Microsoft's Xbox Faces Tougher Competition

Xbox has "been the first to successfully combine television with interactive," says Bing Gordon, a longtime videogame executive who now is a partner at venture-capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers. Mr. Gordon called Microsoft's Xbox Live, the 10-year-old Microsoft service linking Xbox to the Web, "one of the great software inventions of the generation.

There's a lot riding for Microsoft/Xbox and this year holiday timeframe will prove decisive. I don't see any change though coming in the leadership and Xbox will continue to lead here for foreseeable future.

Big Win for Windows 8

This is the most comprehensive licensing agreement Microsoft Corp. has ever established with the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), covering nearly 75 percent of all DoD personnel. The net new contract was awarded to Insight Public Sector, a division of Insight Enterprises Inc., one of the largest global Microsoft Large Account Resellers.

As part of this agreement, all three organizations can begin using the newest versions of Microsoft products, including Microsoft Office 2013, SharePoint 2013 Enterprise and Windows 8.

Big Win for Windows 8. The total worth of the deal is about $617 million.

Price is What You Pay, Value is What You Get

Price is What You Pay, Value is What You Get

The first thing to know is that Buffett tries to never overpay for anything. He only buys when he's sure that an asset is undervalued and is likely to have bottomed in market price. So this could be a sign that after all the softening prices and bankruptcies, that the solar industry is on its way to better days (or at least, it won't get much worse). Or at least that at today's prices, you get more value than what you pay for when you invest in solar.

Another thing about Buffett is that he thinks long-term. He's not looking to flip assets, he wants to own them forever if possible. So that makes his very conservative about going into unpredictable industries (that's why he almost never invests in technology companies, he can't predict what the field will be like in 10-20 years). This tells us that Buffett feels that the long-term future of solar looks rosy, and that even though natural gas prices have been low recently, that in the long-term, solar is one of the the places to be. Of course, any TreeHugger ready could have told you that, but it's always nice to be on the same side as the greatest living investor (and one of the top philanthropists, along with Bill Gates, it must be noted).

What makes a good data scientist

At the M.I.T. conference, Ms. Schutt was asked what makes a good data scientist. Obviously, she replied, the requirements include computer science and math skills, but you also want someone who has a deep, wide-ranging curiosity, is innovative and is guided by experience as well as data.

“I don’t worship the machine,” she said.

Microsoft Increases Production and Expands Retail Distribution for Microsoft Surface With Windows RT

Microsoft Corp. today announced plans to make Microsoft Surface available at additional retailers as soon as mid-December. In addition, the company announced the extension of the Microsoft holiday stores, including the transition of several of the stores into permanent Microsoft retail outlets.

“The public reaction to Surface has been exciting to see. We’ve increased production and are expanding the ways in which customers can interact with, experience and purchase Surface,” said Panos Panay, general manager, Microsoft Surface.

As early as mid-December, consumers will be able to go to retail stores in the United States and Australia to purchase a Surface with Windows RT. Additional availability will be added in a number of countries in the coming months.

Products like Surface need exposure in a way that people can touch or feel these when established alternatives are already present. More retailers carrying Surface will help solve two problems, 1- reaching customers and 2- awareness.

Microsoft Meets Its Timely Demise—and Other Tech Fantasies

The problem with the Microdeath Dream Fantasy is reality. Haters tend to forget that Microsoft derives a huge amount of revenue from corporate Windows sales tied to long-term business software purchase agreements. (Microsoft, for example, minted money during the entirety of the Vista era.) Also, let’s remember that 400 million or so PCs will be sold in 2013 and that Windows will be sitting on just about every one of those computers. This is the reason that the drop in April 2009 was mostly a blip—Windows sales have been well north of $4 billion per quarter ever since.

Reality check especially for the people who fantasize about death of Microsoft.

Free Market Failure

the telcos charge more, kilobyte by kilobyte, to send a text message next door, than it costs to send data from Mars – even when including the cost of the actual Mars probe, its launch, and NASA personnel for ten years!

This is an abysmal failure of free market forces to converge the end price with the cost of production.

On a wireline traffic cost of 0.25 cents per GB, the telco industry profit markup comes to 15,000,000,000% (that's 15 Billion percent). Insane.

Fake press releases are a public service

Yesterday, an enterprising clown used PRWeb to publish a fake press release about the purported purchasing of WiFi provider ICOA by Google for $400 million. The Associated Press, Business Insider, Forbes, Techcrunch and other websites ran stories about the transaction — without gaining confirmation from Google — and shortly after AllThingsD unmasked the release as fraudulent, the hoodwinked news organizations donned hair shirts in penance for their journalistic malpractice.

The pranked news organizations were right to self-flagellate, and the apologies and self-recriminations appeared to be sincere. “We were wrong on this post, for not following up with Google and the other company involved but posting rather than getting waiting [sic] on a solid confirmation beforehand from either source. We apologize to our readers,” confessed Techcrunch.

Individual bloggers making these mistakes can be forgiven but businesses like Techcrunch, Forbes and Business Insider with experienced editorial staff, making a statement without verifying the source does not make sense.

XBox Black Friday Week Numbers

  • Xbox 360 sold more than 750,000 consoles in the U.S. alone –exceeding internal forecasts.
  • Xbox LIVE Gold Subscription sales increased more than 50 percent compared to last year’s Black Friday week.
  • We saw incredible activity on Xbox over the weekend. For example, on Sunday alone we had more than 14 million people on Xbox LIVE across the world, racking up more than 72 million hours of use in just one day.
  • Compared to 2011, we’ve seen a 43 percent increase in U.S. entertainment application hours logged on Xbox LIVE during the week of Black Friday.
  • I visited Microsoft store twice during the holiday weekend (one on Black Friday and one on Saturday) and both times, one thing I saw getting sold in high numbers was XBox. In the time I spent there, 70-80% people in the store bought XBox and there were good number of people in the store. And to Microsoft's credit, nobody tried Xbox or Kinect on this day, all knew what XBox was and all picked up the boxes and went to the nearest Sales guys with tablets. Now that's a telling Microsoft consumer story which gets overlooked in Windows Phone and Surface comparisons with its more established competitors.

    To MG Siegler and others - Please see these are all actual sales to consumers, maybe you can blog or tweet about this story as well, this again coming from your dear Microsoft.

    Nokia's Maps App for iPhone Gets a Cool Reception

    After Nokia’s Here app was released on Monday, it quickly climbed to the No. 4 spot on Apple’s list of most downloaded apps. By Tuesday afternoon, the app already had 378 reviews in iTunes with an average rating of 2.5 stars. The majority of users rated it one star.

    Some of the complaints were similar to those that greeted Apple’s map service: some locations are mislabeled, and some information, like street maps for Japan, is missing. Others complained that the maps were ugly and sluggish to load. People who rated the app five stars said the location data was more accurate than Apple’s.

    Guess Release early, release often works well for web services only. In the world of apps, if your product has flaws, it will get trashed within minutes. What's worse with Apps is that, when the user trashes it, they often do by rating the app unlike a web service where they would trash the app on some forum or social networking platforms. When downloading apps, users do go over the ratings and review. Bad or good review also influences users opinions. This can set a vicious cycle of good or bad review if no action is taken by the publisher.

    The Economics of Superstars

    The phenomenon of Superstars, wherein relatively small numbers of people earn enormous amounts of money and dominate the activities in which they engage, seems to be increasingly important in the modern world.

    The Atlantic today has a very thought provoking article titled, How the Music Industry Explains the Weird Economics of the App World which touches on the Economics of Superstars law proposed by Sherwin Rosen 30 years back. It applies the Superstar effect to the App Economy and confirms the validity of the effect.

    The App Economy isn't merely delightful, it's also an economic juggernaut that's created more than 400,000 jobs and a multi-billion-dollar business where there was, very recently, nothing. That's the good news. The bad news is that in the App Economy, as in every hit-making business, there is the top 1% and there is everybody else. For a taste of the App Economy's inequality: Of the $6.5 billion that Apple has paid to app developers, only 25% made more than $30,000 and 4% made more than $1 million.

    It's the Economics of Superstars law, applied to apps: In a crowded international field, small differences in talent can translate to huge differences in outcomes. The most popular photo app, Instagram, was bought by Facebook for $1 billion. The 10th best photo program probably isn't worth 1% of that figure, since networking effects will encourage users to cluster around the most popular apps. But the wealth is in the reach. Just as in music, where a global audience for the top artists vastly increases the number of markets where they will make money, the international market for smart phones (Apple sells more than 60% of its iPhones outside the Americas) means that the small number of big hits will find an audience around the world.

    The Superstars were there yesterday also, but they did not make so much money, so what changed? Technology. Tech changed and that changed the way superstars are able to reach their audience in newer ways. From an older NYTimes article.

    Pelé was not held back by the quality of his game, but by his relatively small revenue base. He might be the greatest of all time, but few people could pay to experience his greatness. In 1958, there were about 350,000 television sets in Brazil. The first television satellite, Telstar I, wasn’t launched until July 1962, too late for his World Cup debut.

    By contrast, the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, in which Ronaldo played for Portugal, was broadcast in more than 200 countries, to an aggregate audience of over 25 billion. Some 700 million people watched the final alone. Ronaldo is not better then Pelé. He makes more money because his talent is broadcast to more people.

    Jakob Nielsen and Windows 8

    Hidden features, reduced discoverability, cognitive overhead from dual environments, and reduced power from a single-window UI and low information density. Too bad.

    Arrgghh. Jakob Nielsen is trashing Windows 8 now and that is funny. Funny because he does this by having not, 100, not 200 and not even 1000 people to try out Windows 8, he had the magic number of 12 people to take this test. Yes, that's right - 12 people and he trashes Windows 8 and this makes to the front page of Techmeme because guess what, Jakob Nielsen is THE authority on User Experience Design. Sorry state.

    Nokia redefines digital map landscape by introducing HERE

    Today Nokia introduced HERE, the first location cloud to deliver the world's best maps and location experiences across multiple screens and operating systems. With the new brand, HERE, Nokia aims to inspire a new generation of location services and devices that make the mobile experience more personally significant for people everywhere.

    "People want great maps, and with HERE we can bring together Nokia's location offering to deliver people a better way to explore, discover and share their world," said Nokia President and CEO Stephen Elop. "Additionally, with HERE we can extend our 20 years of location expertise to new devices and operating systems that reach beyond Nokia. As a result, we believe that more people benefit from and contribute to our leading mapping and location service."

    Many are unaware that Nokia has a great Maps service which rivals Google and Bing Maps. And that IS the problem that few are aware and use Nokia Maps and thus lack Network Effects and the feedback loop. It will be tough for Nokia to succeed with "Here" as it lacks an entry point to the service which typically is a Search engine.

    Apple ordered to re-write 'inaccurate' Samsung statement

    Lord Justice Longmore told Mr Beloff: "We are just amazed that you cannot put the right notice up at the same time as you take the other one down."

    One of the other judges, Sir Robin Jacob, added: "I would like to see the head of Apple [Tim Cook] make an affidavit about why that is such a technical difficulty for the Apple company."

    Love the UK judges.

    Surface Review - Predictable with overall positive sentiment

    Did not expect the Surface RT reviews any other way. For every negative review, there are positive ones. From where I stand and see (with my Fanboy tinted glasses), the reviews are mostly positive. Everyone has acknowledged the emergence of Microsoft as a Hardware player, but for each one of these reviews - Software was the sore point. To start with the new Windows 8, there is a learning curve, then there is a lack of good apps and the overall ecosystem has not kicked in yet. With different Surface OS versions, things were going to get murkier and it did.

    Few good apps (Dear Microsoft - how can you release a device such as Surface without Facebook and Twitter apps on day one) and proper messaging should change the sentiment. Anyways, let's look at the reviews.

    AnandTech writes:

    After using Microsoft’s Surface for the past week I can say that I honestly get it. This isn’t an iPad competitor, nor is it an Android tablet competitor. It truly is something different. A unique perspective, not necessarily the right one, but a different one that will definitely resonate well with some (not all) users.

    And summarizes the review as:

    The Windows RT experience, in many senses, is clearly ahead of what many competitors offer in the tablet space today. Multitasking, task switching and the ability to have multiple applications active on the screen at once are all big advantages that Microsoft enjoys. For productivity workloads, Surface is without equal in the tablet space.

    Content consumption is also great on the device. Surface's display isn't industry leading but it's still good.  Reading emails, browsing the web flipping through photos and watching videos are all good fits for the platform - just as good as competing solutions from Apple or Google. 

    ...

    I don't believe Surface is perfect. I would have liked to have seen faster hardware inside, and there are some rough edges that could use smoothing out (e.g. the power connector and HDMI output come to mind) but overall the device is easily in recommendable territory. The biggest issue I have with recommending Surface is that you know the next iteration of the device is likely going to be appreciably better, with faster/more efficient hardware and perhaps even a better chassis. 

    If you're ok being an early adopter, and ok dealing with the fact that mobile devices are still being significantly revved every year, Surface is worth your consideration. If you've wanted a tablet that could really bridge the content consumption and productivity device, Surface is it.

    Mashable asks if this is your next tablet and feels that Windows lovers and fans will find it most usable.

    Surface is so different from any tablet I’ve used before that it took me a few fays to fully warm to it, but now I like it — quite a bit. Part of this is because I am a Windows user with a Hotmail account and Xbox Live at home. This is a Microsoft ecosystem and the Surface fits it like a glove. While I’m not a huge fan of the email interface (it’s dull), I had no trouble accessing my Hotmail and adding Gmail, and Google apps accounts. Similarly, the somewhat dull-looking calendar smartly handled all my appointments and popped up gentle reminders at all the right times. I also like that files I store on SkyDrive are available on all my other logged-in devices (this can work on an iPhone or iPad, too, since SkyDrive has an iOS app).

    ...

    On the other hand, Surface truly shines when you have the keyboard option (especially if you use the Office RT apps and standard desktop interface). If you buy the 64GB model (it has a micro-SD slot somewhat awkwardly nestled under the kickstand where you can add up to another 64GB) with the keyboard, it’s $699. Now you’re into laptop price range. But again, consider what you get: A sub-2-pound PC that offers all-day battery life and out-of the box productivity, touch-screen interactivity and connection to all your favorite online services.

    There’s no doubt that Surface will appeal most to Windows users. In fact this is the tablet for Windows fans. It won’t win over Apple iPad owners, but for all those who hate Apple, find Android confusing and underwhelming, and are ready to enter the world of touch-screen computing this is the alternative you’ve been waiting for.

    TechCrunch does not like it so much and recommends skipping buying the current version.

    Should you buy the Surface RT? No.

    The Surface RT is a product of unfortunate timing. The hardware is great. The Type Cover turns it into a small convertible tablet powered by a promising OS in Windows RT. That said, there are simply more mature options available right now.

    Microsoft needs to court developers for Windows RT. As a consumer tablet, the Surface lacks all of the appeal of the iPad. There aren’t any mainstream apps and Microsoft has failed to connect Windows desktop and mobile ecosystem in any meaningful way like Android or iOS/OS X.

    ...given Microsoft’s track record with Windows Phone, buying the Surface RT is a huge risk. The built-in apps are very limited and the Internet experience is fairly poor. Skip this generation of the Surface RT or at least wait until it offers a richer, more useful experience. While we’re bullish on Windows 8, the RT incarnation just isn’t quite there.

    Gizmodo is no different and does not recommend buying the current incarnation inspite of all the goodness.

    Should you buy it?

    No. The Surface, with an obligatory Touch Cover, is $600. That's a lot of money. Especially given that it's no laptop replacement, no matter how it looks or what Microsoft says. It's a tablet-plus, priced right alongside the iPad and in most ways inferior.

    That could change. Maybe there will be a new Touch Cover that retains the original's terrific physical qualities while actually allowing good typing. Maybe the quasi-vaporware Surface Pro, which eschews Windows RT in favor of the real-deal Win 8, will make all the difference, opening itself up to the open seas of PC software (for several hundred dollars more). Maybe the app store will look different in a month, or a year, and have anything to offer. Maybe. But remember that Windows Phone—which has swelled from mere hundreds, to tens of thousands, to over a hundred thousand app offerings over the past two years—is still a wasteland compared to iOS and Android. Poor precedent. Maybe Windows RT will be different. Maybe.

    But those maybes aren't worth putting money on. As much as it looked (and even felt) like it for a bit, the future isn't here quite yet.

    David Pogue of New York Times likes the hardware but loses his patience with the software.

    Look, here’s the thing. You’d have to be fairly coldblooded to keep your pulse down the first time you see the Surface: its beauty, its potential, its instant transformation from tablet to PC. How incredible that this bold, envelope-pushing design came from Microsoft, a company that for years produced only feeble imitations of other companies’ fresh ideas.

    And how ironic that what lets the Surface down is supposedly Microsoft’s specialty: software.

    In time, maybe the Windows RT apps will come. Maybe the snags will get fixed. Maybe people will solve the superimposed puzzle of Windows RT and Windows 8. Until then, the Surface is a brilliantly conceived machine whose hardware will take your breath away — but whose software will take away your patience.

    Walt Mossberg has an overall positive review as well, finds the surface productive.

    Microsoft’s Surface is a tablet with some pluses: The major Office apps and nice optional keyboards. If you can live with its tiny number of third-party apps and somewhat disappointing battery life, it may give you the productivity some miss in other tablets.

    Like Walt, Engadget finds the device productive but warns users against buying if media/content consumption is your predominant need.

    The Microsoft Surface with Windows RT's $499 starting MSRP means those thinking about making the investment here will be carefully cross-shopping against same-priced offerings from Apple, ASUS and others. Where does this one rate? Very well -- but very differently. While those devices are primarily targeted at content-hungry consumers, the Surface is a slate upon which you can get some serious work done, and do so comfortably. You can't always say that of the competition.

    It's in the other half of the equation, that of the content consumption and entertainment, where the Surface is currently lacking. It needs a bigger pile of apps and games to make up for that and, while we're sure they're coming, we don't know when. If those apps arrive soon, then early adopters will feel vindicated. If, however, the Windows RT market is slow to mature, not truly getting hot for another six months or so, holding off will prove to have been the smarter option.

    So, if gaming and music and movies and reading are what you're looking to enjoy, then we might advise sitting this one out for a few months just to make sure that all your bases will indeed be covered. If, however, you're looking for an impeccably engineered tablet upon which you can do some serious work, a device that doesn't look, feel or act like a toy, then you should get yourself a Surface with Windows RT.

    Some advice from Jeff Bezos

    He said people who were right a lot of the time were people who often changed their minds. He doesn’t think consistency of thought is a particularly positive trait. It’s perfectly healthy — encouraged, even — to have an idea tomorrow that contradicted your idea today.

    He’s observed that the smartest people are constantly revising their understanding, reconsidering a problem they thought they’d already solved. They’re open to new points of view, new information, new ideas, contradictions, and challenges to their own way of thinking.

    This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have a well formed point of view, but it means you should consider your point of view as temporary.

    There you go, now you have theory to my thinking.

    Microsoft Announces New Surface Details

    Surface with Windows RT will initially be available in three SKUs: a 32GB version priced at US$499, a 32GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$599, and a 64GB version bundled with a black Touch Cover priced at US$699.

    A variety of accessories will also be available, including Touch Covers in five vibrant colors — black, white, magenta, cyan and red — priced at US$119.99 so customers can express their personal style

    In line with what I was expecting. Great price. You pay premium for the differentiator - the Touch cover. So far, so good.

    Why a Standalone Google Maps App Has Already Lost

    Maps, by the nature how we use them for harvesting offline intent, are kind of like a “universal remote control”, which in turn power many other geo-specific apps. 


    Think about it this way: some people go to the Maps app to start a query or find directions. But many (most?) people use maps / direction from within other apps. E.g. if you look for a restaurant on Yelp in iOS 6, it’s going to use Apple Maps as its default map view. Maybe you initially went in to the Yelp app for its rich experience/reviews/photos etc. When you click “directions to venue”, Yelp closes and the default Maps app is invoked, which is now Apple’s, not Google’s. 


    And one thing that has gone under the radar during this whole maps catastrophe is the fact that Apple doesn’t allow maps or other default services to be changed by the user.  Simply put, there is no setting allowing users to specify the default mapping service. Coordinates / addresses will always open Apple Maps, even if Google Maps were installed. And apps that use maps (Yelp, foursquare, Uber etc) will always use the default mapping service (Apple’s). 

    This is the very reason why so much hue and cry on Apple Maps. I hope sanity prevails and Apple reverts the decision and better still chooses Bing Maps.

    Microsoft Reimagined

    Q: Where do you see Microsoft's position in five years, 10 years?

    A: First of all, I'd say: pre-eminent technology company. I think that in a back-looking view, people would say we were a software company. That's kind of how we were born.

    I think when you look forward, our core capability will be software, (but) you'll probably think of us more as a devices-and-services company. Which is a little different. Software powers devices and software powers these cloud services, but it's a different form of delivery....

    Doesn't mean we have to make every device. I don't want you to leap to that conclusion. We'll have partners who make devices with our software in it and our services built in. ... We're going to be a leader at that.

    Go back few years, it used to be "Software + Services" but now it will be "Devices and Services". Success of XBOX and Kinect helped shape this view and Surface will put a final stamp (assuming it is a success).

    New Kindle Fire HD

    $199 now gets you the world’s most-advanced 7” tablet, with a stunning custom HD display, the fastest Wi-Fi, exclusive Dolby audio, powerful processor and graphics engine, and 16 GB of storage—all backed by the world’s best content ecosystem, the best cross-platform interoperability, and the best customer service

    $299 now gets you all the same advanced technology on a stunning 8.9” large-screen 1920x1200 HD display with 254 ppi and a powerful OMAP4 4470 processor and graphics engine

    $499 now gets you the same high-end large-screen HD tablet, 32 GB of storage, plus ultra-fast 4G LTE wireless powered by the latest generation 4G chipset, and Amazon’s groundbreaking $49.99 one year 4G LTE data package—customers save hundreds of dollars in the first year compared to other 4G tablets

    New inventions exclusively on the new family of Kindle Fire devices—X-Ray for Movies, X-Ray for Textbooks, Immersion Reading, Whispersync for Voice, Whispersync for Games, and Kindle FreeTime

    Was busy and totally missed out following the Amazon event today. But this is great, like others I am also very impressed with Amazon, truly commoditizing the Tablet market and all this with nice packaging (groundbreaking $49.99 one year 4G LTE data package). I have never touched (or even seen) a Fire tablet so it remains to be seen how this compares to iPad but at the price point Amazon has published, I am sure I will see one very soon around me. 

    And very sorry to say, like others, I am in awe of how well Amazon has learnt from Apple of launching new products with new products, demos, hands on for journalists and availability dates unlike Nokia/Microsoft's Nokia new phones launch.