Uncool Mobility

Microsoft Launching Mobile Music Downloads In UK

I forgot to mention this story earlier in the week.

Microsoft Launching Mobile Music Downloads In UK, Tracks Are DRM-Protected | mocoNews.net.

This is just stupid. Can Microsoft, and Mr Griffiths, truly be that out of it?

DRM protected, high prices, no device bundle, and the integration of device + service + content is dependent on WM which, in addition to sucking, is going through two major version changes in the next two years. Neither of which is likely to be downward compatible.

MacWorld still more interesting than CES?

With the economy melting down around us it's been a dull year innovation-wise at the first two big trade shows of 2009. Here is a fun take on MacWorld still generating more buzz than CES.

Apparently Ballmer's keynote about Windows 7 wasn't enough to sway the Twitter crowd (at almost 1.5 hours I wonder how many people made it through the whole thing?).

Zune phone rumors hard to kill

It's funny how the echo-chamber story of a zune phone goes round and round. The interest in the idea of a Zune phone, tightly integrated services and device form factor, escape comment in every story which focuses instead on the red herring of "will Microsoft make an own-branded device".

No Zune phone at CES, says Microsoft | Register Hardware.

The larger questions Microsoft has to answer: How will Live services overlay or fit with the increasing tendency of partners to layer their own UI on WM? How will the WM roadmap, and its downward compatiblity (or not), reach into the existing WM installed base? Who will mediate competing operator and device vendor services which compete with Live services?

Microsoft could carve out some interesting space in the market by extending XBox and Zune services into Windows Mobile features. But even there they run into some fast-developing challenges.

In particular, by the time Microsoft's Skymarket app store is out the same devices may well have operator or device vendor stores. Will they co-exist? Will the service provider ultimately decide? Will Microsoft support their app store with demand generation for partners?

Zune phone rumours again

Sounds like another mis-reading of Microsoft's stated intent to layer web services directly into WM OS, but who knows maybe there really is another partner killing move coming from Microsoft mobile.

Microsoft's Zune To Evolve Into New "Pink" Smart Phone? - Tech Check with Jim Goldman - CNBC.com.

Zune Interface to WM?

Zune-esque Music Interface to Come to Windows Mobile: Ballmer Confirms - WMExperts.

Ballmer's comments on Zune features coming to the WM platform, as opposed to Microsoft launching a Zune phone, are drawing attention.

CTIA Wireless wrapup from San Francisco

I spent last week in San Francisco at CTIA Wireless. The biggest takeaways I had were:

Apple dominated the show. The extent to which the iPhone has shaken up both service and device aspects of the industry was widely evident as the not-present Apple was constantly mentioned.

Business as usual for RIM. RIM had formal product announcements and booth appearances for the new flip phone and Bold, both of which have been extensively picked over in blogs. RIM also announced content partnerships in the form of specific applications to be natively built BB with MySpace, Ticketmaster, and a streaming audio startup called "Slacker" which I'd never heard of. Microsoft will also have Live search bundled on the RIM OS. As other service providers focus on creating a platform (and specifically an appstore) RIM seems determined to keep with a one-by-one approach of selecting partners to co-develop applications. Will this scale as a model?

Search is rapidly being co-opted into the same structure as web-based search.  I had thought mobile search would see different UIs, different ontologies/taxonomies driving definitions, and a new vertical within internet search but clearly that will not happen. The need to drive growth rates in ad spending has stomped all the smaller players as Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft invest to extend reach to mobile. Search is also becoming a trojan horse to package and/or pull related applications (such as Google apps or Windows Live Hotmail) onto devices.

Operators continue to struggle with "open" and by resisting concepts of openness for so long are now deeply in the hole trying to launch app stores. Verizon and ATT in particular are scrambling to catch up on this front but will not be able to move quickly enough to overcome iTunes + AppStore, the Android app store, and RIM's selected partnering model. Waiting in the wings: Microsoft Mesh.

Yahoo had the only significant new play. Blueprint and its integration into the new OneConnect is an interesting system that will dig into in a future post. Is it too late for Yahoo as a company despite innovative new products and services?

MobiComp + Danger = WM7?

Microsoft to expand mobile business with MobiComp - Mobile Marketer - Legal/privacy.

Wondering what role Mobicomp services will play in adding services such as backup/restore and social networking tools directly to Windows Mobile.

Microsoft online services head leaving

Kevin Johnson is leaving Microsoft-a big blow to figuring out the online strategy.

Head of Microsoft’s Online Efforts Departs - NYTimes.com

Link: Head of Microsoft’s Online Efforts Departs - NYTimes.com.

Crazy news for Microsoft and a real blow to pulling an online strategy together. Kevin Johnson was not someone they could afford to lose right now. The failed Yahoo! merger continues to harm both companies...

Microsoft bundles subscription Office software, Live services; brands as "Equipt"

Microsoft announced it is launching an annual subscription package called "Equipt" bundling Office Home and Student 2007 suite with Windows Live Services, Office Live Workspace, and Windows Live OneCare, for US $69.99 annually. It can be installed on up to three PCs.

The included software suite averages about $125 retail price if purchased as shrinkwrapped software, the included OneCare is priced at $49.99/yr as a standalone service.

This package bundles some of Microsoft's less successful online services with a stripped down Office suite. The combination of the world's most common productivity software with online storage, messaging, and malware protection raises the bar for competing services such as Google docs. Bundling one of its strongest cash contributors with free services indicates Microsoft will continue to wrap existing free online assets as value-added components to SaaS offers targeting both mobile and desktop. This is Microsoft's most substantial step toward "software plus services" and the first signal Microsoft will sacrifice cannibalizing existing revenue streams.

Note also the selection of storage and security as the first services to bundle.

The service will be sold initially through Circuit City and will expand to other distributors and suppliers.

Product/service components:

Office Home and Student comes with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote but not Outlook.

Windows Live Services include Messenger, Photo Gallery, Live Writer, and Live Toolbar and will also provide the mail component of this suite (Windows Live Mail, not Hotmail).

Windows Live OneCare is an annual subscription service which installs a PC client to scan for viruses and automatically seek the latest security updates to Microsoft software. It is pitched as "pro-active, anti-malware subscription service".

Office Live Workspace enables remote storage and sharing of Office documents.

This isn't going to get any coverage (who's the genius launching this mid-week two days before a huge summer holiday in the US?) but it's a huge move.