Time to take a bat to Microsoft. Ever since Balmer became the head honcho there the number of missteps made by this company have been breathtaking.
I noticed this article on BGR the other day - Developer says Microsoft lied to government about Windows Phone location tracking
The latest is their claim to the U.S House of Representatives that WinMoPho doesn’t:
“collect information to determine the approximate location of a device unless a user has expressly allowed an application to collect location information” and that “Microsoft only collects information to help determine a phone’s approximate location if (a) the user has allowed an application to access and use location data, and (b) that application actually requests the location data”.
Turns out some WinMoPho developer who initially believed that Microsoft does no wrong discovered that WinMoPho actually does rat you out to Redmond without your permission. He was able to isolate the data traffic between his handset and Microsoft servers and this was before he gave his permission to his WinMoPho to collect and send that data.
Ooops...
After Apple and Google having this sort of infantile upchuck fall in their laps you’d think that Microsoft would have seen it coming. They didn’t because, like everyone else, they see torrents of cash coming from location based advertising and providing geolocation data to advertisers.
Sadly their execution was about as hamfisted as we’ve come to expect.
Showing posts with label Redmond. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Redmond. Show all posts
Friday, September 30, 2011
Friday, September 16, 2011
Ribbons are for Knots
The first Windows 8 Beta is due any time now and its going to expand the use of ribbons along with the magical tiles.
The ribbon looks like it going to infect Windows Explorer based on telemetry data collected from users.
The only thing that the geniuses of Redmond have forgotten is the only people that let Windows send telemetry back to the hive mind are the non-power users who don’t find the ribbon a pain and don’t use the more complex functions available in the OS.
Most power users break the connection to the Redmond hive the first chance they get. So even though the telemetry tells them what people want, maybe they’re listening to the wrong kind of people?
Windows 8 ribbon entangles Microsoft
On the upside they do say that they’re going to fix the download time estimates so they are a closer reflection of reality - I suppose this gives Microsoft a lot of latitude because they could make it just wildly inaccurate and it would be an improvement on the galactically idiotic estimates it currently gives.
Microsoft unveils file-move changes in Windows 8
There’s potential in Windows 8, but, there’s also that sense of quiet desperation.
If they don’t smack this one out of the park, I think Microsoft may have a real problem on their hands.
The ribbon looks like it going to infect Windows Explorer based on telemetry data collected from users.
The only thing that the geniuses of Redmond have forgotten is the only people that let Windows send telemetry back to the hive mind are the non-power users who don’t find the ribbon a pain and don’t use the more complex functions available in the OS.
Most power users break the connection to the Redmond hive the first chance they get. So even though the telemetry tells them what people want, maybe they’re listening to the wrong kind of people?
Windows 8 ribbon entangles Microsoft
On the upside they do say that they’re going to fix the download time estimates so they are a closer reflection of reality - I suppose this gives Microsoft a lot of latitude because they could make it just wildly inaccurate and it would be an improvement on the galactically idiotic estimates it currently gives.
Microsoft unveils file-move changes in Windows 8
There’s potential in Windows 8, but, there’s also that sense of quiet desperation.
If they don’t smack this one out of the park, I think Microsoft may have a real problem on their hands.
Friday, September 2, 2011
The best Tech Industry Analyst on the Planet.
Each morning people look to their inbox to read the latest piece of financial prognostication from the merchant bank employed augury.
With bated breath they wait to see what pearls of wisdom they’ve gleaned from reading the entrails of some dead animal, or the patterns of the clouds, flights of birds or even the alignment of the planets.
The readers of these inarticulate Nostradamus like ravings then trade their hard earned on the basis of these obscure prophecies. They also pay good money to get these ‘briefings’.
I’ve met the best Tech Industry Analyst on the planet. My 5 year old.
The other day I was in JB Hi-Fiand something struck me.
As I was walking through the computers I noticed that all the kids (and a lot of the adults) were happily playing with the iPads, iMacs and MacBooks. Most of the people in the store were also rocking an iPhone.
The Windows machines - and there were a lot of them (mostly from Dell) didn’t have a soul fiddling with them. JB Hi-Fi (at least at this store) were giving over about 20 meters of shelf space to these machines and I wasn’t seeing anyone show any interest.
In fact they had an Alienware laptop on display. I mean this is a rockstar of a gaming laptop with horsepower to spare, glowing lights, backlit keyboard, awesome performance and no one was giving it the time of day.
Now I don’t know how much Dell pay JB for the shelf space, if anything, but, I also noticed that JB had all Dell stock marked down. Still no one was buying, or even remotely interested.
Here’s why I’d be worried if I were Microsoft. All the kids, and I mean ALL the kids. Wanted to play with the Apple gear. They were waiting for a turn and I’ve seen this in other places too.
I remember many years back, kids would want to line up and play with Windows machines. Yeah. I know. Somebody’s going to talk about games and gaming. The demo XBox and Playstations weren’t being used either.
The kids wanted to play with the Apple gear. I even heard some kids complaining when their parents wanted to leave the store because they wanted to keep playing with the equipment.
If so many kids want to play with Apple equipment and not Windows - in a few years, when they’re making the buying decisions I think Microsoft will be in a pack of trouble.
They’re losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation of buyers.
With bated breath they wait to see what pearls of wisdom they’ve gleaned from reading the entrails of some dead animal, or the patterns of the clouds, flights of birds or even the alignment of the planets.
The readers of these inarticulate Nostradamus like ravings then trade their hard earned on the basis of these obscure prophecies. They also pay good money to get these ‘briefings’.
I’ve met the best Tech Industry Analyst on the planet. My 5 year old.
The other day I was in JB Hi-Fiand something struck me.
As I was walking through the computers I noticed that all the kids (and a lot of the adults) were happily playing with the iPads, iMacs and MacBooks. Most of the people in the store were also rocking an iPhone.
The Windows machines - and there were a lot of them (mostly from Dell) didn’t have a soul fiddling with them. JB Hi-Fi (at least at this store) were giving over about 20 meters of shelf space to these machines and I wasn’t seeing anyone show any interest.
In fact they had an Alienware laptop on display. I mean this is a rockstar of a gaming laptop with horsepower to spare, glowing lights, backlit keyboard, awesome performance and no one was giving it the time of day.
Now I don’t know how much Dell pay JB for the shelf space, if anything, but, I also noticed that JB had all Dell stock marked down. Still no one was buying, or even remotely interested.
Here’s why I’d be worried if I were Microsoft. All the kids, and I mean ALL the kids. Wanted to play with the Apple gear. They were waiting for a turn and I’ve seen this in other places too.
I remember many years back, kids would want to line up and play with Windows machines. Yeah. I know. Somebody’s going to talk about games and gaming. The demo XBox and Playstations weren’t being used either.
The kids wanted to play with the Apple gear. I even heard some kids complaining when their parents wanted to leave the store because they wanted to keep playing with the equipment.
If so many kids want to play with Apple equipment and not Windows - in a few years, when they’re making the buying decisions I think Microsoft will be in a pack of trouble.
They’re losing the battle for the hearts and minds of the next generation of buyers.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Dilbert Loves WinMoPho
It turns out that Dilbert’s creator, Scott Adams, loves his WinMoPho, or at least acording to the spin on the story from another blog site.
Normally I’d leave this sort of drivel alone, but, it kind of makes me think of the bleats you’d get from Apple fanbois, back in the day when you had to defend your choice of Apple gear.
Here’s the paragraph that got my attention, “Scott Adams after accepting the challenge from Brandon Watson on using Windows Phone just published his results. In short, Windows Phone emerged as Winner. He actually compared Windows Phone on Samsung Focus on AT&T, iPhone 3Gs on AT&T and HTC Evo 3D on Sprint. Even though he didn’t use every single feature of all these devices, he just used the way he wants and found Windows Phone as the winner.”
Now most people when they hear the word winner they think of gold medal on the top step of the podium I was so good you barely deserve to live in my shadow type winner.
Here’s what Scott Adams said in his blog post “However, the intangible coolness factor is impossible to ignore. Even the names Microsoft and Windows feel dated. And the home screen of the Windows phone is great from a usability standpoint, but lacks sizzle. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t matter to me.”
This doesn’t sound like a clear winner to me.
In fact Scott Adams has hit on the real issue. WinMoPho’s just aren’t cool.
Its like you’re being given a choice between three cars. One is a high performance machine that, for every hour of driving needs an hour of tuning but is cool and lets face it, kinda fun. The second is a high performance machine that’s been built by an engineer without a lot of thought for ergonomics or fuel economy. The third is your father’s Volvo.
Hmmm.
So then you find ways to justify the Volvo as being the new up and coming thing.
It’ll be there. It’ll have market share, but, its not going to set anyone’s world alight.
Normally I’d leave this sort of drivel alone, but, it kind of makes me think of the bleats you’d get from Apple fanbois, back in the day when you had to defend your choice of Apple gear.
Here’s the paragraph that got my attention, “Scott Adams after accepting the challenge from Brandon Watson on using Windows Phone just published his results. In short, Windows Phone emerged as Winner. He actually compared Windows Phone on Samsung Focus on AT&T, iPhone 3Gs on AT&T and HTC Evo 3D on Sprint. Even though he didn’t use every single feature of all these devices, he just used the way he wants and found Windows Phone as the winner.”
Now most people when they hear the word winner they think of gold medal on the top step of the podium I was so good you barely deserve to live in my shadow type winner.
Here’s what Scott Adams said in his blog post “However, the intangible coolness factor is impossible to ignore. Even the names Microsoft and Windows feel dated. And the home screen of the Windows phone is great from a usability standpoint, but lacks sizzle. I’d be lying if I said that didn’t matter to me.”
This doesn’t sound like a clear winner to me.
In fact Scott Adams has hit on the real issue. WinMoPho’s just aren’t cool.
Its like you’re being given a choice between three cars. One is a high performance machine that, for every hour of driving needs an hour of tuning but is cool and lets face it, kinda fun. The second is a high performance machine that’s been built by an engineer without a lot of thought for ergonomics or fuel economy. The third is your father’s Volvo.
Hmmm.
So then you find ways to justify the Volvo as being the new up and coming thing.
It’ll be there. It’ll have market share, but, its not going to set anyone’s world alight.
Monday, August 22, 2011
The Apple Double Play.
I just finished reading an article in PC Magazine that really got me thinking.
The piece was entitled ‘The Apple Product That Really Worries PC Vendors’.
It really got me thinking, especially in light of the fact that the Commonwealth Bank recently decided to arm their staff with MacBook Air laptops.
The interesting this about this was the following:
Branch visitors were free to use iMac, iPad, iPod and Asus touchscreen devices to browse foreign exchange rates, products, and to make appointments with CBA specialists – much like how Apple customers arranged to visit the vendor’s ‘Genius bar’.
The bank also planned to replace internal Dell desktops with MacBook Air notebooks nationwide, allowing employees to choose to operate on either Mac OS or Windows platforms.
Wow! I really mean WOW!
Think about this in terms of the the information from Canalys that I mentioned in this post ‘Wintel Market Share Slips’.
The Commonwealth Bank, the guys who hung on to OS/2 for years past its expiry date are doing a widespread deployment of Apple MacBook Air laptops. This is astounding news.
Here’s the really amazing potential - lets assume that they replace all 4000 Dell laptops with the MacBook Air. Here’s the really interesting maths:
4000 copies of Windows 7 Entreprise, even at the best possible price couldn’t be less that $175 a copy, lets call it $150 just to keep the calculations simple. Lion is $31.99.
That means a saving on OS upgrade costs of $472,040.
Half a Million Dollars saving on an Operating System upgrade!
Where would you want the half million, on your bottom line or on Microsoft’s?
Careful of your answer, your shareholders are watching.
The piece was entitled ‘The Apple Product That Really Worries PC Vendors’.
It really got me thinking, especially in light of the fact that the Commonwealth Bank recently decided to arm their staff with MacBook Air laptops.
The interesting this about this was the following:
Branch visitors were free to use iMac, iPad, iPod and Asus touchscreen devices to browse foreign exchange rates, products, and to make appointments with CBA specialists – much like how Apple customers arranged to visit the vendor’s ‘Genius bar’.
The bank also planned to replace internal Dell desktops with MacBook Air notebooks nationwide, allowing employees to choose to operate on either Mac OS or Windows platforms.
Wow! I really mean WOW!
Think about this in terms of the the information from Canalys that I mentioned in this post ‘Wintel Market Share Slips’.
The Commonwealth Bank, the guys who hung on to OS/2 for years past its expiry date are doing a widespread deployment of Apple MacBook Air laptops. This is astounding news.
Here’s the really amazing potential - lets assume that they replace all 4000 Dell laptops with the MacBook Air. Here’s the really interesting maths:
4000 copies of Windows 7 Entreprise, even at the best possible price couldn’t be less that $175 a copy, lets call it $150 just to keep the calculations simple. Lion is $31.99.
That means a saving on OS upgrade costs of $472,040.
Half a Million Dollars saving on an Operating System upgrade!
Where would you want the half million, on your bottom line or on Microsoft’s?
Careful of your answer, your shareholders are watching.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
R.I.P Microsoft Reader. What? I thought it died years ago?
I came across an article talking about this the other day. They claimed that the product was too ahead of its time.
This just sounds like the blatherings of a fanboi.
To be sure, over the years there have been a lot of technically brilliant products that have stumbled and failed. VHS Vs. Beta anyone?
Microsoft Reader failed because it was just created as yet another way to drive sales of Windows. There was never going to be a Kindle-like device from Redmond and that was always going to be the problem.
I mean who the hell was going to snuggle up in bed with one of those original and insanely expensive Windows Tablet PC’s (all 3+ Kgs of it) to read their favourite book, while connected to power because the battery life was so crappy?
Wake up to yourselves! That was never going to happen!
The great thing about Amazon’s solution is that I can read my books on any doohickey I’ve got - iOS, Android even WinMoPho as well as a real honest to goodness Kindle. That was never going to happen with the Microsoft Reader.
And that’s the whole problem with Microsoft, they’re a one trick pony and that trick is Windows. Everything they do is built on the credo of “sell more Windows” and that’s going to be the reason for their ultimate failure. I mean if people didn’t really want choice then every car would be a Ford.
Sometimes people just want to buy a Kindle.
This just sounds like the blatherings of a fanboi.
To be sure, over the years there have been a lot of technically brilliant products that have stumbled and failed. VHS Vs. Beta anyone?
Microsoft Reader failed because it was just created as yet another way to drive sales of Windows. There was never going to be a Kindle-like device from Redmond and that was always going to be the problem.
I mean who the hell was going to snuggle up in bed with one of those original and insanely expensive Windows Tablet PC’s (all 3+ Kgs of it) to read their favourite book, while connected to power because the battery life was so crappy?
Wake up to yourselves! That was never going to happen!
The great thing about Amazon’s solution is that I can read my books on any doohickey I’ve got - iOS, Android even WinMoPho as well as a real honest to goodness Kindle. That was never going to happen with the Microsoft Reader.
And that’s the whole problem with Microsoft, they’re a one trick pony and that trick is Windows. Everything they do is built on the credo of “sell more Windows” and that’s going to be the reason for their ultimate failure. I mean if people didn’t really want choice then every car would be a Ford.
Sometimes people just want to buy a Kindle.
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
More Thoughts on Googorola
I was talking to a friend of mine in the United States last night.
He was telling me that he thinks that Googorola is going to end up as a colossal corporate folly.
His take on the whole deal is that Google rushed the deal. They rushed the deal because they didn’t have the patent pool to defend Android and they were under pressure to find some way to defend it. So they zeroed in on the grandaddy of cellular technology, the guys that invented the thing and made them an offer they couldn’t sensibly refuse.
They rushed the deal because they crapped out with the Nortel patent portfolio auction a little while ago.
If the stories that this deal was put together in the last five or six weeks are true then Google was desperately seeking patents which puts the comments by Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha from about a week ago into perspective. He was playing brinksmanship with the Gnomes of Mountain View and they blinked, paying $12.5 billion for a company that lost $85 million last quarter!
Basically he said we’re gong to look at WinMoPho and sue the pants off all the other Android vendors.
And you can bet that Carl Ichan (one of Motorola’s largest shareholders) was happily wringing his hands in the corner wondering if Hanukah had come early.
The real question is, how many patents do Motorola have that will really help Google defend Android?
Its not going to help them in their fight against Oracle and I doubt its really going to help them in their fight with Apple over UI look and feel and its questionable if its going to help them in their arguments with Microsoft.
So if these Motorola patents aren’t going to help them in these three major battles then why?
I mean Redmond is asking Samsung for $15 per Android doohickey and I doubt that is going to change and they got General Dynamics, the granddaddy weapons of death and destruction globocorp to shell out a licence fee per Android doohickey.
This tells me that there may be something to the patents they’re showing everyone to get them to agree to paying the royalty.
Could it be the fact that Motorola were suing Microsoft for patent infringement as a reaction to Microsoft suing them “In October 2010, Microsoft sued Motorola for allegedly violating nine patents with its Android smartphones. “The patents at issue relate to a range of functionality embodied in Motorola’s Android smartphone devices that are essential to the smartphone experience,” Gutierrez wrote in an Oct. 1 statement. Motorola later retaliated with an intellectual-property complaint of its own.”
This might be nothing more than posturing to negotiate a better “per doohickey” royalty fee.
I just wonder if Motorola just saw Google as desperate to wave a pile of patents at everyone and say “look at us…if you don’t play nice with us we’ll hit you with our patent portfolio”, especially after their debacle with the Nortel patents.
I also wonder if Motorola realise that their patent portfolio won’t help Google all that much which is why Google have to pay $2.5 billion if the deal DOESN’T go through. Like after they do their due diligence and find out that the patent pool of around 25,000 patents actually don’t help them all that much?
I really wonder how this is going to pan out for all concerned...
He was telling me that he thinks that Googorola is going to end up as a colossal corporate folly.
His take on the whole deal is that Google rushed the deal. They rushed the deal because they didn’t have the patent pool to defend Android and they were under pressure to find some way to defend it. So they zeroed in on the grandaddy of cellular technology, the guys that invented the thing and made them an offer they couldn’t sensibly refuse.
They rushed the deal because they crapped out with the Nortel patent portfolio auction a little while ago.
If the stories that this deal was put together in the last five or six weeks are true then Google was desperately seeking patents which puts the comments by Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha from about a week ago into perspective. He was playing brinksmanship with the Gnomes of Mountain View and they blinked, paying $12.5 billion for a company that lost $85 million last quarter!
Basically he said we’re gong to look at WinMoPho and sue the pants off all the other Android vendors.
And you can bet that Carl Ichan (one of Motorola’s largest shareholders) was happily wringing his hands in the corner wondering if Hanukah had come early.
The real question is, how many patents do Motorola have that will really help Google defend Android?
Its not going to help them in their fight against Oracle and I doubt its really going to help them in their fight with Apple over UI look and feel and its questionable if its going to help them in their arguments with Microsoft.
So if these Motorola patents aren’t going to help them in these three major battles then why?
I mean Redmond is asking Samsung for $15 per Android doohickey and I doubt that is going to change and they got General Dynamics, the granddaddy weapons of death and destruction globocorp to shell out a licence fee per Android doohickey.
This tells me that there may be something to the patents they’re showing everyone to get them to agree to paying the royalty.
Could it be the fact that Motorola were suing Microsoft for patent infringement as a reaction to Microsoft suing them “In October 2010, Microsoft sued Motorola for allegedly violating nine patents with its Android smartphones. “The patents at issue relate to a range of functionality embodied in Motorola’s Android smartphone devices that are essential to the smartphone experience,” Gutierrez wrote in an Oct. 1 statement. Motorola later retaliated with an intellectual-property complaint of its own.”
This might be nothing more than posturing to negotiate a better “per doohickey” royalty fee.
I just wonder if Motorola just saw Google as desperate to wave a pile of patents at everyone and say “look at us…if you don’t play nice with us we’ll hit you with our patent portfolio”, especially after their debacle with the Nortel patents.
I also wonder if Motorola realise that their patent portfolio won’t help Google all that much which is why Google have to pay $2.5 billion if the deal DOESN’T go through. Like after they do their due diligence and find out that the patent pool of around 25,000 patents actually don’t help them all that much?
I really wonder how this is going to pan out for all concerned...
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Google buys Motorola Mobile
Lawyers all over the United States woke up happy this morning on hearing the news that Google has splashed out cash, to the tune of $12.5 billion to acquire Motorola Mobile and its portfolio of around 25,000 patents.
Googorola? Motorogle?
I like Googorola personally. It sounds like something that would go on a rampage and flatten Tokyo for our matinee entertainment.
I’m guessing that Google plans to unleash their mutant matinee monster in Redmond and Cupertino hoping for a Godzilla meets Tokyo like result and with such a large patent portfolio you’ve got to start wondering how long it’ll be before their army of lawyers will end up rolling into action like London teens looking for a night of looting and pillaging.
The really interesting story here is the effect on LG, Samsung and, especially, HTC.
HTC is now between the devil and the deep blue sea. On one side their wildly successful Android based business and on the other their not so much Windows MoPho based products.
The good news for them (!?), now, is that they’re going to be competing directly against their key suppliers. Microsoft and Nokia, who have recently announced that they’re going to drop prices to buy marketshare in the US for the good of Finland, Redmond and the WinMoPho way. Googorola who have now got a hardware/software end to end experience and they control Android too. Unless it now somehow forks.
Publicly HTC, Samsung and LG aren’t going to be too vocal about this. They won’t want to piss off the Gnomes of Mountain View, but you’ve got to wonder about the long term effects on their businesses.
If the Gnomes really wanted to go for a scorched earth policy they should have bought Nokia, I mean with their share price it wouldn’t cost a whole lot, and then move the whole company to Android and leave Ballmer standing with his WinMoPho in his hand.
As for Samsung, between their problems with Apple and now facing down Googorola, Tokyo’s not all that far from Seoul after all, they’ve got some real problems especially since they’re only just starting to make serious inroads into the market place with the Galaxy S II.
LG look like they’re going to be the big losers in this one because they don’t really have major market penetration outside Korea.
I’ll talk a bit more about this over the next couple of weeks because this is a landscape mover.
I wonder if any IP Law Firms have floated? That’s where I’d be putting my money.
Googorola? Motorogle?
I like Googorola personally. It sounds like something that would go on a rampage and flatten Tokyo for our matinee entertainment.
I’m guessing that Google plans to unleash their mutant matinee monster in Redmond and Cupertino hoping for a Godzilla meets Tokyo like result and with such a large patent portfolio you’ve got to start wondering how long it’ll be before their army of lawyers will end up rolling into action like London teens looking for a night of looting and pillaging.
The really interesting story here is the effect on LG, Samsung and, especially, HTC.
HTC is now between the devil and the deep blue sea. On one side their wildly successful Android based business and on the other their not so much Windows MoPho based products.
The good news for them (!?), now, is that they’re going to be competing directly against their key suppliers. Microsoft and Nokia, who have recently announced that they’re going to drop prices to buy marketshare in the US for the good of Finland, Redmond and the WinMoPho way. Googorola who have now got a hardware/software end to end experience and they control Android too. Unless it now somehow forks.
Publicly HTC, Samsung and LG aren’t going to be too vocal about this. They won’t want to piss off the Gnomes of Mountain View, but you’ve got to wonder about the long term effects on their businesses.
If the Gnomes really wanted to go for a scorched earth policy they should have bought Nokia, I mean with their share price it wouldn’t cost a whole lot, and then move the whole company to Android and leave Ballmer standing with his WinMoPho in his hand.
As for Samsung, between their problems with Apple and now facing down Googorola, Tokyo’s not all that far from Seoul after all, they’ve got some real problems especially since they’re only just starting to make serious inroads into the market place with the Galaxy S II.
LG look like they’re going to be the big losers in this one because they don’t really have major market penetration outside Korea.
I’ll talk a bit more about this over the next couple of weeks because this is a landscape mover.
I wonder if any IP Law Firms have floated? That’s where I’d be putting my money.
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