Collaborative Strategy Guild » Microsoft

www.outlookindia.com | ‘We Need Active Online Policing By The Citizens’

Peter O'Kelly — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 10:14:00 +0000

Excerpt from an Om Malik interview

Will Microsoft and Windows survive?

Microsoft doesn’t have the wherewithal to cannibalize itself. They keep doing things which are patchwork. But they do a good job of it. They have a huge market, they have a huge market share. Apple, in contrast, will take an existing product and say, yes, we will destroy it. You know that if iPad keeps growing in popularity, computers become an afterthought. But one can’t laugh at Microsoft. They are a very serious company with a really serious revenue base.

www.outlookindia.com | ‘We Need Active Online Policing By The Citizens’

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Microsoft in dispute with OnLive over Windows desktop-on-iPad licensing | ZDNet

Peter O'Kelly — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 21:03:00 +0000

I’m surprised this took so long

Now we know why Microsoft officials refused to discuss whether OnLive — the company offering iPad and Android tablet users a hosted Windows desktop app — was in violation of Microsoft licensing terms.

It seems Microsoft believes they are.

“We are actively engaged with OnLive with the hope of bringing them into a properly licensed scenario, and we are committed to seeing this issue is resolved,” said Joe Matz, Corporate Vice President of Worldwide Licensing and Pricing at Microsoft, in a March 8 blog post.

From today’s post, it seems it took a note from Gartner regarding licensing of OnLive Desktop for Microsoft to finally go public on the question of whether or not what OnLive is doing is legal.

Microsoft in dispute with OnLive over Windows desktop-on-iPad licensing | ZDNet

Microsoft and Apple should hit Amazon, not Google • The Register

Peter O'Kelly — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 10:59:00 +0000

A timely Amazon reality check

Open ... and Shut Amazon is on a roll, and it's no longer just a question of dominating online retailing or public cloud computing. According to a Business Insider article, Amazon is already clearing more than $1bn each year in advertising revenue. This has Google scared. But it probably should have Apple scared, too.

Amazon, after all, is the anti-Apple. Whereas Apple only knows how to do high-margin businesses, Amazon only knows how to do low-margin businesses. Guess which one tends to dominate markets over time?

Microsoft and Apple should hit Amazon, not Google • The Register

Microsoft Mocks Google and—Shocker—Is Funny – Businessweek

Peter O'Kelly — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 11:17:00 +0000

Strange days indeed

The underlying message meant to be conveyed through the videos was “we’re fun-loving nerds and proud of it.” Microsoft wanted to offer proof that it had a kinder, gentler side to counter the public’s impresion of it as the unstoppable dark empire of software. It was the sort of thing that a company would try in an effort to erase years of antitrust hearings, iron-fisted business dealings, and awkward performances from Gates and Ballmer.

Microsoft Mocks Google and---Shocker---Is Funny - Businessweek

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MSN Launches msnNOW to Keep You in the Know [Microsoft News Center]

Peter O'Kelly — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 11:14:00 +0000

Kind of surprising Microsoft introduced this under the MSN brand; also see Microsoft’s MSN Aims to Lure Younger Users by Touting Hot Trends (Bloomberg Businessweek)

Ever feel like you have to jump from site to site in order to piece together what’s happening in the world? Good news for those who like to stay up-to-date on the latest trends — msnNOW, a new service from MSN at now.msn.com, will help you stay in the know. msnNOW is the first service to surface the latest buzz from Facebook, Twitter, Bing and BreakingNews.com, all in one place. It cuts through the clutter of the Web, providing an up-to-the-minute view of breaking trends and the hottest social conversations, what people are saying about them, and why they matter.

More than a quarter of Americans under the age of 30¹get their information from various social media sites. With the influx of content today across the Web it can be challenging to ensure you’re seeing the relevant and credible content that matters most to you. msnNOW is the trusted source that will help make sense of the noise, anytime and from anywhere you’re online.

An example latest-trend story I saw this morning:

MSN Launches msnNOW to Keep You in the Know: Keep up on breaking trends and the hottest buzz from across Facebook, Twitter, Bing and BreakingNews.com — all in one place.

Cisco Appeals EU Approval of Microsoft’s $8.5 Billion Skype Acquistion – Arik Hesseldahl – News – AllThingsD

Peter O'Kelly — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 10:54:00 +0000

Imagine how difficult it would be to keep enterprises locked into proprietary Cisco hardware and software if another vendor offered a compelling and cost-effective alternative

“Imagine how difficult it would be if you were limited to calling people who only use the same carrier or if your phone could only call certain brands and not others,” De Beer wrote. “Cisco wants to avoid this future for video communications,” and so has filed the appeal. Messagenet, a European IP calling service, joined Cisco in filing the appeal. Both had commented to the European Commmission during initial hearings on the deal before it was approved.

Cisco doesn’t want the merger rescinded, but rather wants the EC to impose some interoperability conditions on Microsoft. Part of Microsoft’s plan with Skype has been to combine it with its Lync video and voice calling software for businesses. Both Lync and Skype use their own proprietary calling technologies, and so aren’t compatible with other video and calling services.

Cisco Appeals EU Approval of Microsoft's $8.5 Billion Skype Acquistion - Arik Hesseldahl - News - AllThingsD

Digital Services Seek a Captive Consumer – NYTimes.com

Peter O'Kelly — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 10:34:00 +0000

Excerpt from an overview of the emerging battle of the ecosystems

“It’s not about brands or devices or platforms anymore,” said Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at Gartner. “It’s about the ecosystem. The idea is to get consumers tied into that ecosystem as tightly as possible so they and their content are locked into one system.”

So Facebook, which has half of its users accessing it from mobile devices, has dabbled in phones and is said to be moving even more firmly in that direction. Apple, once just a computer maker, already gets most of its profit from mobile devices and is eyeing televisions, which would play content from iTunes.

Digital Services Seek a Captive Consumer - NYTimes.com

Apple worth more than Google, Microsoft combined – The Washington Post

Peter O'Kelly — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:38:00 +0000

Sign of the times

Apple’s been having a great week in the stock market and is now hovering at $495 per share as of noon Friday. The rally on the market also gave the Cupertino, Calif.-based company some additional bragging rights: As of Thursday morning, Apple’s market cap was bigger than the values of Google and Microsoft combined.

You read that right. Apple’s market cap is around $462 billion as of mid-Friday. Microsoft’s is about $257 billion and Google’s weighs in at about $197 billion.

Apple worth more than Google, Microsoft combined - The Washington Post

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Apple’s iPhone Business Alone Is Now Bigger Than All Of Microsoft [Business Insider]

Peter O'Kelly — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:32:00 +0000

Signs of the times

Tech writer MG Siegler just noted a remarkable fact:

Apple's iPhone business alone is now bigger than Microsoft.

Not Windows. Not Office. Microsoft.

[…]

The iPhone also appears to be considerably more profitable than Microsoft.

In the December quarter, Apple's iPhone business generated $24.4 billion of revenue. Microsoft's whole company, meanwhile, from Windows to Office to servers to XBox, generated $20.9 billion.

If we assume that Apple generates the same operating profit margin on its iPhone business that it generates on its overall business--38%--the iPhone business generated about $9.3 billion of profit in the December quarter.

All of Microsoft, meanwhile, generated only $8.2 billion.

Apple's iPhone Business Alone Is Now Bigger Than All Of Microsoft

Microsoft’s Pays Nokia Millions During Windows Phone Transition – Ina Fried – Mobile – AllThingsD

Peter O'Kelly — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 10:56:00 +0000

I suspect Tim Cook finds this amusing

As part of Thursday’s earnings report, Nokia noted it received $250 million from Redmond in the first of many quarterly “platform support payments.” It’s part of what the company says will ultimately be billions of dollars in support of its shift to Windows Phone.

Nokia also notes that it pays Microsoft royalties on each phone and has guaranteed minimum commitments, an amount it also expects to ultimately be measured in the billions of dollars.

Microsoft's Pays Nokia Millions During Windows Phone Transition - Ina Fried - Mobile - AllThingsD

Continue reading: Microsoft’s Pays Nokia Millions During Windows Phone Transition – Ina Fried – Mobile – AllThingsD