iPhone Ping!
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Posted on 08/20/2009 5:43:29 PM PDT by Star Traveler
"APPLE HAS CHANGED THE WAY THE GAME IS PLAYED", says MSFT Win Mob chief
Thu, 08/20/2009 - 01:21
by Jonny Evans
"Apple has changed the way the game is played," Loke Uei, senior technical product manager for mobile developer experience at Microsoft said at the company’s first Windows Mobile Developers Camp (WinMoDevCamp) yesterday.
His comments came during the developer meeting at which Redmond hopes to inspire/attract application developers to its platform. Attendees also got to see a preview of Windows Mobile at the event.
The company hopes to take on Apple when it launches its Marketplace for Mobile later this year, essentially a Microsoft version of the App Store. However, Apple has the lead in this, offering over 65,000 Apps already and furnishing 1.5 billion downloads since launch. Apple also has 100,000 developers signed up for the platform.
Microsoft’s clearly playing catch-up: “The first WinMoDevCamp event drew approximately 40 to 50 developers - and only a handful of those said they have developed and sold mobile applications previously,” reports InternetNews.com.
As reported, Microsoft attempted to woo the few developers present at the event, and will offer similar events worldwide as it attempts to drum up support for Windows Mobile.
Microsoft is also attempting to tempt developers with the promise of cash: "The business opportunity is the ability to target more than 30 million devices globally today," Uei said, and clearly with the App Store in mind, he added, “Ninety-nine cents is interesting, but I think your work is worth more than that - $5.99 or $9.99.”
Which sounds great - but it doesn’t matter what a Microsoft man who is trying to bring developers on side thinks about price, it’s what Windows Mobile users are willing to pay, and about how immersive and pleasant an experience Microsoft manages to make on mobiles.
Despite the obstacles to truly grabbing a slice of the market that’s currently dominated by Apple, RIM and Palm, Microsoft has managed to sign-up some, chiefly corporate, developers: AccuWeather.com, the Associated Press, CNBC, Developer One Mobile Software, EA Mobile, Facebook, Gameloft, MySpace, Netflix, Pandora, Sling Media, and Zagat Survey, have all signed up to offer Apps.
Glad to see they "catching on"... LOL...
Glad to see Microsoft admitting that the iPhone is a “game changer” now... :-)
Bump
I like seeing Steve Ballmer at a Developers Conference... LOL...
Steve Ballmer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMU0tzLwhbE
See Steve Ballmer’s “marketing strategy” outlined, by the man himself... :-)
WinMo changed the game first. It made it laggy and unplayable.
Oh... one more strategy of Microsoft in competing against Apple’s apps for iPhone — ummmm.... “sell the apps for more money”... LOL...
Apple’s 99-Cent Apps Are Too Cheap, Microsoft Says
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2320618/posts
Is Microsoft going nuts? :-)
pathetic
What I find amazing is that people want to walk around with full internet access, and all the apps, on a phone. Frankly, I don’t have time to twitter, play games nor look up a local restaurant. My phone does one thing.....I can call other people if need be. Times are a changing....;)
Uh, Steve, my work is worth in the thousands of dollars for anything other than the most trivial program. The question is how do I get there, by selling lots for $0.99 or fewer at $9.99? Only the total matters unless I have to deal with a significant per unit cost or labor.
I'll buy a $0.99 app just looking at the app store and its internal reviews. For $9.99 I feel the need to check it out further and most times I'll decide not to spend the money.
You said — What I find amazing is that people want to walk around with full internet access, and all the apps, on a phone. Frankly, I don’t have time to twitter, play games nor look up a local restaurant. My phone does one thing.....I can call other people if need be. Times are a changing....;)
—
Yes, times are a changing, to be sure...
I’ve been known to go into a store, look at something that I want to buy and check out the price on the internet, while I’m right at the shelf, looking at the product. And then, find out that it’s cheaper elsewhere, take a quick look to see how far away that store is, and them map it on the iPhone mapping/routing program and zip on over there and save some money. Of course, part of that “calculation” is if it’s not too far out of the way, too, and if the money savings is significant.
Then again, I’ve also looked on Amazon.com while I was there and decided just to go back home and order it online and have it in another couple of days... LOL...
Then, if I want to get out and around, I might take a quick look at the weather map and see if a thunderstorm is moving in on the area (you can see pretty clearly in this area). I’ll see what the weather is going to be like and that will change my plans as I’m out and about and what I’m going to do next.
And, maybe, at the last minute, I’m thinking about getting a part for my bike, to go out riding later on, but I’m not sure when the store is going to close and I’ll look it up on the Internet and catch their time for closing to see if I can make it on time...
Yep... things are different with an iPhone... that’s for sure... :-)
—
Oh... and I may even catch a quick look at Free Republic at a red light, too... (I have been known to do that a time or two... LOL...). Did I tell you that when I go through the car wash, I’ll grab a quick look on Free Republic, too... :-)
Yup!!
You said — Uh, Steve, my work is worth in the thousands of dollars for anything other than the most trivial program. The question is how do I get there, by selling lots for $0.99 or fewer at $9.99? Only the total matters unless I have to deal with a significant per unit cost or labor.
—
Well, Steve Ballmer at Microsoft may read here, and then again he might not... LOL...
But, I’ll pipe up, nonetheless... One thing is for sure... it’s much better for the developer to set the price that he thinks his app is worth and for how many he thinks he can sell at the price... than having some outfit like Microsoft telling the developer that he has to sell it for at least a “floor price” or not at all...
There was an example of a developer getting $250,000 for his 99-cent app not too long ago. I bet he’s not complaining about his little app... :-)
I understand Star, I'm the one behind the power curve here. I look at it differently. I have a top of the line PC sitting at home with decent connection speeds, 24" monitor and a graphics card that costs more than most laptops. We won't even talk about memory or sound. I consider a Blackberry the CPU equivalent of an 8 track tape player. You pay for the network cost. I wait until I get home to do my shopping.....
Resistance is futile.
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Hey - I don’t even own a cellphone ( wife does only to keep in touch with my daughter at college in Kyoto ) !
Jobs (Apple) and Ballmer (Microsoft) speak...
Steve Jobs and Steve Ballmer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dR8SAFRBmcU
“The only problem with Microsoft is that they have no taste. They have absolutely no taste!” [Steve Jobs]
“They [Microsoft] don’t think of original ideas and they don’t bring much culture into their product.” [Steve Jobs]
“I have a problem with the fact that they [Microsoft] make really third-rate products.” [Steve Jobs]
“I will admit, quite frankly, that I think Windows, today, is probably four years, behind — three years behind, where it would have been had we not danced with IBM for so long.” [Steve Ballmer]
Microsoft CEO Ballmer laughs at Apple iPhone
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oGaZIKYvo
“Right now we’re selling millions and millions and millions of phones a year; Apple is selling zero phones a year.” [Steve Ballmer]
How’s it going now... Steve?
Errrrr. What are you saying Star.....you work for Apple? Help us out here.
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