iLuv ships iPhone clock radio with bed shaker

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 01 March 2010 06:25:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

iLuv today made available the latest generation of its iPhone- and iPod-ready clock radios. Unlike ...

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Larry, John, Steve, and Bruce

post from Daring Fireball on 01 March 2010 05:51:00 PM. © Daring Fireball

From the days when Apple’s about boxes gave credit to developers.

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Pioneer intros AV receiver with more iPhone
control

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 01 March 2010 05:50:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

Pioneer on Monday put out a pair of new AV receivers highlighted most by their tight link with Apple...

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Assorted Brief Observations and Thoughts
Regarding Windows Phone 7

post from Daring Fireball on 01 March 2010 05:17:00 PM. © Daring Fireball

They Stopped Digging

Good for Microsoft for starting over with a truly new UI and new developer APIs. There’s an old saying that when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging. Microsoft found themselves in a hole the day Apple unveiled the iPhone, but continued digging for three more years. Better late than never, though.

The Zune UI

Just about any new UI would be better than the existing Windows Mobile UI. But basing the new Windows Phone 7 UI on the Zune raises the question of why they think it’s going to fare any better than, well, the Zune.

The ‘Phone’ in the Name

Renaming the platform from “Windows Mobile” to “Windows Phone 7 Series” makes it even less applicable than ever to non-phone mobiles, like the iPod Touch. I think the iPod Touch is the single greatest strength of the iPhone OS platform. You can argue that phones like the Nexus One and Pre Plus are worthy rivals to the iPhone 3GS, but there is no rival to the iPod Touch. Now, admittedly, Apple’s mobile OS has “phone” in its name too, so I suppose there’s no reason why someone might not make a non-phone device running the “Windows Phone” OS, but it seems shortsighted to me. The only logical explanation I can think of is that Microsoft only plans to license the OS for use on actual phones, and they’re going to pull an Apple with non-phone devices for this platform with their Zune brand.

The ‘Windows’ in the Name

The bigger naming question: Why name it ?Windows? anything? If Microsoft is going for a clean break, why not a new non-“Windows” name? I think it shows just how perverse Microsoft?s obsession with “Windows” is. There?s no good way to leverage their Windows PC OS monopoly to extend it to mobile, other than the name, so they’re sticking with it. It doesn’t even make literal sense. The whole point of the “Windows” name is that it was for a system whose UI revolved around the concept of on-screen windows. There are no windows in the Windows Phone 7 interface.

A new non-Windows name would have let Microsoft use a 1.0 version number. I think the “7” in “Windows Phone 7 Series” is a detriment to their message that this is a clean break from Windows Mobile 6 and earlier. The 7 implies “new version of the old thing”, which isn’t what they want at all because the old thing is unloved and unpopular. A new 1.0 thing would have also dampened uncomfortable questions about why phones available today won’t be upgradeable to the new system when it ships.

The Osborne Effect

That (a) Windows Phone 7 units aren’t expected until late this year (and think about what happens if the schedule slips); and (b) current Windows Mobile 6.5 phones will not be upgradeable suggests that Windows Mobile phones aren’t going to have a good year, sales-wise. Windows Mobile sales and market share were already in steep decline; the Osborne Effect isn’t going to help.

Perhaps in the long run it doesn’t matter just how badly Windows Mobile handsets sell between now and the debut of Windows Phone 7 handsets. But on the other hand, the last thing Microsoft needs in the weeks and months leading up to the new handsets debuting is bad press about tanking “Windows Mobile” sales. (Another reason why it would have been a good idea to use a new brand name.)

Triumph of the iPhone Form Factor

When the iPhone debuted, there were no popular phones based primarily on a large touchscreen. Now, nearly all new smartphones share the same basic form: a roughly 3.5-inch touchscreen. (Non-touchscreen BlackBerries are the biggest exception.) Many include a hardware keyboard, but the touchscreen is the starting point. The Windows Phone 7 software doesn’t look like the iPhone’s much at all. But the hardware is pretty much an iPhone with two extra buttons (Back and Search). One advantage Windows Phone 7 may have over Android is that WP7 was designed with this form factor — the large touchscreen — as a baseline assumption. All major Android phones on the market have this form factor too, but the Android OS itself was designed to be abstract enough not to require a touchscreen at all. That’s handicapped Android in terms of things like text editing, which requires the use of a trackball or direction pad instead of a pure touch interface.

Who’s the Competition?

The big three mobile platforms right now are iPhone, BlackBerry, and Android. (Feel free to add Nokia as a fourth.) I think Windows Phone 7 is most competitive with Android, because that’s the one with the same business model: licensing the OS to OEM hardware makers. They’re even competing for attention from the very same hardware makers, especially HTC. Google’s been undercutting Microsoft with free (or nearly free) services for a few years now: Google Docs against Office, Gmail for Business against Exchange, and soon, Chrome OS against Windows. But this one, Android vs. Windows Mobile, is the first one where Google seems poised to take the lead. Windows Phone 7 doesn’t just have to be better than Android, it has to be better enough to convince handset makers that it’s worth the licensing fees.

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Google takes on Photoshop.com, buys Picnik

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 01 March 2010 05:15:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

Google this afternoon said it has bought Picnik, a web-based image editing site. Neither company ha...

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Blue Room ships ImageArchiver for Lightroom 1.0

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 01 March 2010 05:05:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

Blue Room has launched a new edition of ImageArchiver, also its first aimed at Adobe's Lightroom pho...

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Chrome only web browser to gain share in February

post from MacNN | The Macintosh News Network on 01 March 2010 04:45:00 PM. © MacNN | The Macintosh News Network

Google's Chrome was the only significant web browser to gain market share last month, Net Applicatio...

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Apple looks to trademark 'Joint Venture'

Apple is attempting to trademark a concept called "Joint Venture," filings reveal. A victory would ...

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Freescale chip could drop e-reader prices to $150

Freescale used CeBIT to unveil a new processor that it hopes will up-end the e-book reader business....

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Apple loses MobileMe tech director to Thumbplay

The director of technology for MobileMe, Pablo Calamera, has left Apple to become the CTO of Thumbpl...

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