Tuesday, February 14, 2006
3GSM World Congress 2006: Steve Ballmer Keynote
Posted by Darius Wey in "THOUGHT" @ 09:00 AM
The keynote began with a history of the "intelligence" model driven by the microprocessor and how transformation of that model has occurred in recent times to promote a world of "digital lifestyle" as a fundamental source of entertainment, productivity, and information in people's lives. The elements for this new transformed model never existed in the past, but it exists today, notably after the explosion of the web.
Steve Ballmer says hello.
Ballmer then stressed that when PCs became easier to use, the world of the PC and mobile device were still separate, but thanks to recent innovation, it has now come together. He then went on to mention that customers now have a realisation of IT as a fundamental source of information. He believes that Microsoft has all the right elements in place, after spending years rolling out the proper infrastructure (for example, MSN Messenger, Windows Live, and Exchange), to help make it all happen.
The growth of Windows Mobile.
Next up, there was a huge statistical analysis on the adoption rate of Microsoft's services. At the moment, there are 200m Hotmail users, 400m users of Office, 200m users of MSN Messenger, and 300m downloads of Windows Media technology. In 2002, there was one device offered by one operator in one country. Now, just over three years later, there are over 100 different Windows Mobile-based phones offered by 102 operators in 55 countries and built by 47 different hardware manufacturers. No doubt, Windows Mobile has grown. In addition, there are over 18k applications available for Windows Mobile, developed by over 13m developers. No doubt, the Windows Mobile developer base has grown too. ;)
This year, Microsoft will launch a new advertising campaign dedicated solely to Windows Mobile. They'll work with a quarter of a million business partners and get them revved up over Windows Mobile services. And, aside from launching new versions of Office and Exchange as part of their sales drive, they'll also promote Windows Mobile with the end goal of making sure Windows Mobile achieves the market penetration it deserves. This is something I've been wanting Microsoft to do for a long time, and I'm happy to see it happen.
Every geek's dream.
Suzan DelBene, part of Windows Mobile's marketing division, then stepped up on stage. She showed off some of the new devices that were unveiled at the start of this year's 3GSM World Congress. The HP iPAQ hw6900 was first. It's a quad-band phone with GPS and Wi-Fi, and like the following three devices mentioned in this paragraph, it will ship with the MSFP to support Microsoft's Direct Push technology. The awesome Samsung i320 was next - a slim keyboard-equipped Windows Mobile-based Smartphone. Ballmer jokingly slipped it into his pocket, and who wouldn't? ;) DelBene then showed off the Asus P305 Smartphone supporting 3G. It was soon accompanied by the i-mate SmartFlip (HTC Star Trek) with its QVGA screen and quad-band support. It seemed like Smartphones were outdoing Pocket PCs, but at the end of the day, they're all Windows Mobile devices. Ballmer stressed that the Windows Mobile platform was a powerful and consistent one supporting powerful and consistent peripherals.
The next segment of the keynote was a focus on the openness of the Microsoft product line and how it could be substituted with third-party products, yet still be connected to Microsoft's services to deliver a superior customer experience. Interoperability was a key theme in Ballmer's statements and he stressed that it was all driven by a device-server-service dimension.
Key points raised in the keynote.
He then went on to talk about the differences between the business customer and general consumer. Or rather, the lack of differences. People are people - and their demands from consumer electronics tends to be universal. Whether they demand information from their personal life or professional life (for example, weather, e-mail, and contact lists), one device should do it all, and it should also allow the setting of rules (accepting calls from certain contacts, and rejecting calls from certain contacts). The idea of having a consistent software experience to act as a bridge between the personal and professional world played a huge part in his talk. Windows Live got its spiel. Ballmer said the Windows Vista Mobile Device Center would be demonstrated a little later, but I can't recall this happening anytime during the keynote. :|
The mobile version of Office Communicator being demonstrated on the Qtek 9000.
Dave Karle, a Product Manager of Microsoft's Windows Mobile and Embedded division, then appeared on stage. First on his agenda was the unveiling of the mobile version of Office Communicator, which brings enterprise-level secure instant messaging and VoIP telephony to the Windows Mobile-based device. Each person on the Office Communicator Mobile contact list supports multi-modal functionality. Karle used a Qtek 9000 (HTC Universal) to demonstrate the new application. While he was flipping through the contact list, there was an incoming VoIP call. He answered it and put it in speakerphone mode. The voice quality was crisp and clear.
To help promote the theme of interoperability, Karle took out a non-Windows Mobile-based device running an MSN Messenger client - namely, the Samsung S400i. Not much else happened, other than it acting as a lead-in for a talk about Windows Live.
The multi-modal contact list.
A unified, multi-modal contact list was displayed in a Windows Live client. Its status was being pushed in real-time from the Windows Live servers. Each contact had an asterisk acting as an update notification for the person's MSN Space (just like in MSN Messenger and Live Messenger). Karle and Ballmer then demonstrated the "sending" functionality. Aside from the standard instant text message, instant voice clips are also supported. The search feature of Windows Mobile was shown next. The name of a London pub was entered, and in a flash, the address, map, and directions to the pub was displayed on-screen.
Sending a picture using the Blue Rendezvous software.
Blue Rendezvous was announced next as part of Karle's presentation on platform innovation. It's a Microsoft Research product designed to ease the pairing process and sharing of services between two Bluetooth-enabled devices, such as Cingular's two "Hump" phones. By tapping 1 on both devices' keypads simultaneously, a "partner" was found and a secure, temporary connection was established. In a manner of seconds, a picture was transferred from one device to the other. The sending of contact cards and other files are also supported, and because the connection is a temporary one, access to system files is prohibited.
Using the O2 Xda Atom with a Bluetooth projector.
Karle pulled out an O2 Xda Atom running Windows Mobile 5.0. With the addition of PowerPoint Mobile in the new platform, plus the power of Bluetooth, it was able to display the contents of a PowerPoint presentation on the big screen via a local Bluetooth projector. This was very impressive.
PGR3 content downloaded directly to the NFC-enabled device.
However, the next segment on near field communication (NFC) was even more impressive. NFC enables two-way secure communication between wireless devices. Karle demonstrated an NFC solution running on a Vodafone-branded HTC Universal. Attached to it was a small dongle which provided the near-field functionality. He waved the device in front of an NFC-enabled PGR3 ad banner, and in an instant, information about the PGR3 game was downloaded to the device - namely, cost of the game, the option to buy the game, and the option to preview the game (a Windows Media trailer). Both Karle and Ballmer had zero hesitation in demonstrating the purchasing features of the NFC service. A credit card was waved in front of the dongle, and just like that, the game was bought. It was fast. Real fast.
Streaming recorded shows from the home PC to the Windows Mobile-based device.
Windows Vista Media Center Edition will prove to be huge, not just for computers, but mobile devices too. Karle demonstrated a prototype service allowing the streaming of recorded shows from a home PC to a Windows Mobile-based device over a high-speed connection.
The new live digital television service from BT Movio and Virgin Mobile was revealed next. Richard Branson appeared in a recording to give the standard blah-blah on how exciting it all was. A new HTC-built digital television-enabled handset, the Virgin Mobile Trilogy, was introduced. It was one cool looking Smartphone and it provided digital television on-demand.
The exclusive Virgin Mobile Trilogy.
The keynote drew to a close with Ballmer reiterating the idea of tight integration between Microsoft products and services, but also stressed the point that they offered great extensibility with third-party products and services. Just recently, Motorola licensed Windows Media technology for use on their phones. Verizon also licensed it for their VCast music service. Beijing Mobile licensed Live Communications Server technology to offer live instant messaging and VoIP for its customers. ActiveSync technology was also licensed to Nokia and Sony Ericsson over the past year. All in all, you can see that Microsoft is pushing for strong interoperability, and they hope to intensify that by establishing the right partnerships with all hardware manufacturers and mobile operators over the coming years.
And that's it. I'm publishing this article in a rush, so I apologise for any errors that may be present.
