Microsoft OS Smart Phone for Developing Nations

YesSir writes "The New York Times is reporting that Microsoft CTO Craig J. Mundie and Bill Gates are talking about the idea of a specially designed cellphone that could be converted into a full-fledged computer through a connection to a TV and keyboard. They hope to use this product to bring computing to the masses in developing nations and be a Windows powerd alternative to Nicholas Negroponte's $100 free open-source powerd laptop."

Comments

A Microsoft sticker on every hut!

[Elvon Prezton]

Jesus, Bill, leave the poor third world alone. You can't squeeze blood from a turnip, you know. But an Ethiopian! You can sure squeeze blood from them. So have at it, if you must. *sigh*

Re:A Microsoft sticker on every hut!

[IndigoZenith]

You obviously aren't a student of the Rules of Aquisition...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rules_of_Acquisition

Bill's throwing his toys out of the pram

[99luftballon]

Here's a great example of the closeminded view seen at Microsoft so often. He can't get his mind about the concept that to make a developing nation customer pay for their operating system, or for the software needed to use it, is a tad obscene when there's a free or nearly free alternative.

Crippling the hardware to make up for this software royalty (ever try producing a large document on a mobile phone screen?) isn't the answer. I'm not sure Negroponte has it right either - low cost PC boxes and CRT monitors that are unsellable in the West are going to be a cheaper alternative in the short term .

Too Certain!

[16K Ram Pack]

are talking about the idea of a specially designed cellphone that could be converted into a full-fledged computer?

Hey, be careful of overpromising, Bill.

Re:proves the old argument

[poeidon1]

But this cellphone is supposed to work as a PC and this PC is not a yesterday PC. If it is, then probably its better to sell an used machine for 100$ (should be aplenty, my office alone donates 30 machine every year) to the poor instead of wasting that on a useless machine.

Convergence

[Council]

Continuing with the idea that cell phones, PDAs, and eventually laptops are going to merge. When you've got enough power in a wallet-sized device to do all your email, messaging, web browsing, and music playing, it'll just be a matter of snapping in different peripherals.

I'm shopping for a laptop right now, and what I really want is something small. I don't need a whole lot of power, I just need something I can slip in a handbag or backpack pocket (maybe a Fujitsu Lifebook P-series). With Verizon wireless broadband it could sit in my backpack/briefcase and, via skype, serve as a cell phone. It'd also be my PDA.

There are a lot of different approaches to reaching that convergence, and it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Phone with a keyboard vs Speccy?

[jetxee]

A small computer costs more than a big computer (more engineering challenges). So, Microsoft Phone with a keyboard jack will be either too expensive for developing contries, or will offer worse value/price when compared with really simple computers.

Yet, state of the art phones are really comparable with the home computers of 80s. But if those computers were sufficient for masses, then they would win the game with a better price of $5 or so :)

Makes sense - doesn't it?

[cyberjessy]

Looking forward, this does make business sense.

1. General purpose computing is not processor intensive (especially when you combine it with ASP style internet apps). We could fit it into a phone, easily.
2. This could drive more powerful and efficient processors for smaller devices. $100 is not improbable in a short time.
3. Cell phone penetration is good in developing world too (India/China). Its good to have a device with other uses too.
4. MS might have Windows Live! in mind. Ultimately this might be available world-wide, along with free subscription of Windows Live.

Overall, here is an interesting strategy:
1. Home Entertainment+ = XBox 360
2. Value+ = , Pocket PC, Windows CE
3. Servers = Windows on x64, IA64
4. Desktops and Laptops - Windows Vista
The interesting this is, there is very little overlap between the target markets here. And they have got all the bases covered.

Re:Makes sense - doesn't it?

[tpgp]

Looking forward, this does make business sense.

Nope - this makes virtually no sense at all.

Remember we're talking about 3rd world applications here - and you're talking about pushing all the processing to the other end of a network. Many third world countries have good cell phone penetration, but not so high (and so cheap) that you'd want to rely on using it 24/7 for everything

In addition, MS says

specially configured cellular phone into a computer by connecting it to a TV and a keyboard. [emphasis mine]

Uh-huh. Thanks Bill. My eyes hurt just thinking about it.

Anyone who's ever used a TV as a monitor know they're virtually impossible to read for long periods of time. Look at the way Media Centre type applications have to use huge, high contrast text.

This is just MS trying to shoot down the competition, with any sort of idea they can, whilst they scramble to think of some other way of squashing it.

So, in summary, no - it makes no sense, its a much better idea to incorporate a cell phone into a light weight laptop then vice versa.

Microsoft isn't stupid

[quokkapox]

Cellphones are more ubiquitous than PCs in Africa; they're already networked and Microsoft feels obligated to offer a realistic alternative to the $100 laptop which with ad-hoc mesh networking could make their entire closed-source software platform irrelevant to this part of the developing world.

If Microsoft cannot get their tentacles embedded in order to extract a tax on every electronic device legally sold in Africa, that's a serious setback. When Vista bombs later this year and alternative platforms and free software continue to take off everywhere, and Google keeps bleeding them with more papercuts, MSFT stock is going to tank.

Power?

[a_greer2005]

Dont those in the third world need reliable power and healthcare before they worry about setting up a TV and cell phone to check their email?

Re:Power?

[albalbo]

Many places in the "first world" don't have reliable healthcare.

Been there, done that

[hey!]

have the pissed off customer to prove it.

I used a treo 600 for over a year. It was remarkably good as a converged device. However if I learned anything, I learned that having a good phone is so important it trumps everything else. It'd be fine if I spent all my time in the city, but I was freqently out of range.

I switched to an LG tri-mode phone with bluetooth, on the theory that I'd get at least an analog signal in places I used to have no coverage at all, and, guess what: I get perfectly good digital connectivity in places I had no bars before. The phone's memory is so small the web browser is useless, but using it as a bluetooth modem from a PDA works fine. The main problem is that only one device can use the BT modem at a time, and if I use it from windows the windows BT stack is so buggy it refuses to let go; I have to shut the BT radio off.

I'm not against convergence per se. It's just that converged devices as they now stand do not perform well enough in their comm roles, which is the linchpin for the whole concept. The best of the devices are mediocre PDAs, which is good enough for most of us.

For a converged device to work,it has to have two things: (1) NO phone trade-offs at all and (2) strong device connectivity to make up for UI tradeoffs. What makes a good phone and a what makesa good PDA or video viewer are all different things. While you may want to watch TV on your phone, you're also going to want to pipe the video to a TV (can anybody in the industry not be watching what iPods are doing these days?).

Once you have interdevice connectivity up to snuff, what you have is neither strictly a communication device nor strictly a converged device. It's a device that can work equally well in either role, as a network interface or a user interface.