(See the full reviews: BlackBerry Storm 2 & Motorola Cliq )

Blackberry Storm 2 Thunders onto Verizon’s Network

I don’t think it would be an understatement to say the Blackberry Storm 2 is to Windows 7 what the original Storm was to Vista. As PC World’s Ginny Mies stated right up front in her Storm 2 review, “This is the Storm that I wish RIM had released last year.” The handset’s aesthetics, the on-screen keyboard and the software are just better, according to Mies. The downside is that Research In Motion chose to stay with its SurePress technology. SurePress is supposed to give you that tactile feel you get from pressing real keys and buttons, while still using a touchscreen. This time around the Storm 2 has a few more sensors to help make typing and clicking more accurate, but Mies says it still falls short.

Motorola Cliqs with your Clique on T-Mobile

Motorola’s Android-based entry, the Cliq, is all about social networks with integration for Facebook, MySpace and Twitter. Mies liked its sleek design and innovative MotoBlur overlay. On the downside, the Cliq isn’t running the latest Android build (yet), and the camera was subpar compared to similar devices. Mies also said the MotoBlur interface was a little overwhelming at first noting that, “Text, talk bubbles, and images fly out at you in every direction.”

The biggest draw for the Cliq is its ability to keep you up to date with notifications from all your social networks. You can also let the phone build your address book for you using information from your social networks. Thanks to the MotoBlur interface, the Cliq creates listings for all your social networking friends, and is able to condense multiple social networking profiles into one listing–a handy solution if you’re connected to the same person over multiple networks. The MotoBlur’s contacts app displays items like a person’s birthdate, current status update, profile picture, e-mail address, phone number and so on. When Mies described this, I thought it sounded similar to desktop-based products like the Outlook plug-in Xobni, and the possibly soon-to-be defunct Xoopit add-on for Gmail.

3. Joining Caesar product development, lead a team to do telephony feature and other applications development. Migrated relative applications from Windows Mobile 6 to Windows Mobile 7
Language: C++
Tools: VS2008, AKU, Platform Builder
Runtime Environment: Windows Mobile 7.0 (Beta)

UX Evangelist found this mention of Windows Mobile 7.0, and a ton of other ones, while scouring LinkedIn. If you’re wondering, the “Caesar” reference is likely the same one as the one on Siddharth Saxena’s LinkedIn profile: “Responsible for the integration of BCM4325 wlan chip on Caesar Platform (OMAP3430) on WM7 as a native host driver.” In other words, it’s just one of the many chips Microsoft is making sure the next version of Windows Mobile will work with.

Windows Mobile 7.0 being in beta so soon is not as farfetched as it might sound at first. The operating system has already been in development for years and last month, we noted how the Windows Mobile 7 Search and Windows Mobile 7 Browser teams were looking for internal testers.

Rumors have April 2010 pegged as the month the OS will hit RTM, and November 2009 the month Windows Mobile 7.0 gets put into testers hands. For that to be true, Windows Mobile 7.0 would have to be in some beta form by now. So what’s so special about November? Unsurprisingly, it’s when PDC09 is taking place. (Will attendees get a beta copy or at least some glimpse of the new mobile OS?)

At the same time though, we have a separate rumor from last month that states Microsoft will update Windows Mobile 6.5 in February 2010 (new whispers are calling it Windows Mobile 6.7), positioning it against Google’s Android, while in Q4 2010 the company will unleash Windows Mobile 7 against the iPhone. April 2010 doesn’t fall into Q4 2010, and although Microsoft might end up taking its sweet old time between RTM and actual devices, that’s a rather long wait, even for the software giant. Nevertheless, we always love to note how Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer declared in March 2009 that Windows Mobile versions need to start coming out faster, so there’s still hope.