should be an “opt-in” option and not on by default.

It also appears that the US Congress is going to investigate this which will really bring to light all that CircuitIQ does and what the carriers have been doing with this treasure trove of information on their users.

Stay tuned.  This story is just getting started.

Let me make a statement that I’m sure many of you will agree with me on:  The official Twitter app for Windows Phone is lacking.

Even though it has been updated to support Mango, there are still a lot of things it does not do like pinning to the Start screen and Live tiles.  It feels very halfway done.

Fortunately there is a great solution that I’ve been trying out the last couple of weeks and the team over at All About Windows Phone has reviewed.  The app is Rowi from Hidden Pineapple.  It allows you to do all of the things you would expect in a Mango-ready app that the official Twitter app can’t do.  The AAWP review covers all of the aspects of Rowi and provides plenty of screenshots to guide you along on the look and feel of the app.

You can read the full review over at AAWP

If you want to give Rowi a try yourself, you can check out the free version, Rowi Lite in the Marketplace (it does not support Live tile updates) or the full version is $2.99.

It is official!  Windows Phone 7.5 (AKA Windows Phone Mango) is now out there for everyone and every device.

Today the Dell Venue Pro started getting the update making it the last of the current Windows Phones to get updated.  The update does not include anything new but it should be noted that the compass function that is built into the Venue Pro will not function after the update which is somewhat of a bummer.  It is also unclear if tethering will be available either so if you find it is be sure to post a comment.

To get the update just plug your Dell Venue Pro into your PC and fire up Zune and it should be available for you.

One of the frustrating things about the Windows Phone People Hub and Friends Live Tiles is that updates from Facebook for your contacts are not shown.  In principle, this should work on Windows Phone because of the tight integration the OS has to social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Live.  If you have struggled with this you are not alone and it is not a problem with Windows Phone.  It is a problem with the social network.

The problem lies with the privacy setting in the service and in order for you to see your friends updates, they have to allow it in Facebook on their account.  So yes, you have to ask friends to change their privacy so you can see them.  Odd?  Yes.  Frustrating?  Absolutely.

Yesterday there was been a lot of discussions around Microsoft reportedly building iPad versions of their Office suite of apps:  Word, Excel and PowerPoint.  The discussions stem from an article in The Daily that reports that the iPad apps are coming along with an update to the Office for Mac suite to better support OS X Lion.  If the rumors are true, I can only say that it is about time.

There are plenty of reasons for Microsoft to make the Office for iPad apps without admitting defeat, sacrificing their own table ambitions with the upcoming Windows 8 release and meeting the needs of likely millions of iPad owners.  And while pundits will suggest that these needs are covered with the iWorks suite from Apple, the install base for the Cupertino suite is only a fraction of that of Microsoft Office.  The opportunity is ripe for Microsoft and it is time to make the move.

If you are looking at navigation apps for your Windows Phone, go over to Smartphonegurus for a great summary review of two of the leading apps.  The review covers Navigon and the new Nokia Drive (new to Windows Phone at least) and has a huge number of screen shots to give you a good idea of how each of the apps look and feel.

An important aspect of this review is that it covers the installation and performance from a task switching perspective.  It also covers how these apps perform in real world use.  As you will see, both have some strengths and weaknesses.

Check out the full review at Smartphonegurus