Windows RT – End of the road

          Microsoft has all but confirmed the end of RT. Microsoft has finally confirmed what I have long suspected which is that Windows RT will be killed off sooner rather than later. Always one to treat hot potatoes delicately, Microsoft has not explicitly said that RT will be terminated but has made it very clear that...

Xbox One vs. PS4 – Blu drives of death

          The bark is much worse than the bite. It looks bad but the hard drive defect on the Xbox one looks to be no more frequent than the failures reported on the PS4. The main difference is that this defect looks to be a design or manufacturing fault whereas the PS4 defects are varied and...

IPR: Samsung vs. Apple – Far from done

          Only the lawyers are benefitting from this pointless war. Yesterday’s verdict has no bearing on the eventual outcome of what has turned into a pointless war of tit for tat. Apple has won a $290m ruling against Samsung in its continuing battle over patent infringement. This ruling comes from the court case that Apple emphatically...

Microsoft – Which way to jump

          Microsoft remains at the strategic crossroads. Microsoft held its annual meeting today and held firm to the ideals that the street does not want to hear. Microsoft was talking all about taking risks and having money to invest and not about slimming down and focusing just on enterprise. The company is at a stalemate and...

Wearables – Solution of nothing

          The market remains completely unready for wearables. Samsung was first to market with a smart watch but shipments of the Galaxy Gear have been pathetically low. Business Korea is reporting industry sources admitting to 800-900 units per day with a cumulative total of just 50,000 units. Had this device been available only in Korea, I...

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BlackBerry – Hero to zero

          BlackBerry’s revenues per user are falling off a cliff. BlackBerry is doing everything it can to preserve its user base but in doing so is killing its own handset business and its service business. Indonesia is a prime example, which is one of BlackBerry’s most important markets. Use of BBM has been very popular here...

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Snapchat – Hypeware

          The hype is peaking. Its time to sell. The hype around Snapchat has hit fever pitch this week with constant chatter regarding its spurning of the advances of both Facebook and Google. Snapchat is thought to have rejected an offer from Facebook to acquire the company for $3bn with Google having apparently offered $4bn. Snapchat...

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Jolla – Plain sailing

            Apps are now available but are they any good? The brave sailors at Jolla are about to start shipping their device and have managed to solve the apps availability problem. In this day and age, a smartphone with no apps is not much better than a paperweight. The number one reason why Microsoft smartphones...

Broadcast TV – Mostly about sports

            BT’s win over Sky for the champion’s league highlights the crucial nature of sports. The value of broadcast rights is rapidly declining as many users are quite happy to consume content that has been time shifted. There are some emerging exceptions to this rule (see here) but the one real exception is sports. Users...

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Microsoft – All go or all stay

          If Bing and Xbox are to go all the rest must follow. The debate is raging over what the future holds for Microsoft and whether it should become more focused or more effectively use the assets it has. Hence, there is a groundswell of opinion that Microsoft should slim down its activities and focus on...

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