Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Technology. Show all posts
7:38 PM
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer speaking at a press conference in Tokyo earlier this month.By Brian X. Chen
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Microsoft's operating system for smartphones is losing ground to its rivals
- Gartner: Windows Mobile has lost nearly a third of its market share since 2008
- "It was theirs to lose and they [Microsoft] lost it," says a technology analyst
- Microsoft may incorporate iPhone-like touch gestures for Windows Mobile 7 next year
Windows Mobile has lost nearly a third of its smartphone market share since 2008, research firm Gartner reports. Windows Mobile had 11 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter of 2008, according to Gartner, and last quarter Windows Mobile's market share plummeted to 7.9 percent.
Meanwhile, Apple's global market share grew from 12.9 percent to 17.1 percent, and RIM saw a rise from 16 percent to 20.8 percent, according to Gartner's figures.
It's worth noting Microsoft got a head start with Windows CE, its pocket PC OS, in 1996. Windows CE serves as the foundation for the Windows Mobile OS shipping with some smartphones today. The smartphone OS market, in fact, has existed for several years, and Microsoft was an early leader in the space. But only recently have several additional corporations stepped into this space with their own platforms.
Microsoft's biggest problem? One word: iPhone.
"It was really the iPhone that came out full-bore for a consumer perspective," said Ross Rubin, an NPD Group consumer technology analyst. "We saw app development focus on consumer applications like social networking and games.... Particularly with Apple's retail presence and advantages in that market, through design and so forth, that's where Microsoft's main challenge lies."
Many other technology observers agree that Apple receives credit for sparking the smartphone boom. The 2008 introduction of the App Store enabled third-party developers to sell their own software, further enhancing the capabilities of the iPhone. This proved a workable model, giving 40 million iPhone and iPod Touch owners the ability to choose from the now 100,000 apps in the App Store.
Meanwhile, some developers earned hundreds of thousands of dollars with hot-selling apps. Even if most developers didn't earn that much cash, the success stories helped make Apple's App Store powerfully attractive.
Apple's blockbuster success with the iPhone and its App Store compelled other tech giants to offer their own mobile platforms and app stores as well. Google, Nokia, Research In Motion, Palm and others have opened app stores and begun recruiting developers to compete.
But if Microsoft was the first player in this market, why wasn't the software giant able to replicate the success it had with PCs?
"It was theirs to lose and they lost it," said Raven Zachary, a technology analyst and owner of iPhone app development house Small Society. "They had everything they needed to execute, to do the right kinds of carrier deals to create an app store, create visual voice mail, touchscreens and so on. They've been in this space since the beginning."
To Peter Hoddie, CEO of Kinoma, which develops a mobile media browser for Windows Mobile and other platforms, a major knock against Windows Mobile isn't the OS itself, but rather the weakness of the bundled apps included with it.
"The sad part for Microsoft is that in terms of operating systems, they have a great one, and they had it long before anyone else did," Hoddie said in a phone interview. "Their first problem is the built-in apps are uninspiring, so that sets a very low bar for developers who are coming to the platform."
Hoddie compared Windows Mobile to the iPhone, whose apps he described as "beautiful," which encourages third-party developers to produce apps of similar quality.
He added that Microsoft's second problem is segmentation in the hardware ecosystem. Windows Mobile ships with several different manufacturers' hardware, including HTC, LG and Samsung. The problem? From a developer perspective, that requires coding an app for several phones with different UI styles, buttons and screen sizes. (The same problem, incidentally, has started to plague Android developers.)
That would give the iPhone another advantage: The iPhone operates on a closed system, which can only run on Apple hardware, meaning third-party developers can produce apps and games that work exclusively with the iPhone.
Therefore, despite Apple's questionable and controversial approval policy for iPhone apps, developers can code one app that works with 40 million iPhone and iPod Touch devices, which is less time consuming than developing several versions of one app for a variety of Windows Mobile smartphones. In turn, that spells out to a larger number of apps in the App Store, which enables Apple's hardware to cater to a larger and broader audience.
The inability to recognize the new smartphone audience is another one of Microsoft's flaws, Rubin said. Microsoft's mobile OS history is rooted in personal digital assistants, which were marketed toward enterprise audiences. Today, the smartphone has shifted into the mainstream as a consumer device, and yet Windows Mobile is still largely focused on enterprise features.
And even in the enterprise market, Apple's iPhone is winning. In a recent customer satisfaction survey conducted by JD Power, Apple grabbed the number 1 spot for smartphones in business. How? JD Power found that more than half of business smartphone owners reported downloading third party games for entertainment, and 46 percent report downloading travel software such as maps and weather apps.
That would suggest enterprise users are interested in mixing business with pleasure in their devices and the iPhone's wealth of choices in the App Store covers those needs.
"I would say Microsoft needs to err more on the side of going too far into the consumer segment versus trying to achieve a good balance between enterprise and consumer features at this point," Rubin said.
Despite Microsoft's recent shrinkage in the mobile OS market, it's not over for Windows Mobile. Rubin said he expects Microsoft to redeem itself with its next OS Windows Mobile 7 as it did with Windows 7 after negative reception of Windows Vista.
Microsoft declined to comment on details about Windows Mobile 7, but a spokeswoman said mobility is one of Microsoft's top investment areas, and the company's mobile strategy will not change.
"The company's mobility strategy has not changed; it is and has always been to provide a software platform for the industry," a Microsoft spokeswoman said in a statement. "The company works closely with many mobile operators and device makers around the world because people want different experiences on a variety of phones."
Leaks indicate Microsoft plans to incorporate iPhone-like touch gestures. Windows Mobile 7 is scheduled for a 2010 release.
"Microsoft believes the Windows brand is very strong, and consumers associate the Windows brand with enabling them to do what they need to do in their digital lives, at least on the PC," Rubin said. "In general with this whole Windows phone terminology, Microsoft is trying to do more to leverage what it believes is the good will value of the Windows brand."
1:32 AM
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- The Webby Awards named their Top 10 Internet moments of the past decade
- Craigslist expansion, YouTube offerings, Facebook all made the list
- The "Twitter Revolution" in Iran was so important the U.S. government contacted the site
- Webby director: In decades to come, the significance of some of the top 10 could change
All big moments on the Internet. In fact, they're among the 10 biggest of the past decade, according to the Webby Awards.
The group that runs the awards -- itself an online institution for more than a decade -- on Wednesday released what it considers the 10 most influential Internet moments of the 2000s.
The list includes both high-profile moments and quieter events that would prove to be turning points in the years that followed. It does not rank the 10 in order of importance.
"That depends on who you are and what you're interested in," David-Michel Davies, the executive director of the Webby Awards, said. "The Internet is life in a way ... . What's the most important moment in the world is a broad question."
The staff of the Webbys is accepting nominations through December 18 for the 14th annual awards, to be handed out next year. They picked their finalists by going through annual awards they've handed out since 2000 and winnowing the list down.
Davies said it will be interesting to see how kind the next decade is to their decisions.
"Maybe in twenty years we'll look back and some of these might change," he said. "Something might become more important. I think history and time always give you more insight into what moments or sites or companies shaped the landscape."
In chronological order, here are the Webbys' Top 10:
• Craigslist expands beyond San Francisco (2000): When the free classifieds site broadened its reach into nine more cities, it began a major shift away from newspaper classifieds, according to the Webbys. Craigslist now hosts listings in more than 500 cities in 50 countries.
• Google AdWords launches (2000): The Webbys say the launch of Google's self-service ad program opened up the online marketplace, allowed advertisers to better target their customers and, in short, "turned advertising on its head."
• Wikipedia launches (2001): The free, open-source encyclopedia now has more than 14 million articles in 271 languages with 20,000 of those coming in the first year. The Webbys credit Wikipedia with being an early example of strangers from around the world coming together to collaborate on projects.
• Napster shuts down (2001): Although the controversial file-sharing site bemoaned by many in the recording industry shut down in 2001, the Webbys note that it opened up the floodgates. Hulu, iTunes and other legal sites followed, as did downloading songs from less reputable sites and artists releasing their music exclusively online.
• Google's IPO (2004): One of the largest stock offerings in history put the search engine on the path to becoming what the Webbys call "the most dominant and influential company of the decade." Gmail, YouTube, Google Earth, Google Maps and Android would all follow.
• Online video revolution (2006): Faster bandwidth, cheaper camcorders and YouTube's use of Adobe's Flash 9 video player combine to make online video explode. "The trifecta led to a boom in homemade and professional content - the Diet Coke and Mentos guys, lonelygirl15, SNL's Lazy Sunday, and Sen. George Allen's "Macaca-gate" -- that has reshaped everything from pop culture to politics," the Webbys write.
• Facebook opens up, Twitter takes off (2006): In September, Facebook expands from only college students to anyone older than 13. Almost overnight, social networking went mainstream. Less than a month later, Twitter's owners acquire the company, paving the way for the service to take off the following year.
• The iPhone debuts (2007): It was released on June 29, 2007, and by the end of the weekend a half-million had been sold. The phone from Apple has inspired a slew of other smartphones and an app for just about every aspect of modern life.
• U.S. presidential campaign (2008): The Internet "altered presidential politicking in 2008 much as television had forty years earlier," according to the Webby list. "Obama Girl" and the Rev. Jeremiah Wright's controversial sermons helped shape the debate, social networking helped mobilize volunteers and voters and online fundraising shattered records.
• Iranian election protests (2009): When Iran's power structure announced dubious results from its presidential election, the opposition took to social networking and the "Twitter Revolution" was born. The Web let protesters beam images from the chaotic country at a time when mainstream media outlets had been severely hampered. Twitter became so fundamental in spreading news of the protests that followed that the U.S. State Department asked the company to delay a planned shutdown for maintenance, the Webbys note.
11:24 PM
November 12, 2009 9:38 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Recent changes to Facebook features have befuddled some users
- Facebook provides ways to customize your feed, hide unwanted posts
- New feeds give out info when you approve new friends, join groups
- If you have more than 250 friends, some of them may be hidden
(CNN) -- With more than 300 million active users, Facebook has come a long way from its roots as a way for Harvard students to keep in touch.
Teens, grandmas, musicians and politicians have all joined those early college students, making the social-networking hub one of the most heavily trafficked sites on the Internet.
But for some users, the site's popularity -- and the periodic tinkering with "the old Facebook" -- means growing pains, too.
More friends means more people to spam up your news feed with links, photos and update boxes from the applications they use. Sure, you're happy to be in touch with Aunt Ethel -- but do you really need to know who she just murdered in Mafia Wars or which member of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials she is? (Yes, that's a real quiz.)
And then there are the changes. Last month's switch to two distinct feeds -- a "live feed" offering constant updates and a "news feed" featuring what Facebook considers highlights from your friends' activities -- still has some users baffled.
"Like you, we know it can be disruptive when things are moved around, but we hope that these changes make Facebook a more valuable experience for you," wrote Raylene Yung, a blogger for the site. "We put a lot of thought into all the changes we make to the site and do a lot of testing before releasing anything."
Many users are warming to the changes. But in the days that followed the switch, others were confused, or worse.
"I personally think facebook shouldnt [sic] have changed our news feed," one user wrote in reply to the blog post. "Why do we only get to see what fb 'thinks' we'll enjoy. Half the stuff on my live feed and news feed is stuff I dont care for. I really dont care who is friends with who and who is a fan of what."
And this from another: "I hate the new home page. The live feed has too much content, and the news feed has too little content."
Those switches also mean that more details about your activities are being broadcast to your network. Just became friends with someone? Joined a group? Commented on a discussion board? Your friends get alerts about all that.
Some friends also may have slipped off your e-radar. If you have more than 250 friends, Facebook decides which of them you really want in your feed and which you don't.
A spokeswoman told CNN the site chooses the 250 based on several factors, including who the user interacts with the most. "This 250 default limit is an attempt to show users engaging content without overwhelming them with updates from people they don't interact with on a daily basis," she said.
But the good news is that Facebook makes it possible to change just about all of those settings, and to do some basic retooling to increase privacy and get rid of annoyances.
In the attached tutorial, we outline a few fixes that will help you customize your Facebook page and improve your social-networking experience.
11:23 PM
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Google users can find data on themselves with new Dashboard feature
- Under fire from privacy groups, Google calls the feature unprecedented
- Advocacy group calls Dashboard a small step, says Google should do more
- Blogosphere's reception muted; some say tool won't change how people use featuresEver wonder what information Google knows about you? With a click or two, now you can find out. Google released a feature Thursday that lets users see and control data that the Web giant has collected about them. Called Google Dashboard, the service provides an online summary of a user's Google files -- Gmail, Google Docs, Picasa photos and so on -- by collecting pre-existing privacy controls in one place.
Dashboard users can review and delete recent Google searches, see recently opened and shared documents and survey their interactions with other Google-powered sites such as YouTube.
Google, which has come under fire from politicians and privacy advocates for its data-collection practices, announced the service with a blog post headlined, "Transparency, Choice and Control -- now complete with a Dashboard!"
"Over the past 11 years, Google has focused on building innovative products for our users," the company said in its official blog on Thursday. "Today, with hundreds of millions of people using those products around the world, we are very aware of the trust that you have placed in us, and our responsibility to protect your privacy and data."
The advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, which has been critical of the amount of personal data Google stores, called the dashboard a small step in the right direction.
"If Google really wanted to give users control over their privacy it would give consumers the ability to be anonymous from the company and its advertisers in crucial areas such as search data and online behavior," spokesman John M. Simpson said on the group's Web site.
Video: Google is tracking you
"The Dashboard give the appearance of control without the actual ability to prevent Google from tracking you and delivering you to its marketers."
Reviews in the blogosphere Thursday appeared relatively muted for a feature Google described as unprecedented in scale and level of detail.
"Sure, it's nice to have all these in one place, should you ever want to review all your private information stored at Google at once, but there's nothing really new about this list," said Stan Schroeder, a blogger at social media site Mashable. "Unfortunately, it's also an unpleasant reminder of just how much data you're giving out to Google."
Tech blogger Matt Asay, writing for CNET, said most Google users won't bother with Dashboard because people are willing to sacrifice some Internet privacy in exchange for being able to store and share information online.
"Dashboard leaves Google in the prime position of being able to honestly say that it doesn't control user data, while still delivering increasingly beneficial services based on that data," he wrote. "It will not change the way that the vast majority of consumers use Google, but it just might change the way they think about Google."
