As Microsoft leverages a litigation model to force Windows Phone 7 on the masses and penetrate the smart phone market and Apple prepares to roll out the much anticipated iPhone 5 to bolster their position within the market, take a look at the two companies’ stock prices in September of 2001 and September 2011:
Who do you think will end up on top, and more importantly, who is more in touch with their customer base?
Although the litigation model (or at least the threat of) may be Microsoft’s best chance to penetrate the smart phone market and become some sort of limited player within it, I find their litigation tactics a bit pathetic. They have lost their ability to truly innovate and not only connect with their customers in meaningful ways, but anticipate their future needs or at least influence them significantly.
Microsoft’s Mango (Windows Phone 7.5) release has closed some of the gaps but as soon as the iPhone 5 is announced on October 4th they will be back to playing catch-up.
There is a reason why Apple has seen a 5000% increase in their stock’s value in the last decade just as much as Microsoft has been flat during that same time period. In Microsoft’s case the story has become all too familiar…
Too little too late, I’m afraid.
So, although I may be 2+ years late to the party, I thought I would share this cool iPhone 3G+ feature that allows you to quickly and easily grab a screen capture of your iPhone device:
If you were successful in your attempt your screen will quickly flash white and then go back to normal. The screen capture will be stored in your photo album on the phone.
In response to Consumer Reports NOT recommending the new iPhone 4 earlier this week Apple has called a previously unscheduled Press Conference to discuss the iPhone 4 (No other details about the press conference are currently available).
So, does anyone want to garner a guess as to what Apple is going to state?
Here are a few possibilities:
Let me know if I missed any possibilities and/or what you think about my predictions. Apple has traditionally disregarded most PR best practices so I can’t wait to see how they play this one…
I sat down at 8 PM this evening with the goal of updating to iOS 4 on my iPhone 3GS. How hard could it be? Well, first I had to upgrade iTunes to version 9.2 which took a ridiculous amount of time to download (92 MB in close to 30 minutes - Apple must have been getting slammed). Once installed, it took about 15 minutes to backup the iPhone and another 30 minutes to download and install the update. Add up all the time and I was up and running on iOS 4 in ~1 hour 15 minutes.
By 9:20 PM I was oohing so much that my wife asked me to update her iPhone 3G and I agreed to do so…
BIG MISTAKE
Once again, I had to update her laptop’s iTunes which, once again, took FOREVER but this time it took an extra 30 minutes on top of the original 30 minutes (like I said earlier, Apple must have been getting slammed). Once installed, it took 40 minutes to backup the iPhone, 20 minutes to install the OS upgrade, and a series of backup restores which took a total of 40 minutes. Add it all up and it took 2.5 hours to complete the upgrade or twice as long to update the 3G as opposed to the 3GS.
Any 3GS or 3G owners out there that had a similar experience? Better? Worse?
I copied the iOS 4 Software Update release notes as I updated my iPhone 3GS this evening for you reading pleasure:
iOS 4 Software Update This update contains over 100 new features, including the following: • Multitasking support for third-party apps* - Multitasking user interface to quickly move between apps - Support for audio apps to play in the background - VoIP apps can receive and maintain calls in the background or when device is asleep - Apps can monitor location and take action while running in the background - Alerts and messages can be pushed to apps using push and local notifications - Apps can complete tasks in the background • Folders to better organize and access apps • Home screen Wallpaper* • Mail improvements - Unified inbox to view emails from all accounts in one place - Fast inbox switching to quickly switch between different email accounts - Threaded messages to view multiple emails from the same conversation - Attachments can be opened with compatible third- party apps - Search results can now be filed or deleted - Option to select size of photo attachments - Messages in the Outbox can be edited or deleted • Support for iBooks and iBookstore (available from the App Store) • Photo and Camera improvements - 5x digital zoom when taking a photo** - Tap to focus during video recording** - Ability to sync Faces from iPhoto - Geo-tagged photos appear on a map in Photos • Ability to create and edit playlists on device • Calendar invitations can be sent and accepted wirelessly with supported CalDAV servers • Support for MobileMe calendar sharing • Suggestions and recent searches appear during a web search • Searchable SMS/MMS messages** • Spotlight search can be continued on web and Wikipedia • Enhanced location privacy - New Location Services icon in the status bar - Indication of which apps have requested your location in the last 24 hours - Location Services can be toggled on or off for individual apps • Automatic spellcheck • Support for Bluetooth keyboards* • iPod out to navigate music, podcasts and audiobooks through an iPod interface with compatible cars • Support for iTunes gifting of apps • Wireless notes syncing with IMAP-based mail accounts • Persistent WiFi connection to receive push notifications* • New setting for turning on/off cellular data only** • Option to display the character count while composing new SMS/MMS** • Visual Voicemail messages can be kept locally even if they have been deleted from the server** • Control to lock portrait orientation* • Audio playback controls for iPod and third-party audio apps* • New languages, dictionaries and keyboards • Accessibility enhancements* • Bluetooth improvements • Better data protection using the device passcode as an encryption key* (Requires full restore.) • Support for third-party Mobile Device Management solutions • Enables wireless distribution of enterprise applications • Exchange Server 2010 compatibility • Support for multiple Exchange ActiveSync accounts • Support for Juniper Junos Pulse and Cisco AnyConnect SSL VPN apps (available from the App Store) • More than 1,500 new developer APIs • Bug fixes Products compatible with this software update: • iPhone 3G • iPhone 3GS • iPhone 4 • iPod touch 2nd generation • iPod touch 3rd generation (late 2009 models with 32GB or 64GB) * Requires iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, and iPod touch 3rd generation. ** Requires iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, and iPhone 4. SMS/MMS messaging and Visual Voicemail require support from your wireless carrier. For feature descriptions and complete instructions, see the user guides for iPhone and iPod touch at: <http://support.apple.com/manuals/iphone> <http://support.apple.com/manuals/ipodtouch> For more information about iPhone and iPod touch, go to: <http://www.apple.com/iphone> <http://www.apple.com/ipodtouch> To troubleshoot your iPhone or iPod touch, or to view additional support information go to: <http://www.apple.com/support/iphone> <http://www.apple.com/support/ipodtouch> For information on the security content of this update, please visit this website: <http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222>
Ummm… I got nothing other than LOLZ…
Devil’s Tower. This is as far west as we go my friends. Tomorrow we start the long journey home.
Prepare to swim to Sturgis!!
Just to prove my point about Miss Twinkle Toes, here is one more. Wedding post coming up next.
Not quite wedding related, but.. our baby girl is too cute not to share! We just can’t get enough of those little toes. Her toes have a mind of...
