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

"Here's a deal that you won't want to miss: Dell's official eBay account is selling in "limited quantities" unlocked Venue Pros for AT&T and T-Mobile for a nice $299 (+ sales tax). That's a $200 savings, in case you were wondering."

Hey, it wasn't all that long ago that we couldn't wait to see these Dell phones in the flesh. If you are interested in getting one, this deal from Dell on AT&T and T-Mobile may be worth checking out.

"eBay announced the availability of its first application for Windows Phone 7 in conjunction with Microsoft's debut of the devices on October 11th. The eBay app for Windows Phone 7 allows users to quickly search, bid, buy and check their eBay buying and selling activity. The app leverages Microsoft's panoramic user interface and takes advantage of Windows Phone 7's push notification technology so users can receive real-time notifications on best offer and bidding activity, and items ending soonest."

It is nice to see continuing application support for Windows Phone 7 even before the phone is launched. This app will be a good test of how effective the push notifications are in the OS, which allow some modest level of multitasking. According to Auction Bytes, Australia, Canada, France, Italy, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom and United States will be supported.

"For now, partnerships are the main way eBay is staying current. At Microsoft's request, Yankovich's team is building an app for Windows Phone 7, the next generation of Microsoft's mobile operating system. The app will be available when Windows Phone 7 launches, likely around October or November."

Elizabeth Woyke has written in her Mobilized blog at the Forbes site that Microsoft has requested that the eBay team write an app specifically for Windows Phone 7. So, if you were ever wondering how you would search, buy and sell eBay items on the run, your worries are over. If you're wondering just how many people do just that, the numbers quoted by eBay for mobile transactions are quite interesting. Woyke comments that in 2009 eBay sold $600 million of goods via mobile transactions, and this year eBay expects to more than double that amount to $1.5 billion. With those sorts of numbers being quoted it seems the fear of conducting mobile transactions is not as large as some might assume. Now we just have to wait and see if there is a "Buy and Sell" hub in Windows Phone 7's future.

HTC and Nic Wong of Nicholas have teamed up to deliver four limited edition HTC Touch devices. All four are up for auction (the first auction kicked off yesterday) with all proceeds going straight to Singapore's Children's Cancer Foundation. The catch is HTC is only willing to ship within Singapore, so if you're elsewhere and hoping to scoop one of these up for a good cause, you may be out of luck.

Update: Scratch that. Shipping is free within Singapore, but HTC is still certainly willing to ship elsewhere at the cost of the buyer. So, regardless of where you live, if you really dig the designs and want to help the Children's Cancer Foundation, bid away!