Windows Phone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

It seems that Internet Explorer will be independently updatable. That means that even if Windows Phone 7 has no major updates, you may still be able to get a browser update, just like you can on your PC. The info comes from the IE for Windows Phone Team's weblog in the comment section:

Tom: "Will the browser in Windows 7 get more updates more frequently than only with full firmware updates?"

Joe (IE Team Member): "Yes, we are building in the ability to update the browser independently of firmware"

This is good news, but color me skeptical. I have heard promises of updatability the Pocket PC originally launched in 2000. Heck, even before that, some of the Palm-sized PC's advertised updatability through a replaceable daughter card on the motherboard. Updates though have been few and far between. Microsoft has really raised expectations with WP7, and now more so with this revelation on IE. They really need to make good on these promises.

"NEW Get iPhone-style internet browsing on your Pocket PC. TouchBrowser lets you control everything using only your fingers. You can type using the large keyboard, glide through web content and scroll through pages with a flick, with full page view. Tired of Pocket Internet Explorer? Forget about the stylus, the tiny scrollbars and the keyhole view of the internet. TouchBrowser gives you the smooth webbrowsing experience of the iPhone, right on your Pocket PC. It lets you scroll pages with animation and iPhone inertia effects for easy reading"

Lord knows that the conversations between the Windows Mobile team and Windows Mobile MVPs at the Summit this year were full of talk about Pocket IE. If you're unsure what we were saying - take a look at alternate products like this one. Possibly IE will be better in the future, however if you're a heavy internet user, products like this one may be worth the small license cost now! Trial doesn't look like it's out there, but they do have a YouTube demo video.