A pie for turkeys and eagles

I have read a lot today about Nokia – Microsoft agreement.

Everyone speaks about that as a way for Nokia to save from Google and Apple tornado.

Microsoft was already considered out of games, and Nokia’s trends curves don’t lie.

In the open letter, Elop and Ballmer state that “Microsoft will continue to invest in the development of Windows Phone and cloud services” only at the eighth (of nine) bullets.

The rest sounds like “Nokia grab this and make a miracle for both of us”.

But let’s consider this: the battle is never on market share, it is always on profits.

That is way Apple commenced directly with winning since the beginning.

So what will really produce effect on Nokia are probably the slim diet of 1800 heads, and MeeGo and Symbian with them.

Two turkeys maybe won’t make an eagle, but it’s a turkey’s world.

So let’s remain on the profits issue. The need to make money with mobiles. The need to cut the platform cost. The need to separate investments on hardware and platforms.

One will take care of the former, the other of the latter. And they are both interested in doing their best or they will be out.

So, considering both Nokia and Microsoft have the possibility to really deliver outstanding products, they will.

Big business company’s CEO already used to choose Nokia and Microsoft mobiles even when they were crap, so why not now?

Google have not took over yet in the world of PCs, nor has Apple.

So business phone are most likely to be “Nokiasoft” phones, rather then Google mobiles.

There’s not just a pie to re-slice.

There’s a much bigger pie.

In fact, mobiles need to be changed anyway, because of the mobile internet and app revolution.

Regardless the platform, they must be enabled to the “clouded” and crowded world of services .

A much bigger pie.

And bigger profits even if the relative share is reduced.

Another point:  “Nokiasoft” strategy will win even more if Asian player, used to win the hardware cost  battle, will remain out and join some other platform, probably their home made ones.

 

 

An eye on CES 2011

 

CES is the Consumer Electronics Show exhibit in Las Vegas.

Thanks to the web I am able to report some comments on this even if I did not have the chance to participate.

There have been lot of mobile, lot of TV and lot of mobile and internet TV.

Portability is the winner. Yes, nice audio stuff, and great 3D screens from Sony, but I’d really focus on portable stuff. Among wireless handsets, Android largely won. In fact, everybody can do a decent product using Android as a platform.

And that is the first big risk on buying Android powered crap .On the contrary, the pairing of high-end hardware with Android and high speed connectivity (LTE) can generate literally technology jewels. As from the rapid view of products presented, I have seen that Mobile Digital TV products looks crappy compared with Internet TV tablets.

But if bandwidth is the issue, is Internet TV the final direction or for real time broadcasting the pairing of a DTV togheter with a radio recevier can be a successful solution? Will these two worlds collide or one will bite the other?

The DVB receiver is still the key to keep broadcasters independent from mobile pipes..ehm..operators.

Will they succeed now that screens are much bigger (and platforms and hardware has evolved)?

Please note: DVB is established (even in Italy), and you just need a basic dongle and an app to pimp any device having a USB port with it.

Nevertheless, there are no apps working with tuner equipped devices or mediacenters.

Maybe just because mediacenters and devices simply do not have a tuner, uh?

Cloudy in early december

Cloud Computing is not just the future of mobile. It’s the future.

If you are consulting in Telco you definitely must deal with this enables and with all the technologies related.

On wednesday, 1st December, the London day conference and exhibition on Enterprise Mobile Cloud Computing can be “virtually attended” by watching it streamed LIVE.

For free.  Just click here

7,5 hours worth spending

From November 2009 until last months I managed to organize 5 small “events ” using company’s office after work-time.

It was a matter of 1,5 hours per meeting, a total of about 7,5 hours of each participant’s spare time.

Less then one working day.

Only 2 or 3 colleagues participated at every session, the majority went 2 or 3 times.

In less than one working day, nine colleagues had the change to present themselves to the group, their project, their passions, anything they liked to share.

Our human resource leader came once to introduce career steps reorganization.

We also had the change to pledge at Xmas and have a slice of panettone together.

(I repeat) in less than one working day.

After these meetings, some colleagues could finally realize who is who and who to ask for needs.

Someone felt inspired, and told me he could see his work from a different point of view.

(I repeat) in less than one working day.

Someone came from Milan to be with us, thus driving home for 2 hours back home afterwards.

Some other come even if it was heavily snowing outside.

Speakers spent time preparing slides, schemes, animations, in order to simulate discussion, and faced the public whirl of questions.

Someone even spoke about himself, his feelings when facing everyday challenges after a difficult period.

Someone present himself right after joining the company.

(I repeat) in less than one working day.

I’ve always broadcasted my invitation to the whole group; no matter if someone never got back, not even declining the outlook invitation.

Nobody wrote me back “I don’t care”, nor “please do not bug me with that anymore”.

They simply remained silent. I accepted this. This is good to me, because this is normal. This is the way life goes, this is way chances and results are for some and not for all. They simply decided to embrace something else, and surely this was the best for them, and I am happy they did not come as they could not miss what they liked most doing.

This was just a chance, you are free to miss it in order to take some other chance.

After the last meeting, I have been asked to stimulate those guys never responding, never getting back, a total silent mail address.

I have been told I must involve them,  speak with them,  enlarging the group, let them in, or finding a way to it.

I spent the last month thinking about that, trying to figure out the right thing to do.

My final decision was to quit broadcasting invitation, but as this was exactly the opposite of my company request, I decided to quit organizing events.

Here comes my reasons:  I firmly believe that those who participated are heretics. They stood against indifference, they produced an effort, they gave part of them for free, for the sake of improving the group.

The others decided to stay out of this and in to something else.

Who am I to say this is absolutely the best choice?

They had 5 chances to give a sign of life, to acknowledge. They did not.

I firmly believe this group does not need these followers.

The scope of these meetings went in the opposite direction. Thus, this is simply not for them.

The company is for them, other chances are for them, not these meeting.

Then, as for those I organize, this adventure comes to an end.

It’s been a great time guys, thanks!

Yet another developer community?

http://developer.limofoundation.org/

We’ll see. Anyway this seems to come with perfect timing, even if many were wondering about lack of initiatives from LiMo, as if they weren’t able to keep confused promises.

Here they comes. I see simplicity here. The web site, the device, everything seems very basic, a good point to start for begineers. This is giving me the sense of tyding up a very complicated and confused melting pot of initiatives and communities.

Let’s get started then.

Ops, the SDK is still yet to come, rats.

Living on my own. Not my favourite song

You cannot imagine how much powerful cooperation and support chances you miss simply because you don’t pick up the phone (or drop an email) to a collegue, just because you don’t know him.

For some obscure reasons we excuse and justify ourselves; “oh, i don’t want to disturb…or maybe he is too busy…I don’t want to look invadent…he probably doesn’t know much more than I could know about that..”

Yesterday, a colleague from Rome (not from Mars or Jupiter) belonging to the community I opened more than two months ago (and silent so far), suddenly broke the wall.

We had an interesting call. We knew each other. We are know stronger. Just a little bit. But we are stronger than before.

Fast as saying “WiPhone”

http://wiphone.tiscali.it/servizi/

The phone as a service enabler. Your phone. The device you already have in your pocket. The handset someone else sold you (to make money with it).

You take it, you empower it with a client.

And you shift to another service usage, which turns, modifies upside down and inside out your service.

Ok ok ok …not that easy, wi-fi ….yes I know we are in Italy…yes of course you have to pay…I understand.

But for some users (with specific needs) it’s a sort of revolution and saving at no cost.

Open. You first…

Upcoming September’s open source in mobile congress in Amsterdam

http://event.osimworld.com/

Small Developers companies (up to 5 people) and freelancers can participate the full event, for free.

Big(ger) players should pay, a matter of something between 4K and 5K euros for the whole stuff (workshops included).

This is meant to connect developers, which are actually already strongly web-connected. What is hard to overcome is the code-sharing hurdle.

Open source perspective includes the code sharing as from a scientist philosophycal approach. But it’s quite hard to share your achievements, especially if you are running for discovering the top KILLER application that everybody cannot live without.