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At last Monday’s Mobile World Conference in Barcelona, Microsoft took the wraps off their next generation Windows operating system for their mobile division dubbed Windows Phone 7 Series. Ever since the wildly popular iPhone OS hit the scene in June 2007, Microsoft has been sitting on the edge of its seat, waiting to retaliate with an interface that is finger-touch friendly. As pundits continued to flake on the Redmond-based company’s Windows Mobile 6.5x variations, their market share continued to slide. A comScore survey conducted late last year revealed that the Windows Mobile smartphone OS market share had fallen to third place, while the iPhone advanced to second place, and RIM’s BlackBerry continued to reign supreme.

Windows Mobile phones, much like BlackBerries, have long been known for their enterprise usage and hardly for their ability to integrate music, video and other web-centric social services such as Facebook and Twitter effectively. While the iPhone has helped push developers in the right direction, few have even approached the friendliness and ease of use that has made the iPhone shine.

With Windows Phone 7 Series, Microsoft plans to rewrite their mobile history. Building on the success of their entertainment divisions that include the Xbox 360 and Zune HD, Windows Phone 7 Series looks to be the culmination of the best of both of those spectacular products. The result is a product that, like the iPhone, merges all the growing connections that we have come to require in our digital lives.

When the Zune HD launched last September, few picked it up and even fewer knew how well thought out the user interface was. As every company has tried to emulate the iPhone’s UI, Microsoft put a pop culture spin on the Zune HD UI, combining post-modern menus that run off the screen with slickly animated navigation screens, giving the device a futuristic feel with an emphasis on “textual” menus instead of a confusing mess of icons like those on the Apple product. Throw in a web browser that works nearly as well as Mobile Safari, plus a beautifully thin yet “rugged-looking” industrial design, and the Zune HD should have hit the iPod touch right on the mark, maiming it. But it didn’t. The Zune HD is an example of where great ideas fail to become the de facto standard.

Windows Phone 7 Series sports a UI that is very similar to the Zune HD. Gone are the hierarchical windows and drop down menus that are clunky and make for difficult navigation. In it are flat colored squares devoid of excessive decorations, simply displaying relevant information such as unread e-mails, missed calls, updates on Xbox Live (WP7 has Xbox Live integration), Facebook notifications, etc. All of it is there on the main screen AND on the unlocked screen (Apple, take note of this for iPhone OS 4.0!).

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Regardless of how rich or poor anyone is, we all love to save a little money – even if we’re just going to spend it on something else. Since we all probably shelled out a fair chunk of cash on our mobile devices, it’s good news that we can use them to start earning some of that money back. Therefore, it seems only natural for me share some finds.

Yowza! (Free, Getyowza.com)
This coupon app was created by a Twitter triumvirate that includes Heroes star Greg Grunberg (affectionately known as ‘Grunny’ to his fans). Basically what the app does is incorporate stores one by one and the stores publish exclusive coupons to the application. You bring in your device, show it to the cashier and bang. You’ve saved. Additionally, the app can show you what deals are available based on where you are at the moment and how far away they are. In the beginning, this app was slightly useless since only a small handful of stores were on it, especially if you lived outside of L.A. However, activity is definitely starting to pick up as Grunny painstakingly pursues merchants to add. Your results will vary from city to city, but since it’s a free app it’s basically no harm no foul if you download it and don’t use it. This app is definitely worth giving a try.

Cheap Gas! (Free, Gasbuddy.com)
Cheap Gas is a great little app that simply locates you and then tells you where the cheapest, nearest gas station is on a map. You can’t get any simpler than that and you can’t help but save money this way!

Mint (Free, Mint.com)
Mint.com is a website that helps you to organize your finances and maintain a budget. It’s very sophisticated web-based software that simultaneously logs in to all your banking and credit accounts online and allows you to categorize your expenses, tally up your budget, watch your savings, and see where your money is going. It will even warn you if you go over your budget, if there’s unusual spending on your account, or if your accounts have low balances. Naturally, the mobile application does all the same things, only it’s on the go. For anyone thinking of trying it, I’d definitely recommend using the Mint app in conjunction with the website, otherwise the amount of information could be overwhelming on a mobile device alone. But if you’re willing to put some time in it, Mint is the perfect app to help you get a hold of your finances.

Back in 2007, MySpace was still formidable competition for Facebook, and Friendster was going the way of the pager (“pager,” i.e. a small electronic device assigned to a telephone number which alerted device-holder that a person was attempting contact; holder could then respond using one of those pay-phoney-thing-a-ma-jigs). Also in 2007, Twitter was but a fleeting twinkle on the net, and Brady Becker was just some hipster nerd in Denver, quietly concocting a little thing called Brightkite. Once unleashed, however, Brightkite took flight.

Unlike the standard-issue social networks, Brightkite doesn’t cater to the generic hogwash to which others  are prone. Closer to the up-and-coming Foursquare and the now-defunct Google acquisition Dodgeball, it’s a free, location-based networking site that’s also comparably sparse, user-friendly, and a superbly designed must-have communication tool.

Brightkite’s site is like a slap in the face for all of us networking zombies. Our eyes have literally adjusted to finding relevant areas on browsers. Brightkite’s homepage is so amazingly NOT complex, it literally makes you feel like the page must still be loading. (Coincidentally, as I write this, I am searching for “home” on Facebook’s horrifically redesigned page. Facebook is sure as shit joining its predecessors; it’s only a matter of time before it becomes as tainted and overrun with crappy bands as MySpace). Brightkite’s site is simple, it’s clean, and with the absence of seizure-inducing advertisements, it’s totally inviting.

You “check in” when you land at the corner bistro/dive bar/after-party, and it automatically posts your location to your Facebook, Twitter, or Flickr account. Take a picture of the obese hippie wearing butterfly wings at Whole Foods in Union Square, then post it on Brightkite so we can all enjoy the image of a fairy guzzling a Kombucha!

Below is my compelling and hard-hitting interview with Brightkite founder, Brady Becker.

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