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I am a big believer that as enterprises embrace a mobile strategy that includes iPads and iPhones, there will be a gravitational pull to the cloud.
Additionally, this transition to mobile and cloud will decrease the relevance of Microsoft in the enterprise, especially small – medium business (since they missed the boat on mobile and to some extent cloud services).
As I thought about this post and started writing, this morning TechCrunch has a post on “Box: Mobile Adoption Is The Gateway Drug To The Cloud In The Enterprise”.
“When Box tracks its enterprise sales, it tracks the reason for buying, and this past year, the company found there was a 30x increase in the number of enterprise deployments that were mobile-driven.” WOW…is that telling!
The move to iPads has enterprises adopting SaaS / cloud services much faster then originally thought. The ability to quickly (with a few swipes) deploy and enable a CRM application or a collaboration application is very compelling. Especially if the security and privacy concerns can be mitigated. Traditional IT must be agile and address this trend. Enterprise IT will need to figure out how cloud becomes an extension of their infrastructure and services or become less relevant to the value that can be delivered to business.
HP released another video of their slate device last week, highlighting some of the some of the gaps in the iPad feature set – notably including a two cameras for photos and video conferencing, and extensibility/data transfer through media such as SD or USB, HDTV connectivity. Some additional specs we are hearing include 32GB storage, 1GB RAM, wi-fi, bluetooth, GPS, and more.
Mashable has a post on some more specifics on the leaked specs here.
All we need now is to know when we can get one!!!
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about the new Windows Phone 7 Series after our announcement at the Mobile World Conference. Although the phones are not out on the market yet, it is very exciting news about this new, and very “different” phone platform. It is NOT a new version of Windows Mobile v.next. It is a new phone platform, with not only a new innovative user experience, but a new developer platform as well.
Next week at MIX10 many will have a great opportunity to learn more and dive deep into Windows Phone 7 Series and it’s new developer platform for Windows Phone. Additionally, Charlie Kindel has a terrific blog post on what is different about the Windows Phone 7 Series developer experience.
As Charlie points out in his post, different is sometimes a good thing, and with Windows Phone, it is a very good thing! Read his post!!
I want my Windows Phone 7 Series…
FINALLY! Is what I have to say. Its about time..well, actually, we have to wait before we can get our hands on this beauty (look for it in the fall 2010). We finally announced Windows Phone 7 Series at the Mobile World Conference last week. And some good impressions were made – here are a few quotes/links:
Gizmodo, Feb. 15, 2010: Windows Phone 7 Interface: Microsoft Has Out-Appled Apple
“I’m sorry, Cupertino, but Microsoft has nailed it. Windows Phone 7 feels like an iPhone from the future.”
Wired, Feb. 15, 2010: Hands-On With Windows Phone 7 Series
“What surprised me most was that I was expecting yet another iPhone clone. And while the Windows 7 Phone isn’t the huge game changer that the iPhone was upon its debut, it is different enough to embarrass pretty much everyone else except Apple.”
PCWorld, Feb. 15, 2010: Windows Phone 7 Series: First Impressions
“Microsoft has finally caught up with the competition by delivering a clean, socially-connected interface and implementing features like multitouch and the beautiful Zune media player. Paired with excellent hardware partners like HTC and Samsung, I think Windows 7 phones have some great potential-if the software behaves.”
Some of the new features you will experience with Windows Phone 7 Series include:
Live Tiles
Windows Phone 7 Series home screen comes to life with “Live Tiles”. The simple yet interactive, multi-touch user interface provides users easy access to the latest information from the device, be it phone calls, contacts and friends, calendar appointments, photos, songs and videos, or XBOX Live feeds.
Hubs
Windows Phone 7 Series introduce six “hubs,” — people, pictures, games, music and video, an application marketplace, and one that integrates with Microsoft Office mobile applications and email.
Microsoft Office
Windows Phone 7 Series support Microsoft Office mobile applications including email.
Application Development
Microsoft will unveil more detail on development capabilities of Windows Phone 7 Series at MIX10 in March.Windows Phone 7 Series will provide developers with a new mobile platform to support innovative and interactive Software plus Service based solutions. For more information visit the MIX10 web site.
With regard to applications for this new mobile platform, Mix10 can’t come fast enough. Windows Mobile, and now Windows Phone has some catching up to do. Here is a slide from Distimo’s presentation here on Mobile Application Stores:
Find out more here:
Here is a video highlighting some of the exciting features:
With the LOUD release, and all the buzz of the Apple iPad, and the recent announcement at CES by Steve Ballmer and HP regarding the HP Slate, its a real exciting time in my opinion, because although these are cool products, it really reveals new experiences for the consumer and the business user. This new product category will drive huge investments in new applications and will likely reveal new business models that we have not even imagined. I thought about adding the Kindle to this discussion, a great innovation in itself, but its simply a “reader”. The iPad and the HP Slate (and likely other Windows 7 slate devices) are new type of computer IMHO.
It is certain that whenever Apple introduces a completely new product, there is a lot of attention and buzz in the industry. Apple did not disappoint in that regard with the iPad launch earlier this week. It was a big deal and everybody seemed to be watching, twittering, blogging, and talking about the iPad. Although I am hearing many in my industry make comments like “its just a bigger iPhone”, I disagree. I think the iPhone is being used for things the iPad is better suited for (web browsing, reading, video, etc.).
Apple did a great job in building an aesthetically beautiful machine, something they do well, and additionally not just releasing a product, but with it, services and rich experiences like iBook (although its not live yet). They don’t launch new products, they launch new experiences!
However, I think the iPad certainly comes with some significant shortcomings as well. I have listed some here: no camera, no multi-tasking (that’s right, only one app at a time), no SD slot.
No multi-tasking really hinders its opportunity. I would think my friends at Pandora would not like that. As I type this blog in Windows Live Writer, I have one of my Pandora stations playing in one of my browser tabs. If I want to read a book on an iPad, I can not have music playing in the background…
I do love the 10 hour battery life! WOW.
Disclaimer: This is not a product review or comparison. The HP Slate is not released, and I have not tested or used either product. My notes here are based simply on what I have read about these products so far.
As for the HP Slate (to be released; see story here), it is going to run Windows 7. I can use it like I use my laptop – listen to Pandora, read a book, even use the camera for a Skype session, all at the same time. If I am a developer and want to build apps for it, I can use the same development environment and tools (Visual Studio) I use for any Windows PC device. Additionally, Windows 7 comes with Windows Touch, so like the iPad, it enables you to use touch gestures with it.
All and all, I think this is an exciting development for client technology when we consider these new innovations, combined with cloud services available for consumer experiences as well business services like collaboration, web conferencing, email, and much more!
What’s next in this space? My guess is in addition to more Windows 7 devices, you will see some running Android.
Tomorrow, Microsoft is launching Windows Phone and announcing the availability of Windows phones at retail stores worldwide. The new phones will be the first to feature Windows Mobile 6.5, the latest version of our mobile phone software, and will deliver new customer experiences through an improved, easy-to-use user interface, better browsing capabilities and access to valuable services, including Windows Marketplace for Mobile and Microsoft My Phone.
Windows Mobile 6.5 includes some great enhancements in the UI, consumer oriented features, a new browser, and much more.
For a great overview of the new features in Windows Mobile 6.5, as well as information about Windows Marketplace for Mobile and Microsoft My Phone, my colleague, Anand Iyer has a great post regarding the announcement at his blog artificial ignorance.
My favorite, and the most popular music streaming service on the web, Pandora, has finally arrived on Windows Mobile!
I say finally because Pandora started working on a Windows Mobile application a couple of years ago. However, after distribution deals with AT&T and Sprint was entered, and their requirement was that it needed to work on their standard phones. Pandora decided to then shift their efforts… At that point, I will let Tom Conrad, CTO of Pandora, tell the rest of the story. (Thank You Tom!!!)
If you are not familiar with Pandora Radio, it is your own FREE personalized radio and available to stream music on your Windows Mobile handset (or browser on your PC). You start using Pandora by simply searching for the name of one of your favorite artists, songs or classical composers and Pandora will create a “station” that plays their music and more music like it.
If you’re already a Pandora user, all you have to do is sign in to access all of your existing stations from the app. The only Windows Mobile devices that Pandora’s application currently supports (when installed from their website) is the Motorola Q9c, and HTC XV6900 / Touch. However, see my buddy Anand Iyer’s post at Startup Zone, to learn about installing it on other Windows Mobile phones!
See other write-ups:
PCMag.com – Pandora Hits Windows Mobile
On10.net – Pandora Comes to Windows Mobile
