Most studio-backed movie and TV streaming services have fierce geo-blocking, making them inaccessible outside the US without networking trickery. Sony-backed Crackle is an exception, with its roster of (mostly older) movies and TV shows freely available for viewing in Australia.

A bug in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace has resulted in many owners not being able to update or download apps. Microsoft says it is working on a fix, but as a temporary measure it is stopping uploads of new apps or updates to the Marketplace.

Android and iOS mobile apps for JB Hi-Fi's streaming music service NOW appeared back in April. Windows Phone 7 users can now feel the love too, with a dedicated WP7 app.

We're big fans of using text expanders on our PCs to avoid repetitive typing. Did you know that you can also enjoy similar time savings on your mobile device? iOS devices, BlackBerries, Windows Phone and some Android devices have keyboard shortcuts built-in.

JB Hi-Fi only just released the Android and iOS apps for its JB Hi-Fi NOW music streaming service, but the retailer isn't quite done with its digital music ambitions. Next on its development hitlist: Windows Phone 7.

Closer integration of Skype with Microsoft products was always one of the expected consequences after Microsoft purchased Skype. That's slowly coming to fruition, with a beta for Windows Phone 7 devices now available.

Microsoft and Nokia will be running free development workshops for the former's Windows Phone OS, starting from next weekend. If you're digging WP7 and call Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane or Auckland your usual habitat, then you might want to check them out. Yes, it's about as short notice as you can get, with the first event scheduled for February 16-17, but MS and Nokia plan to hand out one or more Nokia Lumia handsets, which sweetens the deal significantly.

OK, there are still no prices or an exact release date, but Nokia has confirmed that the Lumia 800 will go on sale through Optus, Telstra and Vodafone in March.

iOS/Windows Phone 7: Microsoft has released two mobile apps for its SkyDrive cloud storage service, allowing you to access, share and store files from your iPhone or Windows Phone 7 device.

Mango, aka Windows Phone 7.5, will officially begin rolling out from today. But are the proclaimed 500 features worth it, does it meet the needs of Australian users, and just how will you get it?

Microsoft tipped at the BUILD developer's conference last week that Windows Live and SkyDrive will have a big role in Windows 8. Windows Live users will be able to tie their personal computers and phones to Windows Live, log in to all of them with their Live ID, and let Windows Live manage their profile and application settings in the cloud.

iOS/Android/WP7/Playbook/Web: personalised news app News360 uses your Facebook likes, Twitter profile, Evernote notebooks and Google Reader subscriptions to deliver highly personalised news to your desktop or mobile device, regardless of which one you are carrying.

Android, iPhone and Windows Phone 7: PC Monitor is a free app for pretty much any mobile device that gives you a ridiculous amount of control over your Windows or Linux computer. All you need to do is install some simple server software and the app on your phone to get up and running in minutes.

Microsoft appears to have followed Apple's lead in adjusting app prices for Australian Windows Phone 7 users, with 99 cent apps now the "same" price in both countries and reductions in most other categories.

The Commonwealth Bank rolled out its long-anticipated iPad app today, but there's also a bunch of other mobile banking goodies on offer: new versions of its iPhone and Android apps, a Windows Phone 7 app, a tablet-optimised mobile site and the promise of additional platforms in the future.

While Windows Phone 7 remains a relative minnow in the smartphone market, there are a growing range of apps appearing and some nifty handsets available. Here's our full roundup of all the phones you can buy on contract in Australia.

The players in the smartphone OS market that we talk about most often at Lifehacker - iOS and Android -- essentially work on a "one platform to rule them all" strategy, and seem to do pretty well out of it. But does that mean that every manufacturer should follow that template?

There's no release date yet, but Qantas has shown off a prototype of a Windows Phone 7 check-in app at the Mix 11 conference in Las Vegas. As well as allowing you to check-in, the app promises to "use location software to provide predicted journey times". That sounds intriguing, but it leads to two obvious questions.