All In?!

Posted on October 26, 2011 by John

Microsoft & Nokia’s foray into producing a (viable) smartphone debuted commercially yesterday in the EU with Asia up-next (America is slated for 2012) to a fairly positive review… A positive review is all fine and well but that / this does not translate into (mass) consumer adoption (which has been the bane of Redmond since the firm essentially decided to attempt to cram the desktop onto a handset).

So the real underlying questions are: how different is Mango vs. all the other iterations that Redmond has offered? And, is that enough to differentiate them from their competition? Finally, is that also enough to entice consumers (the world-over) to switch / go with their offering?

(Source) NY Times: http://goo.gl/8hrK3

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Logging Off.

Posted on October 25, 2011 by John

John McCarthy another important individual of the pioneering generation of computing experts died… (although most people in all probability haven’t heard of him… your ability to utilize the Internet is part of the legacy he’s left behind)…

(Source) NY Times: http://goo.gl/0My2l

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The 4 P’s.

Posted on October 24, 2011 by John

Price: long viewed as the bane of Apple’s products (e.g., the company charges too much in comparison to the WinTel platform, etc., etc.) Yet; those days seem to be winding down as the latest iPhone 4S (16GB model) is / was on sale (the first weekend of said release) for $199.00 (of course, with a two-year contract from one of America’s inept mobile carriers… which is another story). Towards that end, if this trend continues and Apple uses their respective might / economies of scale to their advantage it will not bode well for their competition all across the board… as consumers reap this dividend (willingly in most instances it would seem…)

(Source) NY Times: http://goo.gl/qmo2y

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The Big Payback.

Posted on October 23, 2011 by John

In light of the enclosed report that just over 1/2 of all Android-based handsets involve paying a licensing fee back to Microsoft… it almost makes one wonder why Redmond is attempting to become more than just an also-ran (at best) within the Smartphone space. Granted, the last move the company will / would make is to sit-by idly and not throw millions of dollars at attempting to get anything to stick on /to the proverbial wall. Nevertheless, if Android-based handsets continue to challenge Apple’s iPhone dominance (at least) Microsoft will be able to fund their (at this juncture) futile attempt at becoming a ‘real’ threat within this market segment.

(Source) Ars Technica: http://goo.gl/ymbL9

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Tablet Talk.

Posted on October 22, 2011 by John

In light of the enclosed report regarding Apple’s Tablet dominance slipping, the following points are worth noting: 1) With Amazon’s Kindle (obviously) geared towards the mass-market they face the challenge of DRM outside of America (in other words, their strongest link also being their weakest in and as far as their flagship US store has lots of international restrictions regarding content) which plays to Apple’s favor; 2) Samsung’s push continues to get hamstrung in the court of law (and public opinion outside of S. Korea where what the firm says is essentially the ‘gospel.’) Sidebar: it’s interesting how S. Korea went from essentially a nonexistent smartphone market to a critical mass of 10 million users within less than 2 years (after the iPhone was released there!) 3) Applications hold sway… period it, end of argument. Simply put: until another vendor (hint: Android; Windows Phone 7, etc.) can generate as much sustained interest in developing on Apple’s OS this entire argument is essentially moot. And, with 15 billion downloads (yes, billion) as of this past summer all of Cupertino’s competition has a lot of catching up to do in order to make their ‘me-too-Pad’ a genuine threat to the original kingpin.

(Source) PC World: http://goo.gl/2NOHA

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Driving All Costs Down?

Posted on October 21, 2011 by John

If Redmond’s expectation that smartphone (handset) production will drop by more than 1/2 next year becomes a reality, two points come to mind: 1) Will this also drive the cost of production down for other (all) vendors? 2) Is this reduction akin to what happened within the PC-space (in other words, will only Windows-based handsets be reduced in cost whereas other vendors’ models will not?)

(Source) Business Week: http://goo.gl/ruz6C

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Blowing Hot Air.

Posted on October 20, 2011 by John

Leave it to Steve Ballmer to espouse his views on why Redmond reigns supreme… In no particular order: Bing) sure it might (now) be the #2 Search Engine. However; how much of that is attributed to the simple fact that the average consumer who is using IE (as their primary browser) is in all probability also using Bing (as it is set the default setting for search?) Towards that end; this is aside from the fact that Yahoo! bailed on further developing AltaVista (the pioneering Search Engine) and went to Bing. Skype) true be told – Microsoft bought it and now they’ll begin their long-standing tradition of claiming how innovative they are as a result (again, due to an acquisition!) Mango) yes, it is pending release due to their Nokia partnership and Samsung’s obsessive quest to beat Apple and claim the top spot in the Smartphone space (akin to what they did with Sony… although it should be noted that Sony doesn’t make vacuum cleaners, etc. and the other sorts of products that Samsung makes that helps their stated claim in this respect). Finally, as far as how the Android OS is ‘an operating system for computer scientists’ or “Apple presenting a sea of icons.’ This is laughable from a company whose OS is essentially analogous to driving a car with the hood welded shut and who is notorious themselves for icons being all-over the desktop (or in the toolbar) via their Windows hegemony.

(Source) Information Week: http://goo.gl/shQFX

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A Close Shave…

Posted on October 19, 2011 by John

In short; just because Motorola has brought back the RAZR (in name / theory anyway) it does not necessarily mean that the company has suddenly returned to their glory days (when that handset was coveted by consumers the world-over).

(Source) CNET: http://goo.gl/zkVQQ

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The ‘Teflon’ Halo Effect.

Posted on October 18, 2011 by John

When it comes down to their ‘us vs. the world’ patent-battle, Apple seems to be unable to do any wrong (or so it seems based upon how the courts around the world have pretty consistently ruled in their favor).

Fast forward: let’s say  (for purely hypothetical reasons) Apple did / does actually win all of their lawsuits and they shut-out all of their competition from releasing their (smartphone / tablet, etc.) products for commercial sale. Towards that end; art would essentially imitate life in and as far as their 1984 ad (as we’d be dealing with a mono-technological experience akin to what they were bashing Microsoft about / for). Granted, it is just a thought (however, far-fetched) yet; Apple (like every other company is no different in that they too want to be in control of what’s available for / to the general public). And, no matter how ‘cool’ their products are now (or they will be in the near future… which longer-term has been called into question in light of Steve Jobs’ death) that would just be ‘uncool.’

(Source) The Register UK: http://goo.gl/IXyiU

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Too Little; Too Late?

Posted on October 17, 2011 by John

As a token (literally) of the firm’s appreciation; RIM is offering stand-alone consumers free applications (of certain premium selections) and one-month of free support for their Enterprise users…

Simply put: if being passed-by within the Smartphone space isn’t already bad enough… this past week’s global network outages just added insult to injury as this company needs a major industry hit (which, frankly speaking, at this junction seems highly unlikely).

(Source) Computer World: http://goo.gl/zNs3O

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