Next Era of Content Licensing

Hi Friends,

I still remember the time when I paid around Rs. 12000 ($ 299 ) for getting one XP license for my PC. I also paid around $500 for other software like adobe photoshop and office. I was more than happy to use the licensed software which was handy and usable. But later the sad part was it was based on the number of installations which are done by that particular key.

I used to wonder, why they are tagging software to the machine in which it is installed. I have got rights of the software, I have purchased it then why am I deprived of using the software on multiple machines.

I think that Apple might also have thought on my lines... By the way not on my lines exactly (trying to be modest).. but on the customer sentiment and their marketing strategy. They decided to find the way around this problem. They did this before also while launching App Store where they started selling single song to the users. Users were more than happy to pay price for their favorite songs among lacks of songs.

Now this time apple is back with new thing.

Apple changes the fundamental way of software license by launching the app store for Mac.

Features of this process:
There is totally different approach to this solution where a software is not tagged to a machine but to the user.  Here a user downloads the software and he is given the liberty to download the software again on any other new mac. This makes it simpler for the user to utilize his rights of software purchase and use it to the maximum potential. Now this has lot of impact on the mindset of the customers. This give them chance to utilize the software even after the system is formatted.

There are no limitation for the machine tagging. User can also transfer rights of the particular software to some other computer. They have actually given the power of software usage to the customer itself without any limitation.
Impact on the Gray Market:

This move from apple will support a lot to the general market who want to use pirated software. They will be happily using the software on the machine which they want. They will not be inspired to use the software without updates rather than the software which can be controlled by then. Software which gives them the pride of ownership.

Hopefully, this strategy will help Microsoft to learn something from Apple.

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Hardik Upadhyay
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Happy New Year!!!

Dear Friends,

A Very Happy New Year to all. 2010 is over and now we all are looking forward for loads of things in "MMXI". Past year I was not much active on my blogs and technology things. I was not taking things more seriously which I should have taken. May be the new year will bring lot of new things in me and I will make sure that I carry out all the new year resolutions upto the mark.

So now, lets start the new year with my favorite word which is on everyone's mind..... "APPLE"  - Yeah.. how can I start the first blog of my new year without this word. This has changed he whole new aspect of how a product should be and how to sustain a business. How to capture the mind of mass public without compromising on the quality. This is indeed a great achievement of apple.

At the same time my second favorite company "GOOGLE" is not far behind. It was a great year for them too. With the success of android, they are far more satisfied with their work and still will be trying harder to compete Apple's iPhone and RIM's Blackberrys.

The next year will bring lot of changes in the perspective of the enterprise and their decisions and investment in the IT market to sustain their business. Large corporates are trying harder to make their system better by investing chunk of their revenue in the technology without expecting short term returns. Handling large data and making use of the data, analyze it and monetize it is the target of these new companies in 2011.

So friends, lets share the good knowledge - Analyzed concepts among us and make sure that we all have a great business ahead this year.

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Hardik Upadhyay
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Twisted Tale of Adobe, Google and Apple

This is the most thought provoking article which I am writing in my blog. Thing is I am very much confused by the move of these companies and the blame game they are playing with each other.

Before going into the description, let me point out few things which were making lot of noise in the tech industry

• Launch of iPad - No support for Flash.
• Apple calling Adobe "Lazy" for not developing good flash version.
• Adobe blaming apple for not supporting them.
• Google Reaching out support for HTML 5 in chrome and Chrome OS.
• Google announcing the integration and support of flash in Android phones.
• Problems and loopholes in the current flash version.
• Emergence of "HTML5" as the future of web browsing
• Adobe Tech Expert saying that HTML5 will take web browsing to "dark ages of web"
• Adobe announcing the launch of Adobe AIR for mobile version and its sleek UI which is captivation in MWC.
• Emergence of Silverlight as a sole competitor to flash.
• Microsoft announcing support of Flash in their new Windows Mobile 7.

Now all this things will make you wonder, what the heck is happening??

Thing is very clear. The tech giants Google, Microsoft and Apple are doing what ever they can do to target the smartphone market. Now this market consists of a flash which owns around 90% of share. Most of the web sites and web videos run on flash files which make the OS to make sure that it supports Flash.

Confused Apple??

Apple is confused now after the initial launch of iPad as it got lot of criticism from public as it did not supported Flash. Now after the current moves, they are very much eager to find some alternative which will make sure that the customers do not get a wrong notion about their future product line. Also they are wondering whether they can enhance the support of HTML5 before something goes wrong.

Apple, whatever you do, you have to do it very fast.

Smart Google??

Google is playing smart in this issue of Flash support. By announcing the support of Flash in their android phone, they have directly targeted iPad and Apple market. Also they are indirectly telling Apple to stop developing new features for html5.

Side by side, they are starting to develop the robust html5 support for their upcoming web based Chrome OS. They will enhance support for html5 rather than getting into line of fire by rejecting Flash support.

Scrape Goat Adobe???

Adobe is from my perspective the loser in all the happenings going on in this scenario. Why because I have a list of reasons to tell

• Firstly, adobe has already captured the market and has occupied the market share with flash based websites and videos. They just have to make sure that they retains that market rather than losing it. So there is not much scope of improvement
  
• Flash is the most important threat and its the prime target by the hackers in web site.
  
• The growth of competitors like Silverlight and Html 5 has created lot of problems for flash.

Now its adobe which has to take some smart decisions to make sure that this will be resolved and they will make sure that the dependency of flash continues in the future or else they will be in trouble. 

Dumb Microsoft??  

Sorry to say this Mr Ballmer, but you are going to make a mistake. I might not be the right person. But imagine you are trying to save a sinking ship by assaulting your own product. Now you have to choose which is the soft target you are choosing to make sure that other will be a winner. You have made your decision. Your target is Silverlight and your hero is Windows Mobile 7. Now to save windows mobile and to gain control over your (Sinking) smartphone market,  you had to take this decision. I can understand but why to kill poor Silverlight. Hopefully, someday, you will understand that you might have made a mistake by promoting Flash rather than Silverlight.  

 

So lets see what is going to happen more in the future. Its only time which will say what will happen.

Keep reading my blog and do follow me on twitter.

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Hardik Upadhyay

iPad Revolutionary Device of 2010

Finally,

iPad is launched by Steve Jobs. As soon as the iPad launched, Apple shares had a spike in their price. Its all due to the amazing device named iPad.

It will surely change life of lot of people working in the Tech industry. Not because this device will help them to make their lives easier but it will make their life tougher. Confused? These people are the employees of Microsoft, Amazon and Barnes and Noble. They are the people who will be sitting now in their board rooms discussing about the new pricing strategy to tackle this Apple iPad storm.

Before going into more details let me give you few specs for iPad:

• 9.7" Multitouch device.
• Wifi , 3G, Bluetooth, acclerometer, Compass.
• Fully functional with iTunes and new ebook application iBook.
• iWork with new user interface. So user can make presentations and can connect to the projector directly
• 1Ghz Apple A4 processor with 16 Gb flash memory.
• And the best part - Comes for only $499. With 3G it will come for $630.

Now you may be wondering that this is not a revolutionary device after all. Everyone expected such kind of device a year ago and nothing new is there in this device as well.

Why Should I go for it?

Let me show you the sales of kindle during holiday season. It has sold around 500000 kindle in 2009.

Now this data shows that the sales of kindle is increasing around 30% every month. So there is a need of a good ebook reader in the market.

Barnes and Noble came out with Nook but unfortunately it went out of supply in the peak holiday season and missed the opportunity to make some good profit.

Problems with these Ebook Readers:

• Kindle Dx is 9.7" and Kindle is 6.5". The price of 9.7" Black and White kindle with no internet access, no touch support, no songs to play, no game to play, no apps available, no contacts, no presentations to create and project it comes very cheap at $484.

Now if you  think that this device is cool enough to purchase, then..... Then I guess you are a real fool.

Apple is giving much advanced device at the same price. Now if you want 3G, you need to pay only $130 extra which I guess is affordable.

Apple has analyzed the market and have launched the product. It is all in one device. A mini computer which looks trendy and satisfies almost all my basic needs.

iPad is a device which satisfies all the things which come to my mind like:

• Internet on WiFi - WiFi hot spots are the key factor
  
• Internet on 3G - Internet on the move
• Email checking at ease
• Video watching. Movies and You tube on the same device
• Gaming on iPad. I love gaming and it gives me a new gaming device
• iWork. Using which I can create presentations and can create excel on the go.
• iBooks which keeps my ebooks properly and I can purchase it directly from the store. The store supports many publishers.

Now these are lot of benefits for a simple device.

Do have a thought on this and I am sure that Apple has an aggressive pricing strategy for this revolutionary device. Lets hope that they make much profit out of it.

For more information, do follow me on twitter - http://twitter.com/hardikupadhyay

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Hardik Upadhyay

Hype and Aura before Apple Event Jan 2010

Wow,

You wont believe how I feel writing just few hours before the launch of Apple Event 2010. The theme of this event is "Come See our creation".

But this creation is not just a simple creation. Apple "Might" be launching their much awaited and much hyped tablet at this event.

Apple are the masters of disguise and they have the most secret way of promoting their product. They have a very good history of launching products right from Mac, iPod, iTouch and to iPhone.

Now when Steve Jobs is back in the gang of Apple, this event wont be a simple event. It will revolutionize the market and it will create ripples in the market creating new trends.

Apple is already on the upper side by having almost 99.4% of market share in App market.

After the launch of Apple iTablet, this sector of apps will be highly competitive.

Currently the market is very cautious about the move of Apple in the Silicon Valley. Amazon has already started to take defensive steps against the launch of apple.

Also there are lot of sources which confirmed the launch of apple much awaited iTablet.

Few things which should be seen for in this event are:

• New iPhone version which will have much more added functionality
• LAUNCH of iTablet by apple. Let Steve Jobs rock the stage.
• App store revamp by Apple
• iTunes moved to cloud or its future roadmap.

But all this things might create a kind of illusion for the future trends. We have already seen the outcome of Nexus One by Google. But the same thing cannot be expected from Apple. They are the masters.

Lets hope what Apple has in its kitty for us. All this things will be disclosed to us in next few hours.

I will be updating all the things in my blog. Also you can follow me on twitter @hardikupadhyay for real time updates.

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Hardik Upadhyay

Nokia Sues Apple - Planned Move???

Hi,

Yesterday - Oct 22 2009, Nokia came into limelight by sueing Apple for patent infringement for almost 10 technologies which Nokia claims to have invested 40 million Euro and have taken 20 years to develop it.

Weak Quarter Results Behind this??? Cream Pie for Apple by posting Profit-->
Nokia had a bad weekend by posting a weak results. This was a shock for the Wall Street Analyst and even to the Nokia company. This problem created lot of steer around the way, nokia worked. Nokia has posted a loss which they claim to have come due to weak sales of smartphone and less consumer demand. They had project the profit by wrong calculation.

At the same time, apple posted a strong profit due to increase in sales of iPhone and Mac. Also the iPod Touch had shown increased sales. Now all this created stir around the Nokia. They wanted to get something out of their bitter competitor in smartphone market segment.

Why Nokia waited so long??

Apple launched iPhone in 2007. Nokia knew every move of apple. They were in close watch of Apple's market movement. So one of the most important question which can come to anybody's mind is that "Why Nokia has waited so long for this lawsuit?"

The simple answer to this question is that nokia had two things in mind.

• First was that they were not sure about the apple iPhone's success. Nokia has faced lot of threats from many companies in the past. They thought that the product will not click in the smartphone market.
• Second thought which come to my mind is that they were waiting for the strong proof and solid ground work to file against Apple.

This may be a small issue now but I am sure that Nokia has done enough ground work before filing against giant company like Apple. They know all the pro and cons of this whole fiasco.

Who will be winner??

As far as the history says, Apple knows the technology and has enough substance to prove their INNOVATIVE technology but at the same time, we cant even ignore the Black horse NOKIA which is trying harder to make their presence felt in this market.

Lets see what will be there in the future for this two giant companies.

For more information, you can mail me or follow me on twitter.

Hardik

Apple - Playing Rhaspody??

Hi Folks,

So I will be continuing the story which is focused only on the cat and mouse game played by Apple on Real Network's brainchild - Rhapsody.

Rhapsody is an online subscription based application which allows user to get unlimited access to 8 million songs. All this things look good for the end user. But not for apple. Rhapsody is direct competitor of apple in terms of music sharing concept. Also, at one time, it was suppose to be a threat for iTunes.

So.......

Now the question is:
Will Apple play dirty game to reject Rhapsody? The same way it did to Google Voice App and many other apps (It is supposed to be a never ending list.)

Or will apple go out of tune to get things done as per the customer's view and will allow the application to be rolled out without creating scene?Hmm.. Now that things not me but Mr. Steve Jobs has to decide.Will Apple approve an iPhone app that rivals iTunes??Its a million dollar question.

Lets see.

Till then keep reading my blog.

Copyright © Hardik Upadhyay

You can follow me on TWITTER

JSK

Apple Updates Aug 30 2009

Hi,

At Last…

Apple is selling OSX -> Snow Leopard Well, it's not September, but we're not going to hold an early launch of its performance-focused Snow Leopard OS against Apple. The Apple store has come back online bearing an order page for OS X version 10.6 in Starter, Home Basic, Home Premium, Pro... oh wait, it's just $29 as an upgrade from 10.5. August 28th, that's when, now go 'n get it.

I am not describing you any of its benefits which are far better than its predecessors. But you can have a look at the apple's official website.But the thing which is hitting to my mind is that they didn’t even wait for the apple conference which is supposed to be held next week. So what could be the possible reason?Actually there is lot of reasons like:

Steve Jobs currently focusing only on iTablet (Rumored iTablet which is supposed to come shortly.)

Apple wants to increase their revenue. They are already way ahead in terms of growth rate compared to industrial unit but still, they are expecting around $66 Million for the next quarter by selling new Operating system MAC OSX

Also they are expecting to sell around 5 million copies of snow leopard this quarter.

Ahead of Microsoft -> Rumors says that Microsoft’s new operating system Windows 7 is partially welcomed by the manufacturers and the beta testers. So it might be a kind of warning to apple's management. So to get ahead of this thing, they have released the OS early compared to the expected date.

All this things apart, being an apple fan, I have lots and lots of things to share apart from the usual product launchApple's Current Controversy:As far as the last week's news is concerned, let me give you the update.AT&T has denied any kind of involvement in the denial of Google talk's application rejection by Apple.So what is all this things to do about?? I was wondering why apple is doing all this. People say that the answer is very simple and clear. Apple wants to avoid competition.

But this is not true.Apple has evolved out from the highly competitive market and has adapted to new changes only by the support of the word "INNOVATION".Anyway, I got the hot news just now. Apple is brewing up another controversy by trying to reject the competitor's application Rhapsody (Real Networks product).

You can check it out from my next blog: Exclusively coverage of this issue.

Copyright © Hardik Upadhyay

You can follow me on TWITTER

JSK

iPhone - AT&T and O2 : Exclusive Deal

Hi,

Today I was reading about the updates made by apple for the start of Annual Music Event 2009 on September 9^th. There are lots of speculations regarding this conference like

Steve Jobs will be coming back on stage hosting the event. (With or without bang, No one knows!!!)

· New line of iPod is going to get released.

· Few updates for in iPhone and iPod.

· Latest version of iTunes which will be a bundled software including the support for blue-ray.

· iTablet – Innovation by Apple – But it was later chucked out by them saying that the product is not yet ready. Still there are pictures which are leaked in the website by engadget and other websites.

But all these things may not come on the surface till the final day comes. I will give you updates as soon as I get to know something about it.

But now days, I was reading about few news in which lot of analysts believe that iPhone is behind the loss of many telecom service providers. Profit and loss are the part of business but I was shocked to hear that it was the fast paced innovation of Apple responsible for the loss of company like AT&T. This is not fair!!!

Few companies want to innovate, want to give people something which is very new and innovative without giving any problems with higher amount of customer satisfaction of around 85/100 is not accepted. It was the mistake of the TSP who lagged behind in adopting the technology. They should focus on their infrastructure rather than blaming apple for their exclusive deal. Same thing is happening in Europe also for 02 UK.

Now after posing loss, they fear of losing the exclusive iPhone deal. AT&T might lose iPhone to Verizon and O2 UK might lose it to Vodafone. Now these companies are trying hard to retain their position by taking all the possible measures.

But if the time is bad, there will be still lot more problems coming in the way like FCC of US have decided to investigate on the exclusive deal between apple and at&t. Wising that it will be good for the end customers at least.

The only question which is making me think more and more is that

Why iPhone is so dear to TSP???

Is it the phone which will decide the fate of TSP or it’s the service provider who has the real customers.

What will be your main priority? Mobile handset or Service Provider.

Can TSP play the important role for the customer or it’s the handset which is the wow factor.

All these questions will remain in dilemma till other players (Telecom Service Providers) pitch in and get access to the real treasure called – “iPhone”.

Check out this in the blog

Copyright © Hardik Upadhyay

You can follow me on TWITTER

JSK

Tech Companies "GROWING IN TOUGH TIMES"

Technical companies have already laid the foundation in this part of time. They have proved themselves as the horse of the long race. I am not saying because I am a technocrat but it is been said by their quarter results.

Lot of people expected it to be a simple outcome of sales. But the true story was totally different. It was the mashup of lot of things. It was expected by the market analyst that they will perform well but this much?? One would wonder that in this era of recession, if they are able to outperform many of the companies, then what will be the future?

I would like to discuss about few companies which I think that they need a round of applause.

1. Apple

"Apple"

Wow!! what a term. Have you ever tried to do an image search by the term apple in google? If not, try it. You will find out that how much this company has taken over the software industry. They have changed the meaning of the term apple. They are the leaders in innovation and technology. They know what they are doing and what they should do in the coming years to survive this tough time. I am saying all this good things about apple not because they have come up with most innovative product like iPhone and iPod but its the total company which comes out to be a winner. Take any product of apple starting form Mac desktop, Mac OS, iPhone, iPod and last but not the least, software like iTunes and Safari. Every product can be termed as the masterpiece. It has excelled the expectation of all the people. So they are surely winners in this tough time.

Their quarter results also says the same thing. Apple, the closest thing the tech industry has to a luxury brand, said earnings for the three months that ended June 27 jumped 15 percent to $1.23 billion, or $1.35 per share. Apple's profit was $1.07 billion, or $1.19 per share, in the same period last year. Apple sold more than 5.2 million iPhones in the quarter, more than seven times what it sold in the 2008 quarter, thanks in part to a newly released version of the device. I guess this all things tells the total story.

2. Google

Google has taken the world by storm. They have been in the news almost daily. Everyone will be reading about google coming up with some mashup of web technologies like "WAVE" or suddenly they will announce that they will be releasing the operating system for netbook named "Google Chrome OS". Also suddenly at one fine day, they will move many of their applications out of beta or they will announce about new android SDK and phones.

Google has designed a beautifully crafted business strategy to take over their competitors. I guess you know who....

But still, they are riding high on this scenario and getting the most out of it. Their google labs is working 24x7 as they are coming up with lot of products. If you see the small things in google search, you will be amazed to think how it would have been done. Google is indeed one company which will be there for a long time.

Google Inc. made more money than ever in the second quarter, even though its revenue growth slowed like never before. Its second-quarter profit rose 19 percent to $1.48 billion, or $4.66 per share - the highest net income for any three-month period since Google went public in five years ago. Google ended June with 19,786 employees, 378 fewer than at the end of March.

3. Tech pillars of India - TCS, Infosys & Wipro

The software industry has flourished in India exponentially. India was supposed to be an agricultural country but now the whole scenario has changed. More and more focus is given on the software industry which has shown tremendous growth in recent times. They are showing the profit of around 11 % to 20%.

All these companies have shown that they have tremendous potential for getting success and they are trying hard to come out of this tough times. They have made it clear that recession will not affect Indian software industry very easily. They know how this business runs and they are taking it very seriously.

I guess in the near future their strategy will change but it will all be good for India.

So this was all about the technological companies which will be making the future bright for us.

For more information, you can follow me on twitter : http://twitter.com/hardikupadhyay Or can read my blog: http://hardikupadhyay.blogspot.com/

Also you can mail me at : hardik2447@gmail.com

JSK