SAN FRANCISCO--Although Microsoft would rather everyone ran out and bought a Windows Mobile phone, the software maker is aware of reality. And, since it wants people to use Bing on their phones, it knows it needs to have software that works on other devices.
"Everyone understands the popularity and the pervasiveness of the platform," said Microsoft principal group program manager David Raissipour, following a Bing event Wednesday. "We are actively working on it."
Raissipour confirmed Microsoft is working on a mobile Bing application that will combine a number of features--more than just mapping and search. However, he declined to say what all of those features are or when the software will be ready.
I probed as to whether some of the cool mapping technology Microsoft showed on Wednesday might make it onto phones. Raissipour said such mapping requires a rich platform, but could potentially be done without Silverlight, if necessary. So, what about the iPhone?
"It's certainly possible," Raissipour said. "That's a rich platform."
Microsoft already has native mobile applications for many Windows Mobile phones, BlackBerry devices, and a number of Verizon feature phones. The company is also exploring what it might be able to do on Android, particularly on non-Google branded Android devices. In the meantime, the company has its mobile m.bing.com Web site.
I also had a chance to catch up with overall search engineering chief Satya Nadella to ask some overall Bing questions.
In particular, I wanted to see just how many people are actively choosing to go to Bing.com, as opposed to just searching via MSN or a browser tool bar. With Bing's predecessor, Live Search, very few people actually went to the Live.com page.
"It's still a small percentage," Nadella said, but noted that it has succeeded in getting a fan base, which was a key early goal of the product.
When it comes to the data that Microsoft is including at the top of some search results, in general, Nadella said Microsoft is not paying for the content, nor are companies paying to get their information included.
The benefit to Microsoft is that it displays more useful results while content providers get a link high up in the results page. "It's kind of like SEO [Search Engine Optimization] for structured data," Nadella said. As for those new mapping abilities, I encourage you to check them out for yourself and read . In addition, though, here's a video I did with Microsoft's Blaise Aguera y Arcas, where he walks through the new features.
Microsoft's efforts to regain lost ground in the mobile phone business will see the company offering two different versions of its operating system next year.
The company will continue to broadly sell Windows Mobile 6.5 to a large variety of handset makers, while working more closely with several handset makers to sell phones built on a new version of Windows Mobile that has been several years in the making, according to a source familiar with the company's plans.
While Windows Mobile 6.5 is a fairly interim update to the mobile operating system that Microsoft has been selling, Microsoft has also been working on more radical efforts to overhaul the operating system. Both its plans for Windows Mobile 7 and its long-running "Pink" project aim to match the kinds of experiences seen on the iPhone and Android, using more advanced voice and touch interfaces and higher-end hardware.
Microsoft demonstrated Windows Mobile 6.5 at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. That interim update to Windows Mobile will start arriving on phones this fall, while a more radical overhaul of Redmond's cell phone OS is due next year.
(Credit: Marguerite Reardon/CNET News)A Digitimes report this week called the effort a "dual-platform" strategy, although I'm not sure I'd use that term to describe two versions of Windows Mobile being sold at the same time.
What is clear is that Microsoft needs to do something serious if it hopes to live up to its mobile ambitions. For years now, the company has made rather modest updates to the Windows Mobile operating system, which dates back to the days of code powered PDAs and other organizers that were neither phones nor, in some cases, even connected to the Internet.
In that same time, Palm has gone back to the drawing board and reinvented itself with the WebOS-based Pre, while the iPhone and Android have entered the market and even Research In Motion has arguably done more to capture consumer interest than has Microsoft.
Internally, Redmond has shifted a number of its people into the mobile unit. In addition to former server executive Andy Lees, who now runs the phone business, former Mac Business unit chief Roz Ho has been leading a top secret "premium mobile experiences" team responsible for some of the "Pink" work. The company purchased Danger, known for creating the teen-centered T-Mobile Sidekick, and Ho heads that unit as well.
The software maker has also tapped folks from its Tellme unit to help bring improved voice recognition capability into Windows Mobile.
Call waiting
Microsoft has been working on Windows Mobile 7 for what now seems like an eternity, especially in the mobile world. The product was supposed to be in phone makers' hands by early this year, but has suffered a number of delays.
PASADENA, Calif.--It's not realistic to believe AT&T will have an exclusive on the iPhone forever, CEO Randall Stephenson said Thursday.
"There will be a day when you are not exclusive with the iPhone," Stephenson said, speaking at Fortune's Brainstorm: Tech conference here. However, he declined to get into details on the company's negotiations with Apple.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson at the Fortune Brainstorm conference
(Credit: Fortune)The issue of whether--and more likely when--AT&T loses the exclusive on the iPhone has become a major issue for the company and its investors.
"On balance, I think it works really, really well--maybe as well as any strategic partnership we have," Stephenson said.
Asked by Fortune's Stephanie Mehta whether he is completely satisfied with the nature of the relationship, Stephenson quipped: "I don't know if I could get my wife to say that about me, so I don't think I could say that about a business partner."
AT&T's earnings report early Thursday showed the company taking a hit from the expense of the new iPhone 3GS. "I'd like to pay less for the handset, go figure," he said.
But, he said, it's an investment that ultimately yields customers who spend more each month and who are much less likely to change cell phone service providers.
Stephenson again acknowledged issues with the quality of the company's wireless network but said that all carriers have areas with weak service.
"There's no greater cause of churn than network quality," he said, adding that "we have the lowest churn in the company's history."
Microsoft has found a powerful incentive to get people to use Windows Mobile--at least those within its own ranks.
The software maker has stopped paying for cellular data plans for those using BlackBerries, iPhones and all manner of non-Microsoft devices.
Plenty of Microsoft workers still have an iPhone, but as of earlier this year, they can no longer be reimbursed for their data plan unless they switch to a Windows Mobile-based phone.
(Credit: Apple)Although the move took place earlier this year, it is only making headlines now, thanks to an article on Silicon Alley Insider.
It's hardly a shocking move. Lots of companies standardize on a particular mobile operating system or two and limit reimbursements to those devices.
A Microsoft representative confirmed on Monday that "the data plan reimbursement for Microsoft employees is limited to Windows Mobile devices."
"This policy took effect as part of the broader cost saving measures announced earlier this year," the representative said in an e-mail. The software maker has trimmed its product line, cut staff, and also pulled back on spending on travel, vendors and contractors.
AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, on stage at D: All Things Digital, fielding questions from moderator Walt Mossberg.
(Credit: Ina Fried/CNET)CARLSBAD, Calif.--AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson was the first person on the D: All Things Digital hot seat Wednesday, called on to address quality issues that have hampered the company's 3G cellular roll-out.
Moderator Walt Mossberg showed some data from polling that the conference did that found that not wanting AT&T was the No. 1 reason non-iPhone owners gave for not buying Apple's phone.
Stephenson defended the carrier saying that the No. 1 reason people leave all carriers is "network quality."
"You see our churn dramatically coming down," Stephenson said. "We feel like we are closing the gap on this. Are we there yet? No."
Stephenson's talk is just getting started and I'll update this post shortly.
Update 8:30 a.m. PDT: Stephenson talked about the power of the fourth generation networks that are coming on a limited basis next year, but not broadly until 2012. Stephenson said the company needs to do something to boost speeds before the so-called LTE networks arrive.
"Between now and then is a long time," he said. AT&T announced on Wednesday that it will upgrade its current network to a faster version that roughly doubles the theoretical speed of the network. (However, only new phones designed to use the new version will get the speed boost.)
"We are going to go ahead and deploy some rather aggressive wireless broadband," Stephenson said.
Update 8:45 a.m. PDT: Asked about the economy, Stephenson said it has impacted AT&T, particularly it's wireline business. Stephenson said people tend to cut home phone lines more often then they cut back on cell phone or TV service.
"Wireless is the priority of this business," he said, noting that he is encouraging his company to offer mobile versions on any service it can.
On the home front, the company knows it needs to boost the rates at which it can deliver video content to the home. "There are going to be more and more requirements for bandwidth," he said.
Stephenson said AT&T is testing a "pair bonding" technique that should offers speeds in the 40 to 50 megabits per second range. Mossberg pressed him for a time frame.
"I think I can call you this year," Stephenson said.
Update 8:50 a.m. PDT: Mossberg pressed Stephenson on whether cell phone bills are likely to go up or down over time.
"It probably depends on who you are," he said, adding that wireless costs are actually variable, despite the fact that most people pay a flat fee for data. Right now, he said, the margins on the iPhone service and wireless service in general are good. At the same time, he noted that each bit of data that goes on the network has a cost, suggesting that variable pricing could be an option down the road.
"The market will dictate that more than anything else," he said.
Update 9:05 a.m. PDT: An attendee asked about the decision not to allow Slingbox' iPhone player to use the 3G network. Stephenson said that the reality of the networks makes open-ended live video streaming problematic.
"You start congesting the network with data and voice quality goes down," he said.
For those wondering about Microsoft exec Stephen Elop's suggestions that Office is coming to the iPhone, let me be unequivocal. It is.
How do I know? Microsoft has already said so. The software maker is planning over the coming months to introduce Web-based versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. Those programs will run not only in Internet Explorer, but also in Safari and Firefox. And, lest there be any ambiguity, Microsoft has already confirmed that this means Office for iPhone and Office for Linux.
Don't get me wrong. Those are both big deals--particularly Office for Linux (think Netbooks and other Web appliances). It's just that they weren't new revelations, as some thought, on Wednesday.
For those who want to hear about Office for the iPhone straight from Microsoft's mouth, here's a video interview I did earlier this year with Office development chief Antoine Leblond.
When I misplaced my Kindle last year, I not only lost the device, but also any means of reading several e-books that I was in the middle of.
That all changed on Wednesday. My Kindle is no closer to home, but by downloading the new Kindle app for the iPhone (which also works on my iPod Touch), I was able to recover access to my virtual library. Not only that, but thanks to Whispersync, I was able to start reading right where I left off. Whispersync is Amazon's technology for keeping one's place in a book across multiple Kindles or cell phones.
Although I don't think the "I lost my Kindle" crowd is the target market, I must say it was very satisfying to wake up Wednesday once again having access to books that had seemed lost.
The experience highlights both the pros and cons of the "digital locker" approach taken by Amazon with Kindle content. Although some have criticized the fact that one can't resell or give away their Kindle books, the site does provide other aspects of true ownership. In this case, I didn't need to re-buy anything and as soon as I entered my account information, I had access to every book I had purchased for the Kindle. (Periodicals don't work on the iPhone or iPod Touch.)
As for reading on the iPod Touch (or iPhone), I found it quite acceptable for my 15-minute public transit commute to work. The iPod's small size makes it easy to read on a crowded train. One can even hold the iPod and flip pages in one hand while hanging on to a handrail with the other hand.
Ina Fried's Kindle is still among the missing, but thanks to the new iPhone/iPod Touch application, she was reunited Wednesday with her electronic library.
(Credit: Sarah Tew/CNET)That said, I'm not sure I won't go out and buy a Kindle 2 eventually. The iPod Touch reading experience, while fine for short bursts, isn't the easy-on-the-eyes phenomenon I had with the Kindle. It's harder to buy books and I can't read newspapers or magazines. Also, I suspect it will do a number on my iPod's battery.
At the same time, I won't be deleting that iPod app even if I do replace my Kindle. The option of reading on my iPod will help for my commute to work and for those trips where I can't bear to carry an extra device.
Ultimately, the end result is likely to be that I will just be reading (and buying) more electronic books. And, in the end, that's exactly what Amazon wants.
Microsoft has made some stumbles in the mobile world, but a strategy shift made more than a year ago will soon pay dividends, the company's top Windows Mobile executive said in an interview with CNET News.
Andy Lees, the executive brought over from the server unit a year ago, said that Microsoft's efforts to make sure that its mobile software could run on a wide range of phones resulted in an operating system that failed to take advantage of advances in hardware.
Andy Lees
"We aimed to go for a lower common denominator," Lees said. Microsoft was also limited by the origins of Windows Mobile, which was developed to power handheld computers that neither connected to a network nor handled voice.
"We started out when we were in PDAs (personal digital assistants) and then a phone got strapped to the back of the PDA," Lees said. The company also failed to recognize that phones--even those that were used for business--were still as much personal as they were professional.
Meanwhile, Apple and Google have joined the fray with operating systems designed from the ground up to take advantage of the latest in phone technology.
But Lees said that Microsoft embarked on a new strategy some time ago that will come to fruition over the next 18 months. The first steps in that strategy, he said, will be announced at the Mobile World Congress conference that takes place in Barcelona in the middle of next month.
"You are going to see a bunch of announcements at Mobile World Congress but also it is going to be the beginning of a 12-, 18-month period where you are going to see a whole bunch of different stuff," Lees said.
Part of Microsoft's new strategy, Lees said, is not relying on operating system upgrades to improve its products. The new approach, while still making money by selling a mobile operating system, places considerable focus on services that help connect the phone to the PC and Web as well as devices such as the Xbox.
Microsoft has two separate teams at work on the services piece. One is Microsoft's Windows Live group, while the other is a rather secretive group headed by former Mac unit head Roz Ho--a group that also includes the team Microsoft acquired when it bought Danger. Lees declined to say specifically what Ho is up to, however.
But Lees acknowledged the company also needs to improve that core operating system, which is widely seen as lagging that of most of its rivals.
For some time now, Microsoft has been working on a significant overhaul of its operating system, known as Windows Mobile 7. However, that project has hit delays, prompting Microsoft to push forward with an interim update, Windows Mobile 6.5, which the company is widely expected to detail next month. Lees declined to comment specifically on either version of the operating system, but promised the company would have more to say on the OS front in Barcelona.
Lees also promised that Microsoft would start working more closely with hardware makers. He pointed to deals late last year with LG and Samsung.
He noted that the power of the kinds of phones that come out next year will be incredible, well beyond even today's devices. Phones next year will have dual-core processors, super-fast data connections, and graphics power rivaling that of the original Xbox.
"That's a phenomenal thing on a phone," he said. The phones of the future will also have location information beyond just GPS sensors. "It will know where it is pointing, it will know which angle it is being held at."
Web browsing has been another weak spot for Microsoft. The company made up some ground late last year with a pocket browser that essentially crams the desktop Internet Explorer 6 into a Windows Mobile phone. But it lacks the kind of easy zooming and gesture recognition present on the iPhone or in Palm's Pre. Lees promised that Microsoft would surpass those interfaces by the end of the year.
Lees would not confirm details of a rumored rival to Apple's App Store, reportedly known as SkyMarket.
"There is some question whether we can more directly connect the developer and the end user," he said. "We're looking at that."
Apple dismissed the notion that Microsoft and others are catching up to the iPhone, however.
On a conference call with analysts last week, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer dismissed the growing competition from rivals saying Apple remained "years ahead" in the phone business.
"Our competitors are scrambling to try and copy our success," he said.
The Palm Pre. Still no word on pricing.
(Credit: Corinne Schulze/CNET Networks)LAS VEGAS--As the device with the most mystery attached to it, there were plenty of questions left after Palm introduced its Pre on Thursday. I had a chance to sit down with Palm ...
Read the full post at CNET's CES 2009 blog.
For those without a fireplace and/or an ability to carry a tune, TV stations have for decades offered the Yule Log, an on-screen fireplace crackling as Christmas Carols play in the background.
According to "The Holiday Yule Log" book, the first televised fireplace was in 1966 on New York's WPIX-TV. With carols on in the background and no commercials, it was an instant hit and was adopted by other stations around the country.
But what if the holiday season takes you even further afield, so that you don't even have a plasma TV to keep you warm. Well, record label EMI has come up with an option--play the Yule Log on your iPhone or iPod Touch.
For $1.99, it is offering the Virtual Yule Log application at the iTunes store, featuring holiday tunes from its catalog, which includes holiday songs from Frank Sinatra, Peggy Lee, and Nat King Cole.
The application was created by Moderati, the same company that created the Virtual Zippo Lighter. There's a YouTube video, posted below, that shows the Virtual Yule Log in action.
Now, if only I could watch a dreidel being made out of clay while Rock of Ages plays in the background, my holidays would be complete.
