Profiling Windows Mobile ( Part I): Does Dual platform make sense?

Windows Mobile is old. The basic UI and underlying technology is the same today as it has been for years. Windows Mobile is not exactly the best mobile solution around. Neither is it “exactly profitable” according to Steve Ballmer! All too often Microsoft has been accused of not having a coherent Mobile strategy. Android which is about a year old now is far more “happening” and “exciting” according to smart-phone users and smart-phone makers. The case in point here is HTC conversion from WinMo to Android. Now, there has been a lot of noise around Windows Mobile 7.0, the purported OS that will resurrect Microsoft’s flailing fortunes with its Apple iPhone like interface, browsing and experience. This one will be Microsoft’s answer to Apple.Microsoft will take Winmo 7.0 to market by Q3/4 2010. That’s a bloody hell of a wait.


Windows Mobile may not be irrelevant, however, it needs a technology facelift — and it needs it now, not a year from now. That is where, Winmo 6.5 intends to step up as a placeholder. Microsoft is expected to officially launch Windows Mobile 6.5 on October 1, 2009 and add an upgrade version with a touch interface in February 2010, the sources indicated citing Microsoft roadmap.Microsoft will not phase out Windows Mobile 6.5 from the market but will lower the OS price, when it launches Windows Mobile 7 scheduled in the fourth quarter of 2010.

This also means that for sometime after the launch of Winmo 7 both the platforms will be around together. Microsoft will be using a “dual-platform” strategy to compete with Android and the iPhone. Winmo 6.5, due to be rolled out October 1, will compete with Android, while WinMo 7 will compete with the iPhone. One cannot also deny the fact that Winmo 6.5 will not compete against Winmo 7.0 and it will take some degree of product planning with the Microsoft product teams to minimize collateral damage between 6.5 and 7.0. For the Microsoft team, 6.5 followed by 7.0 also gives them the following advantages:

• Windows Mobile is entrenched in its current form and that inertia is going to be difficult to overcome.
  
• At the same time, there’s pressure to compete at a lower level with a lighter and savvier OS — something 6.5 really isn’t able to pull off
  

However from the consumer perspective, 2 legacy systems is a bad idea-as Microsoft has proven over and over in various arenas. The other option may be to take 6.5 off the table, focus on 7, provide updates on the current 6.1 version but make sure enough soft back-compatibility to let businesses make the changeover once Winmo 7 is unveiled.

Ref:
http://jkontherun.com/2009/08/20/can-microsoft-turn-the-big-windows-mobile-ship-around-in-time/
http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2009/08/19/microsoft-to-pit-windows-mobile-65-and-7-against-one-another/
http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20090819PD210.html

Nokia, Apple head to head on Internet Tablets

Nokia is to have another go at convincing customers they need a tablet PC in their house according to spy shots that have turned up on the internet. Called the Nokia RX-51, the handset, which looks like an XL version of the N97 just released are from an Indonesian website claiming to have got their mitts on a prototype. According to the websitewhere the details were first posted the new model will have a screen resolution of 800 by 480 pixels, 5 megapixel camera with Carl Ziess lens on the back, slide out qwerty keyboard and Wi-Fi. It will run on an OMAP3 ARM Texas Instruments chipset. A SIM card slot also looks to be present.

Not surprisingly considering the history of the company’s N800 and N710 models it will run the Linux Operating System based on Maema 5. Nokia is expected to launch a range of new devices at Nokia World in September. Nokia’s 2009 roadmap shows some interesting devices rather than just more handsets. Could this be launching next month? If that had to happen, Nokia could have a faster “to the market” time compared to Apple which is also expected to showcase the iTablet sooner!

While the RX 51 is only a dirty shot of the final piece, the product architecture is sadly reminiscent of the N 97 form factor, while if the Apple iTablet Pic leaks are to be believed, the form factor is a refreshing change. Add to the mastery over the UI that Apple has and it looks like this showdown is already heavily swaying towards Apple’s prodigy. I would have assumed that Nokia would like to recreate the earlier WiMAX tablet designs which it had shelved an year back. But that doesnot look like to be the case. By designing the Tablet so close to N 97, Nokia is actually stealing all the technology glam and flaunt quotient that Apple seems to be positioning itself on.

Earlier, market researcher Richard Doherty, claimed that Apple has developed two protoype tablet computers: one essentially an oversized iPod touch carrying a 6-inch screen and a second one with a larger screen. Apple has developed prototypes of two different tablet machines — one that resembles a large-sized iPod and boasts a 6-inch screen, and another that features a larger display. The larger prototype is able to run all Mac applications, and allows for video and audio editing and graphic animation, Doherty says. The 6″ one , which looks like a larger iPod, lends itself to watching videos, playing games, and reading e-books. Earlier,Apple had been rumored to have investigated screens for its tablet prototypes ranging from 4 inches to 12 inches, although most rumors have pointed to a screen of approximately 10 inches for Apple’s planned launch product.

Indian Telecom Story (Part XVI): Net GSM Subscriber addition (July 2009) is 14.39 mln.

The pace of growth of Indian Telecom Industry is any where fom abetting. Its infact kicking up pace as evident from the July 2009 figures of subscriber additions.

Indian mobile telephone operators added 14.38 million users in July, the fastest pace in four months in the world’s quickest-growing wireless market, data showed on Thursday.

India had 441.7 million cell phone users at the end of July, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said in a statement. It is the second-largest mobile market in the world after China.
July’s subscriber additions by Indian firms were the biggest since March, when they had signed a record 15.64 million users. They added 12.03 million users in June.

Sector leader Bharti Airtel added 2.8 million users in July to take its base to 105.2 million. Second-ranked Reliance Communications added 2.4 million customers to increase its base to 82 million.

Vodafone Essar, controlled by Vodafone Plc, signed up 2.2 million customers and had 78.7 million users at end-July.

Microsoft:Difficult moving ahead of IE 6 and XP

Microsoft has the likes of Linux, Apple, Google, Mozilla as competition on the OS and browser fronts. However, if July figures of browser market shares from net applications are to be believed, Windows XP and IE6 are the biggest threats to Microsoft! In them, Microsoft deals with an Operating System and Browser that refuse to die (much to Microsoft’s discomfort)! MS is all the way up-to IE8 and IE8 is splashing around as the safest amongst browsers (Read here). However it is IE 6 launched in 2001, that remains the leader in browser markets. MS is not amused by the mass of people who refuse to give up IE6.



There are a number of reasons Microsoft isn’t happy with the IE 6 holdouts. First is that they might be easily swayed to Firefox.

IE 6, after all, is so ancient that it doesn’t even use tabs. It’s clearly inferior to any modern browser. Put it next to Firefox, and anyone would want to switch. IE 8, by way of comparison, stacks up well to the most recent versions of Firefox.

In addition, Microsoft has built features into the latest version of IE 8, such as Web slices, that are translatable into increased traffic to Microsoft or Microsoft partners, which in turn translates into cash. The more people that stay with IE 6, the less revenue for Microsoft.

Beyond that, developers have gotten so sick of having to maintain their sites for IE 6, that they may eventually simply stop supporting it. That could clearly be disastrous for Microsoft. In fact, developers are so fed up with IE 6 that a group of developers have formed a group called ie6nomore as a way to try and get people to leave the ancient browser behind.

As for Windows XP, that presents an even more serious problem. Every consumer and every enterprise that doesn’t upgrade from XP represents money being taken out of Microsoft’s pocket. The problem goes beyond people who don’t upgrade their existing PC. There are plenty of XP users who won’t buy new PCs because they don’t want to give up XP. So it’s not just upgrades that Microsoft is losing out on, but new sales as well.

A little scratching behind the surface throws up interesting insights on how MS is unable to chain the twin monsters it had fostered so long. Microsoft caused this turmoil and now they have to deal with it.

Microsoft Vista and Windows 7 are poor excuses for wasting a total of nine years in development. The results are a dozen versions of the same OS that “eats resources like dinosaur eats leafs, has a performance of a Yugo, but generate costs that rival a custom made Maserati”. Even the innovations haven’t been exciting really: A UAC that covers up the still present security holes and Aero that doesn’t work on most systems.

IE6 has been around for a long time, because Microsoft wanted it so. XP will be around for a long time, because Microsoft didn’t produce anything after XP that is worthwhile to use. Microsoft is about to make itself irrelevant out of lack of user understanding and lack of innovation. 9 years of inaction after XP and IE6, relentless versions of the same old XP and IE and a failure with Windows Vista has made customers extremely skeptical about incremental innovation at Microsoft, so much so that there is a reluctance to trust Microsoft’s promises with the Windows 7! It is reasonable to expect that with thousands of developers, millions of dollars spent, and nine years of development time Windows Vista would perform drastically better than XP on the same hardware. That has clearly not been the case with Windows Vista! Users are unwilling to pay for the same performance that he is currently getting with XP. The argument being that after so many years after XP came out, Microsoft couldn’t write an OS that is better than it, but they have not been able to. This could be a hurdle with acceptance of Windows 7 as well. Microsoft needs to watch out!

We’ll have to wait until October and beyond to see whether Windows 7 can solve one of Microsoft’s biggest problems — its aging operating system and browser and jump start its innovativeness in product philosophy!

Is Internet Explorer 8 the safest browser?

Tests by NSS Labs comparing popular browsers for their ability to block web sites pushing malware and phishing have put IE 8 on the top of the other 4 browsers tested: Apple Safari 4, Google Chrome 2, Mozilla Firefox 3, Opera 10 Beta.
While the modest 80’s is a good score compared to the others, it still isn’t enough to make up for a secure net browssing experience. Even if it were 100% (not a realistic possibility) the protection is but one layer in a well-designed system of defense-in-depth. One would still have to use anti-malware protection, DEP, ASLR and up-to-date patches on the system as just some others.
The details of these tests, however do show that Microsoft updates its lists much more efficiently than others, 3 of who use the Google Safe Browsing API. At the end, it’s not just the API that matters, but also about how you use it.
So for once, this is “One up” for Microsoft!
Ref:http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2351669,00.asp

Gmail: Steaming forward on unlimited memory and Apps bundles!

Gmail nudged past AOL Email with 37 million unique visitors compared to 36.4 million visitors for AOL (comScore estimates). This puts Gmail in sight of the No 2 player, Windows Live Hotmail, which has 47 million unique visitors. Yahoo leads the field with an impresive 106 million monthly unique visitors. For once the Google Yahoo Microsoft rankings change tags (Google leads the Search market shares over the other two by a heavy margin).

Over the last 6 months, Google’s unique visitors count increased 25% compared to Yahoo’s 16% increase and Hotmail’s 8% increase. AOL lost out the race because of a 22% decline in its Monthly unique visitor count!

While one of the primary lures of Gmail has been its unlimited memory, the race ahead for Google will be decidedly mainly on its ability to keep pumping new enhancements through Google Labs!

Earlier, in the month of July 2009, Google finally took off the beta label off Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar and GTalk. Gmail which was launcheed on April, 2004 has become Google’s most popular non search application.The reason for Google to take off the beta label is primarily marketing, since it sells these Google Apps bundled together for businesses for $50/per user/per year. While the removal of the Beta tag doesnot impact individual consumers, the presence of Beta Tag was certainly an issue with business consumers!

Google Apps are now used by nearly 2 million businesses and they account for hundreds of dollars in revenues for Google. For the enterprise customers, Google is also adding two new features: The ability to delegate access to an email account to another person such as an administraative assistant and enhanced retention features for compliance purposes.

Google versus Twitter versus Facebook (and Friendfeed)

Facebook, then is on a roll after a whopping $50 million acquisition of Friendfeed in cash and stocks. World’s largest social network just boosted their technology in real-time updates, conversations and search.
And right after the acquisition news came the update from Facebook that they are rolling out the new Facebook Search which will enable users to search for status updates, photos, notes, images and links. Facebook has effectively nipped one of its major shortcomings in the bud: to somehow index and arrange the millions of data flowing through the social network.
Let’s have a showdown between the three giants on the web right now.

Facebook vs. Twitter
Twitter has been the leader in real time search till now, but by making Facebook real time searchable they have challenged what Twitter wants to do: to be the pulse of the planet. And the FriendFeed technology and interface has always been acknowledged as the best; combine this with the content of 250+ million members from Facebook and you have got yourself a fast, accurate and huge search engine; the true pulse of the planet.
Arranging real time information has always been difficult because it is hard to differentiate the conversations from the chatter. There are times when the relevant talk just gets buried in a flood of useless chatter. The new Facebook will crawl the last 30 days of news feed and bring you results.
Of course, it’s not as if Twitter is going to shut down just because Facebook added some new features. Users have spent months in building relationships and networks there; they won’t shift easily. And I still stand by the idea of using @twitter_handle for calling users and connecting them in 140 words.
Can Facebook duplicate this too?

Facebook vs. Google
You think it’s a co-incidence that the Facebook acquisition and new real-time search engine news were announced on the same day? Entirely wrong, my friends.
I have been a long time believer in the simple fact that if there’s any potential in the future of search, it is in real time. And Google has just been backslapped by Facebook. As I said, the real time search capabilities of FriendFeed combined with the huge mass of Facebook is a power to reckon. The data was always flowing in the Facebook pipes, someone just needed to mine it.
Does the fact that Google also announced new tweaks in the search engine change tilt the showdown in their favor? Well, maybe slightly. But you can keep making search load faster or even give more results; if you can’t tell me what’s happening 5 secs ago then I am not interested. We are all impatient by nature.
Money wise, if the Facebook and FriendFeed brains can crack the real time code, then they can convert the millions of comments and links sharing into billions of keyword searches. And there in lies the business model.
If you look over at Google’s court you will see Google Wave coming soon which promises to be the new definition of web communications. And they are still the forerunners in indexing data accurately (though Bing might be catching up, especially after the Yahoo! deal). Google Android and Chrome in them hold high stakes in transforming how our future generations will see the web, mobile or otherwise.

Google vs. Twitter
I don’t think there are many debates here. Unless Twitter learns how to index the links that flow around in their pipes, most of the talk on Twitter is just chatter. They are definitely the winners here in real time search, while Google leads in quality. And let’s not forget that Twitter still hasn’t found out a monetization plan.
So, this was it; a complete breakdown of the what-is-what of internet. Facebook and Friendfeed will be the beginning of very exciting times on the social media and internet scenes around. Watch this space!