The Fight For Digital Dominance

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.economist.com/displayStory.cfm?Story_ID=1454300' target='_blank'>http://www.economist.com/displaySto...tory_ID=1454300</a><br /><br /></div>This is a great overview article of the battle that Microsoft has on it's hands against Symbian - indeed, it's war, and in the long term, Smartphones will likely prove to be a much more critical piece of the dominance puzzle than Pocket PCs.<br /><br />"It may look like a mobile telephone, but the Orange SPV, launched last month, is much more than that. With its colour screen, garish icons and musical ringtones, it resembles other handsets on the market. But it has one far more significant feature: the software inside, indicated by a familiar-looking four-coloured logo on its screen. For the SPV is the first “Windows-powered smartphone”—in other words, it runs software from Microsoft. It is the software giant's attempt to stake its claim in the new market created by the convergence of mobile phones and computers. It is no less than a declaration of war."

[Philip Colmer]

If the following article is to be believed, then Microsoft might have some issues to resolve, both with owners of the phones and prospective developers.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/64/28351.html

--Philip

[Jonathon Watkins]

It is too early to conclude that Microsoft's attempt to by-pass the handset makers will fail. But the omens from its previous joint venture with HTC, a hybrid PDA-phone running Microsoft's Pocket PC software, are not good. Sales of the device, known as the XDA in Britain, the MDA in Germany, and the “T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition” in America, have been slow. A British operator, O2, has sold only 12,000 XDAs since its launch this summer, despite a massive advertising campaign. This may reflect a lack of enthusiasm for PDA-like devices, but it also highlights another problem with the ODM approach: the lack of a strong brand.

Well - they don't mention the main problem with the XDA in the UK. It was lmost £500 ($750) when it was first released. (That's the price with a contract). The price has dropped a bit - but it's still £300 ($450) with a contract. That's still a bit rich really.