As if we did not need another reason to get excited about the new upcoming Windows 7 phone Netflix and Microsoft made an announcement that the new Windows 7 phone will have a Netflix app that comes equipped with the Watch Instantly Technology.

While most smart phones have some sort of Netflix app those apps only allow you to manage your account and make changes to your queue.  With the new Windows 7 phone you will be able to watch movies instantly from Netflix on your new Windows 7 mobile device.

This announcement makes a lot of sense considering that that Netflix utilizes Microsoft’s Silverlight technology to stream movies instantly over the web.  It would be perfect for Netflix to join with Microsoft and their Windows 7 phone to bring you the same technology and allow you to view movies instantly on your mobile device.

As an avid movie watcher and huge Netflix fan this has me even more excited for the upcoming launch of the Windows 7 phone.  There will be a lot of great technologies that are exclusive to the Windows 7 device and the Netflix app is just another one to add to the ever growing list.  I will certainly be eagerly awaiting this new device.

Microsoft kicked off the MIX 2010 with a keynote speech that surely got the attention of programmers for the upcoming Windows Phone 7 device.  In their keynote Microsoft revealed many features that will be at the disposal of programmers looking to dive into the Windows Phone 7 Series platform.  Some of these features include:

• Accelerometer support
• Microsoft Location Service to provide developers with a single point of reference to acquire location information
• Microsoft Notification Service for pushing information to the phone, regardless of whether or not an application is running
• Hardware-accelerated video with digital rights management (DRM)
• Internet Information Services Smooth Streaming for the industry’s highest quality content viewing experience
• Multitouch
• Camera and microphone support

To assist developers and get them started quickly Microsoft is offering a suite of free developer tools which include Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 Express for Windows Phone 7 Series, a free add-in to use with Visual Studio 2010 RC, XNA Game Studio 4.0, Windows Phone 7 Series Emulator for application testing, and a version of Expression Blend for Windows Phone.

If you think the app store is going to be a waste of time Microsoft already has a list of big name clients on board to release apps for the new Windows Phone 7 device.  These companies include Associated Press, NAMCO, EA Mobile, Pandora, Sling, Foursquare and Weatherbug to name a few.

PureMobile plans to carry unlocked cell phones built on the Windows Phone 7 Series platform.

Today in a message to congress the FCC unveiled it’s plans to work on a national broadband plan.  The plan details how the FCC will work to bring voice and broadband internet services to as many Americans as possible.  The FCC’s plan includes both wireline and wireless broadband components.

With the wireless side the FCC requested the use of 500MHz of spectrum and hopes to get that much made available in 10 years time.  Currently the FCC has 50MHz of spectrum available and is considering incentives and possible auctions to get current spectrum holders to give up their current allotments.

The FCC is also looking into the ways that infrastructure can help reduce the costs of deploying wireless broadband.  They would like to look into the ways that rooftops, utility poles, and other conduits can be used for cell towers and repeaters that will greatly reduce the costs of rolling out a nationwide broadband service.

The main goal of the FCC and this broadband initiative is to provide every American with access to broadband service of 100Mbps downloads and 50Mbps uploads.  The FCC also feels that the US should lead the world in mobile broadband and should have the largest and fastest network.

If the FCC realizes its goal then this will be very welcomed news for mobile device users that are currently on data plans.  They way it sounds to me is that the FCC wants to have a country wide wireless broadband service that mobile users would be able to access from their unlocked cell phones for free.  Gone could be the days of paying for wireless data plans to stream video content on your mobile device.  This will be an interesting story to keep our eyes on in the coming years to see just how much support the FCC gets from the government.

Verizon Wireless announced some exciting news on Tuesday after testing the wireless data speeds of their new LTE network, which is primed to replace the current 3G network. The news from Verizon was that the test results were “shocking” and “faster than ever suggested.”  This comes as a great surprise to many as Verizon now expects to beat rival wireless company ATT into the LTE business by 12-18 months.

Field tests were conducted in Boston and Seattle in August and Verizon Wireless now expects to deliver these services to about 25 – 30 markets by the end of 2010.  The test results that have shocked all of the Verizon Wireless engineers have shown an average download rate of 5Mbit/sec to 12Mbit/sec along with an uplink speed of 2Mbit/sec to 5Mbit/sec.  With rates like these Verizon customers could expect to experience the same web surfing speeds as they don on their home computer.

Some other aspects of this announcement that have tech gurus all excited is that Verizon Wireless demonstrated the capacity to perform a live videoconference using this new LTE technology.  This is an amazing feat and really demonstrates the powers that this new wireless network can really have.  Testers were also able to successfully stream a movie in 1080p high definition to a handheld device which is primed to change the way we watch videos on our handheld devices.

Imagine the possibilities this type of technology could lead to.  Soon you may be able to have a live video conference with several friends or colleagues using your unlocked cell phone while watching a movie and checking the stock market.  When something this ground breaking comes along it really makes you start to wonder what could possibly come next.

American Airlines has announced today that they will now accept mobile ticketing at another 19 airports.  This now brings the total to 27 airports around the country that will accept boarding passes that are displayed on your mobile device.  It will work on mobile phones like the Sony Ericsson Aspen as well as Pads and will display a two-dimensional barcode.  Now, you will not have to worry about printing out a boarding pass or getting one at the airport.  This may also help you get to the security area a little bit quicker.

It is very easy to use in that you merely choose the option to have an e-mail correctly to your phone, like the Nokia 5300 unlocked cell phone or PDA and American Airlines will send the boarding pass to your e-mail and then you can get it right off of your mobile device.  The new airports that were announced include Albuquerque, Charlotte, Cleveland, Denver, El Paso, Houston, Jacksonville, Orlando, Phoenix, Salt Lake City, San Antonio, San Diego, San Francisco, Washington, Little Rock and Phoenix.

These are, in addition to the first ones that include Chicago, Austin, Dallas, Los Angeles, Orange County, Las Vegas, Atlanta and Minneapolis.  You can visit the American airline’s website to get further details about how the process works.  This is just one more application that will make travelers lives a lot easier.  Now, you will not have to worry about whether or not you printed out your boarding pass before you get to the airport, as you will just simply need to show your mobile device and the barcode.  Now all you will have to worry about is whether or not your luggage will get lost on the way to your destination.

Okay all you major league baseball fans, once again the ever popular At Bat application is available for download at the Apple app store.  You can purchase this app for the one-time charge of $14.99, and it is ready now so you will be able to keep up with all of your favorite baseball teams.  The application allows baseball fans to keep track of their home team, as well as other teams and how they are doing in the standings.  With opening day just around the corner you may want to think about getting this application now so you can keep up with all of the current news or in spring training and the exhibition games.

This application let you catch all of the games that matter where you are.  You can either listen or watch the games on your unlocked iPhone, but just the careful if you are doing this to work!  This app is especially great for those that have moved away from their favorite teams and do not want to miss any of the games in their local market.  It also gives you the most up-to-date information about other games and scores as well as player information and statistics.  It will also give you highlights of games, as well as to be able to notify you based on your input.  This app has won the best multimedia app from MacWorld, and was named most valuable application of 2009 by Sports Illustrated.

This year’s version we even allow you to listen or watch to spring training and give you all the breaking news in regard to player trades and other major league baseball news.  It will take you all the way through the playoffs and World Series as well.  And for all of those that have Blackberry cell phones or android mobile devices, you will also be able to download the application as well.  Check out the At Bat 2010 at your app store, and do not miss one inning of your favorite team.

Verizon wireless has received notification that they are being sued in a class action lawsuit in the state of New Jersey.  This class-action suit from the law firm of Goldman Scarlato & Karon, P.C. has been filed on behalf of cell phone users that do not have smart phones.  They are claiming that these users have been charged for data transfer services that they have never actually used.  This is in regard to customers being charged accidentally the $1.99 per megabyte for accessing the web or using any other data services.  Verizon stated that these charges are only access to those users that stray away from the Verizon home page and obtain other applications and services.  The lawsuit claims that Verizon has charged customers even though they have not accessed this type of service.  The lawsuit is looking to be able to return the money is improperly charged back to the customers.

In other news, the major United States carriers, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless, along with Google have begun to respond to the FCC in regard to the early termination fees that customers have to pay.  It has long known that these carriers as well as others have had extremely high early termination fees in order to cover the costs of the cell phone devices that they provide at a discount through their plans.  Google has stated that their $350 fee for customers that use the Nexus One and break their contract is fair.

In the past, Nexus One users have had to actually pay early termination fees to both Google and T-Mobile.  They have begun to reduce some of these early termination fees and have actually lowered it to $150 for new T-Mobile customers.  The make your carriers also explained that they would be making sure that they fully disclose the early termination fees to all customers.  This is just one more reason why unlocked cell phones are probably one of the best ways to avoid the unnecessary fees from the major carriers in the United States.

For one week, from February 17-26, PureMobile is offering free ground shipping on any order.  There is no minimum purchase or coupon code required.  Simply buy what you want and during check out select the $0 shipping option

There are some very interesting numbers coming in from Canalys that shows us some info about the sales of touch screen smart phones. This reports shows that over 50% of the smartphones sold around the world have touchscreen features. It is no real surprise that Apple iPhone 3GS unlocked remains the leader, even though they really only have two mobile units. But what is interesting is that Nokia is not that far behind them. This is most certainly putting some pressure on Apple to keep on top of their game. The other companies such as HTC and Samsung still have quite a ways to go to catch up. This should indicate that we will see more touchscreen updates and releases this year. We should also see Samsung increase its market share since they did much better in 2009. The big news is looking at Nokia N900 cell phone and their percentage of increase over their shipments of 2008. We can expect Nokia to make a major presence in the market in the coming months. Does this mean that they will over take Apple? It is hard to say, but 2010 should be a very interesting year for all of the companies.

When we take a look at the OS systems for the smartphones, Symbian is still in the lead, but they did not experience much growth. Apple and Google could both be real contenders on overthrowing Symbian over the next few years. The amazing success of Google Android OS could see them overtaking Microsoft very soon. It must be discouraging for Microsoft to see their market share go done. Hopefully some of their new releases will be exciting enough for them to stay in the game.

It will be interesting to take a look at some of these numbers at the end of this year. We may see some upsets and some very surprising statistics. At the very least, the number of touchscreen phones should go well over 60% of the number of mobile devices sold. This will surely be a great year for the mobile phone industry.

QVC the online multimedia giant does it again. In a bid to lure customers for Christmas shopping they have launched an easy to use application for shopping online through the iPhone and  iTouch. This application comes for yes. YES. Anyone using an Apple iPhone or iTouch can just grab this and start shopping from QVC right away. This is something for everyone including the mothers and grandmas to rejoice because with the click of a key and at the comfort of your house you can buy almost any multimedia product from QVC. What better Christmas gift would the young boys and girls ask for. All the new range of electronic multimedia gears is listed in the write with the daily offers and that includes the day’s special offers and even the offers that are one time value.

The application also features all the current items in the stock and has a checklist that you can use and refer later. This does not stop here. What about wanting to tell your friends that their favorite Christmas gift is just a click away? You can also do that by sending out emails via their sharing element facility. This facility application is linked to the I Tunes link, which can be downloaded for free. All you need is to get a little tech savvy and maybe you don’t have to queue up in the bitter cold anymore. That’s something grandma would rejoice as she can shop for her favorite grandchildren from the comfort of the house.

What about gifting grandma an iPhone for a start? Now that is a booster for QVC as their I Phone sales itself may go up the ladder. It is not only electronics but QVC has stocks of kitchen items, Handbags, Beauty and Fashion items like jewelry, home improvement items and wellness and sports items and many more. Hence with an unlocked iPhone 3GS and QVC apps its shopping from home this Christmas.