Microsoft previewed Windows 8 last September. And it's important because the ARM version of the new operating system will be the one that powers many of the tablets that Microsoft hopes will compete with Apple's industry-leading iPads.
In a blog post today, Windows president Steven Sinofsky said "our collective goal is for PC makers to ship (Windows on ARM devices) the same time" as more conventional Windows PCs debut.
Sinofsky did not disclose the date the company is targeting for launch, though most analysts expect the new operating system to arrive before the end of this year, and possibly in time for the back-to-school sales season at the end of summer.
stock market: when valuations run far ahead of current revenues, hope is packaged as hype. That is the situation Facebook is in after it filed for an initial public offering (IPO) of shares last week. is 27 times its current revenues or 100 times its earnings - matching Apple and Google in optimistic pricing. Questions have already been raised on whether the pricing is justified. I would add to the debate by pointing to giants that have already fallen.
The biggest of them is, of course, Yahoo, the horizontal portal that still survives with a market value of around $20 billion - having bravely (perhaps stupidly) spurned a takeover offer from Microsoft. Yahoo had tried to buy Facebook for $ 1billion not so long ago!
In the "dotcom" bubble of 2000 and after, we saw many companies go bust. There was Excite@Home that promised broadband content at a time when Internet bandwidth was barely there.
Microsoft would be the pinnacle of their career. Watson’s new position at Amazon is working on Kindle apps, so it is almost exactly the same line of work, though now for what was one of his biggest competitors. It leaves a question mark about Microsoft’s future in the mobile space, though not a black hole. The software giant has actually done a formidable job at building the Windows Phone brand.
It got a much-needed boost from Nokia, which recently launched its Lumia 710 smartphone in the US. At $50, the Lumia 710 is seen as a great entry-level smartphone. But alas, selling Windows Phone as the “cheap” option is only driving a bigger wedge when it comes to the smartphone aficianados who simply don’t believe there’s a need for a third player in an iOS and Android duel. For Watson, that battle won’t be an issue anymore.
We already know that Amazon.com is not averse to losing a few bucks on each Kindle Fire, since it will (probably) make it back on consumables (meaning e-books, apps, etc., etc.). However, an unanswered question has been how much would Microsoft be willing to spend to catch Google and Apple in the smartphone platform race. The answer, it would appear, is over $200 per handset.
It's all guesswork, however, but Forbes did the math and it seems to make sense.
In Q4 2011, Microsoft paid $250 million to Nokia. Nokia, meanwhile, claims to have shipped 1 million Windows phones. While shipped is not the same as sold, it doesn't matter: $250 million spread across 1 million handsets = $250 per phone.
Naturally, just as any other WP OEM does, Nokia pays a WP license fee to Microsoft. While no one outside of Microsoft and its partners knows exactly what that amount is, sources have previously reported the fee to be between $20 and $30 per handset.
Since they are such close partners, and guessing that Microsoft expects Nokia to carry a large load in terms of WP devices shipped, Forbes guesses the fee would be on the low side, or $20 per handset.
With the math complete, that means that Microsoft pays $230 per handset to Nokia, its BFF in Windows Phone.
While truly a rough estimate, a figure that high would show a measure of desperation on Microsoft's part. The company was really late to the game with a modern smartphone platform.
Here's something else not taken into account by Forbes: it's well known that Microsoft is PAYING developers to develop for Windows Phone. We don't mean free handsets; we mean actual cash, in an attempt to catch up in the app race.
Aggressiveness isn't Microsoft's alone, either. The price point for the Nokia Lumia 900, at $99.99 on the AT&T network is very aggressive for an LTE smartphone. It shows all the players in the WP game have some skin in it.
Samsung has decided to delay the unveiling of its next superphone, the Samsung Galaxy S III. Originally believed to be heading toward an announcement at Mobile World Congress at the end of February, sources are now saying that it's likely that is no longer going to happen.
It seemed almost a done deal that Samsung would introduce the GSIII at the 2012 MWC; after all the GSII was introduced at the 2011 MWC. However, there is some speculation that Samsung didn't want a recurrence of the long delay between a device's global launch and a U.S. launch, which is what happened with the Galaxy S II.
Assuming that rumor pans out, what will Samsung announced at the 2012 MWC? One would assume the 2011 world's largest smartphone manufacturer would have something up its sleeve. Rumor has it that the company will unveil a new Galaxy Tab Android tablet, one with a 2GHz Exynos 5250 processor, with a 10-inch-plus display and a WXQGA (2,560 × 1,600) resolution, running Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0.x).
The press has been assuming that Apple's next iPad, the iPad 3, would sport a 9.7-inch 2,048 x 1,536 resolution screen and be a "retina display," so if the resolution rumor is true, Samsung has a "retina display" tablet of its own --- unless the display is significantly larger than 10 inches.
There are some rumors, however, that Samsung will announce a Galaxy Tab 11.6 at MWC, which would mean a screen size of 11.6-inches.
That's all well and good, but as we've pointed out before, tablet buyers are less impressed with specifications and hardware than they are the experience and use of the device.
It's possible, as well, that Samsung will announce a new set of Windows Phone devices, as yet another rumor has Microsoft making some sort of announcement at MWC.
All will be clear in about a month, as MWC begins on Feb. 27, 2012.
New details are emerging about Microsoft's next-generation video games console, which will be called the XBox 720. Don't let the number fool you: the 720's processor will be six times, not twice, as fast as the one in the Xbox 360.
Sources told IGN that production of the Xbox 360's GPU will begin by the end of this year. Delivery of the system itself is scheduled for the fall of 2013. No pricing has been projected yet.
Microsoft released the Xbox 360 in late 2005, so for many, a refresh of its aging console is long overdue. It has been a massive success: as of January 9, 2012, 66 million Xbox 360 consoles have been sold worldwide. The Xbox 360 gave Microsoft some headaches, however, with reliability issues such as "The Red Ring of Death."
The Xbox 720 processor will be based on AMD's 6000 series GPU, rather than its 7000 series GPU, as had been rumored earlier. The 6000 series was introduced last year.
It will be similar to AMD's Radeon HD 6670, with multidisplay output as well as DirectX 11, 3D, and 1080p HD support. The HD 6670 runs at a market price of $79.99 and up, currently.
That much power will give the Xbox 720 six times the current graphics processing power of the Xbox 360, as well as an estimated 20 percent higher performance than Nintendo's forthcoming console, the Wii U. The Wii U is currently expected to arrive in 2H 2012, which should mean close to a year in terms of a Nintendo on-shelf advantage.
We've said before that Nokia and Microsoft will struggle to get adoption of Windows Phone, what with the miniscule and declining market share of Microsoft smartphone platforms, and what with the huge lead that iPhone and Android have over WP. However, smart pricing and a compelling product might make an impact.
Microsoft's wallet for marketing and advertising certainly won't hurt.
But the information that was leaked on Wednesday about the AT&T Nokia Lumia 900, which will be an exclusive for the U.S No. 2 carrier, said that the Lumia 900 would launch on March 18. That's not a surprise, as it was expected to be released around that time. What is surprising, however, is the pricing.
The info, via a leaked roadmap, says that the Nokia Lumia 900 will sell for $99.99 on contract.
Given the specs, that is very aggressive pricing.
The Nokia Lumia 900 will come in cyan or black, have a curved, 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display with an 800 x 480 resolution, support LTE, carry an 8MP rear-facing camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and a 1.3MP front-facing camera. It will also have a 1.4GHz single-core (which is unusual these days of dual-core in everything) Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, and 16GB of storage.
It's agressive pricing, but as we've said before, every app downloaded to a smartphone is one more reason to stay with that platform. The relative lack of apps vs. Android and iOS is a big negative.
It will be interesting to see if this low price point will attract any of the crowd of folks moving from feature phones to smartphones. It's still hard to see how it can attract people AWAY from Android or iOS.
We've said before that Nokia and Microsoft will struggle to get adoption of Windows Phone, what with the miniscule and declining market share of Microsoft smartphone platforms, and what with the huge lead that iPhone and Android have over WP. However, smart pricing and a compelling product might make an impact.
Microsoft's wallet for marketing and advertising certainly won't hurt.
But the information that was leaked on Wednesday about the AT&T Nokia Lumia 900, which will be an exclusive for the U.S No. 2 carrier, said that the Lumia 900 would launch on March 18. That's not a surprise, as it was expected to be released around that time. What is surprising, however, is the pricing.
The info, via a leaked roadmap, says that the Nokia Lumia 900 will sell for $99.99 on contract.
Given the specs, that is very aggressive pricing.
The Nokia Lumia 900 will come in cyan or black, have a curved, 4.3-inch ClearBlack AMOLED display with an 800 x 480 resolution, support LTE, carry an 8MP rear-facing camera with a Carl Zeiss lens and a 1.3MP front-facing camera. It will also have a 1.4GHz single-core (which is unusual these days of dual-core in everything) Qualcomm processor, 512MB of RAM, and 16GB of storage.
It's agressive pricing, but as we've said before, every app downloaded to a smartphone is one more reason to stay with that platform. The relative lack of apps vs. Android and iOS is a big negative.
It will be interesting to see if this low price point will attract any of the crowd of folks moving from feature phones to smartphones. It's still hard to see how it can attract people AWAY from Android or iOS.
Microsoft reported its latest revenue figures to the strains of "We're in the Money" (we expect) as it broke records with its income for the second fiscal quarter.
The company's revenue reached heady new heights of $20.9 billion (£13.5 billion), with its entertainment and devices division up by 15 per cent thanks to the continuing success of the Xbox and its associated bits and pieces.
One part of the business that has dropped off, though, is Windows – sales were down six per cent compared to 2010, taking "only" $4.74 billion (just over £3 billion).
Lend us a fiver?
Since Windows 8 is set for release this year, we can't imagine Microsoft is too worried about this drop off, with CEO Steve Ballmer pointing to 2012's launches for more pick up.
"We delivered solid financial results, even as we prepare for a launch year that will accelerate many of our key products and services," he said.
Microsoft's not letting on how much it makes from its Windows Phone operations though, no doubt partly because it makes more from shilling Android manufacturers for patent fees than it does from selling phones.
Microsoft reported its latest revenue figures to the strains of "We're in the Money" (we expect) as it broke records with its income for the second fiscal quarter.
The company's revenue reached heady new heights of $20.9 billion (£13.5 billion), with its entertainment and devices division up by 15 per cent thanks to the continuing success of the Xbox and its associated bits and pieces.
One part of the business that has dropped off, though, is Windows – sales were down six per cent compared to 2010, taking "only" $4.74 billion (just over £3 billion).
Lend us a fiver?
Since Windows 8 is set for release this year, we can't imagine Microsoft is too worried about this drop off, with CEO Steve Ballmer pointing to 2012's launches for more pick up.
"We delivered solid financial results, even as we prepare for a launch year that will accelerate many of our key products and services," he said.
Microsoft's not letting on how much it makes from its Windows Phone operations though, no doubt partly because it makes more from shilling Android manufacturers for patent fees than it does from selling phones.
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