Smartphone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

"There is little question that Windows Mobile has been primarily geared for the enterprise market. While many - including me - have faulted Microsoft for forgetting the consumer market (or seeming so at time), few if any can question their ability to take the Windows Mobile platform and develop it into a world class mobile operating system for enterprise users. The platform simply does everything: Email, Word editing, Excel editing, PowerPoint viewing, OneNote synchronization, some have printing and PDF applications included (mostly HTC devices)... the list goes on. Which which phone is really the best when it comes to business needs?"

The "which is best" is a always a personal question - my needs in a business phone might not match up to your needs - but Clinton Fitch does his best to compare four phones on the market from the perspective of a frequent business traveller. He looks at the HTC S740 Windows Standard Phone, HTC Touch Pro Windows Professional Phone, HTC Advantage X7510 Windows Professional Phone, and the MWg Zinc II Windows Professional Phone. Check out his article and tell me if you agree with his assessment of these devices - for me, having a small and light email triage tool is the most important thing, so the Touch Pro and the Advantage wouldn't even be on my list to start (I'm using a Blackjack II right now). For some, data entry and document managemnt are more critical, so bigger phones with a better keyboard carry the day. What device do you carry, and why?

"The Windows Mobile Business Value Calculator gives you immediate visibility into the impact of deploying mobile business solutions on the Windows Mobile platform. Using a company's unique information, such as number of mobile workers or types of applications to be mobilized, and summary data from IDC, the Business Value Calculator allows you to quantify the benefits and the direct and indirect costs of deploying mobile line-of-business applications, including measurable impact on revenue and income, operating expense savings, productivity enhancements, and other strategic business improvements. The resulting value metrics will help you build the business case for choosing Windows Mobile as the standard platform across your organization."



Microsoft has released a Business Value calculator to help customers determine the true savings that they could see by switching to a Windows Mobile solution for their mobile workforce. I'm sure that most of the readers here don't need such a tool to tell them why they should switch. However, if you're running a different mobile solution, and you're contract is coming up for renewal, this tool will help you make the right choice. ;)

"The Windows Mobile Business Value Calculator gives you immediate visibility into the impact of deploying mobile business solutions on the Windows Mobile platform. Using a company's unique information, such as number of mobile workers or types of applications to be mobilized, and summary data from IDC, the Business Value Calculator allows you to quantify the benefits and the direct and indirect costs of deploying mobile line-of-business applications, including measurable impact on revenue and income, operating expense savings, productivity enhancements, and other strategic business improvements. The resulting value metrics will help you build the business case for choosing Windows Mobile as the standard platform across your organization. So, just how much of an impact can Windows Mobile have on your business? The answer is just a few clicks away."



So here's the deal. If you have considered deploying a Microsoft Mobile solution to further enhance and expand your business but haven't been quite sure if a mobile solution is financially the best option, the Windows Mobile Business Value Calculator can help. It asks you for type of industry, location, currency, type of work force, and more. As you enter in your data, it calculates your direct benefits, indirect benefits, and your cumulative 3 year benefits. If you hold the cursor over each benefit, you will get a pop up detailed description of that benefit. If that's not enough, you can click the "Detailed Applications" tab to see a complete list of applications that can be mobilized. You can even generate a PDF analysis report. There are even more options so head on over and see if the Windows Mobile Business Value Calculator can help you decide what is right for your business.

"Mobile technology is fast emerging from the gadget stage. Today, there are hundreds of real-world examples of mobile technology empowering knowledge workers and adding real value to important business processes. But getting to real value isn't always straightforward. Mobile and wireless technologies are changing fast and notoriously averse to standardization. Users will continue experiencing technology fragmentation, interoperability issues and rapid obsolescence in the coming years. ... In such an evolving context, what strategies should enterprises adopt to be successful with mobility? How can you take advantage of the ongoing disruptive transformation and create business value out of technology innovation? As a service provider, how can you continue to grow in such a dynamic and competitive industry? The answers await you at the Gartner Wireless & Mobile Summit - an exciting program packed with analyst presentations, guest speakers, case studies, analyst roundtables, new research, keynotes and panel sessions. Waiting for the mobile and wireless markets to sort themselves out is not an option. You need to make decisions today that will affect your organization's ability to mobilize in the future. That's what the Gartner Wireless & Mobile Summit is all about."

Gartner is organizing a two day workshop for the IT community, mobile analysts and mobile engineers to get a grip on the ever-changing wireless landscape, and plan for their company's wireless strategy. Is anyone attending this workshop? We would like to hear from you. Also, we would like to hear from the IT and wireless infrastructure planners on how they go about selecting a wireless technology, carrier etc. What are the factors that help you choose one over the other? I think that you folks have one of the toughest jobs.

"Checkout the video screencast of the cool new business user features of Windows Mobile 6 that Jason Langridge and I recorded last week."

What can I add to that? Go check it out already! :)

"The MOTO Q� PRO solution offers an enhanced enterprise experience, which offers expanded functionality and accessories, by combining the Motorola Q smartphone with the PRO package. The PRO package includes security software, document editing, an extended battery, vehicle power adapter, headset and optional camera disablement. The MOTO Q PRO solution can help mobile professionals be even more productive. MOTO Q PRO delivers an enterprise-class voice experience."



Motorola Q Pro? Alright. So, what's the Q Pro offer that makes it better than a regular Q? How about a 512MB miniSD card included. If you're still not excited, then I don't think you will be about the rest of the stuff. It's all aimed at making corporate deployments easier. The Q Pro has the option to disable the camera, and even have the device pre-loaded with your corporate applications and sent directly to the end user. Perhaps I've missed something in the specs - at least I hope I did. :?

"I never thought I'd write this, but our "Freeware of the Moment" is Windows Vista Business and Office Professional 2007. Really! You'll have to sit through three Microsoft webcasts or virtual labs on the products, but that's a small price to pay considering you'll actually learn about the software features. There are some relatively minor restrictions, however this is an offer you just can't refuse. These packages can cost you upwards of $300 or more out-of-pocket, so I'd consider this time well spent."



Now you can't say anymore Microsoft never gave you anything! It might be worth the price of admission so if you are interested, go check it out.

"If the BlackBerry debacle taught us anything, it's how much we depend on devices to stay in touch with the office, get work done on the road, obtain news and more. Smart phones have changed the way we work, so no longer are we slaves to our desks. So which models make the best business associates? A number of qualified candidates are out there, but these are our six favorites."

Well if this article illustrates nothing else it's that no one yet knows what a Smartphone is. There are only two Smartphones amongst the six. By the way, for all you Dash drooling types, yes it made it on the list. :wink:

"The Mobile Line of Business Accelerator showcases a mobile application written in Visual C# using Visual Studio 2005. This development kit contains over 100 pages of documentation, a sample SQL Server DB, and all of the necessary components to run a Windows Mobile application. It provides best practices for deploying enterprise-level Merge Replication to support thousands of devices. Using the Microsoft tools outlined and this development kit, you can develop a robust, scalable, and compelling mobile application for your field work force."

I just have one question here. Can a Blackberry do any of these things? It is an honest one as I have not paid close attention to what goes on in the DarkSide. Those of you interested in development might find this worth a look. Courtesy of Jason Langridge.

"Can anything stop HTC? The world's leading producer of smart phones operating on Windows software has been the unquestioned star of Taiwan's tech world. Rivals like Motorola are offering some competition, but HTC's early lead and close ties with Microsoft have helped the company stay far ahead of the pack. One potential problem for the company: It has just acquired control of Dopod, a local company with ties to HTC's chairwoman, Cher Wang, that sells HTC-made phones and PDAs under its own brand name. HTC has thrived by staying out of the brand name business. Will customers feel comfortable with HTC now a competitor as well as a supplier?"


Figure 1: The ranking published in the Business Week magazine issue dated July 3, 2006. Click on the image for higher resolution image.

Recently Business Week magazine published the list of top 100 Information Technology companies and HTC was ranked third in the overall ranking. It even beat Apple, which came in at the forth position. 8O Even more impressive is the ranking in the following categories:
� The Fastest Growing: HTC is ranked at the number one position in terms of revenue growth; Google came in second.
� The Most Profitable: HTC is ranked seventh in the list in terms of return on equity.
� The Best Returns: HTC is again ranked in the first position with 313.8% shareholder return.

So do you think that HTC has an early lead in the smart phone market? Does it have what it takes to become the leader in the smart phone market? Share your thoughts about this company that is silently churning the Windows Mobile revolution in the smart phone world.

Figure 2: The ranking published in the Business Week magazine; details can be viewed over here. Click on the image for higher resolution image.

"Marvell Technology Group, Ltd. and Intel Corporation today announced that they have signed an agreement for Intel to sell its communications and application processor business to Marvell for a purchase price of $600 million plus the assumption by Marvell of certain liabilities. The planned sale will give Marvell a strong presence in the growing market segment for processors used in smart handheld devices. ... Intel�s communications and application processor business develops and sells processors for handheld devices including smart phones and personal digital assistants. The business� processors, based on Intel� XScale technology, include the Intel� PXA9xx communications processor, codenamed �Hermon,� which powers Research in Motion�s (RIM) Blackberry* 8700 device. The Intel PXA27x applications processor, codenamed �Bulverde,� is used in the Palm Treo* smart phone, the Motorola Q* and other devices."



Am I the only one who is surprised by Intel's decision to sell its mobile/cellular application processor division? :? Intel had made inroads into the PDA market, but the smart phone market was giving the company a cold shoulder. In spite of the slow growth, given the size of the mobile phone market and the fact that this market is still growing, I am surprised that Intel decided to bail out of this lucrative market. The Mitac Mio series, the Sierra Voq, the Samsung i600/i300 and the recently launched Moto Q are among the Windows Mobile Smartphones that use Intel processors.

"Our team has just completed 4 new Business Value Whitepapers for Windows Mobile which cover 4 vertical industry segments - Retail, Healthcare, Education and Field Service. They will be posted to Microsoft.Com soon but I've zipped them up and attached them to this blog post for those folks who can't wait"

If you are into Whitepapers Jason Landridge has 4 new ones for you. There has been much more vertical development in the Pocket PC arena than in the Smartphone arena. Perhaps this signals the beginning of more activity. By the way, does anyone know why these types of things are called "Whitepapers"?

"Bill Gates has a secret weapon -- a little-known Taiwanese company with the bland name of High Tech Computer Corp. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) has long wanted to extend Windows territory to include smartphones, those souped-up handsets that can duplicate many of a desktop's functions. But Microsoft needs partners to make the gadgets, and a key one is HTC. Microsoft collects a royalty on every Windows-operated smartphone and PDA phone HTC sells to cellular operators like Cingular, T-Mobile, and Vodafone, who in turn slap their own brands on its devices. The collaboration between Microsoft and HTC is intense. "There's shared DNA across both companies,'' says Scott Horn, general manager of Microsoft's Mobile & Embedded Div."



This article provides a very good insight into how the company operates, its relationship with Microsoft and its boss Peter Chou's passion for quality. Did you know that the HTC Star Trek design that has now hit the streets is the fourth generation design? 8O What I find impressive is that HTC is able to produce Smartphones at a rapid pace, have a new model out almost every six months to a year, when other Smartphone manufacturers are struggling. Way to go HTC!

"HP today announced its handheld business will be a separate unit within the company's Personal Systems Group (PSG), enabling the company to provide greater focus and oversight to the multi-billion dollar converged handheld marketplace. The handheld business was previously combined with notebooks as part of the Mobility Business Unit. By separating handhelds, HP will improve its ability to capitalize on its strategy for growth in both the notebook computing and handheld markets, giving each unit greater financial and operational control of its respective business. The change also builds on HP's recent moves to streamline its organization, including splitting certain functions that had previously been combined."



Maybe now we'll finally see HP release a Windows Mobile Smartphone. Worst case, maybe they'll be able to get the iPAQ line back to the height of the glory days when Compaq ran it. :lol:

"Next Monday (17th October) we will be hosting another LiveMeeting for our Partners. This time the topic will be "Mobilising Small Business Server 2003". The webcast will be broadcast 4pm - 5pm and will also be available for offline viewing afterwards. The webcast will be presented by Scott Millar of Exactive Ltd. Scott has a lot of experience with SBS2003 and Windows Mobile and will be giving an overview of the mobile capabilities of Small Business Server and how it integrates with Windows Mobile."

This sounds like a very interesting webcast. I know that some of you run your own SBS and I have looked into using it myself. Perhaps once Microsoft releases their new Push Email I will finally setup SBS and finally enjoy the always on email experience. :)

"Wireless operators and record companies are starting to let mobile subscribers buy and download full songs over wireless networks directly to mobile phones capable of storing and playing music. As a big first step, Apple Computer and Motorola have partnered to create an iTunes-compatible mobile phone, dubbed the ROKR, capable of storing 100 songs and currently offered by Cingular. Will the result revolutionize both industries or just be another wireless hype machine met with tepid response and consumer apathy?"

I vote for "Wireless hype machine" which I think is evident based on the hype surrounding the ROKR. It's a long cry from the first mobile phone to allow users to play music, but if you read any of the press releases, you would think this is new and un-charted territory. :roll: Besides, I don't see any advantage of buying my music wirelessly over my cellphone. Besides, what happens when after you've paid for a song and start downloading it only to loose signal and the song? I would much rather browse and download to my computer and then transfer to the mobile device/player of my choice.

"Gigabyte Technology is attempting to expand its business from motherboards to non-motherboard product lines, including own-brand notebooks and mobile phones, according to company chairman Dandy Yeh. Contribution from the own-brand segment should help the motherboard maker�s profits improve in the third quarter and then take off in 2006, said Yeh. The company plans to introduce 4-5 models, including one Microsoft-based smartphone, by the end of this year"

Just one MS based Smartphone? Well it is good to see another player here. I wonder what will come out of this though.

"With BenQ, Siemens has found the ideal partner for continuing and securing the mobile phones business over the long term to the benefit of its employees, customers and suppliers. BenQ will be acquiring all of Siemens� development and manufacturing locations in Manaus (Brazil) and Kamp-Lintfort (Germany), along with headquarters functions as well as the sales and marketing organization. The factory in Shanghai (China), which is operated as a joint venture together with a Chinese partner, will also remain a development and manufacturing location. BenQ guarantees full utilization of the capacity at the location for a period of three years. Subject to the agreement of our partner in this joint venture, BenQ will also take over this capacity in the next step."

Siemens has found a willing partner to buy up their troubled cellphone business. BenQ plans to expand cell phones into one of it's core business in the future. BenQ has been working on Windows Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition devices and with any luck, maybe this will give them the chance to release a Smartphone version. :)

"Digital music firm Napster has opened the virtual doors to an online mobile phone ringtone store dubbed Napstertones. The service is currently available only to music fans in the US. In partnership with mobile entertainment content firm Dwango Wireless, Napster will provide polyphonic ring-tones, master-tones and voice-tones of artist "shout-outs". The service will also offer mobile phone wallpaper featuring old favourites such as the Napster Kitty and other graphics from Napster's library. Each graphic or ring-tone will cost between $1.99 and $2.99."

Yet another place to buy over-priced ringtones. :roll:

"Verizon Communications Inc., the largest U.S. telecommunications company, reported a 47 percent jump in first-quarter earnings on Wednesday from strong sales of wireless services. ... Like other dominant U.S. local telephone companies, Verizon has been emphasizing its wireless business and other growth areas to offset the slow decline in traditional voice services. Verizon Wireless added 1.64 million customers during the quarter for a total of 45.5 million subscribers, a 3.7 percent increase from the end of the fourth quarter. It said its average monthly revenue per user rose to $49.03, while its customer turnover, or churn, fell slightly to 1.3 percent."



Verizon is making tons of money without even emphasizing on Smartphones. I wonder if they would make even more money, if they focused on smart devices and devices with Bluetooth really working. :? An interesting thing mentioned in the earnings report was the fact that "total land lines in service fell 1.5 percent, to 52.2 million, while it added 385,000 high-speed Internet lines". That shows that customers want speed and connectivity everywhere. :-)