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Displaying items by tag: Windows Phone

untitledThe secret is out; Microsoft wants to own your whole home with their devices at the center of your connected living space. Of course, this is nothing new. I can remember talking with Microsoft about the “digital home” in 2007 and before. At the time they were looking to build the blocks needed to create an entire (and viable) ecosystem for the home and the enterprise. Of course back then most of Microsoft was still trying to find ways to keeps users data in their own hands. This is something that has changed (because it is not a money maker), but the original concept has remained the same.

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Facebook-logoThe internet has been flooded with talk about a Facebook branded phone (both for and against). There have been rumors of purchases, new hires and more floating around all that seem to point to the fabled device. We have talked about some of the market concerns with a device like this (mostly privacy and user data collection), but many of these concerns relate to the US where laws on consumer protection and privacy are still in their infancy. We took the time to speak with Paul Amsellem, CEO of Mobile Network Group about the drive behind and the importance (to Facebook) of this device.

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music01A few years ago we had hope for Microsoft in the phone and mobile media player market. There was a new device on the tablet with a new SoC (System on Chip). This we had one in the lab and it was looking very promising in terms of performance and even style. Then something happened; Microsoft. For those of you that have been around the IT game for a while you will know what I mean here. As for the device; I am talking about the ZuneHD. This was (and still is) arguably the best media player that I have ever owned.

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84The explosion of the smart phone tied to the sudden need for people to post where they are and what they are doing every minute of the day has led to some rather interesting consequences. We all have heard the numerous reports of applications that are taking your personal data right off of your phone and then either selling it or using it to push their own applications… which reminds us… what ever happened to all those congressional requests and demands? Anyway getting back to the point we have even heard how one application (now pulled from distribution) used public Facebook profiles combined with check-ins on the Facebook game Four Square to allow almost anyone to stalk nearby women.

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HTC-VilleThe Mobile World Congress kicked off today in Barcelona Spain. This is one of the yearly events that help to shape the mobile technology world. We have already seen some information slip even before the conference kicked off as companies like HTC tried to get the jump on the competition and rumors popped up about Asus’ next generation Transformer.

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Wednesday, 01 February 2012 21:36

Will Windows 8 for ARM have any impact?

untitledSo Microsoft is talking up their ARM based version of Windows 8 again. This is the operating system that some think will supplant both Android and iOS. Until a few weeks ago I actually felt the same way, unfortunately unless Microsoft makes some rather drastic changes to their policy I think they are going to miss the boat once again.

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Monday, 07 November 2011 19:04

Microsoft Hires Gavin Kim away from Samsung

WindowsPhoneWell color me impressed! After talking about all of the things that Microsoft has done wrong with Windows Phone I am finally seeing them do something right. It seems they have convinced Samsung’s Vice President of consumer and enterprise services, Gavin Kim, to leave the mobile device giant and come over to the Microsoft fold.  

According to Kim he feels that Microsoft has the talent and the tools (meaning the right OS) to push forward and become a favored choice for consumers saying ““Each time a consumer goes to buy a smartphone from a carrier or retail store, Windows Phone has to be on their short list”. Kim also said that he feels that the team he will be joining has a considerable amount of talent and is looking forward to not lonely leading them but learning from them. In fact he likened joining any team to dating, indicating that if the compatibility is not there then things are not going to work.

We hope that this new couple does have a bright future ahead, but we think that their relationship will be a tad stormy. Gavin Kim is a smart choice for Microsoft as Kim has had his hand in more than a few successes from Samsung. The problem is that Windows Phone does not have the right infrastructure or a large customer base. This will make gaining consumer acceptance difficult to say the least. Unless Kim comes in and manages to shake things up (which we really are hoping) Window Phone will still fail to impress the average consumer in the face of the iPhone or the Flagship Android products.

The next 6-10 months will be interesting to watch for the mobile market. Android 4.0 will launch, iOS 5.0.x will hit (hopefully with some fixes) and Microsoft might actually have someone leading their mobile market that actually “gets” the market.

Source BGR.Com
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Sunday, 06 November 2011 09:21

Microsoft Launches Bing App for Android and iOS

bingSome interesting news on the mobile front this morning; after browsing around the net and looking for something interesting we stumbled across an article on Information Week that was as interesting in it market implications as it is puzzling. The article was an announcement of sorts explaining that the Bing app was now available for iOS and Android, but would not be released for Windows Phone just yet.

Now the thing about this that is puzzling is the need for a “Bing App”. Most people by now will be using a browser that allows you to choose your search engine. If you are looking for Bing then you can select it there and get your fill of Bing on that front. Even Apple’s mobile Safari has Bing as an option now.  We have checked and most modern phones will let you change the web search engine from Google (or whoever) to Bing, so on this front the app seems pretty pointless.

On the other hand if Microsoft is trying to replace the default “phone” search engine they are going to have a rough time. We grabbed the Bing App for Android 2.3 (on our EVO 3D) and it would not replace the default Google search feature that pops up when you press the search icon. It also was not able to replace any of the in-app search functions so we are not sure how this App fits in (unless it is just for those die-hard Bing users).

The final thought is that this might help extend the Bing search into the mobile market and in turn bring people over into the Microsoft fold. However, this is very unlikely as a search engine is not going to change your mind about a mobile phone. So what is up with Microsoft sending out the Bing Search App to Android and iOS? We honestly do not know what they are thinking and are making a guess that someone feels it will help them in the long run (obviously or they would not have done it).

As a final thought, you might hear that Microsoft releasing this for Android and iOS shows no confidence in their own Windows Phone Platform. This is simply not an accurate statement; you see Bing is the default phone search and web search on Windows Phone already. Why make an App when it is already there. Like we said, this one is both interesting and odd.

Oh, and one last thing… if you have an Android tablet and were thinking about grabbing this, well you might be a little surprised to find out that it is not available to non-3G Android devices. We attempted on two Android tablets and received the same warning. “This item is not available on your carrier”… Not exactly the way to extend your reach in the mobile market now is it…

bing

Source Information Week

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Saturday, 22 October 2011 21:44

Microsoft Trying Another Ploy to Save Windows Phone

untitledWe have talked about this one over and over and over (is my face getting a little blue?). Microsoft just does not get the market they are trying to sell to any more. Don’t get me wrong, I like Windows 7 and their new server stuff is fantastic (we will be covering a lot of that very soon), however when it comes to putting out hardware or even assisting in hardware production they are clueless. This is doubly true for their mobile division. So far we have heard them put down both Apple and Google saying their products are immature and chaotic respectively. Then we heard Andy Lees (the guy in charge of the Windows Phone Division) comment that the iPhone 4S was a wasted opportunity and that talking to a phone was not productive… I think one of the PR guys needs to pull Andy aside and ask him not to talk quite so much.

Even beyond Andy putting his foot in his mouth on occasion we now have Steve Ballmer telling us what we should want in a phone OS. His last comments on Mango and in turn the MetroUI were almost pleading in their attempt to get the market (and the consumer) to understand that giant square tiles are a good thing. Guys, they are not. We tried them here at DecryptedTech and they just did not work; just like they are not going to work for Microsoft.

Now, Microsoft has run out of ideas and quite possibly time. They are going to attempt to get the manufacturing cost below $200. Oddly enough this announcement came only a day or two after it was discovered that the iPhone 4S had around $188 in hardware inside its housing. While this will make the devices less expensive to make, and in turn should make them cheaper to buy that will not spell success. You have to not only have a compelling product (which they don’t) but also know how to market it (which they do not). On top of all that you have to offer an infrastructure to support it that makes sense and that people want to use (sorry third strike there Microsoft).

Mr. Ballmer, if you do not believe me about cheaper does not win the market; just take a look at Android tablet sales. In many cases they are $100 less expensive and yet the market still keeps buying the iPad… this is despite better hardware too. In the end you have to have two (no three), Ok three things.

1 a compelling product (not great or even that innovative, just compelling)
2 a great marketing team that knows its stuff and can give the product its own image
3 A legal team to fight off the ones over at Apple.

Picture Credit AllThingsD

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WindowsPhoneHave you ever loaned someone money and as soon as you gave it to them you thought “well I will never see that back”. I have to wonder if Steve Ballmer is thinking that very thing right now. His company, Microsoft, has just written a very big check to Nokia and a few other EU based phone makers for a huge marketing push on Windows Phone 7.5 (aka Mango). We wonder if this is too little too late. So far Windows Phone 7 has not managed to even capture 2% of the market share. Much of this is due mistakes made in the way Windows Mobile 6.5 was coded. Yes, I am saying that Microsoft started losing market share as far back as Windows Mobile 6.x.  From there they had a good chance to build on the relative success of the ZuneHD but failed to read the market queues properly and ended up making two of the worst received mobile phones ever. These were the Kin phones which had a product lifespan of only six weeks.

After that things began to decline rapidly and Windows Mobile never really took off again. We have talked about some of the reasons for this in recent articles and it really does boil down to Microsoft’s in ability to understand the market and the competition. However, for once they are going to try and do some marketing. We honestly do not feel that any amount of marketing done by Microsoft can save the Windows Phone division (unless they hire the entire Apple PR team. Still we do think they have to try.

The reality is that Microsoft and its partners must change the image of Windows Phone, they have to offer better hardware, faster response and more content than either Apple or Android can, the problem is that Microsoft just does not have the apps to match either of these two companies. In my opinion they do have a much better music service, but you cannot produce a winning phone with just that.

Steve Ballmer will need to keep his check book handy as 2011 runs into 2012 because I have a feeling they will need it just to get on the map for the Holiday Season. To give you an example of what I mean; I asked a few people what they thought of Microsoft’s mobile OS and all I got was a blank look. They did not even know there was such a thing. Like I said, this is going to be an uphill battle and all the trash talking and cash is not going to replace the lack of handsets and market knowledge about the product.

Source Mobile Today

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