Microsoft has been discovered to have changed its requirements for the upcoming ARM version of Windows 8. The change essentially will prohibit ARM devices, including PCs, from running operating systems other than Windows 8 after they ship to customers.

Specifically, Microsoft recently amended its requirements for ARM Windows 8 System Builders. Unlike Windows 8 for Intel-compatible (x86 & x64) machines, the ARM version of Windows 8 will not be sold to the public. To purchase an ARM version of Windows 8, you will have to purchase a device with it pre-loaded (similar to Windows CE devices today, such as Windows Phone). The new requirement calls for utilizing UEFI Secure Boot, a technology that forces manufacturers to instruct devices to boot code certified by the manufacturer for the device.

For consumers, this is similar to locking the bootloader on a smartphone. This is a common practice on mobile phones that secures the device, but blocks running modified or alternative operating systems. Many manufacturers now allow consumers to bypass (or “unlock”) the bootloader lock on select devices (and at times, wireless providers).

In settlements with the Department of Justice during the mid 1990s, Microsoft agreed to not block or prevent PCs from running alternative operating systems, such as Linux. If Microsoft allows Windows 8 for ARM to ship on any device that could be considered a Personal Computer, they could be in violation of this. Such settlements called for other, more trivial actions, such as Microsoft agreeing to laughable acts such as giving away copies of Linux software.

This move even comes after Microsoft specifically noted in the Windows 8 ARM announcements that they would not provide any interruption of ARM’s hardware to boot and access other platforms. Manufacturers are still free to do so if they choose, and often do on embedded devices.

Still, the consumer has been free to make the decision to purchase such a device or not. In the enthusiast community, it is commonplace to replace ARM-based Windows Mobile 6 with Google’s Android.

It is quite likely even without the PC requirement that Microsoft would still be in violation of the United States v. Microsoft settlement. The requirement of UEFI Secure Boot would require Linux and other operating systems to be securely signed by the device’s manufacturer, making them complicit with Microsoft in helping the company maintain its monopoly on UEFI based hardware. The only other EFI machines common in the industry today, are Apple Macintosh computers, which hold a small fraction of the marketplace, arguably below ten percent.

Fears of Microsoft demanding UEFI Secure Boot had persisted since the announcement that Windows 8 ARM would utilize UEFI, a technology pioneered by Intel and first used in mainstream computing by Apple. Repudiation of the move by consumer groups has been almost instantaneous, but if the move is actually a form of antitrust or settlement-breach has been less consistent.

Some argue that Windows 8 ARM does not, at this point, present itself as a solution for mainstream personal computing. These arguments are similar with those that Apple’s iPad, and other ARM tablets, are not personal computers, but rather complimentary to the PC ecosystem.

Apple, which now holds the largest single-manufacturer share of the smartphone market, does lock its bootloader on ARM devices, prohibiting users from selecting another operating system. On the Mac, it’s a different story, the company embraces users installing, or even replacing Mac OS X with Windows, via the Boot Camp initiative. Hackers have also managed to install Android on many Apple iOS devices, however Apple routinely thwarts exploits which enable the process, resulting in a continual cat-and-mouse game.

For Microsoft to comply with the rules of UEFI Secure Boot, and allow for compliance with US v. Microsoft settlements, Windows 8 for ARM would have to provide its own ability in its bootloader to allow for other operating systems to load. Such a move is highly unlikely, and would require complex and major modifications to other’s operating systems… possibly including utilizing open technologies that Microsoft has repeatedly claim infringe on their patents. Microsoft has demanded royalties for using the FAT file system on Android devices, as well as Google Chrome OS devices, for example.

Many, if not all of the terms of the settlement expire this year at the latest. This could indicate that Microsoft was waiting until the expiration of the settlement terms to make such a move. However, Microsoft is clearly aware of the antitrust ramifications that prompted such a settlement, and refusing to allow a PC-like device to boot other operating systems could create for a second wave of breaches of the same antitrust statutes.

Securing bootloaders, UEFI Secure Boot aside, remains controversial. Many in the technology industry insists it is necessary to secure machines from rootkits and other low-level hacking tools that undermine device security. Others however view it as security through obscurity, citing vulnerabilities in bootloaders, and planned obsolescence in hardware’s firmware. UEFI Secure Boot does allow for manufactures to sign multiple operating systems, but updates or other modifications that are common can break such security, leading to a perpetual need for firmware updates, testing, and certification of software.

In the Linux world, software is maintained in a free, open source state, making such certification nearly impossible to offer on a widespread basis. Solutions that rely on Linux, such as Google’s Android and Canonical’s Ubuntu, provide managed/customized versions of these open platforms, but mandating UEFI Secure Boot would prevent up-and-coming platforms from starting up altogether. This stifles innovation, and applied globally, would make building a Linux startup nearly impossible as the world moves to a primarily a two-architecture universe (x86 and ARM).

Windows 8 will mark the first version of the operating system where Microsoft will have a single, monolithic kernel that spans nearly all device form factors. It is all but assured that at least some form of Windows 8 Phone will share the Windows 8 kernel, but will likely not be released until mid or even late 2013. Less clear is the future for Windows Embedded Compact (aka Windows CE), the embedded alternative to mainstream Windows, which will likely continue to exist for lower-end hardware and embedded solutions.

It’s no surprise that everyone at PhoneNews.com opposes the demand for Secure Boot in Windows 8. Manufacturers have always been free to require Secure Boot on devices, based on the clients wants, needs, and requests when ordering them. There is no need from an architectural standpoint that we can see for this demand.

Not long after all of the pomp and fanfare surrounding the long awaited announcement of the Nokia Lumia 900 earlier this week, the mailing list for Windows Phone developers has confirmed that AT&T’s flagship Nokia Windows Phone smartphone will be launching in March, sooner than originally expected taking into account AT&T’s own vague Spring timeline. Windows commentator Paul Thurrott previously confirmed that the phone would launch on March 18th when it was known as the Nokia ACE.

As previously confirmed, the Lumia 900 is exclusive to AT&T and features either improvements or additions to the Lumia 800 in a larger 4.3 inch ClearBlack AMOLED display, LTE radio, Windows Phone Tango for LTE support, front facing camera, 1.4 GHz processor,  8.0 megapixel camera with 1080p video capture and dual LED flash, 16GB internal memory and Bluetooth.

The phone was designed with both AT&T and the US market in mind as it features a front facing camera and LTE support while the 800 features neither of those and Nokia expects it to drive Windows Phone sales in the US to drive its own comeback in the US market, where the brand has suffered significant marketshare loss after the launch of the iPhone in 2007. For historical context, the last Nokia phone to have significant sales and attention in the US market was the N95 sold in the months before the June 2007 launch of the Apple iPhone.

Not long after the launch, Nokia tried to court US carriers again with branded versions of its international models such as the E71 and E73 in an ultimately futile effort to compete with Apple before suffering another blow in the form of Android, which pushed Nokia’s smartphones aside in the wider US market, save for dedicated fans of Symbian.

Now with the attention given to Nokia and Windows Phone after this week, both Nokia and Microsoft are expecting the new partnership to payoff in a big way. Judging by the positive reception during CES, the Lumia 900 may turn the fortunes around of both Nokia and Windows Phone, provided the actual phone lives up to the initial critical praise.

To end the day’s CES on floor coverage, we now turn to both the last keynote of the evening and Microsoft’s last CES keynote after participating at the event for nearly 17 years. The keynote is expected to feature announcements regarding Windows 8 and Windows Phone as well as additional announcements related to the rest of Microsoft’s product family.

6:28: Seated and ready to go.
6:32 – Gary Shapiro onstage greeting attendees
6:36 – Going over the reasons for Microsoft’s exit from CES
6:37 – Ballmer takes the stage. Shapiro presents photo collage to Ballmer
6:39 – Autotuned Microsoft video montage. Thank god it wasn’t set to dubstep.
6:40 – Ryan Seacrest from American Idol onstage
6:41 – Looks like the keynote will take more of an interview slant
6:42 – Ballmer running down how the Metro user interface will tie together Microsoft hardware and software, with a bad Metro joke
6:43 – Ballmer dancing around Windows Phone’s lack of success and pointing towards its focus on people, pulls out Nokia Lumia 800.
6:46 – Derek Snyder, Sr. Product Manager of Windows Phone onstage
6:47 – Demos Windows Phone People Hub
6:49 – Demos Windows Phone’s Contact page with conversation logs and threads with images and real-time voice to text
6:52 – Demoing Bing Local Scout on second phone, with technical difficulties in displaying the demo
6:54 – Seacrest back on stage with Ballmer detailing hardware partnerships
6:55 – Ballmer confirms Nokia Lumia 710/800 for Canada and the 710 for T-Mobile while once again demoing Lumia 900 for AT&T. Also confirms unlocked Lumia 800 being sold via Microsoft Stores in the next few months
6:57 – HTC Titan 2 with LTE also confirmed and demoed. Now discussing Windows PCs
6:58 – 1.9 billion Windows PCs in use worldwide according to Ballmer, now discussing current Windows 7 hardware with a video montage of thin and light Windows 7 ultrabooks
7:02 – Chief Marketing Officer for Windows Tami Reller now onstage
7:03 – Now demoing the Windows 8 lockscreen with personalization down to customizing the password type with Picture Password and the new Start homescreen
7:05 – Now demoing Charms, program interconnects and Metro style apps that will take over the entire display.
7:06 – Eeiterates compatibility with both ARM and X86 by using reference prototype hardware running Tegra 3, now demoing Windows Store. Windows Store will open in late February according to Reller and available in 100 languages and 200 markets
7:11 – Demos Windows  8 touch gestures and universal search with semantic zoom
7:13 – Demos App Contract and Charms to share information between apps
7:14 – Demos Metro style Internet Explorer for full-screen browsing with gesture support
7:16 – Demos HTML 5 video with hardware graphics acceleration
7:17 – Next Milestone release in February
7:18 – Demos HP Envy 18 Spectra with an all glass design along with the Samsung Series 9
7:19 – Ryan and Ballmer back onstage
7:20 – “TweetChoir” onstage grabbing keynote reactions from Twitter
7:23 – Ballmer and Seacrest back onstage talking about Xbox
7:26 – Metro being demoed on Xbox 360 with Kinect
7:29 – Bing search being demoed with Kinect on Xbox 360
7:32 – News Corp and Comcast partnerships for content on Xbox along with Live TV later in the year
7:34 – Sesame Street TV being demoed as a two way experience with Kinect
7:39 – Ballmer and Seacrest back on stage now, Kinect on Windows officially launches February 1st
7:41 – Ballmer running down Ford Sync and Office 2010 milestones
7:44 – Ballmer touting 2012 as the year of Metro and Windows
7:45 – That’s a wrap, folks 

Lenovo announces their first PC designed for Windows 8. The ultrabook, called the IdeaPad YOGA, will ship alongside Windows 8, featuring the ability to change between four discreet modes of form-factor.

The device will use an unspecified processor (ARM or x86 wasn’t specified), but judging by its design and “ultrabook” phrasing, the device is likely powered using a ULV Core i5 processor. The key to the YOGA however is, as its name implies, its ability to rotate around into four form-factors.

The device supports laptop, tablet, “stand” and “tent” positions, powered by a 13.3-inch touch screen that features ten points of articulation. It also will be capable of running for up to eight hours on a single charge.

Lenovo claims that Windows 8 will be essential to launching the product, and that it will launch simultaneously with Windows 8. While it is unlikely that an ARM CPU would be utilized, the only major difference from Windows 8, this is likely more an exercise in marketing. The IdeaPad YOGA right now would likely cost too much to manufacturer, and sell at an attractive price-point.

By waiting for Intel’s ultrabook, as well multi-touch IPS panel costs to drop, Lenovo can claim that Windows 8 is the impediment, rather than hardware costs that fail to compete with rivals like Apple.

Microsoft benefits too here, as it will have a compelling launch lineup for Windows 8, with diverse form-factors from each manufacturer. Rivals such as HP have also announced they will be launching Windows 8 tablets, powered by ARM processors. The company is currently using an HP TouchPad tablet as a test mule for their rival product design.

Microsoft has become the latest casualty in the eternal struggle regarding timely firmware updates for smartphone users, as it has announced that it will shut down the Where’s My Update portal for Windows Phone owners to cross-reference the update schedule for a particular model and carrier which was deployed last year in order to provide the latest information on the Mango update, which Microsoft handled rather well considering the volume of handsets already on the market.

Instead, the company will move away from the mandatory update model pioneered by Apple for device updates for every device and allow the carriers to determine the availability of future updates, which has the potential to leave many owners out in the cold and moves Windows Phone back to the broken update model that eventually killed Windows Mobile.

Going further in the update posted, the latest maintenance update available in build 8107 update offers a number of fixes for remaining issues with the platform such as the “disappearing keyboard” bug that affects all Windows Phone 7.5 devices, improved email syncing with a Gmail account. Microsoft has also patched a location services bug,  a voicemail notification problem, email threads for Microsoft Exchange users, and fixed security certificates.

If this latest update, which seems rather important for a simple maintenance update is left up to the carriers to roll out, it could seriously affect consumer adoption and perception of Windows Phone as timely updates for smartphones have come to be expected.

Microsoft shifting from its originally intended mandatory yearly updates for the entire platform to the carrier dependent model also shows that carriers will take every opportunity to go back to the old model of selling new phones with updates instead of updating existing devices, even if it means stifling a struggling platform to do so with external pressure.

This latest move also does not bode well for the next wave of devices based on the next update in Tango, as now the only way to ensure that devices will be updated in a timely manner is to purchase more expensive unlocked handsets and rely on manufacturers to push out timely updates, much as is done now with Android with varying degrees of success, as relying solely on carriers for updates can be a hit and miss proposition.

With CES beginning next week, Microsoft should do everything it can to reassure both prospective customers and current Windows Phone owners that timely device updates are still important, especially as Nokia is expected to make its big push for Windows Phone in the US with the launch of the Lumia 710 next week on T-Mobile and being followed up with future launches of the phone later this year for Verizon, as well as the Lumia 900 for AT&T also expected later this year.

Ultimately, for Windows Phone to be successful there must also be assurances that a Windows Phone that is purchased today can and will be updated whenever the updates are available. By shifting the onus to update devices on the carriers, the platform is vulnerable to being treated in the same way that Windows Mobile was before meeting its ultimate demise, which would mean that the cycle would need to start again. After the intense amount of time and money spent on Windows Phone 7, Microsoft seems poorly poised to start over with a dedicated mobile OS judging by the pending release of Windows 8.

Noted Windows pundit Paul Thurrott has confirmed a few key details related to US Windows Phone launches planned for the coming year which center on AT&T and Verizon Wireless.

Three LTE-based Windows Phone handsets–the Nokia ACE, HTC Radiant, and Samsung Mendel–will ship on AT&T Wireless before the middle of 2012. The ACE is due March 18, 2012. What’s unclear is whether these LTE based devices will be accompanied by a software update of some kind. You may recall that the rumored “Tango” release, supposedly due in early 2012, is about low-end phones. So it’s unclear how that jives with LTE, which is obviously a high-end feature. This explains my confusion over the supposed Windows Phone roadmap leak yesterday.

Also, the Nokia Lumia 710 will ship on Verizon Wireless in April 2012. This is not an LTE device, and it’s not clear when/if we’ll see an LTE Windows Phone on Verizon. The Lumia 710 is codenamed “Sword” and will be available in April 2012. (The T-Mobile version of the Lumia 710 will be available for purchase on January 11, 2012, giving the company three months of exclusivity before the device hits Verizon.

While the above seems to correlate with leaked roadmaps, the specific nature of the information points to heavy ongoing internal testing of Nokia Windows Phone devices on US carriers before their respective launches, with T-Mobile USA being the first to launch next month.

With Verizon launching a non-LTE version of the Lumia 710 despite public statements expressing a desire for such a device, the carrier may be extending an olive branch to the Finnish manufacturer after its previous relationship with the manufacturer dissolved into nothing more than Korean ODM rebrands that had very little to do with Nokia in terms of hardware.

The same could be said of AT&T with the Ace and the other planned LTE equipped phones after it passed on Nokia’s last carrier focused smartphone in the Nokia X7, which was meant to be an exclusive phone for AT&T running Symbian^3 and makes sense as AT&T was chosen by Microsoft to promote Windows Phone.

In a simple announcement with little fanfare, Microsoft has announced that it will no longer field a major presence at the Consumer Electronics Show after next year’s show, marking 20 years of appearances at the trade event.

we have decided that this coming January will be our last keynote presentation and booth at CES. We’ll continue to participate in CES as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries, but we won’t have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don’t align with the show’s January timing.

While the announcement is not entirely unexpected given the multitude of events it hosts outside of its yearly CES presence and the accelerated news cycle that is now commonplace, the past couple of keynotes have proven to be PR failures in terms of announcements and actual product availability, with the most famous examples being the non-starter Windows 7 tablets that never took off despite being launched 4 months before the first iPad in 2010 or the first look at Windows 8 during CES earlier this year that has yet to materialize into any meaningful product and will not even be released until much later into next year.

In a way, Microsoft is taking a page out of Apple’s playbook as Apple famously abandoned its long-held presence at MacWorld in favor of its own announcement/news schedule, which has settled into its own consistent schedule based on product families and related events such as WWDC.

As Microsoft also hosts its own developer events for its various product lines such as MIX and the various Windows Phone events held during the year, it may be that it wants to make its announcements align closer with their respective events (mobile trade shows for Windows Phone, E3 for Xbox) and various other shows for more specific announcements.

The company has also announced an increasing commitment to social media to make announcements related to new products and services in order to better reach those that would be interested in such news while admitting that the January timeframe did not work well as a good timeframe for it to announce new products and services.

The International Trade Commission (ITC) has ruled on ten claims of patent infringement by Apple. The patent claims center largely around HTC’s use of touch-based user interaction, stretching back to the release of the original HTC Touch, which rivaled the original iPhone.

Of the ten patent claims, HTC only was ruled to be found infringing on a single patent, centering around the use of actions after someone has touched and held on a specific piece of information. For example, selecting a person from a call list, touching and holding that, and getting options to then call the user.

For the HTC Sense-savvy, this is believed to be the Sense popups that appear after holding down on user fields or text boxes. For example, when holding down on a text box, options (cut, copy, paste, etc) appear in bubbles. This mimics iOS’s clipboard behavior. On the standard Android platform, the user interface instead draws a menu that requires further user interaction.

HTC has not said if they will appeal the decision, but has said they will remove the feature regardless before the deadline, set four months from now. Since Android allows for the same user interactions with pauses that appear to satisfy the ITC in this regard, it appears HTC has cleared the ITC complaint process relatively unscathed.

This does not, however, come close to ending the legal wars between Apple and HTC. The two are still locked in patent infringement claims in federal court, and Apple is continuing to pursue Android manufacturers globally for patent infringement.

The dogged pursuit of Apple’s patents was a mandate set forth by the late Steve Jobs, who gave public cues at the original iPhone’s introduction stating “… and boy have we patented it!” Jobs believes that pursuing Apple’s patents aggressively will help Apple avoid becoming the next Palm, who chose to keep a large patent portfolio, but rarely exercised it for claims of patent infringement.

In an odd twist of fate, Palm’s patent portfolio, now owned by HP, could be of use to Android device manufacturers in staving off Apple’s complaints. While HP has re-committed to webOS in a multi-year open source reinvestment, the company also has been rebuilding much of its resources to model itself after IBM; a corporate solutions parter for large companies.

HP could sell licenses to its treasure trove of Palm patents, which Apple has not licensed, for Android device manufacturers to leverage them as a deterrent against Apple and Microsoft. Microsoft is also pursuing Android manufacturers, convincing giants such as HTC and Samsung to sign patent royalty deals to prevent claims of patent infringement from the world’s largest operating system developer.

Many in the consumer world though cite these ongoing battles as a failure of the patent system in nearly every country; large companies will inevitably sign large patent settlements, and license patents for billions of dollars. Meanwhile, small innovative companies face two choices; risk being bankrupted by corporate giants over (baseless) patent infringement claims, or be acquired for pennies on the dollar by large corporations, preventing their own innovations from actually bearing fruit for the startups and inventors that built them.

Microsoft plans to combat Apple’s iPhone and Apple TV in a big way; by bridging Xbox and Windows Phone 7 in new ways.

The company is already poised to introduce groundbreaking new services for Xbox 360, designed to stave off the threat of Apple TV, and Apple’s own television devices reportedly in-development. The Xbox 360′s major software updates, set for the end of this year, will unveil new Video On Demand (VOD) as well as live television channel services. Xbox 360 already offers Video On Demand via Netflix and Hulu, but Microsoft will be offering its own television services, more designed to offset the need for traditional Multiple System Operators (MSOs) such as cable and satellite.

Windows Phone 7.5 will also benefit from these changes. The Xbox Connector will enable Windows Phone 7 to browse and access all content available on Xbox 360, including all new video access services. This will give something to Windows Phone 7 that both Android and iOS lack; unique video services that require owning a Windows Phone 7 device to utilize while mobile.

The Xbox Connector application will also allow users to control their Xbox remotely, and use their phone as a remote control for the Xbox 360 for the first time. Previously, Xbox integration on Windows Phone 7 was relegated to trivial profile status updates, as well as Xbox Live experience integration in Windows Phone 7 games. This update will allow Xbox 360 and Windows Phone 7 to communicate jointly, via networking (Wi-Fi on the Windows Phone, and Ethernet or Wi-Fi on the Xbox 360).

Apple TV allows for iOS devices to control the unit, but the experience is limited. Microsoft is touting the Xbox 360-Windows Phone 7 integration as more holistic. In addition to remote control functionality, users will be able to run “Bing searches” for content on the Xbox 360, and control the device remotely using search results.

All of these reasons give new openings for Windows Phone 7 to enter target audiences. For hardcore gamers, many many choose to purchase a Windows Phone 7 device and simply use it on Wi-Fi or prepaid service, to benefit from the ease-of-use improvements. Families may also prefer to give Windows Phone 7 a chance because of the parental control experience that is bridged between Windows Phone and Xbox 360.

In reality though, the mainstream audiences will only be swayed by this experience if it is consistent, immersive, and marketed properly. Microsoft will face extreme challenges in advertising this experience as one that deserves replacing the entrenched Android and iOS platforms. The good news for Microsoft, is that they now have compelling reasons to pick up a Windows Phone, that simply did not exist before.

Microsoft has once again updated its Windows Phone 7 Connector application for OS X with more new features added such as Aperture photo sync,  drag and drop file support; ringtone transfers; improved video conversion and new support for Windows Phone Marketplace based around the Mango update.

Program improvements center on back-up and restore functionality, podcast syncing, photo imports, iTunes support, and metadata support for videos. The update also fixes unlisted bugs and is available now.