We’re big fans of Microsoft’s Windows Phone 7 here at MacLife.com, but sadly the folks in Redmond don’t seem too eager about moving the platform to the tablet. But that hasn’t stopped a Dutch developer from giving it a go anyway, using RIM’s failed BlackBerry PlayBook.
BGR is reporting (via N4BB) that a developer in the Netherlands has successfully ported Microsoft Windows Phone 7 to a Research in Motion BlackBerry PlayBook. While that may sound like a match made in hades for iOS and Android users, the unholy union actually seems to work pretty well, judging from the YouTube video embedded below.
“‘Gamer109X,’ the developer behind this curious chimera, said he plans to release a Windows Phone build for the PlayBook to the public in the coming months,” the report reveals, which certainly could help RIM shove a few more deeply discounted BlackBerry PlayBooks out of its warehouses if true.
Among the feats of strength shown off in the video are browsing photos, downloading Angry Birds from Marketplace, posting a message and running Nokia Maps, which curiously places the developer in Barcelona, Spain instead of the Netherlands. Here’s hoping we’ll get some further details on exactly how the developer pulled off this trick, but in the meantime enjoy the video!
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(Image & video courtesy of BGR and N4BB)
We’ve been reporting on International Trade Commission decisions for what seems like forever, but it appears that one of them is finally making an impact — two of HTC’s latest handsets are being “indefinitely delayed” by U.S. customs as the result of an ITC ban Apple won against the handset manufacturer late last year.
The Verge is reporting that the HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE have both fallen victim to an import delay by U.S. Customs “for potentially infringing an Apple patent.” As a result, the new handsets have been “indefinitely delayed” until Customs can investigate the situation further.
The move is likely to come as bad news to Android lovers ready to wrap their fingers around these handsets — the One X is currently out of stock from AT&T’s website and the situation appears grim as to when further units may arrive in retail stores.
The import delay is the result of a “wide-ranging exclusion order” won by Apple last December by the International Trade Commission (ITC), who found that “Android’s messaging app and browser infringed upon Apple patent #5,946,647, which covers automatically converting things like phone numbers and email addresses into actionable links that open a menu of options.”
Although a ban of infringing devices was delayed while HTC could figure out a workaround, that delay ended on April 19. HTC has likely fixed the problem with the One X and Evo 4G LTE, but the ITC order is fairly broad and prohibits importation of any “personal data and mobile communications devices” made by HTC.
Needless to say, HTC isn’t very happy about the delay, but appears confident that Customs will move quickly to clear the blockade.
“The US availability of the HTC One X and HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed due to a standard U.S. Customs review of shipments that is required after an ITC exclusion order,” the company said in an official statement. “We believe we are in compliance with the ruling and HTC is working closely with Customs to secure approval. The HTC One X and HTC Evo 4G LTE have been received enthusiastically by customers and we appreciate their patience as we work to get these products into their hands as soon as possible.”
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Chalk one up for the rumor mill once again! It appears West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin will indeed be writing the screenplay for Sony’s official adaptation of Steve Jobs’ biography after all.
Variety is reporting that Sony Pictures has confirmed the hiring of Aaron Sorkin to adapt the bestselling biography Steve Jobs into a major motion picture. While Sorkin may be better known to television viewers as the creator of The West Wing, more recently he wrote the Oscar-winning screenplay for The Social Network, a dramatic interpretation of how Facebook’s meteoric rise based on the book The Accidental Billionaires.
Unlike the independent feature starring Ashton Kutcher currently before the cameras, Sony’s biopic comes with the blessing of official Jobs biographer Walter Isaacson, whose bestselling book Sorkin will adapt for the big screen.
“Steve Jobs’ story is unique: He was one of the most revolutionary and influential men not just of our time, but of all time,” said Amy Pascal, co-chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment. “There is no writer working in Hollywood today who is more capable of capturing such an extraordinary life for the screen than Aaron Sorkin; in his hands, we’re confident that the film will be everything that Jobs himself was: captivating, entertaining, and polarizing.”
As if Mark Zuckerberg and Steve Jobs weren’t enough for Sorkin, the screenwriter is also hard at work adapting Andrew Young’s bestselling book The Politician, which chronicles the rise and fall of Senator John Edwards, which he will also direct.
Follow this article’s author, J.R. Bookwalter on Twitter
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