Personally, I’m mainly waiting for the bizarre parallel universe that, if history is any judge, the commercials will inhabit.
One of the technology industry’s big Steves — Steve Ballmer, Chief Executive of Microsoft — on Tuesday promised that Windows tablets won’t take much longer to hit the market and compete with Apple’s popular iPad and upcoming Google Android/Chrome OS tablets. He remarked, “You’ll see new slates with Windows on them. You’ll see them this Christmas.”
Of course “see them this Christmas” could have a variety of meanings — anything from “see them” as be unwrapping them, or “see them” as in reading an online press release that they will be available in March.
[…]
Mr. Ballmer also hit on one of Microsoft other key problem spots — the mobile phone market. Microsoft’s Kin project was a colossal sales failure perpetrated by miserably outdated hardware, bizarre commercials that bordered on disturbing, and a lack of carrier support. At the end of the day Microsoft pulled the plug.Meanwhile, Microsoft’s veteran Windows Mobile brand has languished, bleeding market share to Apple and Google. Microsoft’s answer is a brand-new smart phone operating system dubbed Windows Phone 7, which will air October 11th.
Mr. Ballmer addressed his company’s challenging state of affairs in this sector, summarizing, “The job right now is we’ve got to get back seriously into the game of phones. We’ve got to have a comeback against the competition and I think with our new Windows phones we really have a beautiful product.”
I don’t see how Microsoft recovers from being woefully late to these markets.
What the he’ll are thousands of programmers doing there ? I’m a windows 7 customer and will always be ( for desktop) but good grief Microsoft !!
#1 – Microsoft was woefully late when it copied Macintosh to make Windows, and then took until 1995 to make a popular version, and then another 6 years to make the working version.
That said, Bill Gates is not around to drive his Microsofties into a frenzy.
Ballmer’s got to start doing the developers, developers, developers dance again – do whatever it takes to get everyone writing a WindowsPhone7 app, and then bribe every phone maker in the world to use it. And while their at it, write a development app for the iPad – that would really stick it in Apple’s face.
If this phone os doesn’t make $$$t for the bottom line at M$ then Ballmer is out. The shareholders will revolt. And M$ will become even more litigious to anyone making any bit of software. If they do that it will be the last of the freefall the company is currently in.
now of course M$ is staking the deck against the competition.. as there are former dpet heads in HP, and Nokia… , both had eminent plans to bring linux based product to market and not M$ ones..
@# 1 Dallas
Are you joking ? it will have class leading features.
It will be able to access all web using silverlight7.
For extra security sites will be stored on the machine which won’t have internet access
Users will be able to manually enter windows updates using the unique speech recognition technology. The updates will be broadcast on MSNBC and you will be able to read the hex outloud into your tablet.
There will be a wide range of games available (minesweeper AND solitaire) which will be available from the MS store – just send a stamped addressed envelope to receive your floppy disk in 4-6weeks.
In other news, Balmer has agreed to reprise his 1974 film role as the monster in ‘Young Frankenstein 2 : A Fresh Idea’
cant wait to see how many security holes are found in the first 2 weeks..
in other news.. do we really want to waste what little rare earths and other resources we have left on not only a microsoft product, but yet another friggen cell phone line…?
i’m starting to think this whole “consume till you drop” thing should be finally put to rest..
-s
MORE MONEY TO WASTE ON GADGET JUNK.
THE IPAD IS AN OVERPRICED DRM NIGHTMARE.
SO, WHO WANTS A ZUNE PHONE?
WHO WANTS A ZUNE PAD?
FAIL!
I also agree that Microsoft has simply waited far too long to intro Windows 7 Mobile. But even more then that. Microsoft lacks any hype and credibility with the mobil platform. They seem to get the thumbs down even before its introduced rather then the benefit of the doubt.
Oh Wow! Here comes Steve Balmer running after Steve Jobs again.
Those two are really inseparable.
Whatever Jobs does Balmer is going to do right after, after he and his committees take every ounce of originality, style and pizazz out of it to dumb it down, make it mediocre and more expensive with the ROI crowd, while delivering nothing attractive to the consumer.
Nothing to see here. Move along…
#4 🙂 and agreed.
I actually wish them well because Apple is going down a proprietary path that will be costly to extricate yourself from. They have great products for sure, no doubt about that.
Apple did snare me when they opened iTunes for Windows but I am hesitating going deeper onto that quicksand with iPhone and AppleTV’s.
MS needs to get their shit together.
MSFT has a lot to overcome.
How many auto makers are putting win 7 phone adapters in their cars? Zero.
I work with a Microsoft bigot. He buys only MSFT stuff. After buying a new car he junked his Zune and bought an iPod. Why? Because his car only had an iPod adapter.
# 11
I find it hard to believe that the car didnt have an aux port which ANY audio device can connect to. Though most cars nowadays will have bluetooth capabilities, like Ford, who has been working with microsoft to implement their SYNC system. This allows users to TALK to their devices in order to change songs etc as well as use their phone handsfree. This of course will connect with any device that uses the OPEN bluetooth technology, which has been on microsoft smart phones years before the iphone came out. It took apple 3 iterations of the iphone to stick bluetooth in it.
Microsoft is delving into technologies like voice and visual recognition whereas apple is taking existing products, gimping them, and improving their interface and somehow apple is being credited with revolutionary innovations…
#10 – You can still escape – you’re not in the vortex yet 😀
I recently stopped using iTunes for Windows. After using it for years and years, the urge to reinstall and go back to comfortable, familiar iTunes remains powerful. At least I am not locked in with expensive iPhone/iPads/iTunes purchases.
I don’t buy anything from Microsoft unless I don’t have any other choice. That goes double for their hardware.
Well, M$ ALWAYS NEEDS MORE TIME TO COPY WHAT’S HOT !!! But they usually show up a DAY LATE, AND A DOLLAR SHORT !!! We all remember how M$ TOOK OVER THE PDA MARKET, DON’T WE ? We are all using M$ PDAs now aren’t we ?
The closest thing I have to any PDA is a Verizon Chocolate cell phone, which I use mostly as a telephone and a phone book.
iPhones, the Chocolate, and their ilk are mostly flashy toys, not well thought out tools.
I’ll try one if they’re cheap enough.
Steve Ballmer may be the only guy on the planet cooler than pedro.
DEVELOPERS
DEVELOPERS
DEVELOPERS
DEVELOPERS
Never get in a rush to be on the bleeding edge of tech.
The first thing out the door normally bleeps and I think Ipad users will all realize next year that they want to upgrade badly.
The same goes for the Windows and Google products.
An exception could be made for things like the Windows 7 OS where everybody already knew exactly what it was before it shipped; a refined version of Vista and Vista already had the bugs worked out before W7 shipped.
Vista just needed a face lift and a name change for the people who had heard horror stories as told by what people who went into shock that it wasn’t XP and of course it did need a fairly robust computer to run it and those upgradable computers were a huge mistake because they weren’t.
If you want repeat trade do not lie to the client.
I like the iPod, and I’m perfectly fine with the iPhone, since it’s a great touchscreen device to cruise the net with during downtime. Sure, the “no flash” thing is annoying, but not a killer.
All the same, If I were to buy a tablet, it’d have to at least come close to being like a full, though smaller, computer instead of an upsized version of the iPhone or Droid.
#20 Mobil 7 will not have copy & paste at launch. Microsoft said maybe spring 2011.
Apple is not microsoft’s competition in mobil, android is. Apple is the only company that thrive at hardware/software/ecosystem.
MS definitely has good engineers. What they lack is the vision of a true believer in technology. I’d suggest they hire Jeri Ellsworth. Fast.