Software : Gary Marshall: Is Microsoft forcing Dell to stick with PCs?

Gary Marshall: Is Microsoft forcing Dell to stick with PCs?
Amazon Coins will be the Disney Dollars of online shopping
Sky+ app update lets Android devices control Sky TV
Telepliant releases VoIPOffice Communicator desktop app
Windows 8 sales are 'on par' with Windows 7 90 days in
Over 270,000 rush to download just-released iOS 6 jailbreak

Gary Marshall: Is Microsoft forcing Dell to stick with PCs?

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The rumours were true: Michael Dell is buying back the company he founded, and Microsoft's supporting him to the tune of two billion dollars. What's interesting isn't the money, though. It's Microsoft's carefully chosen words.

"Microsoft is committed to the long term success of the entire PC ecosystem," the statement says.

That's interesting, because it's the entire PC ecosystem Michael Dell wants to get out of.

What Dell did

In the old days, PCs were made by companies, bought by distributors, sold to resellers and then sold to us, in shops. Dell changed that, enabling you to order directly from the company. It removed the middlemen, created an incredibly efficient supply chain, and slashed the cost of computers.

It was brilliant: I've bought, or been responsible for buying, literally dozens of Dells over the years, and with the exception of a single duffer that made a horrible noise, I don't have a bad word to say about the company or its computers (full disclosure: I've written adverts for Dell in the past).

The problem is that other people started to do the same, and the margins began to shrink. These days consumer PCs are commodities, sold at bargain basement prices with margins so thin that firms stuff their machines with adware and cover them with stickers to make a few more cents per item - and if that wasn't bad enough, consumers are abandoning the PC in favour of smartphones and tablets.

It's a horrible business to be in, and it's a business Dell wants out of.

Is Microsoft attempting to stop it?

What Dell wants

Dell wants to move into enterprise computing, and that's why it's going private: changing the entire focus of a company takes time, and time is something the adrenaline-fuelled short-termist nutballs of Wall Street wouldn't allow. Microsoft is helping Michael Dell take his company away from them, but it's not doing it out of the goodness of its heart. By lending Dell's bid $2 billion, Microsoft wants a say in what Dell does.

It'll be fascinating to see what happens to Dell's Linux efforts, such as last year's Ubuntu-powered ultrabooks and its workstations and servers.

As the ever-perceptive Jean-Louis Gassée writes in Monday Note, the deal would give Microsoft "better vertical integration [between hardware and software] without having to pay the full price for ownership... this is completely at odds with the buyout's supposed intent: getting out of the PC business." However, it seems that without Microsoft's involvement, Michael Dell wouldn't have the cash he needed to take Dell private.

Maybe together, Microsoft and Dell will be the new Apple - but this does look much more like a defensive move than an offensive one.

Microsoft is watching its best OEMs embrace other platforms, such as Chromebooks and Android, and the prospect of Dell dumping its consumer products or worse, staying in the business but embracing other OSes, is something Steve Ballmer doesn't want to see. And if that means handing out a few billion? For Microsoft, that's small change.

Amazon Coins will be the Disney Dollars of online shopping

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Amazon will launch its own currency in May, known as Amazon Coins.

Exclusively for use with Amazon's Kindle Fire range of tablets, the currency will let you buy apps, games and in-app purchases.

Like all currencies companies invent, it's hard to see much of a boon to us consumers. In theory it makes it easier to buy from Amazon, but with one-click purchases already present and correct, how much easier can it get?

Instead, Coins is aimed at increasing profits for Amazon, as well as anyone selling apps and games through it.

Free money can't travel

When it launches in the US in May, Amazon will dish out tens of millions of dollars' worth of Amazon Coins for free, helping spread awareness of the new currency as well as stimulating sales.

Amazon doesn't make a profit from its tablets and e-book readers, thanks to their low prices, so relies on big sales of e-books, films, music and games from its online store. Hence it's hardly surprising it wants to find new ways for us to spend.

"Developers continue to report higher conversion rates on Amazon compared to other platforms," Paul Ryder, Amazon's Vice President of Apps and Games, said in a statement. "Now we have another new way to help developers reach even more of our millions of customers."

Developers will still make 70 per cent from each sale using Amazon Coins. Only apps and games approved before April 25 will be eligible for purchase using the currency.

Via Amazon

Sky+ app update lets Android devices control Sky TV

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The Sky+ app for Android has been updated, letting you use your phone or tablet as a remote control for your Sky+ HD box.

Swipe your Android device's screen, and you can change channels, pause and rewind live TV, and add or delete recordings.

Just connect your Sky+HD box to the same Wi-Fi network as your Android device, and you're good to go.

Previously, the feature was only available on the iOS version of the app. Those using the Android version were relegated to checking the TV guide, setting their Sky box to record from wherever they were in the world, searching, using series link, and a few more features.

Froyo required

If you want the new features, you'll need a device running Android 2.2 Froyo or later. Which is pretty much any Android device released since 2010. If you're still stuck on 2.1 or earlier, you won't be able to update to use the new functions, though the old app will still work.

The Android version of the app has been playing second fiddle to the iOS, seeing as iPhone users have been using the remote control feature since November. The iOS version also lets users browse on-demand programmes, and download box sets remotely.

Sky has promised on-demand listings will come to the Android app later this year.

Telepliant releases VoIPOffice Communicator desktop app

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Telepliant has released a free desktop application named VoIPOffice Communicator as a unified communications tools for PCs and Macs.

The company, which provides internet telephony for SMEs in the UK, said that VoIPOffice Communicator integrates with several web browsers, contact management software and CRM suites.

Its features include presence, instant messaging, screen popping and click to dial. The software can be used as a stand-alone softphone or integrated with a hardware IP phone to simplify the placing, receiving and managing of calls and voicemails.

Tan Aksoy, Chief Executive Officer at Telappliant, commented: "It is widely agreed that unified communications and collaboration are key components of a successful business environment …. I am confident that features such as presence, instant messaging and CRM integration will help drive business efficiencies across our customer base."

Windows 8 sales are 'on par' with Windows 7 90 days in

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Sales of Windows 8 may have struggled out of the gate, but 90 days since its October launch, Microsoft has indicated it's moving enough new operating system licenses to equal that of Windows 7.

"More than 60 million licenses sold is on par with the record setting pace we saw with Windows 7," said Microsoft Chief Marketing Officer and Chief Financial Officer Tami Reller in an official Windows blog interview.

That figure has been aided by a Windows 8 Pro upgrade discount for US$39.99, a deal that expired on February 1. The new price is US$199.99.

Microsoft has also given Windows XP holdouts a chance to upgrade, skipping over Windows Vista and Windows 7. This convenient policy continues.

A Windows into the future

Reller said in the interview that there's still more to do after Windows 8's three-month milestone, and users' demand for touch is something Microsoft and its partners will pursue.

"Together, we've made progress and the trajectory of touch devices continues to grow," she said about the importance of breaking down the boundaries between PCs and tablets.

"From tablets, to touch laptops, to all-in-one PCs, customer interest in new touch form factors is increasing."

Eating up Windows 8 apps

In addition to driving touch, Windows 8 users have been downloading a steady number of apps. Reller noted that the Windows Store reached the 100 million mark in the first 60 days.

While not everyone is making apps for the Windows Store, she said that the number of apps available has more than quadrupled since the launch of Windows 8.

Reller pointed out that the Windows Store allows app builders to use their own commerce engines and keep 100 percent of their in-app sale profits, a subtle jab at Apple's policy.

With Windows 8 engaging users with 45 billion unique live tile updates as of early last month, the new operating system is keeping pace with Windows 7.

However, it may take hardware, like the upcoming Microsoft Surface Pro or or a rumored Surface 2 tablet, to really give the operating system a jump start versus the previous OS.

Over 270,000 rush to download just-released iOS 6 jailbreak

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Though jailbreaks for the iPhone 5 were previously readily available to developers, the public at large didn't have any options for cracking Apple's restrictive iOS 6.

There had been plenty of instances of prior iPhone jailbreaks happening, but to this point, the iPhone 5 had proven particularly challenging for hackers.

However, that all changed Monday when a group known as the Evad3rs team finally released an untethered jailbreak for iOS 6 devices, including the iPhone 5, downloadable by anyone with a computer.

The Evasi0n jailbreak allows users to run and download apps not approved by Apple right alongside the regular and certified downloads already on the device.

Flood gates opened

With so many users eagerly anticipating a way to jailbreak their iPhones and iPads, Evad3r's servers were pushed to the limits as soon as Evasi0n went live.

While the number of visitors currently on the group's website wasn't necessarily indicative of the number of downloads, according to one of Evasi0n's developers, some 270,000 users were active when the download went live.

Shortly after, another of the Evad3r devs tweeted downloaders had burned through 1TB of data on a hosting server in just ten minutes.

Based on the file size of Evasi0n, the dev estimated the file had been downloaded more than 100,000 times in that time frame.

A few hours later, that same developer revealed the downloads had surpassed 4.2TB on the same server, which put the number of downloads close to 500,000.

Five feet high and rising

With more and more users downloading the jailbreak, and others getting temporarily shut out due to the immense amount of downloads, there's no telling where the number will peak at the end of Evasi0n's first day.

The current pace of 500,000 downloads every two hours is pretty astronomical, and isn't likely sustainable for long duration.

That said, according to alternative app store Cydia, where many of Evasi0n's new users will flock for unregulated apps, there are nearly 23 million devices currently hooked into the store.

Now that devices like the iPhone 5, iPad 4, and iPhone 4S can access Cydia, that ecosystem is likely to grow quite a bit in the coming days.

Yahuui Blog

Tuesday, February 5, 2013