Year: 2010

I touched one!

~ michael_msft ~ 5 Comments

Being fairly new to Singapore I am learning the local ropes slowly but surely. The little nook and crannies that conceal the occasional taxi allowing me to get home without having to book one. The hawker stalls that the locals might be hanging out at versus the gawkers from the Lonely Planet. I am getting the hang of it but one thing about me already defined me as a local – the Singaporean craving for all things gadget like. Phones, mp3 players, in car TV systems, big screen TVs, stereos, remotes, and more phones. The statistics tell us that we must each have more than one.

Singapore is mad about mobile phones. When I first showed up to town with my little Nokia I bought used in Bangkok I knew right away I was out of depth. Fortunately on my first day at work I was given my trusty new BlackBerry. I was stepping up in the world but of course everywhere I went I was bumping into iPhones.

The local mobile phone companies all push iPhones with great calling plans and incentives to entice people into being a proud iPhone owner. Everywhere I go I see an iPhone and at times I have iPhone envy. iPhones in people’s hands, iPhones tethered to machines for surfing the web 3g style and iPhones being tapped on in the dark of the cold movie theater giving off a warm, inviting glow.  I won’t lie – there are times I have iPhone envy but I haven’t given in yet.

Not quite yet.

Being the tech hungry media junkie that I am though I was able to stave off my iPhone craving with a Nexus One from Google. Singapore is lucky enough to be one of the countries where you can pop online and buy a Nexus One directly. Unlocked and ready to go. Just pop your SIM card in and experience Google’s vision of the new smartphone. Of course I didn’t order mine. It was given to me for some testing I am doing for some mobile software products. What can I say other than it is cool but sometimes I still look at the iPhone’s in my friend’s hands and get a tad jealous but at least now I have a phone that I can swipe, pinch and touch. Makes my BlackBerry look at little old school but I still use that little keyboard profusely.

Apple keeps tempting me but so far I am holding my own against the tide – that is until I touched one.

I saw my first one at a conference. It was too far away so I just ignored it and pretended it had no effect on me. Another time I saw a whole stack of them in boxes. A good friend had returned from the states and brought five of them back with him. I wanted to open a box and see it for myself but I refused. There I was though. In a meeting and sitting right next to me was a co-worker reading his email on it. Zooming, flipping and engorging his email. I read my email all the time but he seemed to really be enjoying his email. Much more than anyone should.

I asked if I could touch it. He said go ahead – check out some web sites on it. Oh and here is the latest episode of Lost – plus check out the Keynote stuff. I had only wanted to touch it but I couldn’t help myself. Loaded up DaringFireball and marveled at the speed of the page loads. ITunes, TV shows and then Lost. The TV show has jumped the shark but watching it on the iPad made me feel like I was back in season 1 enjoying the magic. Then I popped into Keynote loaded up a PPT. A staid company presentation came to life and I was suddenly drinking up the corporate brainwashing and actually agreeing with the company line.

I set it back down on the table and slide it over. Like something forbidden that I wasn’t meant to cradle – let alone explore.

I keep telling myself I don’t need one. They are all over SimLim and I even have a friend selling a stack of them at US prices because he is an Apple fanboy wanting to spread the gospel without making a killing. I have refused – but it keeps getting harder to do so.

All was fine until I read the Apple press release stating, we knew it was coming, that the iPad is officially coming to Singapore in July. People are speculating as to the exact date, how much and will this include the 3g model as well. Which carrier will jump behind it and what wil the plans be – the discussion will peak in the ensuing months. I am positive we will hear more soon but I have to admit though that I may just have to pick up a 3g model knowing that I won’t be able to resist the call of the overgrown iPhone.

Can you?

The Incumbent’s Curse!

~ michael_msft ~ 2 Comments

This is an awesome article by Jean-Louis Gassee

I love the HP history, the MSFT fodder and the current view of the world at large –

http://www.mondaynote.com/2010/05/09/the-incumbent%E2%80%99s-curse-hp/:

The Incumbent’s Curse works like a neurotransmitter disease: it starts slowly, there is no brutal onset of symptoms. The patient’s good health of the moment encourages denial; but when the malady becomes obvious it’s hard to combat, it’s often too late.

The mobile web…

~ michael_msft ~ 4 Comments

Been a terrible blogger lately. Just been too busy to actually blog. I guess that is a good thing in some ways. If this was my job of course I would get an F but it is not. I have a day job and lots of side projects. I wish blogging was more of a focus for me but right now I am the doing mode more than the talking mode. Such is life. If only I could be daringfireball…

Been traveling like mad and finally in Singers for a bit to focus on a few things. What I have been noticing lately is the whole world focused on mobile and it makes sense since most of us live life to be untethered. People always complain about Blackberry users and how they are always on their handhelds but I always counter – better to be on the BB than to be at the office. Sure it is a trade-off but one I love dealing with since I can work from anywhere I want. I can travel or sit at the coffee shop and I am still “working”. Such is life. I don’t mind.

I had a person grab my BB the other day and try touching the screen. I almost died laughing – there is this assumption that all phones are touch screen. Now tell me Jobs has not changed the world?

Mobile will be big – but what will it look like? If you subscribe to the valley view of the world – I call this VVOW – phones will all have touchscreens and behave like smartphones. Makes sense but if you look at the emerging markets view of the world the spheres of nexus and iphone are just too expensive. Take a tour of jakarta versus singapore to see this painfully demonstrated. The carriers in singapore all competed to offer the best iphone deals and plans. It worked. iphones are everywhere. Hop on a plane to jakarta and you will see tons of blackberries and nokias – the rare iphone from time to time but not many. In jakarta you don’t ask for a phone number you ask for someone’s BB pin number. Having an iphone makes you look almost out of touch.

Apple seems to do amazingly well where the Apple brand is strong, there is a presence of Apple stores and great carrier deals. Take that away and the iphone is largely invisible. Android is making a dent by giving away developer phones and by working with local carriers but in places like jakarta you don’t see too many nexus ones. Usually people always ask to see mine cause they wonder what the hell it is. This may change but not at the current pricing levels but once the players like Nexian start to adopt Android I think you will see it make some huge waves. Losers will be BB and Nokia. Not sure Apple will ever make a huge dent in Indonesia until the pricing models drastically change.

I was at a lunch the other day with another big phone vendor discussing their new Android phone. I was asking the marketing team what they hoped they could accomplish or who might be the ultimate user of their new phone. They simply said they hoped consumers might trade in their iphone for it. I almost choked on my lunch since we all know that no one trades in their iphone. Palm tried that line of marketing and it seemed to fail – but I guess HP took the bait. Phone makers of the world wanting to have iphone love and getting it are two different things. No Android phone is going to dent iphone – not going to happen. Now possibly you could make a phone that a user of some lame ass phone decides to trade up to and takes your phone over the iphone but my guess is it will be over price and incentives. Knowing they want the iphone more but yet not wanting to spend that kind of money. Note to phone people – simplify your message and your models or you won’t ever get a shot at the champion – Apple. Various layering strategies on top of MSFT, Android and so on won’t get you there. Closed is controlled – deal with it.

I am not sure where things will go but I have some feelings.

  • Apple will carve out the top of the smartphone or computer as handheld market. I don’t see anyone making a dent in that in the neartime. They will have to make a serious mistake or screw up the app ecosystem but for now they are killing it
  • Android. I have a nexus one. It is slick and interesting as a nerd but it won’t replace iphone envy. Not this model anyway. Big problem for me is I love itunes and Google has no real strategy to combat that. However in emerging markets Android might be unstoppable since it is free but the various OS versions running around won’t help the app ecosystem. Let’s see how the carriers deal with it but also come to grips with Google’s growing (competitive) dominance.
  • Nokia. My first mobile phone maker. How could you rollover and die so easily? Nokia may take the middle but this is not a place to be. The low-end from China using Android is going to take over. Smartphones are not interesting coming from Nokia but they could be. They are in trouble and need a serious reboot.
  • Blackberry is still going to have a spot but I think it will wane over time. People want touchscreens and BB has not done well at that. Corporate will keep handing out BB’s like candy but with Apple’s new universal inbox and the Android team working on a BB killer – I think Canada’s finest is in trouble. They should sell to MSFT.
  • MSFT. don’t make me laugh. 3 phone OS’s now? The kin or the ‘da kine or the well… Whatever the new kiddie phone is. Then there is the Zune phone. I thought Zune was dead? Statement of fact – I have never seen a Zune in my life. Serious. Then the old mobile phone OS that guys like LG and Samsung are popping out faster than fields on Farmville. MSFT – can you guys get a strategy, execute and replace Ballmer? Thanks.
  • Palm/HP. I love you both dearly. Put the ipad lust aside for a quarter or 2 and build an amazing phone. Rethink the model, make it sexy, and full of web love. You can do it. Bill and Dave will thank you.

Samsung, LG, Motorola and others. Good luck. You guys seem to only care about volume and this is where you blow it. You product too many me to models and have nothing to differentiate with. Sure I might pick on up on a road trip at the 7/11 to have a local sim but would I actually go phone shopping looking  for your brand? No. Not many of my friends would either. Motoroal already realized that doing Android is the deal with devil and bought some LinuxOS vendor. Yawn. Linux on the phone is for Stalmmanesque folks – not the real world. LG – Samsung – I honestly don’t know what to say other than I guess there is money to be made on the low-end but I think the “brand” players are going to give you a rough time at the top.

Okay. Phone rant over.

Going to go study the Android dev kit some more.

🙂

Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, Singapore and now Kuala Lumpur

~ michael_msft ~ Leave a comment

Been a roving madman lately. Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam, back to Singapore and now in KL.

Some events and stuff to be aware of. Today and tomorrow is BarCamp KL – http://barcamp.my/blog/

In Vietnam we were on a MSFT .Net tour showing Yahoo! integration.

See some of that here (Go Jimmi):

http://www.slideshare.net/kembaren/openidoauth-and-yql-with-net

http://yqldemo.codeplex.com/

Next big thing I am working on is Yahoo’s! presence at Echelon – http://echelon2010.com/

Should be an awesome event for the region – I suggest if you are in the area to come.

At BarCamp KL we are also doing TWIA live – should be fun. Stay tuned!

Food for thought: http://gigaom.com/2010/04/23/why-we-need-an-open-like-standard/ – more on that later.

cya

iPad frenzy!

~ michael_msft ~ 2 Comments

This post will have very little to do with the iPad. I can’t get one in Sing yet and I will be waiting till I can. If you want to read more about the iPad check out this article from GigaOM. I think it is a good take on how the iPad will change computing – simple as that.

Was hanging with some friends last night chilling, talking and socializing – something people just don’t do enough of these days. Hardly any of us was checking our phones, blackberries or devices of taste. We are all in tech but I think we choose to turn it off when it makes sense so. Usually that is never enough but such is life in this fast paced world.

Lawrence_of_Arabia_Brough_Superior_gifI am always interested in vintage stuff and offline experiences. Motorcycles are a good example of that for me – I gear up, go on a long ride and just unhook from the wired world. I was strolling through my FT Weekend yesterday and came across this article about a guy reviving the Brough Superior motorcycle. For those who may not know what this bike is – might try watching Lawrence of Arabia – this is the bike the real T.E. Lawrence rode.

Well it seems a team of folks are recreating Brough Superior bikes to their original look and feel but with new technology. They are touring with some show bikes and these things look amazing. I could imagine that the coolest adventure in the world would be to buy one and go around the world. Heaven on earth for me.

Instead I will go back to tech product design, daydreaming about my BMW in Bangkok and be happy to be alive.

🙂

According to Jetstar you should visit Santika in Bangkok!

~ michael_msft ~ 4 Comments

I travel on Jetstar from time to time and usually enjoy reading their inflight magazine – especially the part in the back of the magazine that introduces various Jetstar destinations and places to visit while there. They use celebs or regional luminaries that share their top picks. I always find new places this way. Love it.

However, while reading the March 2010 issue, I was stunned to see a spot about Bangkok that was using Julian Moss, CEO of ASM Liquor, suggestion that travelers to Bangkok, Thailand should visit Santika. Wait a sec. At first I thought I was reading an old issue but I made sure it was the latest.

For the record, Santika had a horrific fire on New Year’s Eve 2008 with many people dying or seriously injured. One of the worst tragedies in Thailand. I am just a tad stunned that this suggestion of a location would be in a March 2010 magazine. I am not sure who to blame. Either the CEO of ASM Liquor is out of touch with reality or this is an old piece that was just recently printed. If so then the editor of the Magazine needs to be blamed.

Either way – someone needs to fall on their sword. This is hugely insensitive and hopefully not many Thai people were forced to read this issue and remember the tragedy.

Here is a photo of the magazine so no one thinks I am making this up:

jetstar