“CEO Steve Ballmer on Thursday told financial analysts they should temper their expectations when it comes to sales prospects for Windows Phone 7, seen by many as Microsoft’s last chance to become a player in the Apple and RIM-dominated U.S. smartphone space. “A number of you had a chance to kind of ask me a question … which is how are we going to do,” Ballmer told the analysts, at Microsoft’s Redmond, Wash. headquarters. “And I think it’s fair to say we’ve got a lot of work to do,” said Ballmer.”
Steve B’s reservations come at a time when the last possible thing Microsoft wants to do is appear too confident. It’s a fine line to walk, but I think they’re playing it well: We’re confident in our product, it will speak for itself, we aren’t going to make wild speculations. Are you reassured, or do you long for the Ballmer of the past?
“After divulging a list of five Windows Phone 7 in recent weeks, Microsoft late yesterday moved to clarify those statements. “Microsoft has not made an official announcement on device partners for Windows Phone 7 at general availability,” a Microsoft spokeswoman said late yesterday.”
After the news broke about HP no longer being a Windows Phone 7 partner, there was a scramble to confirm exactly who was still going to be making Windows Phone 7 devices, and the list seemed to have been firmed up. The question I raised there was what happened to Sony Ericsson - that same day (July 22nd) I emailed a contact at Microsoft PR, and one at Sony Ericcson, asking them exactly that question. As of today, Microsoft PR has ignored my request for comment, and Sony Ericcson’s response was, and I quote, “Dear Jason. Have your tried: Log on to The Sony Ericsson Product Blog for more information.” Sort of baffling, no?
Anyway, it seems like Microsoft is being coy about this in case they lose another partner before launch - HP’s defection certainly didn’t help matters.
“New tablets will be available as soon as they are ready to ship and phones will be on the market this autumn, CEO Steve Ballmer said, setting up a key test of Microsoft’s ability to capture the imagination of tech-savvy consumers.”
Bill Rigby, reporting on Reuters.com, has some strongly worded quotes from Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer regarding a coming onslaught of tablets and smartphones based on Microsoft technologies. Ballmer minces no words, and clearly sets out their intention to up their game and to make their presence in these key markets felt by consumers and competitors. Regular readers of our site will know that Microsoft has some serious challenges to surmount if they want to succeed long term in the in the smartphone and tablet marketplaces, but it’s nice to know that the goal from the top is to “get to it” and compete harder than ever.
Since most Thoughts Media readers are using high-speed Internet, I decided this article would benefit everyone, so it’s one of our rare across-the-network pieces of content. I hope you find it useful!
Figure 1: What is this, 1994 all over again?
Whenever bandwidth is discussed, there’s always lots of finger pointing because there are so many variables, and players involved, that it’s rarely a simple issue. My particular bandwidth bugaboo this morning? I was ticked off that Dropbox (referral) was only uploading at 10 KB/s. I left a 900 MB transfer running all night and it wasn’t finished in the morning, and that’s when I discovered the awful speed. My first instinct was to point a finger at Dropbox, thinking there was some sort of bandwidth throttling going on. I did a speed test with a tool my ISP provides (speedtest.shaw.ca) and was shocked to see 1.7 Mbps downloads and 107 kbps uploads (Figure 1). It’s normally 20x that on downloads and 10x that on uploads, so I knew something was wrong beyond just Dropbox.
Whenever I have wonky bandwidth problems, this is my most extreme troubleshooting procedure:
Power off your computer(s), not just sleep/hibernate them
Unplug your router and cable modem/DSL modem
Wait 30 to 60 seconds, then power up your cable modem/DSL modem
Wait until your modem has fully locked in and has a connection
Now power up your router
Wait 60 seconds, then power up one PC
Do a bandwidth speed test, record the results
Power up remaining PCs, doing speed tests, and recording the results
If you want to be really thorough, re-do the speed test on the first PC you powered up and see if the results are significantly different
Powering up one PC and doing a speed test allows you to isolate that PC and record the speed in the simplest setup possible (one PC > router > modem). If you have a PC on your network that’s been compromised somehow and is chewing up bandwidth without you knowing it, this is one way to find out.
Figure 2: Well that’s much better! Except those upload speeds. Those still look like 2005…
Not everyone will require all these steps, but they work 99% of the time. After doing this, my Dropbox upload speed was 107 KB/s, a nearᆞx improvement. I have 1mbps from my ISP, so those results (Figure 2) are what I’d expect to see.
The sad reality is that many routers, even expensive dual-band ones (I have a Linksys WRT610N), are flaky and need a kick in the head sometimes. Another good way to test if your router is the problem is to connect your PC or laptop directly to your modem, bypassing the router, and do a speed test that way. That allows you to get some knowledge before you point a finger at your ISP - because they’re probably just going to blame your router anyway!
By the way, if you’re interested in signing up for Dropbox, the referral link above will give you an extra 250 MB beyond the free 2 GB - and it gives me an extra 250 MB as well, so we both win.
Jason Dunn owns and operates Thoughts Media Inc., a company dedicated to creating the best in online communities. He enjoys photography, mobile devices, blogging, digital media content creation/editing, and pretty much all technology. He lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with his lovely wife, his wonderful son Logan, and his sometimes obedient dog. He wishes he lived in Sweden, just for the 100mbps download and 100mbps upload speeds.
Do you enjoy using new hardware, software and accessories, then sharing your experience with others? Then join us on the Thoughts Media Review Team! We’re looking for individuals who find it fun to test new gear and give their honest opinions about the experience. It’s a volunteer role with some great perks. Interested? Then click here for more information.
“Licensing an operating system in the smartphone space doesn’t earn much money, so I understand Bright’s point. But the window of opportunity for Microsoft to build its own phone closed down the minute it said it would license Windows Phone 7 to hardware partners.”
Kevin Tofel at jkOnTheRun (now part of GigaOm) disagrees with the Ars Technica article we highlighted earlier this week, and he brings up some compelling arguments in his analysis. Worth a look for the different perspective it brings.
Summary: Scan a products UPC or EAN barcode, and see its Amazon.com price and ratings.
AmazonIt will also show you if the price of an item has changed since it was last updated. — more on freewarepocketpc.net
Computerworld has confirmed that AT&T will be a premier partner for Windows Phone 7 when it is released this fall. Of the four major US carriers, only AT&T has come out and said that they will support the platform. This comes as little surprise, as AT&T was said to have been one of the largest sellers of Windows Mobile phones. T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint will undoubtedly support the platform, but recent history (I’m referring to the Kindle of course) probably has these companies wary of openly proclaiming their support. Getting their devices onto all four carriers at launch (something none of the other current platforms was able to do) would provide Microsoft with the best chance of growing the platform quickly.
Summary: A simple DMX calculator that will show you the DIP switch settings from a DMX value or will show you the DMX value or set DIP switches. — more on freewarepocketpc.net
“AT&T Tilt2 owners are in for a surprise. A new ROM has surfaced over at Shipped-ROMs that appears to be a Windows Mobile 6.5 update for the Tilt2. On top of the ROM surfacing, over at XDA Developers, a new radio has also surfaced from AT&T (included in the ROM update).”
George Ponder at WMExperts is reporting that AT&T’s Tilt2 may soon be getting an official Windows Mobile 6.5 ROM update. Meanwhile, he’s gone ahead and flashed his Tilt2 with what he believes to be a test version. He likes the result, noting that the new interface elements are clean and effective. A new radio is also included. He suggests that you could try this out yourself, or wait for the official release which is likely to surface in the next few weeks. I’d say if you’ve been waiting to see this for some time, click the Read link and get flashing.
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