Though Ask Ziggy’s user interface shares the same rudimentary design as that of Siri, putting query results in chat bubbles, the app does not directly imitate the icons and name of Apple’s alternative. On the Google side of things, A “Siri for Android” app just appeared on the Android Market days ago, but turned out to be only a shortcut to an app.

“Ask Ziggy” is reported to use Nuance’s voice recognition engine, which is paired along with other algorithms that comb search results for relevant responses and answers (hopefully, not as weird as those that Siri sometimes pulls up). However, when a direct answer cannot be found, users are provided with a link to the search results for that particular question. But at the moment, Microsoft has yet to offer their own solution, despite the supply of third-party Siri clones for the Windows Phone platform.

[via The Next Web]

On the press invitation, Nokia says to “Join our press conference and get the latest news from Nokia, hear from some of the leading minds in the industry about the future of smart devices and applications and witness stunning demos of Nokia technology in action.” Really, Nokia? Can you be any more generic than that? Although we’re guessing that it’s going to be somehow Lumia-related, just saying.

Nokia hasn’t done a huge amount lately, having been overshone by the likes of the plethora of Android devices (and I’m looking especially at you, long-awaited Galaxy Nexus) as well as the ever surging popularity of the iPhone 4/iPhone 4S variants from Apple. We’ll be looking forward to what they’re going to have store this year at CES.

Last week in gaming consoles…
Nintendo “Project Café” Wii 2 caught on video?
Nintendo ‘Project Cafe’ Wii2 Game Controller To Have Camera?
Microsoft email tips possible free replacement for older Xbox 360 consoles that can’t support new game format
Microsoft Offers Free Xbox 360 with Select Windows 7 Notebook Purchases

As Sony struggles to resurrect its network…
Sony PlayStation Network suffers new hack
Sony hosting phishing site on own server as new hacks identified
Sony hacked again? This time it’s So-Net

Android:
Android flaw could see Google & Facebook accounts snatched over WiFi
Google Confirms Android WiFi Security Fix Rolling Out Today
ASUS Eee Pad Transformer, Acer Iconia Tab A500 Getting Android 3.1 Honeycomb In June
Amazon Tablets ‘Coyote’ And ‘Hollywood’ Slated For 2011?
Android Honeycomb 3.1 Review

Apple:
iPad 2 supply bottleneck improving tips analyst
Foxconn iPad 2 plant explosion [Video] [Updated]
Apple Store 2.0 Top Secret Revamp Revealed?
Apple Store secret NFC payment upgrade tipped
Apple Back-To-School Sale To Start Next Week?
No NFC for iPhone 4S/iPhone 5 claim analysts
Apple iTunes iCloud Music Service Might Not Launch At WWDC?
Toshiba Reveals 367ppi LCD Display, Beats Apple Retina

Samsung:
Samsung Reveals Battle Plan Against Apple
May 24th Samsung Mobile Event Postponed

T-Mobile:

HTC Sensation unboxing & first-impressions [Video]
T-Mobile 2011 roadmap reveals HTC Doubleshot and G-Infinity, more
Samsung Hercules For T-Mobile, Like The Infuse 4G, But Dual-Core

AT&T:
HTC HD7S Windows Phone Heading To AT&T On June 5
Dell Streak Pro Honeycomb slate dropping June with Tegra 2 T20?

Verizon:
Verizon 4G LTE spreads: Nine new markets, Five boosted cities
Verizon To Drop Unlimited Data Plans, May Add Family Data Plans
LG Revolution To Launch May 26 With Netflix, Froyo, And LTE
Verizon HTC Trophy: Carrier’s first WP7 device due May 26
Droid X2 Unboxing and Hands-on [vs. Droid X]
DROID X2 now Live at Verizon Online
Verizon DROID X2 by Motorola official: 1GHz dualcore
Verizon offers pre-orders on Xperia Play starting May 19
Sony Ericsson XPERIA Play, Arc To Get Android 2.3.3 And Facebook Integration Next Week
Sony Ericsson Reveals Two New Feature Phones, Txt Pro and Mix Walkman

Reviews, Unboxings, and Hands-ons:
Infuse 4G Review
Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review (Limited Edition)
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Review
HTC Flyer Review
HTC Flyer Hands-On and Unboxing [Best Buy]
HTC Flyer On Sale Today At Best Buy

The Windows Phone Marketplace is the only way users can purchase and upgrade apps on their WP7 devices. Users began receiving errors stating “can not get this info right now. Check back in a little while.” Many users believe that the recent patch that fixed nine fraudulent Comodo certificates and the NoDo update may have caused the problem.

Microsoft said this morning it would investigate the situation. A representative wrote in an email: “We have received reports that customers are having problems accessing Windows Phone marketplace. We are investigating theses reports and will provide an update when we have more to share.”

However, some folks say that the Marketplace seems to be back up and running for them. If you are a WP7 device user, did you experience the outage? Is it working again for you now?

[via AllThingsDigital, via EverythingWM]

Photosynth uses an intelligent auto-stitching process that creates panoramic images beyond horizontal spans to full spherical 360 degree views that can then be easily shared via Facebook, Bing maps, or a freely hosted Photosynth.net account. The video below demonstrates the power and ease of the app.

It’s interesting that Microsoft chose to launch the app on iOS prior to its own WP7. It shows that they acknowledge the importance of having a foot hold on the iOS platform if it wants the app to reach the most users. Until it can get WP7 up to speed and hopefully soon with its Mango update, we may expect to see more Microsoft apps released on iOS first. The app is optimized for the iPhone 4, iPhone 3GS, and 4th generation iPod touch, although it will also work on the iPad 2. It is available now for free download at the App Store.

[via TNW]

According to the report: “Up until the launch of Windows Phone 7 last year, Microsoft has steadily lost market share while other operating systems have brought forth new and appealing experiences,” said Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC’s Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team, “The new alliance brings together Nokia’s hardware capabilities and Windows Phone’s differentiated platform. We expect the first devices to launch in 2012. By 2015, IDC expects Windows Phone to be number 2 operating system worldwide behind Android.”

If the prediction is correct, it will probably be because enterprise widely decides to embrace WP7. And it will also depend on the type of handsets the OS is available on, and how the ongoing relationship with Nokia and Microsoft develops. We will be sure to keep you up to date on new developments, and if WP7 does rocket to the top, SlashGear will be here to report on it.

[via ZDNet]

Having just completed reviewing one 4.3-inch phone by that name of HTC Inspire 4G, (which incidentally, they also had on display here at this AT&T event,) and being currently right in the middle of reviewing the HTC ThunderBolt for the greater justice of LTE everywhere, this phone does not feel like I’ve never handled the size before. That said, this phone does have its own unique set of features, the most glaring of which being that this phone runs Windows Phone 7.

When this phone is released, it will take the new top spot for screen size on a WP7 phone on AT&T. This phone comes loaded with a media subscription service by the name you might already well know: U-verse. This Is a system you can use to grab all the media you want for a set fee each month, all of it for your Windows Phone 7 phone. And what’s best about this slight revamp from the past HTC HD7? The fabulous display, of course!

This phone will be running the newest version of Windows Phone 7 when it’s released, and I hope it’ll be a brand spanking new and amazing look at the system as it reaches for newness and usability. Holding this phone is of course a dream as HTC has poured one whole insanely large amount of cash on the usability of these 4.3″ sized handsets, and the simple fact that this device is a Windows Phone 7.

The oddest piece of hardware on this entire phone is the kickstand. It does not extend very far, and from the feel of it, it’s not quite as strong as what we’re seeing on the HTC ThunderBolt. And it’s at the top. Crazy! Usually a kickstand sort of like this would be near the bottom, or at least inside the 2nd half of the device (bottom-wise.) This means for lots of landscape, and otherwise you’re out of luck!

Before we continue, I must tell you that this is the first Windows Phone 7 phone I’ve ever held. I’ve used and reviewed my share of Android phones in the time they’ve existed, but WP7 has until now evaded me. That time has ended! This review will truly come from a fresh set of eyes, ladies and gentlemen, yours truly, a person who does know a thing or two about devices such as this, but will be giving this phone the test of an everyman, an everyman with distinct tastes!

First Impressions

This is a heavy phone. That said, compare it to phones on the average a few years ago, and it’s just a normal weight phone. It’s not a phone that weighs more than a smartphone of today should, but it’s definitely up there. It’s substantial as its mostly metal, and you’ve definitely got a device that looks like it’s worth the money you’ve payed for it. Then there’s the hinge. It’s such an odd hinge. This is a hinge that’s so weird, I’d say it’s stranger than the hinge I last saw on the G2. Take a look at that, then take a look at this. Weird – and incidentally, totally refreshing.

Handling

The phone handles like a dream thus far. Holding the phone feels like you’re really holdings something fabulously expensive, or at least filled with lead. This is a masculine phone, if you’d have to decide between that or feminine, and it’s made to get things done quick. Windows Phone 7 is all about making things uber-simple, or so they say, and having a phone like this to run such an operating system is going to amplify that effect without a doubt. Typing is fast, the hinge slides in and out without a problem, and the screen is top-notch responsive.

I’ll be working with this phone for a few days in order to give everyone a full review, and you can be sure we’ll be testing out ev-ry-thing. Stay tuned to SlashGear.com for a real deep dive.

Bonus facts! This is Sprint’s first Windows Phone 7 device, a rebranded version of the HTC 7 Pro – well played, HTC. This makes Sprint the first US carrier to pick up the HTC 7 Pro, and it’ll be out on the market on March 20th, 2011.

It’s so fancy!

Otellini believes that Nokia was baited by lots of money from Google and Microsoft to make the switch. He said that Nokia’s CEO Stephen Elop received “incredible offers–money” from the two suitors and continued saying, “I wouldn’t have made the decision he made, I would probably have gone to Android if I were him. MeeGo would have been the best strategy but he concluded he couldn’t afford it.”

He believes that Nokia will find it difficult to differentiate using the Windows platform saying, “It would have been less hard on Android, on MeeGo he could have done it.” But after seeing the MeeGo demo at MWC 2011 being far from impressive, it’s hard to say if MeeGo really was an option. Despite all of this, Intel firmly stands by MeeGo saying that they will find another partner. “The carriers still want a third ecosystem and the carriers want an open ecosystem, and that’s the thing that drives our motivation,” says Otellini.

[Via Reuters]

ST-Ericsson, is a joint venture between Sweden’s Ericsson (ERICb.ST) and STMicroelectronics (STM.PA) of France and is a key supplier to Nokia, among other major phone makers. There were previous leaks that Nokia was using ST-Ericsson hardware for MeeGo. We will just have to wait and see where Nokia decides to go when they are ready to start producing WP7 phones.

[via Reuters]

This announcement is interesting because just last fall, Rovio and Microsoft had a slight kerfuffle due to Microsoft’s unlawful use of an Angry Birds icon in WP7 advertising. The situation elicited a tweet from Rovio saying : “We have NOT committed to doing a Windows Phone 7 version. Microsoft put Angry Birds icon on their site without our permission.”

Now it appears that everything is patched up and Rovio head, Peter Vesterbecka confirms that the WP7 version of Angry Birds is in the works. He also confirms that they are working on a 3D version of the game but has not given a specific timeline for either version.

[Via Techland]