Windows Mobile, while it may have plenty of shortcomings, is still one of the most popular mobile operating systems in use today.
However, there are many factors that may change that soon- Symbian is going open source, the iPhone is becoming “unlocked”, and Android’s release is imminent… So, what will happen to Windows Mobile in the near future? Will it dissapear completely from the mobile OS lineup, or will they simply be content with dropping to the 4th or 5th most popular OS? Or, will they adapt to the brave new world and emerge on top?
Fabrizio Capobianco, CEO and creator of Funambol (a multi-platform open source sync solution) recently wrote about this on his blog:
“In particular, I do not see a chance for Microsoft to be relevant in mobile OSS. Now that Symbian is gone open source, we have three open source operating systems (Symbian, Android and LIMO derivatives) that are going to dominate the market. On top of it, you have the iPhone. That’s 90% of the market easily in a few years. Windows Mobile will be left with less than 10%. Even if WM becomes free (they have to make that move and it will be so painful for them), I do not think they will win market share. Their motto will be “think different” :-))
Unless they do the unthinkable: make Windows Mobile open source. That would be an incredible move, one that I think they cannot do with Ballmer at the helm.”
I’m not so sure I agree with 100% of that. You see, OpenMoko and Linux Mobile have been around a while, and have largely been considered failures when it comes to market adoption.
Why?
I think it is because simply being open source is not enough. You need to have a large enough community backing an open source project for it to be successful, and sadly OpenMoko and LiMo don’t have that (…yet).
Windows Mobile, meanwhile, has a very large pre-existing development community (one that I consider myself a part of on occasion), which is why they will continue to sell handsets even if the new open platforms are more powerful theoretically.
The only mobile OS that I think is really going to give WinMo a run for its money is Google’s Android. Google is popular enough that any project they put their name on has an instant following (as I mentioned recently). Its very possible that Android will show the world we’re ready for an open mobile OS.
Now, what’s going to happen to MS?
Well, I don’t think its so crazy that MS will start adopting more open-source models, they’ve already started doing that with some of their projects. A decade ago, no one would have believed that there would be a page on Microsoft.com about their open source projects, but clearly they are recognizing that this is a necessary move to stay competitive. Microsoft has done crazier things in its past.*
But will Windows Mobile go open source?
Only time will tell. I think Fabrizio’s prediction is further away than he implies, but then again the mobile market changes so quickly anything is possible.
This past Monday while I was enjoying Niagara falls the company that brought you viral referral distribution for mobile applications and games, Cascada Mobile, launched a new service called Breeze which, according to the report, will allow anyone to create “globally distributed mobile applications in as little as fifteen minutes.”
Taking a crack at it myself it became apparent rather quickly that anyone with basic html and javascript can use Breeze rather easily and easily port their ideas to over 130 mobile devices. The application, which you download to your desktop, allows you to build and then test out your application using its handset simulation program. You can than upload your application to their site and use their proprietary sharing technology to let the word know about your app via a plethora of new media ways. As Alan Lysne, Cascada Mobile’s CEO put it, “we are leveling the playing field.”
When they say that anyone can do it they really mean it since the service will be ad supported and free to the user. “We are really just trying to help people who have ideas get into the [mobile] space” Alan told me last week. “We will cover the cost with small ads in each application relevant to phone type and geography.” If a persons application begins to really fly of the shelf, Alan assured me, then Cascada will talk about monetizing it, turning off ads and working off of a per install basis. “Right now we just hope people will use it to attract people to their product or website.”
At the Cascada home base engineers have already hacked away twitter applications, Flickr API’s and Facebook stuff. Its built by developers to make it as easy as possible.
The combination of do it yourself mobile applications combined with an in house easy to use viral distribution plugin based on a ad revenue model is a really great and organic idea.
In a world with more than 2 billion mobile phones already in use around the world, and tight control over operating systems and networks this is no easy task. But Cascada is a step in the mobile user generated revolution that, just as with the PC, is and was an inevitability.
We’ve all done it, pressed send on a call to a friend on the other side of the world in the middle of the night, not quite realizing it is so late/early there. More often times than not, I am the recipient of early morning calls from people who have forgotten I have moved to the west coast. A new piece of software, Time Translator attempts to fix this problem by flashing the caller the local time of the recipient before the call goes through.
I love the idea, however Time Translator bases local time on the area code, not on location of the phone. Because of that, I feel the product is sub par.
1) With number portability, people often move outside their area code. So a user like me, who has moved from NY to LA would still receive annoying early morning calls because callers would think I am 3 hours ahead of my actual time.
2) It also doesn’t take into account people who often travel. Again, someone like me who is back and forth a lot between the east and west coasts could really benefit from a service like this, but Time Translator simply doesn’t base time zones on dynamic data.
Time Translator plans to release a location based service at a later time. In an email with TT, they stated that “Until we take on this project we are counting on the fact that most people turn off their cell phones when they are asleep. Hopefully we will not have to count on that for long.”
It’s all the rage and I know you know it: User-Generate Content! You pick what you read. You pick what you see. No more top down, force feed information you don’t care about. If you care about it, you can write about it, then read about it. Released to the public yesterday, Wattpad offers just that, user-generated content but with a twist! Wattpad is the first company to provide a platform to discover, read, share and request stories on mobile phones; so you can take what you want, to go.
With Wattpad, mobile users can easily discover targeted and community recommended stories through Wattpad’s mobile application. The stories will become instantly available worldwide through web browser interface on PCs or through Wattpad’s Java-based application on mobile phones. Through tagging, the stories can easily be discovered by interested community members.
Tip: I highly recommend you filter by language.
Suggested Reading: If I may, and you have an extended amount of time in front of your mobile, perhaps on the way to and from work… you may want to check out Life of Pi. It is a MUST read and on the Wattpad site.
Resembles: Digg.com
Overall, I think it will be interesting to see how this community develops… what kind of niche it carves out.
While at CTIA I had the pleasure of meeting with David Wood (Executive Vice President of Research) and Nigel Clifford (CEO) of Symbian. No big announcements where made, some new flashy phones where shown but over all it was just three mobile technology enthusiasts sitting down to talk about the business that they love as if sitting down for afternoon tea. It was utterly delightful. We even watched a little bit of the “The Office” together on a Nokia N-70 device.
One of the big topics of conversation was Symbian’s infiltration into the US market. Well, when I mean “infiltration” I am talking more about an infiltration of “presence,” more than anything. Most American’s using Sony Ericsson or Nokia phones have been using a the Symbian operating system for a while now without even knowing it… but even users of those two brands are in the minority here, especially when compared to Motorola. When it comes to thinking about the actual operating systems here in the States most people just think of it as “Windows Mobile vs Palm vs Blackberry vs Other Cell Phone formats.”
Symbian is aware of this and it is interesting, at least to me, to know that they are thinking about it. Nevertheless, from what I got out of the meeting… a lot of Symbian’s ecosystem presence in the States relies on their partner Nokia which delivers a majority of the devices that run the Symbian OS. Nokia is the worlds largest cell phone manufacturer but while their presence in the States is substantial there is still a lot of room to grow. There is a lot of hints out there that Nokia is gearing up to take over the American market and Symbian plans to go along for the ride. At the show, for example, one of the bigger news stories was the relies of a $145 dollar Nokia E70 on Cingular which runs Symbians popular S60 3rd addition operating system. This blackberry killer, as they are calling it, is deffinitly going to call attention the Symbian OS to the minds of many Americans. And while the E60 is an “enterprise solution mobile device” (i.e made for business use) I think you will start to see many users of a younger hiper crowd picking up on Symbian’s power. This is especially the case with phones such as the Nokia’s various N Series music, picture, television and video phones. “But I still would not expect to see a Symbian advertisement during the Superbowl,” Nigel Clifford tells me. And then he added with a smile, “Maybe Nokia will… but we are just focused on making the experience of using the mobile device the best it possibly can be.” I would add that that is why Nokia has been working with Symbian for so long, superior user experience mixed always with a room for ingenuity.
I mean (and as we discussed) there is a reason why phones running the Symbian OS are always some of the first to get incorporated into a Mac iSync update (and why there is always such a high demand for such a service when a new phone running Symbian comes out). If you think about what the average Mac user represents in the technology community and what that means in terms of why so many of them are using Symbian devices (and want them to sync with their Macs) then you will get a pretty good idea of why they call the Symbian OS “the DNA of mobile devices.”
UPDATE: Carlo over Mobhappy spoke to some people at Symbian and has a similar story to report.
Just came from a meeting with the mobile software developer UIEvolution which offers innovative cross-platform technology to ensure that mobile users worldwide can access content from any device and any network. Only a few hours before my meeting with them they announced that they are taking their “write once, run anywhere” mobile moto to the social networking world by teaming up with Myspace to create a Myspace mobile platform. UIEvolution offers innovative cross-platform technology to ensure that mobile users worldwide can access content from any device and any network and UIEvolution’s work is another step towards making the MySpace experience wirelessly accessible to a growing community of members worldwide.
UIEvolution is a trusted partner for major media companies and consumer brands extending their brands to the mobile space. They have made some pretty nifty mobile applications for IMDB (the movie database) and is the main player behind the ESPN Mobile platform… amongst many many others.
Apparently, MySpace approached UIEvolution asking for a “graphical mobile version of MySpace,” says Travis Beaven the Director of Consumer Products Studio at UIE. “The wanted something that extends the user Myspace experience to the phone.” That is all Beaven could really tell me. When pressed on what features we might expect to find on MySpace Mobile, such as mobile to web, all Beaven could say was that they have done “server interaction’s in the manner of you are describing.” In other words, we may see some sort of mobile to web stuff going on as well, which would, in my opinion, be a major feature in any mobile myspace application and usage.
There is an official press release floating around on business wire somewhere…. cant find it and have to run to an other interview. Just wanted to get the word out.
I am honored, of course, that MOpocket has made the cut.
For now the easiest way to download the product is to point your phone’s browser to http://cv.mwap.at. Or if you’re a download-and-sych-to-your-phone kind of person, point your computer’s browser here, and if you need the Palm version, get it here.
I would hope or imagine that the COTM would take advantage of technologies like Mozes or TextMark to create an easy WapPush solution.
Most phones are supported, but it doesn’t work on Verizon (surprise) and if you have a Treo, you’ll need to download Java . For a more complete guide to compatibility, click here. Above you can see a pic of it working on my N-70.
As an amateur musician / guitar player from a family of amateur musicians I guess you could say that I have been waiting for an application like this for a long long time. Yamaha’s Musicians Companion (really, I guess you could say Guitarists Companion) is one of the phone applications that just makes sense to musicians… why should I not have a chord reference, metronome and pitch pipe (for tuning) on my phone.
The project is only one of what Yanaha Wireless says will be a slew of mobile applications for musicians. The Musician’s Companion is available for a one-time $9.99 purchase, which via Bango can be charged directly to your monthly cell phone bill .
It was really easy to install, extremely easy to use and every musician I have showed it to has wanted it immediately… which was really easy to do because the program, being from Cascada Mobile, is equipped with Cascada’s extremely viral “tell a friend” feature which allows me to sing a SMS wap push to any of my friends for them to download.
My only complaint about the whole process was that nowhere did they say which phones supported the platform. The website shows Music Companion running on a Motorola Razr. I gambled and paid the 9.99 to try and download it on my N70. It worked. But Yamaha really should put a “supporting phones” info on the website.
What I also would have like to see on the application would be an actual tuner that showed you and guided you back to tuned bliss instead of just trying to tune to a pitch guide.
I have seen these for a PC so I know its possible
Other than that, a really cool and obvious feature. Get it and rock on!
A very smart necessary and inevitable product feature from Nokia. Now you can update the software / operating system on your phone. Nokia’s Software Updater allows users to update and check for updates on their phone via a PC connection. Great! But once again us Mac users get nubbed.
For now, the supported handsets for this magical ability include the Nokia N70, N72, 6131, 6630, 6680, 6681 and 6682. I will also have you note that the Nokia 6131 supports Over-The-Air updates.
A recent article by Carlo on MobHappy on being able to receive and respond to text messages via a computer, reminded me of a service that I often use but never blogged about here on MOPocket. I would say that I have been using Salling Clicker (click here for PC version), a software provided by Salling Software, for almost two years now… first on my Treo 650 and later on the various S60 Nokia phones I have had the pleasure of having.
Salling Clicker essentially turns your supported phone into a remote control allowing you to access and control things on your computer such as iTunes, Keynote or Powerpoint, the DvD player, VLC, QuickTime, Mail, iPhoto, Volume, Sleep and even the Mouse (although this is a lot more easier and fun on the Treo touch screen then on a Nokia). But it does not just act as a remote controlling things on the PC screen. The phone screen itself acts as a third screen and presents the relevant information on there as well. I cant tell you how many times I have gotten into bed and heard my email alarm go off and instead of getting up to see who it is I just picked up my phone, connected to my Mac using Salling Clicker and open the mail. When you play a song from your iTunes using Salling Clickr the song and cover art appear on your phone as well (its also a great way to control your music while hosting a a party at your house).
I also get a lot of ooohs and ahhhs when I use my mobile phone to sift through a power point presentation (slides do not appear on your phone though, an d neither do photos via using the iPhoto remote feature).
Now, besides letting you control virtually every component of your computer with your cell phone like a remote control it also has a few calling and phone like feature that are worth mentioning. Phones that are capable of handling what is Salling is calling “Phone Events” allow a user to activate proximity and phone call monitoring, allowing things like your computer alerting you when you have a call (and sometimes by whom) as well as allowing iTunes, for instance, to pause when you receive that call.
There is also a feature, which is not supported on all phones, but allows you to go into your Address Book and send a text message to a mobile number which transfers through your cell phone via bluetooth connection.
Salling Clicker is one of those products and features that people 10 to 20 years in the future will look back at and say “duh.” They have tapped what the future of mobile should be, a a mobile extension of your PC self. When you get back home and sit in front of your computer all the stuff you do on your mobile should be able to be done from there. In the future I imagine this will happen a lot more seamlessly. Salling Clicker, thus far, is the closest thing that comes to that.
Salling Clickr is the winner of several Mac awards. Its nice to see a mobile application made for Macs first every once in a while.
The user experience is different for everybody as it really depends on your mobile device. Every device is different therefore ever interaction with a various program will be different but Salling has done an amazing job given the plethora of phones they have to work with it. I have used it on 4 phones and have enjoyed each experience.
Installing is pretty much a breeze with a bluetooth connection.
Download Salling Clickr and Buy it now. Current version 3.0.1
