New Windows 8 Logo Is Pure Genius
Microsoft unveiled a new look for the Windows logo for Windows 8. There seems to be a dramatic rise in branding and style experts online, and some significant backlash around the Internet, but all of that misses the point of why the new Windows 8 logo is a brilliant move.
First, let’s catch you up in case you’ve been living a Luddite
existence camping in the Appalachians the last few days. Microsoft
revealed that the logo for Windows 8 rejects the established evolution
of a multi-color flag waving briskly in the digital wind, and instead
opts for a simple rectangle of blue divided vertically and horizontally
by white lines. It looks like…well, it looks like a window. Go figure.
Microsoft has abandoned the multi-colored flag logo for a more austere blue window.No Such Thing as Bad Publicity
Why is the new Windows 8 logo genius? Well, you’re reading this article, that’s why. There is an anecdote that a Ronald Reagan campaign strategist was once asked if he was concerned about negative ads being run by the former President’s opponent. His response was that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
The brain is a wondrous and complex organism, but in some ways it operates on a surprisingly simple binary level. Just look at the number of people who vote in local elections based on the candidate with the most yard signs. They don’t know anything about the candidates at all, but make some sort of connection that more yard signs somehow equates to a better choice.
Love it or hate it, the new Windows 8 logo is front and center in the public consciousness. It is being discussed and debated throughout the Web and around the world. When the dust settles, all that will remain is the fact that everyone is very familiar with the new Windows 8 logo, and instantly associates the blue, four-paned rectangle with Microsoft’s flagship operating system.
Even Kids Can “Read” Logos
Logos matter because they are easily and instantly associated with the brand. Long before children can actually read words and sentences they are able to “read” a wide variety of signs and symbols.
No words are necessary--everyone knows what the "golden arches" represent.Some
are purely symbols, like the golden arches of McDonald’s, or the
“swoosh” on the side of a pair of Nike shoes. Some logos are also words,
such as Subway, or FedEx, or Pizza Hut. The words become irrelevant,
though, because it’s the colors and style of the word that registers in
the brain as a connection to the brand the logo represents.
The logo is a symbol that is easily recognized, and immediately associated with the brand it represents. The dramatic change in the Windows logo is a not-so-subtle hint representing fundamental shift for the operating system itself.
Distinctive Line in the Sand
You may ask, “If the logo is so important to brand recognition, why would Microsoft reject its established brand and start over?”
It’s a fair question. I don’t have any inside information from Microsoft, and I don’t claim to have the answers. But, my guess is that Microsoft wants to establish that Windows 8 is “not your daddy’s Windows.”
It is drawing a line in the proverbial sand marking a fundamental shift for Windows as Microsoft strives to adapt to the changing times and embrace a more hardware-agnostic future that spans desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. It is a statement that Windows is evolving, and that it is more than the “Wintel” PC you’re used to.
There are many who dislike the Windows operating system and have a negative perception of it, and many who love Windows and cling to the Windows XP they bought a decade ago. The new logo achieves a simple goal for both of those groups—it provides a distinctive image instantly recognizable as Windows 8, but also creates some separation from previous versions of Windows and sends a clear signal that this is a new Windows.
If Microsoft would have tweaked the established Windows logo—perhaps having the “flag” furl in a different direction—there would still be some purists who would complain, but at the end of the day it would be just another Windows logo. Nobody would really care, and it wouldn’t get this kind of attention.
The new Windows 8 logo is pure genius. It has captured attention, it is driving discussion, and it has clearly established itself in just a few days as a unique, distinguished symbol of the future of Windows.
Microsoft has abandoned the multi-colored flag logo for a more austere blue window.No Such Thing as Bad PublicityWhy is the new Windows 8 logo genius? Well, you’re reading this article, that’s why. There is an anecdote that a Ronald Reagan campaign strategist was once asked if he was concerned about negative ads being run by the former President’s opponent. His response was that there is no such thing as bad publicity.
The brain is a wondrous and complex organism, but in some ways it operates on a surprisingly simple binary level. Just look at the number of people who vote in local elections based on the candidate with the most yard signs. They don’t know anything about the candidates at all, but make some sort of connection that more yard signs somehow equates to a better choice.
Love it or hate it, the new Windows 8 logo is front and center in the public consciousness. It is being discussed and debated throughout the Web and around the world. When the dust settles, all that will remain is the fact that everyone is very familiar with the new Windows 8 logo, and instantly associates the blue, four-paned rectangle with Microsoft’s flagship operating system.
Even Kids Can “Read” Logos
Logos matter because they are easily and instantly associated with the brand. Long before children can actually read words and sentences they are able to “read” a wide variety of signs and symbols.
No words are necessary--everyone knows what the "golden arches" represent.Some
are purely symbols, like the golden arches of McDonald’s, or the
“swoosh” on the side of a pair of Nike shoes. Some logos are also words,
such as Subway, or FedEx, or Pizza Hut. The words become irrelevant,
though, because it’s the colors and style of the word that registers in
the brain as a connection to the brand the logo represents.The logo is a symbol that is easily recognized, and immediately associated with the brand it represents. The dramatic change in the Windows logo is a not-so-subtle hint representing fundamental shift for the operating system itself.
Distinctive Line in the Sand
You may ask, “If the logo is so important to brand recognition, why would Microsoft reject its established brand and start over?”
It’s a fair question. I don’t have any inside information from Microsoft, and I don’t claim to have the answers. But, my guess is that Microsoft wants to establish that Windows 8 is “not your daddy’s Windows.”
It is drawing a line in the proverbial sand marking a fundamental shift for Windows as Microsoft strives to adapt to the changing times and embrace a more hardware-agnostic future that spans desktops, laptops, tablets, and smartphones. It is a statement that Windows is evolving, and that it is more than the “Wintel” PC you’re used to.
There are many who dislike the Windows operating system and have a negative perception of it, and many who love Windows and cling to the Windows XP they bought a decade ago. The new logo achieves a simple goal for both of those groups—it provides a distinctive image instantly recognizable as Windows 8, but also creates some separation from previous versions of Windows and sends a clear signal that this is a new Windows.
If Microsoft would have tweaked the established Windows logo—perhaps having the “flag” furl in a different direction—there would still be some purists who would complain, but at the end of the day it would be just another Windows logo. Nobody would really care, and it wouldn’t get this kind of attention.
The new Windows 8 logo is pure genius. It has captured attention, it is driving discussion, and it has clearly established itself in just a few days as a unique, distinguished symbol of the future of Windows.
Windows 8 and Android Jelly Bean: To wait or not to wait?
Windows 8 is hoping to merge tablet touch screens into our desktops, laptops and whatever hybrid devices we might be using a year from now. Meanwhile, Google is allegedly already at work on Android 5.0 Jelly Bean and is looking to further integrate its mobile OS with Windows 8. It's a lot to look forward to, but where does that leave us for the rest of 2012?
In my case, my old Windows laptop is on its last legs--as is my much-abused Android phone. It's time to buy new hardware, but unfortunately we're stuck in an awkward in-between time for both operating systems and hardware.
Last month at CES in Las Vegas, I had a chance to play with the perhaps too cleverly named Yoga from Lenovo--it's a laptop with a keyboard and touch screen. The keyboard folds all the way around nearly 360 degrees to transform into a de facto tablet.
With the Yoga in my hand, a single thought repeated itself in my head--so, this is what Windows 8 is meant for!
Fujitsu: Windows 8 set for Q4?
Touting its upcoming notebooks and tablets in a press
conference yesterday, the company displayed one slide that showed a Windows 8
launch destined for "Q4 2012". Revealed by Italian blogging site Netbook
Italia (English translation), the slide also showed a tablet with a
Metro user interface, suggesting that Fujitsu is prepping a Windows 8 tablet
for the same timeframe.
In fact, as some reports have
pointed out, the slide may actually be referring specifically to the debut of
the Fujitsu tablet, meaning that the new version of Windows could hit the
streets before the fourth quarter.
Microsoft has yet to reveal an
official launch date for Windows 8. Last May, CEO Steve Ballmer mentioned 2012
as the year of Windows 8's debut, although his own company quickly shot him
down, calling his comments a "misstatement".
The Windows 8 Consumer Preview,
essentially Microsoft's beta edition, will arrive on 29 February. Unless
Microsoft is forced to make major changes based on user feedback or other
issues, it's a safe bet that the final version will see the light of day by the
end of 2012. But whether that happens in the fourth quarter may still be up in
the air.
The actual launch date could even be
a moving target at this point, based on how quickly Microsoft can ramp up the
new OS, and how many changes it might need to make before the product is
official.
Fujitsu did not immediately respond
to CNET's request for comment. A representative for Microsoft said that
the company has nothing to share at this time.
With its focus on the Metro UI and a
touch-based interface, Windows 8 has already touched a nerve among desktop
users, who are feeling left out.
Based solely on the Developer
Preview released in September, many PC users expressed dismay that the new OS
would be less than friendly when used with a simple mouse and keyboard.
In response to user complaints,
Microsoft has tweaked some aspects of the Metro UI and other elements. The
company has also reminded people that the Developer Preview was just an initial
taste of Windows as a work in progress. It's promised that the Consumer Preview
and final version will offer greater functionality and ease of use, especially
for its loyal PC users.
Apple Speeds Mac ‘Mountain Lion’ to Take On Windows 8
Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. will release an
upgrade to its Mac operating system later this year, making its laptops
and desktops more like iPhones and iPads just as Microsoft Corp.
prepares a new version of its competing Windows software.
A preliminary version of the new software, dubbed
“Mountain Lion,” will be made available to developers today, Phil
Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of product marketing, said in an
interview. He didn’t disclose pricing for the upgrade, which will be
available only via download from Apple’s online Mac App Store. Mountain
Lion will be widely released in late summer, he said.
Like its predecessor, called “Lion,” the new
operating system is designed to make Macs feel more like Apple’s mobile
devices, which use an operating system called iOS. Windows 8, built to
work on both traditional keyboard-centric computers and touch-based
devices, represents Microsoft’s attempt to come from behind in the
market for tablets such as the iPad.
Mountain Lion -- version 10.8 of the Mac’s OS X
operating system -- comes more closely on the heels of its predecessor
than other updates. While each of the last four Mac upgrades has come
about two years after its predecessor, Version 10.7 was released just
seven months ago.
Schiller said Apple was able to get an early
start on Mountain Lion because of all the work done to prepare Lion,
which reviewers said marked the most sweeping changes in OS X since its
2001 inception. He said the company has so far shipped 19 million copies
of Lion, making it the company’s best-selling release ever.
Courting Chinese Users
As part of the effort to unify the user
experience, Schiller said, the new Mac operating system will replace
Lion’s iChat real-time messaging program with a version of iOS’s
Messages application. The new software will let Mac users exchange text
messages with iOS devices, as well as continue conversations seamlessly
from one device to another.
Mountain Lion also expands Apple’s iCloud service
to let Mac users access and share saved documents across the Internet,
as well as letting them create and access reminders and notes, and
receive notifications, on all their Apple devices.
The new software also provides the ability for
users to easily share information on Twitter Inc.’s microblogging
service from within Mac apps, and makes it easier to wirelessly mirror
the Mac’s screen on a large-screen television hooked up to the company’s
Apple TV adapter.
Schiller outlined a host of new features that
will be specific to Chinese users, including changes aimed at making it
easier for them to type in information and access local e-mail
providers. Apple added built-in options to use the Baidu Inc. search
engine, Sina Corp.’s Weibo microblogging service and Youku Inc. and
Tudou Holdings Ltd.’s video sites.
Steve Jobs is gone, Windows 8 is coming and Apple panics
I was surprised Apple announced the developer preview of OS X 10.8 yesterday. There is something curiously odd how they went about this, and I believe it has everything to do with the company everyone loves to hate on -- Microsoft.
Anyone following Apple for any length of time should know they are the king of secrecy. Products are announced when they're ready (there are few public betas), usually during invite-only media events. But not this time. Apple claims they did not want to overdo the whole "announcement event" especially having just hosted the iBooks event. That sounds like a pile of crock to me.
PC-plus Era
What is so different about today that caused such a drastic change in the way Apple announces and delivers a new operating system? They saw what Microsoft is doing with Windows 8 and panicked.
Say what you want about Microsoft’s Windows 8 strategy, there’s no denying it is aggressive and constitutes one of the biggest shifts in computing the tech industry has seen in almost a decade. Microsoft knows the personal computer's relevance is declining -- hence their use of term "PC-plus" when describing this new era of computing. What we know about Windows 8 and leaked information about Windows Phone 8 confirms their PC-plus mentality. As we will see in Windows 8, the PC becomes a key player along with the phone and TV (Xbox) in productivity and communications.
Apple and Microsoft are attempting to arrive at the same destination from different directions. That destination is mobile computing through device agnostic services and software. The goal: That we as users be able to consume and create content regardless of whether we are mobile or stationary.
Microsoft and Apple have invested much resources in developing continuous services such as sync, continuous communications like FaceTime and Skype and powerful mobile computing capabilities. Microsoft, in making Windows the hub for their PC-plus strategy, instantly has an advantage: Incumbency. Add to that cloud connectivity and sync, parity with Windows Phone and Xbox and ability to run powerful applications, and multiplayer gaming among devices.
The Cat Behind Windows
Take a look at the 10 features Apple revealed about Mountain Lion and compare those Microsoft boasts about Windows 8. Apple is trying to do everything in their power to keep Mac, iPad and iPhone relevant. If that means going to market quickly with features that were planned further down the pipeline, then that’s what they have to do.
Notice how much of iOS they are integrating into OS X: Game Center; Messages; Notification Center; and Reminders. Microsoft has already demoed or mentioned similar services in Windows 8. Game Center is the most telling. Apparently Apple is planning for real-time multiplayer gaming between Apple devices. I don’t believe they are simply copying Microsoft here because this seems to be the way the industry was headed.
My theory is that Apple needed to do something quickly to respond to what Microsoft is doing with Windows 8. This is why we are seeing this new operating system announced as a developer preview in February with a general release in “late summer”.
Windows 8 and its bundled services suddenly makes the iPad, and Mac look less attractive. This smells of panic on the part of Apple, who wants to stay ahead or at least have parity with Windows 8. I think what Microsoft demoed about Windows 8 in September and what has been leaked so far about Windows Phone 8 caused many people to realize OS strategy is not only on the right track but is moving quickly and aggressively to advance the platforms.
Apple will probably release OS X 10.8 long before Windows 8 ships. I can already hear the Apple pundits screaming about how Microsoft overtly copied features of 10.8 that had already been announced for some time. It seems odd to me that the company that coined the term “Post-PC era” is suddenly so “PC-plus” in their strategy.
Windows 8's Private API - WOA For Developers
Third party developers face a problem when it comes to Windows 8 on ARM (WOA). The "MetroTop" - part Metro part desktop apps that run on any ARM-based Windows 8 device rely on an API that is available only to Microsoft. Is this deliberate policy and can it be tolerated?
Back in the early days of Windows it was the case that Microsoft gained and advantage over other programmers by making use of internal APIs. Given the size and complexity of an operating system it seems reasonable that there should be undocumented systems, or rather systems that are not publicly documented. However, it is a very different matter if those undocumented APIs suddenly start being used by the Microsoft application developers. When this happens it is clear that the playing field is far from level.
Back in 2000 Microsoft faced an anti-trust case because of its practice of bundling Internet Explorer with Windows. This was said to disadvantage the competing browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Opera. There was also the accusation that Microsoft was using secret APIs to give Internet Explorer an edge over the rest. Microsoft disputed that it was using secret APIs, but nevertheless they were ordered to separate Windows and Internet Explorer and to make the APIs public. The monitoring of Microsoft's behaviour was extended twice but finally came to an end in May of last year (2011). It is argued that this won't make much difference because of the precedent and because Microsoft doesn't want to go though the experience a second time.
But consider the situation with Windows 8 for a moment and things don't seem quite so simple.
First it is important to know that Windows 8 is like two operating systems spliced together at the Start menu. Windows 8 desktop is like Windows 7 and not much has changed.
Windows 8 WinRT/Metro is new and it is the part of the system that is targeting touch platforms. You can create a Windows 8 desktop app using the well-known Win32 API or a WinRT/Metro app using the new API. As long as the hardware you are running things on is x86/64 then everything works. Even on a tablet, as long as it uses an Intel processor, then you get the whole system Desktop and Metro.
The problems start when the hardware is based on an ARM processor - and you can expect most Windows 8 tablets to be based on ARM processors and all Windows Phone 8 systems are going to be ARM-based.
Windows On Arm, or WOA, is different from Windows on x86 in that the traditional Desktop/Win32 environment will not be available - only WinRT/Metro apps will run on WOA and hence on most tablets and phones.
If this is where the story ended there would be no problem. There would be some disappointment that WOA didn't run desktop apps but everything would be simple and on ARM machines Windows 8 would be WinRT/Metro only.
However Microsoft is planning to make a selection of desktop apps available including IE10. These apps will use APIs not available to standard WinRT/Metro apps. Which Win32 API calls are available isn't being made clear and in this sense it is a very non-public API.
Back in the anti-trust days Microsoft denied using secret APIs but now, just a few months after the supervision has ended we have Microsoft making public that its own ARM apps are using secret APIs that aren't available to the rest of us.
Microsoft is also creating Metro apps that run at a different privilege level and can do things that standard Metro style apps can't. For example, Metro IE10 runs at a higher privilege level - the same level that a desktop app runs at - making it a sort of "MetroTop" app.
So when Mozilla, Google and Opera come to port their browsers to WOA they will be disadvantaged because they can only create pure Metro style apps.
Mozilla is already speculating on how to create a more full-functioned browser that can go head to head with Metro IE10 and it is also clear that Microsoft isn't providing any clues.
However, the same argument applies not only to browsers but to all of the other apps that Microsoft might make available in MetroTop form or as WOA desktop apps. For example, will LibreOffice be given details of the secret APIs to port its office suite to compete with Microsoft Office on WOA? And what about the rest of us?
It is bad enough that Microsoft is going to play the role of gatekeeper when it comes to WOA applications - as all WinRT apps have to be installed from the Windows 8 market place - but to keep a whole section of that market for themselves is plain wrong.
There could well be technical reasons why Microsoft isn't keen on allowing the details of the MetroTop or Win32 API out into the wide world. It might well be that converting the Win32 API to ARM is very messy and best kept hidden, but to use it internally and deny others access is a return to the ways of the evil empire, even if unintentionally.
Windows 8's five biggest enemies
Summary: There
are lots of reasons why I think Windows 8 will having trouble finding
acceptance. A major one is that Windows 8 will face more competition
than ever before. Here are Windows 8’s biggest rivals.
Windows 8 biggest rivals are already hitting it.
I’ve already explained in general terms I think Windows 8 will follow in Vista’s footprints as a strategic failure. Here’s specifically, from least important to most important, are the operating systems and platforms that will ensure Windows 8 be a non-starter.
5. The Linux & Mac Desktops
What? You thought I was going to say that the Linux and/or Mac desktops were going to rise up from their combined less than 10% of the desktop marketplace and smite Windows 8? Please. Contrary to Windows fanatics’ view of me, I’m not a Linux fanboy. I just like what works.
Specifically, I think the Linux desktop is the best for power users and I think the Mac desktop is best for people who just want an easy to use desktop. Thanks though to Microsoft’s illegal desktop monopoly in the 90s, its rivals never had a chance to flourish and to this day they’ve never been able to catch up. Windows 8 won’t increase Windows’ PC market-share, but it will only cause a slight decrease on the desktop, not a catastrophic decline. Unfortunately for Microsoft, Windows 8 has far more bigger rivals to worry about.
4. Google Chrome Operating System and the cloud
What’s far more dangerous to Microsoft’s desktop monopoly is Google’s Linux-based Chrome operating system. It’s not that Chrome and Chromebooks have taken off. They haven’t. Google has had only had minimal success selling Chromebooks.
So why do I think Chrome OS is going to be a bigger threat to Windows 8 than traditional desktops rivals? Because Chrome OS PCs are cheaper than Windows for businesses; Google’s applications offer most of the same functionality of Windows applications for less; and it’s more secure than Windows.
It’s not just Chrome OS though that’s the threat to Windows. It’s the whole concept of being able to use a Web browser and the cloud for everything you need to do and that you want to do. When you can do whatever you want with the Chrome Web browser, on any operating system now, or Chrome OS, which is just the Chrome Web browser running on a minimal Linux core, do you really need to pay for a Windows PC? For many companies, the answer is becoming “no.”
3. The iPad and Android tablets
What Microsoft really wants to do with Windows 8 isn’t to get you to switch from Windows 7 or XP. No, it’s to get use to use Windows 8 and Metro on your tablets and smartphones. Good luck with that Microsoft. People are buying iPads like crazy; people are already drooling over the forthcoming iPad 3; and after several false starts Android tablets are finally getting off the ground. Microsoft isn’t even in the race yet and they’re falling farther behind by the day.
Worse still, according to NPD In-Stat’s latest tablet report, The Business of Tablets: Tablet Usage in US Business, tablet use has begun its crossover from the consumer world into the workplace. The most common business uses of tablets are email/calendar management, note taking, and presentations, with 77% reporting email as a common workplace use.
Do you really think that Microsoft including limited versions of Office applications on Windows 8 “Lite” ARM powered tablets will really make a difference? I don’t.
Let’s even say you can’t imagine not using Microsoft Office applications. So what? You do know that you can run the full Office suite today on your iPad with OnLive Desktop today right? And, there’s already at least half-a-dozen other office applications for the iPad and, of course, there’s always Google Docs for Android or iPads.
So, here we have Microsoft arriving late to the tablet battle with an interface, Metro, that in its Windows Phone 7x line, has captured a mere 1.5% of the smartphone marketplace. So tell me exactly how Microsoft, which is not a distant third, but a distant sixth–behind not just Android and iOS, but Symbian, RIM and Bada as well–in smartphones can possibly catch up.
2. Windows XP
So much for Microsoft on the tablet and smartphone, but what about the PC? Well, what about it? You do know that XP has just just been overtaken by Windows 7 right? Earlier today I was on a video-conference call with a Fortune 50 technology company. The senior VP on the call did his presentation on, wait for it, an XP system.
Many users and companies think “If it’s not broke, why fix it?” They’re right, of course. For hundreds of millions of users XP will works.
1. Windows 7
But the number one reason with a bullet why Windows 8 is going to start up like a car hubcap deep in red-clay mud without any gas is that business customers still haven’t even completed their Windows 7 roll-outs. Do you really think businesses are going to do another major migration in 2013? 2014? Heck, 2015!? I don’t think so!
Besides do businesses really want to waste time and money moving to the Windows 8 Metro applications? Training their staff on the entirely different Metro interface? There’s no way businesses will be moving to Windows 8 anytime soon.
So, at the end of the day, besides all the other reasons I see for Windows 8’s forthcoming failure, I see Windows 8’s biggest rivals being the rise of Web-browser/cloud-based computers; it’s failure to keep up with Apple and Google on smartphones and tablets, but most of all, its own installed base is simply not ready to switch to Windows 8.
If Windows 8 brought something truly new and wonderful to its users, then maybe it could overcome all this. It doesn’t. To me, the real question isn’t whether Windows 8 will fail. It will. It’s whether by 2016 the changing IT would will have room left for Windows 9 to matter at all.
Windows 8 Beta Launch To Gather Feedback, Win Converts - CFO
The goal of the forthcoming beta release of Windows 8 is to gather consumer feedback on the new operating system, Microsoft Corp.'s (MSFT) chief financial officer said Wednesday.
Peter Klein told the audience at a Goldman Sachs technology conference in San Francisco that Microsoft gave developers a preview of the new operating system in fall and will add consumers to the audience with a so-called "consumer release" later this month. The staged introduction will allow users to "absorb what is new in Windows 8 and why it really builds on traditional value," said Klein.
Windows 8, which isn't expected to go into commercial release until late this year, is designed to position Microsoft in the fast-growing tablet market dominated by Apple Inc.'s (AAPL) iPad and products that run Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android software. Windows 8 is critical to Microsoft's mobile future and insiders say it represents the most dramatic overhall of the operating system since release of Windows 95, 16 years ago.
Feedback from developers and soon consumers will help Microsoft create the best user experience with the device at home and at work, "and potentially get traction for Windows in both places," said Klein.
Early this month Microsoft also moved to streamline marketing responsibilities between its central marketing group and its business units. The changes led to the elimination of about 200 jobs.
Klein said the "explosion" of consumer technology devices obscures the fact that communication is at the core of the trend. Cloud services that move software and data storage onto remote computer servers are making it possible to connect various devices more easily. Web search, cloud services and entertainment all contribute to communication and all are areas Microsoft is investing in.
"These are the factors that are causing growth over the next three to five years, and where we see really double-digit growth across the board," he said.
Klein said the trends benefit Microsoft's Bing search engine and its phone partnership with Nokia Corp. (NOK). Microsoft intends to keep winning market share in search and increasing its revenue per search.
And to critics who say Microsoft is too far behind in phones, Klein said "it's not too late." The phone market changes over time and its partnership with Nokia and others has put Microsoft in the game, and Microsoft intends to stick with it, he said.
Communication is the unifying feature of the mobile world, said Klein, and through its acquisition of Skype, Microsoft has the ability to expand it further. Microsoft devices from its Xbox game console to Windows Phone and Windows 8 tablet computers are becoming a cohesive consumer product experience, he said. Weave Skype's voice and video communications throughout that experience and Microsoft has the potential to play an even bigger role in consumer and enterprise communication.
iPad, Windows 8 top ANZ infrastructure spend in 2012: IDC Analyst firm shares its top 10 ANZ ICT infrastructure trends
The Australia and New Zealand ICT infrastructure
market will be characterised by changing investment priorities due to
economic conditions, according to the latest predictions from IDC
Australia.
IDC Australian senior analyst,
Trevor Clarke, said in a statement that while the Australian market is
resilient to the economic woes of other regions, it is not immune and
companies are likely to hedge their bets when investing in ICT
infrastructure this year.
The following represents the top 10 key ANZ infrastructure predictions from IDC for 2012:
1.Android smartphones will take over Apple iOS in 2012
2012 will set the stage for an intense client operating system (OS) battle for smartphones.
2.Apple iPad will maintain its dominance in the media tablets market
Apple will hold the number one spot despite Android growing at a faster rate of 36.2 per cent year-over-year (YOY) with iOS tailing at 8.8 per cent YOY growth.
3.Windows 8 will help the PC market stay resilient in 2012 and beyond
The release of Windows 8 in the second half of 2012
will set in motion the extension of personal computing beyond
conventional platforms and form factors while also fuelling enterprise
mobility.
4.2012 will be the year channel partners take managed print services to the SMB market
Channel
partners will increase the penetration of Managed Print Service (MPS)
in small and medium-sized businesses (SMB). IDC expects MPS revenue to
increase by 15 per cent in 2012.
5.Client virtualization to broaden to mobile virtualization as a result of bring your own devices (BYODs)
IDC believes in 2012, corporate users will introduce more consumer mobile device types than IT could effectively manage.
6.Mobility will come of age in Australia
Mobility
will be at the top of the CIO priority list in 2012, and it can be
either in the form of application requirements or hardware device
strategies in the workspace. IDC predicts commercial media tablets
adoption in Australia to rise to more than 14.5 per cent of total
shipments by 2013.
7.Opportunities in the mining sector for high performance computing (HPC) in the Cloud will accelerate in 2012
According to IDC, there will be an accelerated deployment of HPC in the Cloud by mining, oil and gas organisations in 2012.
8.Server platform decisions to dominate in 2012
IDC
believes organisations will increasingly focus on evaluating server
platform opportunities for their workloads with a view to minimise
costly islands of technology and instead focus on scalability and
reliability.
9.Data variety will become a manageable entity in the enterprise
IDC expects a newer wave of platforms to emerge, both hardware and software, to address the Big Data opportunity.
10.2012 will be the year enterprises automate their environments en mass
IT employment, now at 35 million, will grow by a factor of 1.3 worldwide during 2010–2014.
“This
is a constraint in an industry that will grow by a factor of 1.1 by
spending but by more than two by devices managed, five by information
created, and eight by networked interactions between customers,” Clarke
said.
Nvidia's Tegra 3 plan: Superphones, Android tablets soon, Windows 8 later
Huang: Always optimistic about Android tablets
Related: Nvidia Q4 revenue beats lowered expectations, misses outlook
Nvidia’s sales expectations for Tegra 3 were noted on the company’s fourth quarter conference call. CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said:
Tegra 3 tablets are starting to ramp in the marketplace. But this quarter, we are expecting to announce and ship Tegra 3 based superphones. And rumors of them are starting to — and excitement about them is starting to leak. But at Mobile World Congress is when we expect to announce these devices. And we’ll expect to announce and ship them this quarter. And so we’re expecting Q1 to be a sharp uptick in Tegra sales and shipments. Our expectation is Windows 8 is later in the year. And Microsoft has given their estimates about Windows 8, and our expectation is that there will be meaningful contributions from Windows 8 later in the year, starting probably in Q3.The challenge for Nvidia’s Tegra 3 plans are that the tablets are largely based on Android, an OS that hasn’t dented Apple’s iPad juggernaut, and Windows 8, which may not become a tablet superstar either.
Huang, however, noted that Windows 8 isn’t expected to account for the vast majority of the company’s growth rate in the year ahead. Those comments indicate that Huang things Android will lead a tablet charge. Huang added:
We have now three generations of Android operating systems and devices behind us. We have 10s and 10s of smartphones and 10s of tablets. We have engagements with nearly every single Tier 1 OEM in the world on the mobile side, as well as on the computing side. And so I think that, this was a pretty big year from that perspective. And because of that traction and because of that — the success we’ve seen, we think it’s really makes sense for us to double down on mobile computing, and go after it in a big way. And so we’re going to have a lot more product this year than last. And you’re going to see that we’re going to have tablet devices, as well as tablet processors, as well as integrated processors with modems. So this is — this is an aggressive investment surely, but it’s a very big market opportunity as you know.Overall, Huang sounded like he was focused on China for volume as well as a good reception for Windows 8 on ARM and Android Ice Cream Sandwich. The other elephant on Nvidia’s conference call was the fact that the chipmaker’s key partners don’t include Apple and Samsung, two device makers running away with the mobile market.
Huang concluded:
Ice Cream Sandwich addressed a lot of the challenges that the tablet industry had, Android had last year, with fragmentation. But now with Ice Cream Sandwich, your phone is Ice Cream Sandwich, your tablet is Ice Cream Sandwich, all the applications that come off of the marketplace can work on both. So I think the unification, it is the only operating system that allows that today, and so that’s — that I think is a great advance for the tablet market. And then lastly, at $249, if we can bring a quad core, if we can bring Tegra 3 to $249. And for those people who have seen it and have touched it, that tablet’s going to sell like hotcakes we believe, because it’s the right price point, it’s completely general purpose, and it’s state-of-the=art. So we have reasons to believe that this tablet market is far from over, and that there’s a lot of interesting opportunities and differentiation to be brought to this market yet.The challenge for Huang is that we’ve heard these pronouncements from Nvidia before and things didn’t exactly play out according to his script.
ViewSonic Releasing Windows 8 Tablet in 2Q12?
ViewSonic claims it's launching a Windows 8 tablet in the Taiwan market during the second quarter of 2012.
There's crazy talk going on over at DigiTimes,
as Max Liu, product marketing director of ViewSonic Asia Pacific,
claims the company plans to launch a Windows 8-based tablet in the
Taiwan market during the second quarter of 2012. That means a 10-inch
tablet sporting Windows 8 will be launched sometime between April and
June, and before Microsoft actually launches the new OS worldwide.
What's likely to happen -- and this is just speculation -- is that ViewSonic will release a tablet with Windows 8 Consumer Preview pre-installed, making the device substantially cheaper because there's no added cost for the OS. That, unfortunately, will come later when the Preview ends and customers must shell out money for the real deal. At this point there's no telling what's powering the device, but presumably an x86/64-based SoC.
In addition to the Windows 8 tablet in 2Q12, the company also plans to release two to three new tablets in the same timeframe, some of which will sport Google's Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" OS. But before all of that, ViewSonic plans to roll out a 3G version of its ViewPad 10e tablet in March. The new models will join ViewSonic's current tablet helping in Taiwan including the ViewPad 10 and the ViewPad 10e.
Liu said that ViewSonic shipped around 6,000 tablets per month in the Taiwan market during 2011, bolstering it to the #3 position. With the launch of new models in the first half of 2012, Liu sees ViewSonic's tablet market share expanding even more in 2012.
In its brief report, Notebook vendors to offer transforming ultrabooks with touch screens, Digitimes says that "notebook brand vendors including Lenovo, Asustek Computer and Acer, all plan to launch transforming ultrabooks," and that they could appear "as early as July-August 2012, according to sources from the notebook supply chain".
Since Digitimes does not mention the processor, it's assumed these will be standard Intel x86-compatible machines rather than ARM-based models.
As with the Asus Transformer TF-101, vendors may move the Ultrabook's motherboard so that it is behind the LCD display screen (as in a tablet) instead of underneath the keyboard (as in a laptop). However, convertible versions will face a problem: "it could easily flip up the bottom part of the notebook".
The Transformer has a second battery in the doclable keyboard that adds stability and also gives the transformed device up to 16 hours of battery life.
Digitimes notes that "the addition of touch functions will result in 0.7-1.5cm increase in thickness and higher production cost".
The higher cost was a factor in the failure of touch-screen notebooks produced a decade ago to run Microsoft Windows XP Tablet Edition. In late 2011, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was so enthusiastic, he said: "within five years I predict it will be the most popular form of PC sold in America.".
As it turned out, while HP, Lenovo and others still sell excellent models for business users, convertibles have only found a small niche in the education market via Intel's Classmate designs.
@jackschofield
Today's Lenovo X220 convertible tablet PC
There's crazy talk going on over at DigiTimes,
as Max Liu, product marketing director of ViewSonic Asia Pacific,
claims the company plans to launch a Windows 8-based tablet in the
Taiwan market during the second quarter of 2012. That means a 10-inch
tablet sporting Windows 8 will be launched sometime between April and
June, and before Microsoft actually launches the new OS worldwide.What's likely to happen -- and this is just speculation -- is that ViewSonic will release a tablet with Windows 8 Consumer Preview pre-installed, making the device substantially cheaper because there's no added cost for the OS. That, unfortunately, will come later when the Preview ends and customers must shell out money for the real deal. At this point there's no telling what's powering the device, but presumably an x86/64-based SoC.
In addition to the Windows 8 tablet in 2Q12, the company also plans to release two to three new tablets in the same timeframe, some of which will sport Google's Android 4.0 "Ice Cream Sandwich" OS. But before all of that, ViewSonic plans to roll out a 3G version of its ViewPad 10e tablet in March. The new models will join ViewSonic's current tablet helping in Taiwan including the ViewPad 10 and the ViewPad 10e.
Liu said that ViewSonic shipped around 6,000 tablets per month in the Taiwan market during 2011, bolstering it to the #3 position. With the launch of new models in the first half of 2012, Liu sees ViewSonic's tablet market share expanding even more in 2012.
Transforming Ultrabooks coming for Windows 8
PC manufacturers are planning to introduce "transforming" Ultrabooks with multi-touch screens in order to exploit the capabilities of Microsoft Windows 8, according to Taiwan's Digitimes. Asus already sells a Transformer that runs the Android operating system, but Digitimes' sources "noted that most of the transforming designs are rotatable screen models". These have been sold for at least a decade as "convertibles", where the screen rotates and folds over the keyboard to convert a laptop into a tablet. However, they have not been a commercial success.In its brief report, Notebook vendors to offer transforming ultrabooks with touch screens, Digitimes says that "notebook brand vendors including Lenovo, Asustek Computer and Acer, all plan to launch transforming ultrabooks," and that they could appear "as early as July-August 2012, according to sources from the notebook supply chain".
Since Digitimes does not mention the processor, it's assumed these will be standard Intel x86-compatible machines rather than ARM-based models.
As with the Asus Transformer TF-101, vendors may move the Ultrabook's motherboard so that it is behind the LCD display screen (as in a tablet) instead of underneath the keyboard (as in a laptop). However, convertible versions will face a problem: "it could easily flip up the bottom part of the notebook".
The Transformer has a second battery in the doclable keyboard that adds stability and also gives the transformed device up to 16 hours of battery life.
Digitimes notes that "the addition of touch functions will result in 0.7-1.5cm increase in thickness and higher production cost".
The higher cost was a factor in the failure of touch-screen notebooks produced a decade ago to run Microsoft Windows XP Tablet Edition. In late 2011, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates was so enthusiastic, he said: "within five years I predict it will be the most popular form of PC sold in America.".
As it turned out, while HP, Lenovo and others still sell excellent models for business users, convertibles have only found a small niche in the education market via Intel's Classmate designs.
@jackschofield
Today's Lenovo X220 convertible tablet PC
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