The hottest news item doing the rounds for the past couple of weeks has been the acquisition of Skype by Microsoft. There have been quite a few suitors and after a lot of speculations, Skype has finally a new home in Microsoft.
Most of the concerns raised by the users about this acquisition have been about what Microsoft is going to do with Skype in future. Skype has, for long, embodied the ethos of the free communication by allowing free voice and video calls, which has benefitted quite a few small-medium sized business setups as well. The future of Skype at the hands of Microsoft is indeed a story worth following over the next few months to come. Another concern has been the multi-platform support of Skype in the coming days to come. Skype has for long been providing regular updates for the Windows, MAC and the Linux platforms. Windows has been the preferred platform to receive the latest updates which would then be provide to the MAC and the Linux platforms. It would be interesting to see whether we would see as active a support as we were used to for the MAC and Linux platforms in the days to come.
Google has been one of the suitors vying for Skype even though it already had Google voice. Facebook was also one of the suitors but was not considered as a serious buyer. Facebook would have indeed benefitted with an integrated Voice and Video service to its more than 600 million users. A conventional approach to provide such an integrated service to such an overwhelming number of users would have incurred a huge cost and an overhead of operating infrastructure.
Microsoft has its own reasons in aggressively pursuing Skype. Starting from the Gingerbread versions of Android, Google has been supporting SIP enabled Voice and Video telephony and moreover, Google has Google Voice at its disposal which can be brought over to the Mobile OS space as well. Apple has Facetime. Microsoft desperately wanted Skype to bridge this gap in its Mobile OS Windows Phone 7. We could also see Microsoft going the Android way and announcing a minimum set of hardware specifications for the Windows Phone 7 devices. We could see the front facing cameras becoming a norm in the coming future for the Smart phones. Windows Phone 7 does definitely seem to hold the potential of pole vaulting the MS mobile OS towards the top of the heap and this deal will definitely give a firm push towards that direction.
Skype deal will also give Microsoft a more direct tie-in to the operator for both the Packet switched voice and video calls. There were early indications already last year with the operators approaching Skype for the Voice calls and we could see more of such deals with the widespread adoption of LTE in the coming future. This would definitely be a revenue generator as well as value add services for both the company as well as the operator. There can also be a flip side with Microsoft beginning to eliminate support for the other mobile platforms and target the future features and value-add services exclusively only for the Windows Phone platform.
Nevertheless, the future of Skype with Microsoft is worth following!
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Rambling about Apple's iPad
The much anticipated tablet PC from Apple is released. Apple has decided to name it as iPad, that sounds very similar to a feminine hygiene product. Many are anticipating an iTampon to be released next from Apple (HolyKaw) :)
Jokes aside, the IPad definitely does seem to mark the beginning of the end of the notebooks. The Specs (Ipad Specs) seem very much alright until you glance towards the connectivity section. The basic model has a Wifi. What myself, & i believe everyone else, was waiting for was a 3G support in the basic version. Anyways, there is a Basic + 3G model.
One of the very interesting feature in the iPad is the iBooks App. This will definitely provide a stiff competition to the Amazon's Kindle. Personally having used the Kindle, i find the Book reader as a very useful & innovative idea from Amazon. There is also an EBook reader that is supposed to be launched In february in India (Infibeam's Pi). This is a product made by an Indian Company. Hope to see few more such innovations from the Indian Companies.
The pricing seems to be right. There are a hordes of bloggers who were predicting a pricing in the range >$1000 till yesterday. There was some news of the Apple shares rising by almost 4% once the price was announced.
Will it replace the notebooks? May not entirely. It all depends on the type of Apps, especially the Office Suites & productivity Apps that Apple can bring to the IPad so as to lure the executives. Only time will tell. Will it replace my Personal laptop? Not in near future. I am more than happy with my HP pavilion! However, i would definitely love to have an iPad just to flaunt it in front my friends :)
Jokes aside, the IPad definitely does seem to mark the beginning of the end of the notebooks. The Specs (Ipad Specs) seem very much alright until you glance towards the connectivity section. The basic model has a Wifi. What myself, & i believe everyone else, was waiting for was a 3G support in the basic version. Anyways, there is a Basic + 3G model.
One of the very interesting feature in the iPad is the iBooks App. This will definitely provide a stiff competition to the Amazon's Kindle. Personally having used the Kindle, i find the Book reader as a very useful & innovative idea from Amazon. There is also an EBook reader that is supposed to be launched In february in India (Infibeam's Pi). This is a product made by an Indian Company. Hope to see few more such innovations from the Indian Companies.
The pricing seems to be right. There are a hordes of bloggers who were predicting a pricing in the range >$1000 till yesterday. There was some news of the Apple shares rising by almost 4% once the price was announced.
Will it replace the notebooks? May not entirely. It all depends on the type of Apps, especially the Office Suites & productivity Apps that Apple can bring to the IPad so as to lure the executives. Only time will tell. Will it replace my Personal laptop? Not in near future. I am more than happy with my HP pavilion! However, i would definitely love to have an iPad just to flaunt it in front my friends :)
Monday, January 25, 2010
IPL-3 on Youtube!
Come March 12 and the IPL fans can catch a glimpse of their favorite sporting action regardless of their geographical location. The IPL-3 marches will be streamed live on youtube. There is a catch though, that there will be a lag of 5 minutes from the live action. This, however, may not be a big deal for a cricket enthusiast whose only source of cricket action would the youtube video on his iPhone. For e.g. an employee stuck in office during a crucial match.
It will really be interesting to know how this may conflict the broadcast rights, currently being provided to Sony. IMHO, for anyone who has the access to the live action on the idiot box, any action which has delay of 5 minutes is stale.
However for IPL, this agreement with Google, which monetizes using the ad revunue, marks an another opportunity to rake in the moolah. This agreement is indeed a unique one and i do hope that this may turn out to be the trendsetter for the future sporting events. How one would wish for the live action an EPL or a Spanish Premier League on youtube!
I hope that I will be in namma Bengaluru during this year's IPL-3. I had to depend on sopcast and other P2P mediums for my share of IPL action during the previous two IPLs, as i was frequently traveling between Dallas & Seoul. This year, i do hope to catch some live action at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and do cheer our Royal Challengers.
It will really be interesting to know how this may conflict the broadcast rights, currently being provided to Sony. IMHO, for anyone who has the access to the live action on the idiot box, any action which has delay of 5 minutes is stale.
However for IPL, this agreement with Google, which monetizes using the ad revunue, marks an another opportunity to rake in the moolah. This agreement is indeed a unique one and i do hope that this may turn out to be the trendsetter for the future sporting events. How one would wish for the live action an EPL or a Spanish Premier League on youtube!
I hope that I will be in namma Bengaluru during this year's IPL-3. I had to depend on sopcast and other P2P mediums for my share of IPL action during the previous two IPLs, as i was frequently traveling between Dallas & Seoul. This year, i do hope to catch some live action at the Chinnaswamy Stadium and do cheer our Royal Challengers.
Friday, May 29, 2009
New WTF Moment :)
I just arrived in Bangalore, today, from a month long hectic trip to South Korea. I had my own share of WTF moments recently and none beats this one - The Reincarnation bank.
http://www.reincarnationbank.com/index.html
It says "Reincarnation bank offer a safe and secure management system for its clients - a place they can leave behind their assets and commodities for their return into the next life."
This does really make a great Business plan and i will not be surprised if the bank already has a huge sum in terms of deposits from gullible clients. The bank, to its credit, gives all the necessary information about the deposits. But none for withdrawals :)
http://www.reincarnationbank.com/index.html
It says "Reincarnation bank offer a safe and secure management system for its clients - a place they can leave behind their assets and commodities for their return into the next life."
This does really make a great Business plan and i will not be surprised if the bank already has a huge sum in terms of deposits from gullible clients. The bank, to its credit, gives all the necessary information about the deposits. But none for withdrawals :)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sporadic posts!
The one and the only reason for my posts becoming very sporadic and almost nil, for the past few months, is that i am very busy. First, let me explain my schedule for the past 4 months.
1) Started from Seoul on 4th May.
2) 4th May ~ 30th May in Dallas
3) 30th May ~ 12th June in Seoul
4) 12th June ~ 15th July in New Jersey
5) 15th July ~ 20th July in Seoul
6) 20th July ~ 5th Aug in New Jersey
7) 5th Aug ~ 15th Aug in Dallas
8) Back to New Jersey on 15th Aug
When someone has such a schedule, then something takes a backseat. And also, i was slogging, as though am batting during the 20th over of a twenty20 cricket match, putting in more than 14 hours a day, and 6 days a week on most weeks. Now, if we look at the famous project management triangle, we have three variables, the cost, time and the quality.
One can only have two of those variables favorable to oneself, while the third variable suffers. So, in my case, because of the lack of time, i did not dare venture into blogging as its quality may suffer. A cursory glance at my site meter suggests me that i cannot risk losing whatever minimum readership that i possess :)
Here is a modified triangle, which depicts my current situation.
Cross Posted in : http://randomtechbytes.blogspot.com/
1) Started from Seoul on 4th May.
2) 4th May ~ 30th May in Dallas
3) 30th May ~ 12th June in Seoul
4) 12th June ~ 15th July in New Jersey
5) 15th July ~ 20th July in Seoul
6) 20th July ~ 5th Aug in New Jersey
7) 5th Aug ~ 15th Aug in Dallas
8) Back to New Jersey on 15th Aug
When someone has such a schedule, then something takes a backseat. And also, i was slogging, as though am batting during the 20th over of a twenty20 cricket match, putting in more than 14 hours a day, and 6 days a week on most weeks. Now, if we look at the famous project management triangle, we have three variables, the cost, time and the quality.
One can only have two of those variables favorable to oneself, while the third variable suffers. So, in my case, because of the lack of time, i did not dare venture into blogging as its quality may suffer. A cursory glance at my site meter suggests me that i cannot risk losing whatever minimum readership that i possess :)Here is a modified triangle, which depicts my current situation.
Cross Posted in : http://randomtechbytes.blogspot.com/
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