Microsoft sure is drumming up excitement for its forthcoming Windows Phone 7 smartphones. In addition to next Monday's big announcement in New York, a Microsoft team was here in San Francisco, showing off music apps as part of the Billboard Music Entertainment Live event preceding CTIA (see all CNET coverage).

We got a private hands-on tour of Slacker Radio, I Heart Radio, and MusixMatch apps prior to a showcase event.

Each of the apps for Windows Phone is similar to its counterpart on other mobile platforms with a few unique exceptions and additions--Slacker Radio won't launch with offline caching, for instance, but it will play on-device songs. What's more striking is the interface of each app, which mirrors the Windows Phone 7 look and feel with its panoramic, side-swiping menus and vertical lists. These commonalities made the apps easy to use. The one exception was I Heart Radio, which doesn't implement the side-sweeping menu navigation until you drill down a level.

Although neither the apps we saw or the hardware we used are in their final stages, the snappy performance stood out. There was occasional lagging in trying to exit programs, but responsiveness was high overall.

Get a closer look at the music apps in our slideshow and take a look at Windows Phone 7's interface in the video below. We also have a preview of more Windows Phone 7 apps that CNET's Ina Fried looked at yesterday.

Originally posted at CTIA 2010

It's been almost a year since Google released a beta of its Goggles visual search app for Android phones, and now it's time for a new milestone in the product's life cycle: Google Goggles for iPhone. Google Goggles (spell that 10 times fast) creates a visual search out of what the smartphone's camera sees through its lens. In other words, the app will scan your image when you focus on a landmark, a sign, a label, and so on, and search for matches in its database. Google refers to the Goggles search method as "computer vision."

We found Goggles to be hit or miss when we tested it on Android, and Google is quick to point out the feature's roadblocks. The company has wisely kept Google Goggles a Labs product, the experimental nature of which insulates it somewhat from external scrutiny. Goggles works better with product logos, the covers of books, DVDs, and games, and famous landmarks, says Google. It falters (or fails) with flora, fauna, and food. In our testing experience, Google's caveats have always held true.

Though for the most part we've rarely reached for Goggles as a reference tool, it has come in handy more than once while trying to identify a label on a foreign adult beverage.

Google Goggles for iPhone isn't a separate app; instead it's built into the Google Mobile App for iPhone. The update will begin rolling out today, but it hadn't hit our App Store at the time of writing--stay tuned. Goggles supports English on the iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, both running iOS 4. See our real-world test of Google Goggles when it initially launched, below.

Originally posted at iPhone Atlas

Not long ago, I wrote an article aimed at helping music fans enjoy free audio from a variety of online streaming sources. Of course, I'm a firm believer in using the Internet to discover new music. But there is a threshold between discovery and entertainment for many listeners, and I think paying for a subscription music service is a great way to cross it--especially if you want to take your music "to go" on mobile devices.

There are a variety of pay-to-stream options on the Web, from Slacker's $4.99 Radio Plus service, which lets you skip commercials and cache stations to mobile devices, to the $9.99 on-demand options offered by everyone from Napster to Rhapsody to Rdio. In fact, $10 per month is pretty much the standard price for fully-featured subscription services.

Sitting at Billboard's Mobile Entertainment Live summit, I got to listen to a brief interview with Janus Friis, co-founder of Kazaa and Rdio (among other things). One question posed was whether he thought the current $10 rate is a fair price for an on-demand service such as Rdio. His answer was that it is, what with the fact that it's about the same price as a single album, but he believes that--naturally--it would be even better if it could be cheaper.

Subscription music has been around for a while now, but it has been slow to catch on. The general sense I've gotten over the years is that people have some problems with the idea of "renting" music. But what about now? I'm curious to find out what the rest of you think about the going rate for subscription audio. Please let me know by taking the poll here, and feel free to elaborate in the comment section below.

Originally posted at CTIA 2010

If you need proof of the iPad's unmatched acumen as an e-book reader, look no further than Smashing Ideas' smashing version of the H.G. Wells classic, "The War of the Worlds."

The landscape-oriented app presents the full text of Wells' chilling novel, with side-by-side pages that, to me, seem more book-like than if the words stretched from one side of the screen to the other.

Of course, the highlight here is not the presentation of the text, but rather the 27 illustrated, animated, interactive pages interspersed throughout the book. The artwork is dazzling--and occasionally a bit gruesome, as when you unleash the Martian tripod's heat-ray on a field of onlookers (who literally burst into flame). The accompanying screams of horror make the experience that much more intense.

Which begs the question: do gimmicks like these enhance a book--or distract you from it? I think it's a little of both, as I found myself hurrying through the text to get to the next animated page--but then using those pages to help fire my imagination.

In any case, this isn't the first e-book to mix animation and sound effects with the story (credit for that goes to Alice for the iPad), but it's definitely one of the first that wasn't developed with children in mind. Indeed, it's perhaps the only non-children's story to receive such a splashy makeover. Here's hoping it's not the last.

I do have a few quibbles. You can't adjust the font size or style (though I found both easy on the eyes), and you can't read in portrait mode if you want to; War of the Worlds is landscape only.

The app is currently selling for the launch-special price of $3.99, which I think is very reasonable. If you're interested, grab it before it jumps to its regular selling price of $7.99.

More on CNET:

• Five amazing iPad e-books for kids
• iPad e-books for children: Five more amazing titles

Originally posted at iPad Atlas

Skype calling is now available as a free download on Android-based devices, the Internet telephony company announced today.

The Skype for Android software allows users to make calls to Skype accounts, mobile phones, or landlines. Users can also send and receive text messages via the application when communicating with Skype friends. Those who want to keep all their content in one place can sync their address book with Skype. The company also said that users will be able to receive calls on their Skype online number.

But there are some limitations. For one, Skype for Android is only available to those who are running Android 2.1 or above. The company also said that Skype calls are only available to U.S. customers over Wi-Fi. Elsewhere around the world, users can place calls over both Wi-Fi and 3G.

Skype said that it has tested its software on several devices, including the HTC Desire and the Google Nexus One, but it "can't guarantee full functionality or compatibility" on other devices. In fact, the company said that it is "aware of some problems" with the Samsung Galaxy S. More significantly, Skype's record in the Android Market says it does not support the four Galaxy S phones. Skype said in a press release that it plans to address those app issues in the future.

Yesterday, Skype, which has over 560 million registered users around the world, announced that it has hired former Cisco executive Tony Bates as its new CEO. Bates will be joining the company at the end of the month.

Originally posted at The Digital Home