Microsoft’s Ballmer Admits Misteps With Windows Mobile
November 20, 2009 by The Editor
Filed under Windows Mobile / Phone
Slow Windows Mobile development is causing all kinds of problems forMicrosoft (NSDQ:MSFT), but CEO Steve Ballmer says the company has learned from its mistakes and is poised to carry out its mobile strategy more effectively.
On Thursday at Microsoft’s Venture Capital Summit event in Mountain View, Calif., Ballmer told an audience of about 200 that Microsoft is well aware that it dropped the ball by allowing Windows Mobile development to slow to a crawl.
Ballmer’s comments come at the close of a busy week for the Windows Mobile rumor mill. The emergence of photos of prototype devices purportedly from Microsoft’s top secret Pink smartphone project, as well images of a possible Microsoft tablet device called Courier, have rekindled speculation that Microsoft is dead set on raising its profile in the mobile device market.
The consumer mobile device market has been a tough nut to crack for Microsoft, and the software giant has watched as a parade of shiny new smartphones from Apple, Palm, and Research In Motion have relegated it to the shadows of the mobile industry.
Ballmer’s comments show contrition on Microsoft’s part, but now Microsoft will have to get new devices on the market quickly to show that it has, in fact, righted the Windows Mobile ship. Industry experts have been sounding the death knell for Windows Mobile in light of a large wave of devices with Google’s Android Mobile OS and the iPhone’s continued momentum. Microsoft will need to get the Windows Mobile 7 operating system not only launched, but ensure that it leapfrogs the competition in terms of innovation and consumer features.
Microsoft Hosts Shareholder Meeting; Windows Sales “Fantastic”
November 20, 2009 by The Editor
Filed under Windows
Speaking Thursday at the company’s annual meeting, Ballmer said Windows 7 sales are “fantastic,” but provided no numbers to support his claim. The Wall Street Journal estimates that Microsoft has sold 40 million copies sold since the new operating system’s Oct. 22 release.
“Windows 7 is the simply best PC operating system we have ever built,” Ballmer said. “It enables people to do more of what they want to do more easily and more quickly, and customers are responding.”
Microsoft Gives Developers Early Look at Internet Explorer 9
November 19, 2009 by The Editor
Filed under Online Services
Microsoft showed off early work on Internet Explorer 9, a browser that will feature improved performance, new features, and the possibility of new standards.
Stephen Sinofsky, president of the newly renamed Windows and Windows Live division said the company was looking at new standards like HTML 5, and noted how far behind IE is on the current ACID test, a test designed to expose browser flaws.
Microsoft has only been working on IE9 for about three weeks, so an actual release is not expected in the near future. Sinofsky stressed how different sites and applications used different features. However, he displayed a chart showing how much faster IE9 is on Webkit.org’s SunSpider performance test. It appeared to be very close to the current betas of the other browsers. Microsoft is also working on the Acid tests for compatibility, he said.
Other new features on display included hardware acceleration using Direct Write and Direct 2D for text support. This should improve the appearance of fonts and performance of text animation without requiring changes to the sites themselves. One particularly impressive rendering showed Bing Maps displaying a map at about 13-14 frames per second. Using hardware acceleration, it was running at 60 frames per second
Microsoft Releases Office Mobile 2010 Beta for WinMo Phones
November 19, 2009 by The Editor
Filed under Office, Windows Mobile / Phone
Alongside Microsoft’s launch of the Office 2010 beta, Microsoft on Wednesday launched a public beta of Office Mobile 2010
The set of applications will allow users to view and edit their Office documents, use their phones as a PowerPoint presentation aid, and connect with their SharePoint Workspace Mobile accounts. The app is available for download in the Windows Marketplace for Mobile for Windows Mobile 6.5 phones. Anyone with a Windows Mobile 6.5 phone can download and test the app until April 5 of next year.
The app appears to be a step forward for Office Mobile because it interacts exclusively with touch screen Win Mobile 6.5 phones and offers functionalities like syncing with Microsoft OneNote.
Great Video: Microsoft TV Ads From Yesteryear
November 18, 2009 by The Editor
Filed under Company Strategy
I’m not a big fan of Slate.com, but they did a great job collecting some of Microsoft’s TV Ads of the ages.
BTW – I never got the Seinfeld/Gates ads either.
Despite Line Dancing Employees, Microsoft Stores STILL Not As Cool As Apple Stores
November 18, 2009 by The Editor
Filed under Company Strategy
The marketing folks at HQ in Redmond have had some wins and some flops. I can’t imagine who dreamed this up? They guy who writes the birthday songs for Red Robin?
watch the video
