Stephen Withers
Friday, 25 July 2008 12:21
Opinion and Analysis
Page 4 of 5
The third point is that mobile phone users are sick and tired of letting carriers dictate the removal of particular handset features to suit their individual strategies. To the best of my knowledge, you get the same iPhone wherever you buy it.
For example, we know that the iPhone's Bluetooth is only for headsets. There's none of the old nonsense about getting Bluetooth file transfer if you buy it from carrier A but not when it comes from carrier B.
Given the widespread support for Bluetooth (especially on notebooks), the iPhone's support could usefully be improved, but that's another matter.
If Microsoft can find a way to make Windows-based phones more attractive to customers, then more power to it. Part of that could include a one-stop shop for buying applications, similar to Apple's App Store. But even if Microsoft wants to maintain its pro-choice stance, it would be helpful to provide a single front end (which might run on PCs or handsets, or be some kind of web-based portal) to get rid of the need to maintain multiple accounts with different online stores or mess with widely varying navigation models.
Ballmer made it very clear that Microsoft is in search for the long haul. "In search, our technology has come a long way in a very short time and it's an area where we'll continue to invest to be a market leader."
I wouldn't want to bet that Google's search model is the last word, but Microsoft needs to be wary of innovating for the wrong reasons. Why has Google been so successful? Because it quickly delivers results that are, by and large, highly relevant to the query.
What's the biggest mistake Microsoft could make in search? Please
read on for my opinion.
