Despite frequent, repeated denials from Microsoft that they aren’t making a Zune Phone to pit against Apple’s iPhone juggernaut, our sibling site WMExperts keeps compiling evidence that Microsoft might be doing just that.
The latest is that Pink (as it’s code-named) has an ad agency, will be based on Windows Mobile 7 but have it’s own proprietary UI layer, should be available next year-ish, and provide Zune, My Phone, and Windows Marketplace for Mobiles functionality.
So have Microsoft’s previous denials been based on crossed fingers and the “truthiness” of actually making a Zune HD Phone? Or as TiPb has been predicting, an Xbox Phone?
Let’s face it, Microsoft would be negligent and borderline daft not to integrate the technologies and leverage the brand of Xbox.
Oh, wait…
Oft rumored, is Sony ready to leverage both the struggling Sony Ericsson partnership and the still fairly solid Sony Playstation brand to produce a Playstation Phone? (PSP Phone? PSPhone? PSP Go-Call-Someone?).
Makes sense from a competitive point of view, and something we certainly thought we’d see sooner. If Sony can get passed their historic intra-company integration problems, and avoid doing anything silly like ATRAC DRM or root kits — if they could get a product manager who could cut through the quagmire and drive everything that’s good about Sony into the product — it could be an interesting contender.
For the iPhone, of course:
Nikkei says it will directly compete with the iPhone, and that a project team was set up last July to start working on the console/phone hybrid. So basically, it’s the same rumor we’ve been hearing for years, except this time from a reliable source. Whether it’s got any truth to it remains to be seen. Note: The above image is a mockup. Seems obvious but sometimes you gotta say it out loud.
[Gizmodo via Reuters]
Our sibling site Android Central is all over the new HTC Hero announcement — the latest Android smartphone and one that looks decidedly different from its G1 predecessor.
We weren’t exactly fond of the G1’s user experience, but did lust after their notification system and push Gmail. Does this latest entry, with its Senses UI, up the ante? And should Apple be worried yet, or is Microsoft and Windows Mobile still the low-hanging fruit in Google’s sights?
Steve Jobs might want to look in his rearview mirror, because there’s a hulking eighteen-wheeler barreling down the highway, belching thick black smoke, and crushing every vehicle in its path.
The software giant is working with long time rival Adobe to bring Flash player Lite (yes, THAT Flash player) to Windows Mobile devices, while simultaneously incorporating support for its own SilverLight technology. The move will give Microsoft a leg up over Apple, making its mobile platform more web 2.0 friendly in supporting these ubiquitous web animation and runtime environments.
Apple has valid reasons for eschewing Flash lite, so it claims, like poor performance and a not-so-much like a desktop experience. Even if valid, it’s never a checkmark in your favor when competing products support features yours does not.
Wake up, Apple. You’re in Micrsoft’s crosshairs now.
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Apple and RIM are on a collision course as the two companies go toe to toe vying for enterprise messaging market share. RIM has long held the corporate high ground with its dominant BlackBerry Enterprise Server technology and ubiquitous handsets. But Apple is sending iPhone to business school, adopting Microsoft Exchange support that is certain to give Apple the competitive advantage it needs to challenge RIM’s BlackBerry industrial complex.
This puts Apple in a unique position. Until now the company has narrowly focused its product strategy at consumers, not business. Apple and enterprise go together like Dairy Queen and Lactose intolerance, but iPhone has achieved the kind of sweeping success and brand awareness that makes it marketable to business customers, given the right pedigree of tools.
The combination of iPhone’s consumer appeal and business smarts could produce a perfect storm for Apple. Will it be enough to topple RIM?
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First let me say that I am not one to laugh at someone else’s misfortune. Wait, who am I kidding? Of course I am. So it comes with certain self indulgence that I take this opportunity to point to a study that ranks Palm dead last in customer satisfaction among handset makers. So sad. But sadder still that a Palm employee posted a rebuttal in the comments of that story and cited a different study, commissioned by Palm no less, to dispute these negative results. Which is the equivalent of saying “No, really I am wonderful, just ask my Mom, she’ll tell you.”
Cheer up, Palm. When it comes to product stagnation and obsolete technology, you’re still number one in my book.
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Agonizing abdominal pains are being felt across the globe today as the world laughs hysterically at Windows Mobile. According to a report posted by Net Applications, iPhone accounts for .09% of the overall browser market, leaving Windows Mobile choking on Apple’s dust with .06%. Not a bad record for a device that’s only been on the market for less than two consecutive sales quarters, and Windows Mobile is how many years old now? Oh the humiliation.
Cheer up, Windows fanboys. At least you beat out the T-Mobile Sidekick. And that’s something to be proud of, right? Bwahahaha!
ReadVia CrunchGear
Unless you’ve been pinned under a bus for the past 24 hours, you’ve no doubt witnessed the unfolding drama from yesterday’s announcement by Google about its upcoming open mobile platform, dubbed Android. Opinions range from Android’s arrival heralding the end of the wireless world as we know it, to “Oh my God…targeted ads on a mobile phone!” This story isn’t particularly relevant to iPhone enthusiasts, but its impact will affect the handset industry as a whole. And being the smarty pants, know-it-all, Smartphone expert, tech talkin guy that I am, I couldn’t let this topic pass by without weighing in.
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Alas, poor Palm. You just can’t seem to get a break these days, can you? First came that whole embarrassing Foleo fiasco (or Foolio as I like to call it), an ordeal not to be repeated. Then your long overdue Palm OS replacement gets pushed back, twice, not to appear for another 18 months. Now comes this latest report, certain to deliver yet another vigorous blow to the nuts.
The bean counters at NPD Group, who watch consumer buying habits like the Chinese Secret Police, have determined that a very large percentage of early iPhone owners migrated from Smartphones, particularly the Palm Treo and T-Mobile Sidekick. In fact, the study shows that consumers were ten times more likely to have abandoned a Treo in favor of iPhone. Which totally has me laughing my ass off at the numbskulls who so adamantly asserted that iPhone will NEVER attract Smartphone users, in a vein effort to write off any threat. Fear the fruit, boys. Fear the fruit.
Four years ago the Treo represented the pinnacle of mobile computing design and innovation. Today, it’s the Amish horse and buggy of Smartphones. Carriers may just as well give them away as Christmas ornaments for subscribers to hang on their trees. Nobody wants one.
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Folks, I have some news that will come as terrible blow to everyone. Verizon has just introduced what it claims to be a true no shit honest to goodness iPhone killer. Yes, I know… I’m in shock myself. Now, this is no ordinary iPhone killer. No siree, Bob. Nope, this revolutionary new phone from LG, dubbed Voyager, offers a set of features not found on anything else on the market; it has an HTML web browser (yes, real HTML, not that fake HTML found on other fones phones). It plays MP3 and WMA audio. It takes photos. And steal yourselves… it even has a MicroSD slot.
But pick yourselves off the floor for just a minute, because the news gets worse. In light of today’s news, Apple released a statement announcing plans to exit the handset business and shut down iPhone production, conceding the market to Verizon’s amazing new Voyager phone. Here’s the press release…
Team,
It is with great sadness that I must inform you that Verizon has upstaged us with the release of a new clone which completely and utterly mops the floor with iPhone. Rather than suffer the humiliation of trying to compete against such a product, I believe it is in the best interest for the company to abandon the phone market, and focus all our efforts on iPods and Mac sales. We had a great run while it lasted, but LG and Verizon have simply kicked our ass. Hope to see you all at the company Christmas party. BYOB.
Best,
Steve
As a result of today’s announcement I will be shutting this site down and starting a new blog; The Verizon iPhone Wannabe Blog. Please visit me there, and thanks for your loyal support.
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