Does Microsoft have an iPhone answer?
The iPhone is a tough act to follow.
That will be the challenge for Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who is keynoting at the CTIA Fall 2007 trade show on Tuesday.
A preshow flyer promised a major news announcement from Microsoft. But what would be considered major for Microsoft in the wake of the iPhone?
To be sure, Microsoft targets a different audience than Apple. Those considering Microsoft's phones are typically e-mail addicts who are more likely to weigh a BlackBerry than anything from Cupertino.
But even business users would benefit from many of the features Apple has packed into the iPod. In particular, full Web browsing, the kind currently found in the iPhone, would seem to be high on the list of the CrackBerry crowd.
And with Apple having already announced plans to allow native development, one of Microsoft's key strengths--add-on applications--won't be a complete differentiator for long. Plus, Apple could cut a deal at any time with RIM, Motorola or even Microsoft itself and start offering corporate e-mail on the iPhone.
So the idea that the iPhone is more of a consumer device, while true now, may not remain true for all that long, and Microsoft would be wise to quickly add on any features that are truly compelling about the iPhone, including a multitouch interface. Microsoft already has that on its Surface tabletop computer. I asked Bill Gates last week when multitouch might find its way onto smaller devices, but didn't get a specific timeframe.
Longer term, Microsoft could even think about putting the full power of Windows in a phone, if it can create a slim version of the operating system. Historically, that has proved a challenge.
Microsoft's smallest full Windows devices, including the Origami devices, still have lots of drawbacks, including high prices, short battery life and sluggish performance, at least compared with what people expect from a pocket device. But processors get ever faster, battery life is set to improve, and the company is working on a slimmer, more efficient Windows core.
The ability to use Windows in smaller devices could prove key to Microsoft. One of the hidden accomplishments of the iPhone is the fact that Apple has proved that OS X can run in all kinds of devices, from servers to iPods. I expect we will see Apple use OS X in ever more devices, from living room products such as a more powerful Apple TV to ultra-small laptops.
Microsoft could certainly benefit from finding a way to give Windows equal flexibility.
Those are my thoughts. What would you like to see Ballmer announce Tuesday? Feel free to sound off below.
During her years at CNET News, Ina Fried has changed beats several times, changed genders once, and covered both of the Pirates of Silicon Valley. These days, most of her attention is focused on Microsoft. E-mail Ina. 
Windows to support they don't hvae a unified platform strategy
WinCE, Win32 then Win for x64 and IA64. Each one not being
compatible with the other.
AT&T also has the Tilt....and the Black Jact for non-touch screen that both have 3G and support Exchange as well.
news.com....blinded by the iphone.
learned to shut his pie-hole and is in therapy. Ballmer is a has been
talker that gets less and less attractive with each successive
picture. The guy is an idiot.
be said: Monkey Dance.
An OS, BTW, that is open to all developers and supports multiple hardware platforms and form factors.
Perhaps a better question would be how will the iPhone drive convergence between the systems used by power users (Smartphones) and the 'dumber' systems used by the overwhelming majority of cell phone owners and how should MS position itself to serve that market.
Perhaps a smartphone that is easy to use and doesn't crash on a regular basis would be a GOOD thing?
Luckily for them the US mobile phone network is a disaster and it will be years before the true potential of devices like the iPhone take hold but when it does it will be the next big thing.
http://www.digitimes.com/mobos/a20070213PD217.html
The HTC Touch (Windows mobile 6) was released about a month *before* the iphone, and has both a larger set of features and a lower price. HTC just doesnt have the cult-like following that apple has, thus the lack of exposure. Not sure if its multi-touch, but it can do many things the iphone cant, including better support for bluetooth (DUN, file transfers - the lack of which makes an iphone useless to me) and support for 3rd party applications (again, the lack of which makes an iphone useless to me). And its about $200 cheaper.
I dont mean to make this sound like an ad for HTC, but they've been doing for years now what Apple's been doing for 6 months - yet they get no credit for it. Everyone dances around praising St. Jobs as if he's an innovator, when companies like HTC have been doing his 'innovations' for years.
iPhone, then you aren't paying attention. As for the price
difference, it's $200 MORE Than the iPHone. So, make all the noise
you want, but try to get some facts straight next time.
People in the "Cult of Mac" have had their heads in the sand too long to know how things have actually played out in software history. They just keep blinding saying that MS copies everything and hope their ignorant friends buy that same crap and perpetuate the cycle of idiocy.
more advanced and capable. More developments with third party
app.s coming soon!
http://reviews.cnet.com/smart-phones/htc-touch-sprint/4540-
6452_7-32671230-4.html?tag=sub
You are wrong in that the iPhone was somehow an answer to MSFT's mobile OS - Symbian outstrips Windows Mobile by a HUGE margin. One look at the iPhone's form factor will show you that the iPhone's multi-touch screen and one single button is one hell of a paradigm shift away from the ubiquitous cramped device, packed with birth-control-pill-sized keys and a tiny screen.
Wouldn't brag too much about Bluetooth, BTW - it's the absolute most insecure protocol alive, and the less it does, the safer its user will be.
/P
design, in the traditional sense. they glue together pieces with hot
glue. That is why the operating system and the hardware products
have become " no thing to all men" . To produce a coherent design
you have to have a coherant vision, and the only driving vision that
microsoft has ever had is dollars. Maybe they should cut to the
chase and become counterfeiters.
They don't need to compete against iPhone.
information? Once you've been discredited, people don't tend to
listen.
The Zune has 25 percent of the market!
Yeah, uh huh.
The iPhone is the most expensive phone in history!
Right. Never was true, not even close. (Though it was
expensive!)
When will people stop listening to this slave to disinformation?
Seems like if others had that before they aren't all that innovative... I'm sure others will mention multi touch... but thats 1 feature and yet does it really do that much more?
releases a new product that is powerful and popular? its a target
immediately. Would it have been wise to have an immensely
powerful phone / mini computer with all that personal
information just released into the wild with an SDK? That would
be simply stupid, people would instantly find flaw and exploit
them with custom apps, however by delaying it for a few month,
seriously it hasn't been years, allowing them to get other people
to find the flaws, fix them, overall make it a solid little system,
THEN give people tools to develop program, your going to have
significantly less attacks and exploits to work on. If you think
there wont be iPhone updates between now and February, your
kidding yourself.
Also, another part of the problem was that with the delaying of
leopard, Xcode 3 and core animation weren't available to
programmers to utilize them, which are implemented on the
iPhone, nobody would have been able to fully utilize it, and even
if there was a simultaneous release, i still believe there would
have a delay for the SDK, its not as if people just started saying
'gee whiz, 3rd party apps would be cool - apple give us them'
without apple realising the potential of this device.
Or drop the 'e' and it's all in 'phun'?
Maybe it'll be powered by Vista and it'll come to us already 'bricked'.
Apple's intro of the iPhone. I expect this to apply to MS's answer
to the iPhone as well:
"Zune 2: Mediocrity grows on trees"
http://counternotions.com/2007/10/03/zune-2-mediocrity-
grows-on-trees/
If you are serious about computers, only Linux will work. Everything else is a waste of your time. Penguinisto is absolutely right about that one.
Oh and as a side note, Apple blows MS out of the water when it comes to digital media usage. Apple has been the media standard for some time now. (Notice you only see Apple computers in movies? That is because most movies are produced with Apple computers.)
/P
I don't know why the Mac fanatical are so up-in-arms over this statement.
If you want a prime example of just how "great" Windows is for
real business, just look at the US Navy. You know: the navy
where almost all of it's NUCLEAR submarines are powered by
Windows, and all reported near catastrophic system failures.
Windows is not only poorly written, it's a national security risk.
I personally LIKE having an OS that's easy to use, easy to
understand, secure, powerful and fast. If that makes OSX
"nonprofessional" , then so be it.
There are exceptions, of course.
Also, with Vista installed, it will constantly ask you if you are fully aware that making a phone call might expose you to risks up to and including talking to your inlaws. :)
As well they should be..........
- Answer and Killers?
- by OfTheDamned October 23, 2007 8:21 AM PDT
- So now people are talking about answers to the iPhone and iPhone killers that are going to be introduced to the market. I think the competition is great for innovation in a market that appeared to becoming a little stale, but does the iPhone need to be killed? Has anyone found it to be the end all be all of devices? Has anyone completely ditched all other devices for one product? The simple answer (for most of us) is no. If it was perfect then no one would need or want third party aps.
- Reply to this comment
-
(84 Comments)Now, I'm not dogging Apple or Jobs on this. They built a pretty cool device and after putting their world class marketing machine behind it they hyped the thing up enough that people were willing to stand in line or camp out to get it. If you really stop to think about it that is what happened. These weren't Star Wars geeks, these were regular people with actual money to spend camping out and waiting in line for hours to pay top dollar for a cell phone. As someone who is actually in marketing I find it pretty damn impressive. However, people are still treating the iPhone like it is some kind of revolutionary device. It does a few cool things that other phones don't really do right out of the box and I did have fun playing with it in the store, but that is about it. The iPhone still holds a very small amount of the cell phone market right now and while that may grow it won't knock its competitors out of the market all together. The main reason is that each one of the devices on the market has certain feel and usefulness that is different from each other. Each device is different and each user is different and that is the way it will always be.
Take the iPhone, the 8525, a Treo, a Blackberry, a regular cell phone and give them to different users. Each one of these people is going to find things that they like and hate about each product. I say this because most of the products are used by people in my office right now (exception being the iPhone nobody likes it or the service provider). I use a Treo (running Palm OS), another guy uses the 8525, a few people use different model Blackberrys and everyone else has a regular cell phone. We all love our devices and for different reasons, which is why there are different devices in the first place. If everyone only liked one device then the other companies would just close up shop and call it a day.
So everyone try and find the 'Killer" or 'Answer' for the next product out there and keep on innovating and improving what is already available. If we are all really lucky we may one day see the absolute perfect blend of cell phone, organizer, media player and mobile computer that we all crave so much. And for those of you that claim to have already found the end all be all perfect device I ask you to improve upon your wants/needs and aim a little higher so that the rest of us don't become trapped in mediocrity.