Symbian has the market share; Apple's iPhone has the mind share. The future of mobile, however, will be owned by the company or project that best appeals to developers, especially open-source developers. Microsoft, with its long-standing interest in developers, also needs to reach out to open-source developers, if it wants to succeed.
Part of this reason is cost. As IBM's Savio Rodrigues suggests, Research In Motion could reduce its cost and improve the reach of its platform through open source:
RIM should be utilizing R&D investments more effectively by leveraging existing open-source projects. RIM could have built (its software development kit) for a lower investment by starting with PhoneGap or an equivalent open-source framework...This was absolutely a missed opportunity for RIM to compete versus Apple, Palm, and others using open source.
No, I'm not going to suggest that RIM open-source the BlackBerry Enterprise Server; that would be silly. Rather, I believe RIM could have saved R&D costs, increased the value of its BlackBerry platform, and influenced developers building for the iPhone, if RIM had built the Widget SDK on top of (an) open-source project like PhoneGap.
Symbian is taking this road, as Michael Mace points out, putting developers, and not itself, at the center of attention. The more money third-party developers can make with Symbian, the better off Symbian will be.
Palm, too, is trying to appeal to open-source developers by making it cheap and lucrative to develop for Palm devices.
Apple's world, by contrast, comes with a hugely sexy device, optimized distribution...and low return on investment for its developers, according to Newsweek. In Apple's world, developers add value to Apple, but not necessarily to themselves.
Microsoft is different. Although the company has not committed its mobile strategy to open source, it is a company that has a serious romance with developers. With 97 percent of its sales coming through its channel, Microsoft depends upon third-party development and distribution partners.
Windows Mobile 6.5
(Credit: Microsoft)Now Microsoft is launching Windows Mobile 6.5, a light upgrade to previous versions that has failed to catch the media's attention. Today, the company has few--246, to be exact--applications available for version 6.5 in its Windows Marketplace for Mobile, but it has more than 20,000 designed for Windows Mobile 6.0 and 6.1.
The question, however, is whether it can attract new developers to the seemingly moribund Windows Mobile, which declined in market share to just 9 percent of handsets shipped in the second quarter of 2009, according to The Wall Street Journal. An open-source complement strategy, similar to what it's using for SharePoint and its CRM product, could help.
It must, as Google is calling.
Microsoft has no choice but at least dabble in open source, regardless of Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's publicly sanguine stance on Google. Open-source Google Android is starting to make waves, even if its momentum can be overhyped. Verizon has jumped on the Android bandwagon, citing the "unmatched openness and flexibility of the Android platform."
Open source isn't an afterthought for Google. It's a core business strategy. And it's winning converts.
Ballmer pooh-poohs Android and further discards "free as a business model," but he acknowledges that Android represents open source, with significant financial resources behind it.
There's more to it than this. Free is a great business model, one that Microsoft has used to tremendous effect, as Internet Explorer, SharePoint, Bing, and other Microsoft successes demonstrate and as Techdirt highlights.
Microsoft needs to integrate open source into its mobile strategy. It needs developer attention. As CNET's Ina Fried reports, a recent Windows Mobile 6.5 session at Code Camp attracted just six developers. You don't win with numbers like that, and you don't get developers without open source, anymore.
Microsoft could attempt to replicate Apple's model of mobile success, but its DNA is more Google than Apple. Microsoft rightly recognized early on that building products soup-to-nuts, as Apple does, was not the best model to achieve ubiquity (even if some suggest that this model has broken the PC industry). That model works great, early in the formation of a market, as Clayton Christensen theorizes, but it loses its efficacy in mature markets.
Mobile doesn't yet count as "mature," but it's getting there fast.
An enabling strategy similar to what Microsoft did on the "desktop" would succeed in mobile, too, but it's going to require a Googlesque open-source approach for Microsoft--not the Apple approach.
This isn't to suggest that Microsoft should open-source everything. As I learned from my own open-source mobile days at Lineo, to build a successful business in mobile (or elsewhere), you've got to own something.
Google is interested in owning the advertising that results from greater mobile Web browsing and other mobile services. For Microsoft, it could match this, and extend it with ties to its server and personal computer businesses, like SharePoint. It probably can't afford, however, to try to build a big per-unit licensing business--not with Google undermining that model with its free Android.
Microsoft simply needs to find the right "format" in which to deliver its open-source mobile strategy. The software giant has 90,000-plus employees. Surely, one of them can figure this out.
Palm said Tuesday its WebOS developer program will open in December with an "unparalleled level of transparency" in a not-so-subtle dig at Apple.
The company, which is playing catch-up to Apple with its applications store, kicked off its App Catalog beta program on Tuesday.
Among the key details of Palm's developer program:
• A 70/30 revenue split. (Palm gets 30 percent.)
• A $99 annual fee. That fee is waived if you submit an open-source WebOS app.
• The company will review every application and developers will pay a fee of $50 for each app.
Read more of Palm developer program set for December lift-off at ZDNet.
(Credit:
Gizmodo)
When WebOS 1.2 didn't refix the syncing compatibility that iTunes 9 rebroke, it almost looked like this bizarre little Apple-Palm standoff had finally just, you know, puttered out. Well, nope, for some reason! Cue WebOS 1.2.1.
Palm's possibly heroic, mostly inconsequential iTunes-molesting theatrics aside, the fix most people were actually waiting for involved an error introduced this week by 1.2, which broke Exchange 2007 EAS syncing for quite a few people. That, along with a few bug fixes, is the main component of 1.2.1, which should be making its way to handsets over the weekend. In other news, paid apps are still totally MIA in the App Catalog. Weird.
Check here for the full 1.2.1 changelog.
This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.
Apple's iPhone and Android-based smartphones have both seen solid growth throughout the world this year, says a report released Wednesday by AdMob.
The iPhone's worldwide market share jumped from 33 percent to 40 percent over February to August, according to AdMob's "August Mobile Metrics Report," which tracked smartphone usage for that six-month period. AdMob, which serves ads for mobile Web sites and apps, bases its numbers on data from ad requests, impressions, and clicks.
Phones running Google's Android OS picked up a 7 percent market share by August versus only 2 percent in February, thanks to rapid gains in North America and Western Europe, said AdMob. Since its debut this summer, T-Mobile's Android-powered MyTouch has been a top seller in both of those regions.
(Credit:
AdMob)
With the launch of the Pre, Palm's WebOS has also taken off, grabbing a 4 percent slice of the smartphone market in August.
On the downside, older smartphone systems have witnessed a drop in market share, according to AdMob.
The global share for Nokia's Symbian OS fell from 43 percent in February to 34 percent in August. However, Nokia smartphones remain hot sellers, accounting for 12 of the top 20 smartphones tracked by AdMob. Nokia's N97 and 5800 XpressMusic units were the fourth and fifth most popular smartphones in the U.K. for August.
Research In Motion's slice of the market dropped slightly from 10 percent in February to 8 percent in August. Still, RIM's Blackberry devices accounted for three of the top 20 smartphones around the world. The Palm OS, running on older units such as the Centro, declined in share from 3 percent in February to 1 percent in August.
Finally, Microsoft's Windows Mobile also lost share, falling from 7 percent in February to 4 percent in August, according to the report.
AdMob sells and tracks ads on mobile Web pages and applications to more than 7,000 publishers. The company compiled the data for this report based on its analysis of more than 10 billion monthly ad requests from over 160 different countries.
Most new smartphone users are now consumers, a dramatic change from just a few years ago when the gadgets were primarily in the hands of business types, according to a survey released Wednesday by research firm CFI Group.
The survey "CFI Group Smartphone Satisfaction Study 2009" found that smartphone users are no longer just reading e-mail or scheduling appointments but also surfing the Web, streaming video and music, downloading games, and snapping pictures. Smartphones are now seen more by consumers as minicomputers than as cell phones, according to CFI.
Predictably, Apple's iPhone is credited with igniting the growth of smartphones, and it's the clear leader of the pack. The survey found that the iPhone has the most loyalty and praise among its users, with 92 percent of iPhone owners saying they have the ideal phone. Around 90 percent have recommended the device, while 35 percent said they bought the iPhone based on word-of-mouth advice.
The iPhone also is tops in customer satisfaction, ranking 83 on a 100-point scale, according to CFI. The newer Palm Pre and Android-based phones each scored 77 on the scale, followed by Research In Motion's Blackberry at 73 and the Palm Treo at 70. The rest of the pack, including phones running Windows Mobile and Symbian, trailed the list with an overall grade of 66.
(Credit:
CFI Group)
"The iPhone is the best thing to happen to the smartphone industry because it captured the imagination of a whole new set of consumers that might not have made the smartphone jump," said Doug Helmreich, program director with CFI Group.
But the growing dependence on smartphones is a catch-22, since consumers now demand more from their devices. And wireless carriers, most notably AT&T, have struggled to provide the quality of service that people want. For this reason and others, the survey found a disparity between the most popular smartphones and the most popular providers.
Of the pack, Verizon Wireless was considered the ideal carrier among 86 percent of users questioned, and it scored 79 out of 100 for customer satisfaction. But only 38 percent of Verizon consumers said their phone is the ideal smartphone, the lowest among all carriers.
For AT&T, the situation is reversed, but more among iPhone users. Half of all iPhone owners surveyed said they would like to jump ship to another provider, but 75 percent of non-iPhone users said they would stick with AT&T. For customer satisfaction, AT&T scored 69 out of 100 among iPhone users, and 73 among non-iPhone owners.
(Credit:
CFI Group)
The survey also raised the question of whether other carriers might take a hit as consumers continue to want more from the iPhone and its brethren.
"The iPhone raised the bar not only for other smartphones, but for the networks as well," said Helmreich. "The new breed of smartphone consumers expect more from their phones, and the iPhone may represent only the tip of a data-intensive iceberg."
To compile the survey, CFI Group questioned 1,074 people from August 3 to 10 about their smartphone use.
Will it or won't it? That's the question that Palm Pre fans are asking. They want to know if the Palm's touch-screen phone will be offered by Verizon Wireless early next year.
TheStreet.com reported late Thursday that sources close to the companies said Verizon was considering not offering the phone on its network, as had been expected. But now analysts are saying the rumors are likely bogus.
Palm Pre
(Credit: Sprint Nextel)"Our checks continue to point to healthy carrier demand for the Pre early in calendar 2010," Deutsche Bank's Jonathan Goldberg said in a research note published Friday. "We believe Palm has placed orders with the supply chain for another version of the Pre, with features highly consistent with a Verizon launch."
Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said in June, before the Pre was even launched, that he expected the device to be on Verizon's network within six months. Sprint Nextel currently has a deal to be the exclusive U.S. carrier of the Pre.
Neither Verizon nor Palm would publicly comment on the speculation. But on Thursday, Palm reiterated its financial guidance, which it gave just last week, when it reported third-quarter earnings. In a notice announcing that the company is raising about $360 million through a public offering, Palm "reaffirmed its fiscal-year 2010 outlook, and its planned product and carrier launches in the second half of Palm's fiscal year, ending in May 2010." The E-Commerce Times wrote on Friday that Verizon's Jim Gerace had confirmed the company still plans to bring the Pre to its network in January, and a source familiar with Verizon's plans later confirmed the plans.
Several analysts have also said they don't buy the rumor that Verizon would snub the Pre. Tavis McCourt, an analyst at Morgan Keegan, said in his research note that Palm's upbeat guidance would require the company to launch the device on Verizon's network. He also pointed to Verizon's long history with Palm.
"Verizon has carried just about every Palm product in its history, and the Pre is clearly the best," McCourt wrote in his note. "We do not have insight as to the marketing support Palm will get from Verizon, but we see little risk in not getting a placement at this carrier."
McCourt also said that he expects the Pre to hit Verizon's network in February. He suspects that the rumor had more to do with investors wanting to influence the company's stock price than any actual change at Verizon. He notes that just before Palm finalized its new funding this week, rumors were circulating that Nokia was looking to buy Palm. The news of the funding deal lifted the company's stock price. And when the subsequent rumor about Verizon not carrying the Pre surfaced, the stock dipped.
"The timing of the rumor, post-deal, makes it equally as dubious as the timing of the 'Nokia will buy Palm' rumor during the roadshow," he wrote.
While McCourt agrees that it's unlikely that Verizon will spend a lot of money marketing the Pre, he said it's not unusual for carriers to spend much less on marketing a device that has already been out on another carrier's network.
"Normally, for an exclusive like the Pre or the (BlackBerry) Storm, the carrier will provide more marketing support," he said in an interview. "But the Pre will have already been out for seven months. So I wouldn't be surprised if Verizon doesn't commit as much money to marketing it."
So what is a smartphone consumer to do? Since neither company is responding to the rumors, it's difficult to say for sure what will happen. But these analysts seem pretty confident that the Verizon Pre is still a go.
Verizon consistently wins high marks for its reliable network. And the company has one of the widest coverage footprints. But customers have long complained about Verizon's lack of cool handsets. So many customers have been waiting for the Pre. And many others are hopeful that Apple's iPhone will come to wireless carrier next year.
Verizon isn't saying anything about unannounced products. But the company is building its next-generation LTE network, which will go live next year. And there is speculation that Apple might announce products that work on that network. Verizon also has its Open Development Program, which allows any device maker to quickly get devices certified for services that run on the Verizon Wireless network.
Updated at 5:21 p.m. to include a statement from Verizon to the E-Commerce Times, saying Verizon still intends to offer the Pre to its customers in January, and at 6:16 p.m. with confirmation from a source.
Two prominent Web-based programming advocates have left Mozilla for Palm, arguing that the time has come to use browsers to bypass Apple's controlling role in mobile applications.
Dion Almaer and Ben Galbraith, who help run the Ajaxian site for elaborate Web interfaces and who worked on Mozilla's Web-based Bespin tool for collaborative programming, announced their move to Palm on Friday.
Palm is a logical place for them to go. The Palm Pre has won accolades as a competitive mobile phone, and its foundation for applications is a WebKit-based browser, meaning that Palm programs are essentially Web programs.
"I will be joining Ben, my best friend, partner in crime, and fellow Ajaxian, as we take a new role as directors of the Palm Developer Relations team. We will have the responsibility of the developer experience with Palm. We will be trying to create a rich connective tissue between the company and the Web developer community that we love," Almaer wrote on his blog.
Web-based programs are typically slower and less capable than alternatives that run natively on a computing device. But they have one big potential advantage: written once, they can run on any device with a browser and hardware up to the task.
Although Galbraith and Dalmaer are excited by the possibilities of Web applications and the new era of mobile computing ushered in most notably by Apple's iPhone, Galbraith appears to be concerned about the control Apple exercises over the applications people can use on their phones.
"Clearly, a revolution in hardware is taking place, and it doesn't take a prophet to work out that the future of computing lies along this new trajectory," Galbraith said. "However, my enthusiasm for this amazing new world is tempered by some unfortunate decisions made by some of the players in this space. It seems that some view this revolution as a chance to seize power in downright Orwellian ways by constraining what we, as developers, can say, dictating what kinds of apps we can create, controlling how we distribute our apps, and placing all kinds of limits on what (we) can do to our computing devices."
He didn't mention Apple by name, and I don't want to put words in his mouth, but who else besides Apple could Galbraith be referring to? The programmers and Apple didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
Apple exerts its control to try to give iPhone users a simple, stable, and useful experience. But that control can be at odds with what programmers and users want, as was most clearly illustrated in Apple's rejection of the Google Voice application--though Apple said it hasn't actually rejected the application.
Meanwhile, as it did with its Latitude location application for the iPhone after Apple rejected a native version of that software, Google is working on a Web-based interface for Google Voice. It also offers a Web-based Gmail application for the iPhone.
What's curious is that the Palm Pre, the Google Android operating system, and the iPhone OS all use a browser based on the WebKit project, and Apple is among those working hard to advance the state of the art for Web application programming through its WebKit work. So there is some philosophical agreement along with the differences.
The Palm Pre may not be coming to Verizon Wireless after all.
According to a report from TheStreet.com, Verizon Wireless execs are reconsidering whether to begin offering Palm's touch screen smartphone in January as many have anticipated.
Palm Pre
(Credit: Sprint Nextel)The Pre was announced at CES in January amid much fanfare. And after months of anticipation, Palm launched the device in June exclusively on Sprint Nextel's network. Shortly before the device was launched on Sprint's network, Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam said it would offer the Pre on the Verizon Wireless network within six months.
Sprint's CEO Dan Hesse said the device was exclusive to Sprint through 2009, which left many market watchers expecting a Verizon version to land sometime in January 2010. Hopes for a Verizon version of the Pre were bolstered recently when Palm's new CEO Jon Rubinstein said he expects the device to be offered on other networks very soon.
But now it looks like Verizon is having a change of heart. The Street.com said its sources have cited several reasons why Verizon execs may be getting cold feet. For one, the Palm Pre has had modest sales compared to sales of competing devices such as Apple's iPhone or Research In Motion's BlackBerry devices. According to story, Sprint has not sold more than a million Pre phones so far, which has spooked the Verizon execs.
Another issue is that Verizon supposedly wants its VCast application and download store to be featured on the phone. But this will compete directly with Palm's own app store. ... Read more
Apple now has the support of a USB industry standards group in its battle to keep the Palm Pre from using the iTunes music service.
The USB Implementers Forum (USB-IF) said in a statement Tuesday that Apple can block the Pre from connecting to iTunes. The group issued a letter to both companies warning Palm that further attempts to use iTunes would violate the group's policy.
The voice of the USB-IF is strong in this case since the group is responsible for issuing Apple the hardware vendor ID that lets its devices connect to iTunes via USB. Palm has used this process to its advantage by simulating the same ID for the Palm Pre, tricking iTunes into thinking the Pre is an Apple device.
That scheme worked until the recent release of iTunes 9, which broke the Pre's access, prompting Palm to complain to the USB-IF that the vendor ID blocks competitors.
But the group supported Apple's stance and cautioned Palm by letter that any further attempts to use the code would be a violation of its rules.
In its initial complaint, Palm told the USB-IF that the latest update of its WebOS would restore iTunes functionality to the Pre. In response, the USB-IF quoted policy and reminded Palm that it may use only its own issued vendor IDs, not those of any other company. The group asked Palm to clarify its intentions within seven days.
Palm and Apple were not immediately available for comment.
Even before the Palm Pre was released in June, people discovered that the device could connect to iTunes. Since then, Palm and Apple have fought a tug-of-war over iTunes access. Apple has issued various iTunes updates to block non-Apple devices, triggering Palm to find a way past them. Despite not-so-subtle warnings from Apple, Palm has remained persistent.
Updated at 2:55 p.m. PDT with information from the conference call.
Sales of the Pre helped boost Palm's smartphone sales in the company's fiscal first quarter of 2010 by about 134 percent compared to the preceding quarter, but Palm still reported its eighth consecutive quarter of loss, and sales dipped over 80 percent.
The Palm Pre.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET)The Palm Pre, available exclusively through Sprint Nextel, is gaining traction. The company sold 823,000 smartphones in the fiscal first quarter. Many of those smartphones are believed to be the Pre.
But even though sales of the Pre were strong, Palm still ended up losing $164.5 million, or $1.17 per share in its fiscal first quarter. Still, the company's losses beat analyst expectations. Excluding items, the company posted a loss of 10 cents a share. Analysts had predicted a loss of 25 cents a share, according to Reuters.
Palm's sales declined to $68 million. But on a non-GAAP basis, revenue came in at $360.7 million. Wall Street analysts had predicted between $289 million and $297 million.
Palm has struggled to regain footing after losing market share over the last couple of years to companies like Apple with its iPhone and Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry devices. The Pre has been seen as the company's last hope at getting back in the game.
CEO Jon Rubinstein said on the company's conference call that Palm plans to focus exclusively on its Web OS software. This new operating system is the foundation of the Pre and Palm's latest device, the Pixi. While the company will continue to sell the current generation of Palm Treo products that use Microsoft Windows, it will focus its research and development on Web OS. And all its future products will be Web OS-based, Rubinstein said.
The move is not surprising given Palm's investment in Web OS, but nonetheless it is a blow to Microsoft, which has been struggling to maintain support for its Windows Mobile operating system. Microsoft made a big deal when it first landed Palm as a licensee back in 2005. Then Palm CEO Ed Colligan took the stage with Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates in San Francisco to tout the new alliance.
Palm executives also said the Pre will soon be available on other carrier networks. In Europe it will soon be available on Telefonica's network. And other carriers will soon follow.
The Pre faces stiff competition in the upcoming holiday season. In addition to the iPhone 3GS, which launched in June, there are several new phones coming to market, including several Android devices. T-Mobile is expected to push its HTC-made MyTouch.
Motorola is also launching new Android devices on T-Mobile's network. Pricing details and a launch date for the new Motorola Cliq haven't been announced. But the device is supposed to be on sale before Christmas. And Motorola is expected to announce another Android phone in the coming weeks.
RIM is also expected to launch a new BlackBerry Storm on Verizon's network in time for the holidays, too.
Still, Palm executives said they believe they have a strong lineup going into the holiday season with the launch of the new Pixi phone, a lower cost device than the Pre, which will also be available on Sprint's network.
Separately, Palm also said that it is planning to sell 16 million shares of common stock. Elevation Partners, which already owns a sizable stake in Palm, expects to buy $35 million worth of stock in the offering, Palm said.
Investors seemed pleased with Palm results, and the company stock, which closed at $14.44 on Thursday, was trading up in the after market.
