OS Watch: Developers Take a Bite Out of Mango

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) is letting developers have a piece of its Mango as the company released the second version of its Developer Tools Beta for the operating system. The tools let developers test their apps in a real-time environment versus the emulator of version one.

The good news for consumers, as Engadget points out, is that with four months to go before the first Mango phone hits the market, the apps and the OS should be perfect out the gate.

In a blog announcing the update, Microsoft Senior Director of Windows Phone Brandon Watson touted the good press Mango has gotten and noted that WP7 has already surpassed BlackBerry in the number of real apps available to consumers. (See Microsoft Tangos With Mango and Microsoft's Other 497 Updates.)

RIM's call to action: That wasn't the only bad press of the week for RIM. In an open letter, published on Boy Genius Report, an unnamed "high-level employee" at the company tells RIM Co-CEOs Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis that he has lost confidence in the company and had his passion "sapped." As RIM's projects fall further behind schedule, he urged the chiefs to focus on the end user experience by learning from competitors products, not just launching the same features, focus on developers instead of carriers and, as others have suggested, bring in a new, singular CEO. (See RIM Lowers Guidance Amidst Poor Q1 and RIM Delays 4G PlayBook to the Fall.)

The letter sparked a response from RIM acknowledging that the company has challenges, but defending its growth and claiming to be near the end of a major business and technology transition. A number of other current and former employees also got on board, writing their own notes for BGR to share with the world.

Apple shipments grow or slow?: Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is on track to ship between 12 million and 14 million iPad 2s in the third quarter this year, doubling its second-quarter sales of between 7 million and 9 million. Digitimes cites "market watchers" who say Cupertino will ramp up tablet orders during that time, putting the strain on manufacturers.

In an unrelated report, a Goldman Sachs & Co. analyst suggests sales of Apple's iPhone 4 won't be that strong over at Verizon Wireless . The analyst tells Bloomberg that sales will drop below the 2.2 million the carrier shipped in the first quarter, even though the phone didn't come out until a month into the period.

HP eyes Samsung partnership: Samsung Corp. just may be that special partner HP Inc. (NYSE: HPQ) is willing to license its webOS software to. Three sources suggest to Bloomberg that this is the company HP is eying to share its OS love. If Samsung's feeling it too, it'll becomes the fourth OS it supports in addition to Android, WP7 and Bada. (See HP Open to 'Special' webOS Partners and HP TouchPad Success Hangs on Apps.)

AT&T lets BlackBerry bridge: After much delay, AT&T Inc. (NYSE: T) said Friday it would begin to let BlackBerry users bridge their phones to the PlayBook tablet.

— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile