Microsoft - Voice Based Communication Approach

I am not the big fan of Microsoft but there are things about Microsoft which brings lot of things from the business perspective and has ability to cash the series of product line launched by them.

They have set of products like Microsoft Office, Microsoft Operating System which is dominating till date despite of the futile attempts from Google to take over the office market from Microsoft.

The perspective of Microsoft is on the next generation users.

This includes

• Youth from age 15 to 25 – Teenagers and adolescents who are tech savvy and want everything available at ease
• Working class people – 25 to 35 years of age – this group has tendency to  follow the trend set by the youth and then adjusting it according to their needs. This mostly caters to the dependency of them on gadgets and technology

Now Microsoft has identified this thing and are coming up with the series of product using which they can survive for the next decade.

They have ruled the market from a longer time and they are identifying threat from Google and Apple. 

The only way to defend them is to come up with something out of the box.

So they have started propagating through their best selling product for youth XBOX. This magic box has created wonders for Microsoft and thy are trying to use it further and make it smarter in a way where a user can control things based on the Xbox Kinect.

Microsoft is going to use the voice based commands which will be fed to the Kinect and which will eventually flow to the Xbox system.

Microsoft can do wonders based on this if they put it and propagate it in the best way. Example they can make the system a hub for unified communication and can control lot of things based on this. 

They can also incorporate this technology on their upcoming windows 7 smart phone which will act as one more medium to connect from human to the device.

All this boils down to the way Microsoft use this technology in their existing product line.

Let us see what Microsoft has in mind to rule the market for the next decade.

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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

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

Microsoft - Yahoo Search Engine Deal

Microsoft and Yahoo are playing the game of cat and mouse from a long time. But no results were coming out.

Today the D-Day finally came. They came out as two separate company and joining forces together to fight against Google.

The story which is creating headline of many newspaper is the "Search Engine Deal".

Microsoft and Yahoo! have confirmed an agreement for Yahoo! to use Microsoft's Bing search engine across its sites. The ten-year deal will make Bing the exclusive search platform for Yahoo! sites, and give Microsoft an exclusive licence to Yahoo's own search technology. Yahoo! will take over worldwide sales for both companies' search advertising, boosting their position versus market leader Google. Yahoo! expects the deal to add USD 500 million to annual operating profit and save it USD 200 million in capital spending within two years of full implementation. Microsoft will compensate Yahoo! through a revenue-sharing agreement on traffic generated on Yahoo!'s network of sites, and pay traffic acquisition costs to Yahoo! at an initial rate of 88 percent of search revenue generated on Yahoo!'s sites during the first five years of the deal. Microsoft has also agreed to maintain Yahoo's current revenue per search in each country for 18 months after implementation of the new platform. Pending reguatory approval, the companies expect the deal to close in early 2010.

By the help of this deal, both, yahoo and microsoft will get benefit. They will be sharing the profit among themselves and can strenthen their position in the search engine market.

Currently, Bing's market share is around 9% but after this deal the share will be around 26%. Isn't it the bigger pie in this web search market???


Search engine giant Google Inc said it was "interested" in Microsoft's 10-year search deal with Yahoo announced on Wednesday, adding that competition was usually good for online users.

"There has traditionally been a lot of competition online, and our experience is that competition brings about great things for users," said Google spokesman Adam Kovakovich.

"We're interested to learn more about the deal," he said in an emailed statement.

Google made a search ad deal with Yahoo in June 2008 but scrapped it because of objections from the Justice Department. Google is taking wise and calculated risk in getting along this competitive market. They are closely watching the move of Microsoft and Yahoo.

Advertisers had hotly opposed it, fearing Google and Yahoo's dominance of the market could mean higher prices. Yahoo initially struck the deal with Google as a way to fend off an unsolicited takeover bid from Microsoft.

But now the scenario is changed. Yahoo has played a key role in changing the domain knowledge of search and using it as a tool to fight against the Google by joining hands with microsoft.