The Mobile Test Drive site will work similar to the Internet Explorer 9 desktop version test drive site where various development samples will be published to highlight features and capabilities. Both the desktop and mobile versions of Internet Explorer 9 use the same core rendering engines and adhere to the concept of “same markup,” but the Microsoft team felt it was important to demonstrate how to optimize content for differences in screen size and device capabilities.

Additional samples will be posted to the site over the coming months leading up to the Windows Phone Mango release. But to start things off, the first 15 samples that will be available on the Mobile Test Drive will be:
– Audio Player (from MIX11)
– Geolocation
– Border Radius
– DOM Local Storage
– Scalable Vector Graphics
– CSS3 Media Queries
– DOMContentLoaded
– FishIE Tank
– Speed Reading (from MIX11)
– Animated Text
– HamsterDance Revolution
– Business Charts
– IE Logo
– Video Panorama
– Browser Control Theming

[via Windows Team Blog]

Video after the cut

A benefit of TWIST’s unusual shape is that it can stand up on its narrow edge, unlike many modern phones, and there’s a clever dock as well which changes its display according to whether a handset is in place or not. Now, it’s worth noting that Aava Mobile has made some changes to the final product design, so it won’t look exactly like this, but already it’s enough to make us wish the company would offer the Aava Core to the end user, rather than shopping around the internal chipset technology to OEM/ODMs.

Core77 also has details on a rather slick looking smartphone/docking station pair, called the Lampi, by designer Thomas Valcke. No word on whether Aava Mobile also has intentions on commercialising that, however.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/19564426[/vimeo]

While the company has working units, they won’t be selling the Aava Core direct to consumers. Instead, like the first model – which we played with all the way back at MWC 2010, when Aava had both Android and Moblin versions on show – it will be used as a developer device, as well as to promote the company’s integrated ACPU and modem platform to OEM/ODMs.

The Intel Atom Medfield based chipset they’ve put together is also suited to tablets, so Aava tells us we shouldn’t get too caught up in just the smartphone shell it’s currently inside. Full specs are yet to be confirmed.

Among the tipped specifications are 1GB of RAM, a 200MHz unidentified GPU with 512MB of dedicated memory, HDMI output and, of course, an Intel processor rather than an ARM chip like most smartphones. Connectivity includes an Infineon XMM 6260 3G modem, capable of 21Mbps HSPA+, along with a TI WiLink 6.0 WL1271 chip for both WiFi b/g/n and Bluetooth.

There’s also a Broadcom BCM4751 GPS chip, a NPX Semiconductor PN544 NFC chip and a Chipworks digital compass. A Toshiba I/O controller is used for the physical controls, though it’s still unclear whether this is a primarily touch-controlled device or if it has a hardware QWERTY keyboard like the leaked Nokia N9.

There’s speculation that the MeeGo device briefly shown off last week could be a prototype of Aava Mobile‘s second generation smartphone platform, currently lacking public specifications. Nokia’s MeeGo team is believed to be working on the platform’s smartphone UI for an imminent reveal, possibly at MWC 2011, after taking public development offline for a short period.

Update: Our old friend Thomas Ricker spotted mention of a USB keyboard and mouse in the dump log (connected via a 4-port USB hub). That could suggest this is netbook hardware rather than a smartphone-scale device. However, the 854 x 480 resolution display does seem to confuse matters – WVGA would make for a very low-res netbook screen – and of course we’ve seen plenty of smartphones capable of using USB peripherals. The plot thickens.

[via IntoMobile]

Video demo after the cut

The notifications system and task-switcher both are strong, with MeeGo’s multitasking abilities showing already; you can have your device alert you via lights, sounds, haptics and on-screen dialogs. On the flip-side, Carrypad points out that there’s no active icons support at present – which means no useful “how many unread emails” indicators – and you only get a single homescreen with icons, not widgets.

Still, the first MeeGo devices aren’t expected to show up until sometime in 2011, and so there’s plenty of time for the platform to further mature. More info in the video below.

As the image above shows, the WiFi and browser at least are working, but there’ll likely be plenty of places where the lines aren’t quite joined up.  Steve “Chippy” Paine from Carrypad has the prototype for 48hrs, and is promising as much detail as he can pull out from it in that time.

The hardware itself, meanwhile, wraps a considerable touchscreen, WiFi and 3G, along with the usual sensors – GPS, accelerometer, digital compass – and both front and rear facing cameras around the Moorestown core.  Intel reckon the CPU has dual personalities, capable of playing at being a low-power, frugal smartphone chip at one moment and then a powerful cruncher the next when you don’t mind sacrificing battery life in the name of getting heavy-duty work done.

Performance seemed reasonable on both devices, though there were some missed-taps on the touchscreen and both builds were very much works-in-progress.  We also took the opportunity to quiz Intel about what exactly will differentiate Moorestown from other next-gen chipsets, like NVIDIA’s Tegra or Texas Instruments’ OMAP4, since performance didn’t seem anything excessive over what other platforms we’ve tested.

Their stance is that Moorestown brings with it flexibility – greater flexibility to run various platforms, including those intended for ARM and x86 systems – and of course as well as Android and Moblin there’ll be MeeGo support when that OS arrives later in 2010.  Moorestown will be capable of running in a low-power mode for regular smartphone duties, or in a high-power (comparable to a netbook-style devices) mode when you need some processing or multimedia grunt.

The expectation is that Aava Mobile will offer the handset as a reference design, rather than selling it directly.

Aava Mobile offers reference designs for smartphones and tablets with capabilities similar to those of a computer. The reference design it is showing at MWC is intended for system manufacturers and carriers that want to customize both the hardware and software. The design is based on the Intel Atom Moorestown platform.

Aava Mobile reports that functioning devices measure 64mm x 125mm and are 11.7mm thick letting the company lay claim to the title of world’s thinnest x86 smartphone device. The reference design is aimed at Moblin 2.1 and Android for the OS options with plans for support of MeeGo in the future. Features include an extended touch screen, full HD video capability, micro USB port, HD video conferencing, dual mics, 3D sound and UI, GSM capable, and it has GPS, WiFi, compass, and an accelerometer.