Well, ship they did. What matters is how well they shipped it. YouTube is  a core Google product (and its pretty stupid when they show Orkut on their black bar ahead of YouTube !). Youtube’s integration on G+ was sure coming. The way this integration works now is : there is a youtube slider button at the top in Plus and you hover and it asks you ‘What would you like to play ?’. You say ‘The man who sold the world‘ and out pops a window, which is a cut out version of plus itself meant to play youtube. You have a playlist populated and it starts playing your song. There is +1 and Share on the video being played. When you share, your playlist is also shared, which your friends can start playing from the feed. Cool ? Not totally.

So, what is not cool, you ask. Here it what :

• What is with the pop up ? The very experience is soured. Now how different is managing this popup window vs I go and open a new tab for YouTube. You can navigate the playlist from the slider. Would have worked okay had it been an audio playlist, but its a video playlist we are trying to watch. What Google should have done is perhaps extend the YouTube slider itself to play the video extending till the right end of the Stream. Or maybe something else, something better. But pop-up, no. NO POP-UP !

• The playlist – The playlist is generated by Google for your string and cannot be changed.  When we hit ‘share’ on the video, the playlist also gets shared with our circle. While this works okay if your string was an Artist, it is weird when one enters something like ‘The man who sold the World’ and comes 10 different versions of the same song as the playlist. What purpose is sharing this playlist ? The playlist should have been customizable all along. Initial set of choices should have come and users should have clicked one or more of them to form their playlist – the way it normally works.

• Does enqueuing work ? When one of the songs was playing and I hit another song in the search bar that reads ‘What would you like to play next ?’, my first song just stopped and it started playing the newly entered one. I should point here : I was working on a slow internet and the first song was buffering when I hit the new song. But whatever. Either way that is not how I expected it to play !

• And again I say – pop-up ? Seriously ?

Now Disqus as well as Facebook comments can be searched in normal Google Search. An example here :

The original comment on a TC post (apparently Michael Arrington’s last !) -

And searching the same through Google -

While this is good news, this also calls for better moderation of comments, now that they are crawlable.

I can be reached at vikashbitmesra@gmail.com. My Twitter feed here.

Google, along with Samsung, launched ICS with its flagship device Galaxy Nexus in Hong Kong, couple of days back. The device boats of a sleek, trendy body, a 4.65″ AMOLED display, 1.2GHz Dual Core processor from Texas Instruments with some great hardware features – a 5 Meg pix zero shutter delay camera, HSPA+/LTE capability and NFC technology among other things. But it was the OS itself that undoubtedly stole the show.

Here’s the launch event video. Its an hour long, so in case you have time. To explain the new OS, Google’s Mobile chief Andy Rubin took stage initially and was later carried on by Android UX Lead Matias Duarte. Matias passionately went on to explain how users liked Android all this while but didnot quite connect with it on an emotional level, and that was the sole philosophy that drove the development of ICS. He explains all this in an in-length interview with Thisismynext.

Google have put up a beautifully designed page for Galaxy Nexus here. The page itself has a wonderful UI doing full justice to the newly launched OS. Lets go ahead with some of the features of Ice Cream Sandwich in detail now :

ROBOTO : is the new typeface of Ice Cream Sandwich. The lock screen, notifications, widgets, multitasking has been rethought to bring in aesthetic beauty.

Software Buttons : There are no hardware buttons on the device. There are three software buttons – back, home, recent apps and they conveniently disappear when say you are watching a video.

Flexible Widgets/Folders : Widgets in ICS are resizable meaning you can customize your gmail app to show say 3 messages. Drag/drop one app over other creates folders, which can be conveniently arranged. Users can create a Favorites tray of their apps/contacts etc.

Screenshots/Notifications : This was much needed. Power button+volume down does the trick. Notifications have become kind of perfect. Music controls have been integrated. You can now swipe out a notification to see it no more.

Face Unlock : A personalized photo unlock by facial recognition has been introduced, which binds you all the more with your fone. This technology is from a Pittsburg based company that Google bought – PittPatt.

Improved Text-to-Talk : Speech to text engine is remarkably fast and accurate, with very little lag.

New Browser : The browser, much like Amazon’s Silk uses rendering from the cloud, making the experience naturally fast. This also gives users the option of switching to the full version of a webpage and not just be content with the Mobile optimized version. Multitasking comes into play full swing with a nice vertical view of the tabs opened (max 16). just swipe a tab and its closed. Also one can download the web page and view offline.

Android Beam : Galaxy Nexus is NFC (Near Field Communication) enabled. Its almost magical when yo have a youtube video playing on one fone and you tap it with the other one and it starts playing the video from the same point.

Data Usage : Data usage on smartphones has been increasing all the time and ICS brings a nice feature to keep track of your data usage, even to set an upper limit.

In designing Ice Cream Sandwich, Google kept in view two core points – simplicity and multitasking (in which Android is notches above everyone else) , both of which provide a rich User Experience . Now sit back and enjoy these snapshots of Ice Cream Sandwich.

I can be reached at vikashbitmesra@gmail.com. My Twitter feed here.

First Nuance. Nuance is a company best known for their voice recognition solutions among other things. They are focused on empowering voice recognition not only on electronic devices but also in another broad market – automobiles. Nuance is a key player in this field, ahead of their competitor Vlingo. Perhaps the only major player in voice recognition on smartphones is Google themselves. And guess who helped Google build it for them – Mike Cohen, another Nuance co-founder. Nuance has IP on a technology that can make the usage of a smartphone all the more swift and intuitive. Voice commands on mobile devices (assuming its executed right and without much hassle on part of the user) would greatly enhance the experience. Nuance has been in spotlight for sometime now, but the launch of iPhone 4S has brought focus on them all the more. We will get to it in a while, when we come to Siri.

Swype is another great technology in Mobile. Swype, a Seattle based startup that first introduced on a Techcrunch event TC50 , is a software for Mobile devices that lets people enter text at a far greater speed (and more intuitively) than normal ways. Here is a video that shows Swype (on Android) vs normal typing (on an iPhone).

Interestingly enough, Nuance bought Swype in a 100+ million deal. Now, this was a very strategic deal for Nuance. What Nuance achieve through this deal, is, it makes Nuance a single unified mode of input – voice and touch on smartphones. Swype is already big on Android and Nuance will try to tap the other big fish that is iPhone. And that shouldn’t be too difficult, considering the ties between Nuance and Siri.

Which brings us to Siri, the new personal Assitant on iPhone 4S, as they like to call it. iPhone 4S launched with a few snazzy specs – dual core A5 chip, an 8 Megapix camera with iOS 5 empowering the product. But what seems to catch the average user attention (besides the improved Camera) is Siri. Siri is your personal assistant that is an answer engine to your ‘not-so-sophisticated’ queries. You fire questions at Siri and it (or should we say she ?) finds those answers for you.

Apple had bought this company Siri in 2010, which provides voice search. Siri existed as a standalone app in the App store. Well, until the iOS 4 product announcement when they introduced it as a core feature of the product itself. And all through Siri’s lifespan, its been powered by the technology from Nuance. Interestingly enough, ask that question to Siri : ‘Siri, do you use Nuance Technology?’. And comes the reply : ‘I’m sorry, I cant answer that.’ Now, why wouldn’t Apple admit that Siri on iPhone uses the Nuance Technology. Well, simply because Apple are wired that way. They are a closed secretive unit who like to keep their secrets close to their chest. And it probably works for them. Nevertheless, Siri uses Nuance, period. Apple realize that they cant take on Google in Mobile Search, so instead they are trying to modify the dynamics of search itself. Smart. Sure. But this game has just begun. Siri, while appreciable, is far from being perfect. It does a few things well (yes, it takes its time, but understandable), but leaves the user wanting when say he orders it to send a tweet or something more subtle.

Apple have designed Siri in a way that the reliance on Google Search is minimal. Siri will try and find out answers to your question from a host of other services – Yelp (for places), Wolfram Alpha (for mathematical queries) and so on. Default amounts to Google Search (well you can love it, hate it – you simply cant ignore it!).  That is all okay, but what is not okay is that Apple donot own the core of this technology and being wired the way they are, it must bother them. Had it been practically viable and worth to develop this technology on their own, they would have. But the way Nuance are protective of their IP, that wasn’t an option. Now the heat in on Google to one up the ante on its Google voice Actions.

Another question that pops up is why Swype is not yet on iPhone ? One reason can possibly have to do with its popularity on its rival platform - Android. Some users would opine that they need Swype on their iPhone (well, jailbreaking is always an option), as much as Siri, if not more. But perhaps Apple’s strict control over the interface design and their unwillingness to provide options is at the core of it. Anyway, the ‘smart interaction’ game is ON on smartphones. Once again. Between Google and Apple. May the best man win !

User opinions are solicited in the comments. You can reach me at vikashbitmesra@gmail.com. My Twitter feed : _Vikash

So, that was the good news. In some not so good news, Microsoft pulled in another major Android OEM, Samsung, to pay a licensing fee for the usage of Android. Samsung became the 6th victim to MS, the new patent troll in the Mobile market. MS had previously, on pretext of its patent portfolio forced 5 others (Velocity Micro, General Dynamics Itronix, Wistron, Acer, ViewSonic) to enter into a licensing agreement for the usage of Android, which supposedly violets some of the patents that Microsoft holds.

This was a sad event for technology in general and Android ecosystem in particular. Samsung is the second largest manufacturer of the Android smartphones. And if MS could convince Samsung into entering in a  cross-patenting deal, other smaller OEMs are bound to feel threatened. In fact the only major Android OEM that hasn’t signed up with MS yet, is Motorola Mobility and the reasons are pretty obvious why Moto Mobility would decide to take the legal course. A report states MS would make 5X the money from Android licensing fee than what it makes from its offbeat WP7 Mobile platform. So, as far as MS goes, its pure evil business for them.

But what does this deal mean from the point of view of Samsung, Google and/or Android ? The general perception surrounding this deal would be that Samsung buckled under MS pressure/threat. Samsung wasnt very sure that Google could protect the Android ecosystem and the Google Motorola deal wouldn’t have helped their confidence either. But somehow I get the feeling, there is more to this than meets the eye. Samsung is fighting multiple legal lawsuits against Apple all over the world. And the litigation by Apple against them are no less serious than MS had against them(Android). Why is it then, that, Samsung decided to go head on with Apple and buckle down so meekly before MS ? Samsung, to me, seems one of those ambitious companies who believe they can create an ecosystem of their own in the Mobile landscape. They are pursuing with their own Bada Platform. There are reports of a Samsung-Intel partnership for a supposedly new platform – Tizen. And now post the deal with MS, they will be rolling out WP7 phones too. So clearly Samsung donot want to be limited to the Android option alone in the short term, and want to be able to develop an ecosystem of their own in the long term.

Nothing wrong with Samsung’s goals. People will say Samsung did what they did because Google wasnt reassuring enough in its stance to protect Android. That maynot be true. Samsung’s actions are more likely driven by their own plans. As for Google, Android is as top a priority for them as conventional search itself is and there should be no reason to doubt that commitment. Moto Mobility deal was 50% about patents, if not more. How the future unfolds for Android will depend to a great deal on how well are Motorola able to defend the MS threat. For Google/Moto, signing up a deal with MS is beyond comprehension. Google needs to win the legal suit against Moto Mobility. Google, in retrospect must have mourned those moments when they decided to take a few decisions/shortcuts that has led to this day. But meanwhile, as someone who owns an Android smartphone, I sincerely wish Google are considering the rough alternative of modifying Android to avoid the patent clashes once and for all. This might not look the best of idea in the short run, but would perhaps serve the long course better, not to mention the original promise and pride of distributing Android as a free Mobile Platform once again.

User opinions are solicited in the comments. I can be reached at vikashbitmesra@gmail.com. My twiter feed – _Vikash.

HTML5 is a language for structuring and presenting content for the World Wide Web, a core technology of the Internet. It is the fifth revision of the HTML standard and as of September 2011is still under development.

The 5th generation of the standard web markup language brings much promises. It brings support for latest multimedia (without third party plugin). Web Apps (in HTML5) will be consistently understood by computers and devices alike. These Apps will have features of offline access, geolocation among others. And the most lucrative of all, it gives the much needed option for unification in the fragmented Mobile landscape.

Circa 2007. Apple introduced the revolution that was iPhone. And with its launch, was also  introduced the now popular (and patented !) App Store. It was a platform where developers could build applications for the iPhone (inside Apple’s walled garden of course). This shook up the control that carriers had until now.  Apple’s App store ran without competition for almost 2 years. Android came along and though the OS itself has been a runaway success, Android Market has not quite been the same. With two major Mobile Platforms in place and one of them (Android) with major fragmentation issues, its been a pain for developers to build their applications that run smoothly across platforms and devices.

HTML5 promises to change all that. Everyone loves to love the open standard culture. And that is the reason, most developers will speak highly of Web Apps. Certain section of people want to break free of Apple’s App store policies as well. The picture above portrays (in light spirit of course) a free ecosystem – HTML5 (represented by Batman) and a closed proprietary system, say the App store – represented by Native (Joker in the picture). (The picture is courtesy venturebeat). Lets see how our Batman and Joker fare on some of the standard parameters:

(the one – between HTML5 and Native, that appears first, leads in the area – my personal opinion)

Platform Independence :

[HTML5] : It runs on the browser . A ‘one-for-all’ development approach can work. Saves time, money.

[Native]  : What about security ? Anything that runs on the client side is vulnerable and open to attack. In case of Web Apps, with todays modern browsers and debugging tools, user control is easier than ever to abuse.

Feature Rich :

[Native]  : The App experience speaks for itself. Not to mention the deep integration with the devices. Swipe/multi touch makes the user experience a delight. Interaction with device features – bluetooth/camera/GPS (and some level of direct OS interaction) helps them do things, Web Apps simply cant. At least not yet.

[HTML5] : HTML5 is an evolving ecosystem with specifications still to close. For now there are Hybrid frameworks like PhoneGap which fills the gap by exposing native features as web services. This is an interim solution. Web standards are evolving rapidly and with the kind of interset that surrouns HTML5, W3c might actually increase its snail pace ! Smartphone browsers are getting increasingly complaint – with Android 3.1 giving support for camera.

Performance :

[Native]  : Native apps run fast. It just does. They have tight integration with the device and make use of device performance enhancers like GPU accelerator and multithreading.

[HTML5] : Google has an inherent interest in getting the Web faster. Javascript engine V8 that ships with chrome (Android’s browser is closely a fork of Chrome) has only gotten faster. Not all of the Mobile Apps are performance intensive games (although games are what  half of the App ecosystem is about). Magazine/news/mail/social networking apps can just run fine as Web Apps.  Mobile web will likely see all the performance optimizer libraries coming to it sooner than later.

Developer Experience :

[HTML5] : This is ‘the’ pro reasoning for Web Apps. You develop once and it runs on Android, iOS (WP, Blackberry too). Well, theoretically. One shouldn’t forget that Web has historically been fragmented. Good thing is, web developers have gotten used to this aspect. Plus  HTML5 and CSS3 are pretty much creating standardization. Feature detection on devices is no hassle thanks to tools like Modernizer.

[Native]  : Native Apps are developed in robust programming languages – Java, Objective C, C++. Most developers already have a background in them and hence the comfort. Debugging is easy with desktop emulators that provide a close representation of the target device.

User Experience :

[Native]  : Undoubtedly Native scores here. The look and feel of the Native Apps just works. Each platform has its unique user experience that its native software library provides. Certain gestures have specific behavior on each platform. And Native Apps leverage that UX effortlessly.

[HTML5] : Web too has its own look and feel. And if one were to prioritize towards a specific ecosystem, there is something called browser detection. Plus Apps more often have their own unique feel about them.

Visibility :

[Native]  : App store and Android market enjoy their own following. Once you submit your app there (and considering your App is good), it can easily get noticed in a large section of regulars of that platform. Top ratings, reviews are means to bag attention. Its really a store where you have put your App to get noticed.

[HTML5] : Web has a far bigger user base than any Market or App store can possibly have. Of course there is no dedicated place for HTML5 Web Apps now. But that may soon be changing. Chrome store (although for desktop apps) is a step in that direction. Someday there will be a web store. Until then, search engines exist for a reason.

Monetization : 

[Native]  : Native App stores have an established monetization model. There is pay per use mechanism, where the developer gets the price of the App minus the cut (30%). There are cross promotional ways too, in which an app is advertised inside another app.  Then there is the standard ads/subscription mechanisms. All in all, its a secure and proven system.

[HTML5] : If a developer succeeds in getting his App abuzz on the Web, he doesnot have to go through the App Store (or Market’s) 30% cut. You get what your app is worth for. Though the secure in app payment model is not here, but the traditional ways of monetization that have existed on the Web are very much there for Web Apps. There is also the option of creating a wrapper App (creating a pseudo app that shows on app store and on clicking takes you to the actual web app), but honestly that sounds kind of cheap, really.

So, on most parameters, Native Apps stand out (as of present day). But future is unknown and technology is ever dynamic.   One never knows who wins this race in the long run. Momentum is certainly with the Web Apps but capabilities and execution back up the Native Apps. But which model suits an app is a more specific question and the answer has to come from what the app is about. For certain kinds of apps (light ones mostly) – magazines/news/social/simple games, Web Apps make more sense. But those that need deeper hardware integration/access, have performance parameters defined, are memory intensive – Native Apps are more logical.

User opinions are solicited on this debate. You can reach me at – vikashbitmesra@gmail.com. My Twitter feed here.

A few days back i had questioned on why Google was not working on making its real-time offerings, such as Google News and Google Reader better. I have always thought that Google should have come out with a service like Flipboard before anyone else. However, Google’s ignorance of UI and UX have left them to copy and then get ahead of the curve as far as a “Flipboard competitor” creation is concerned. In-spite of all this, it is indeed good news that Google is actually working on such a service which will make help make Google the Agent Smith of this generation. Robert also goes on to say that the service is awesome. Under Larry Page, Google sure is taking all the right steps.

I heard from someone working with Google that Google is working on a Flipboard competitor for both Android and iPad. My source says that the versions he’s seen so far are mind-blowing good. 

It sure sounds like Google is storing up quite a few social announcements. I wonder if they are waiting for Facebook to make its announcements next week and then will open the door to a raft of new things? I hope so.

googlepropeller

We are not yet as lucky as Scoble to confirm such a news with someone working on the service, but we really hope to have it up on our Tablets(iOS and Android) and phones very soon.

Get in touch with the writer at mitra[dot]arkid[at]gmail[dot]com

Let us first look at the profit numbers of smartphone makers (I am including all OS’es, not only Android and iOS):

Apple

 Apple insider reports:

Apple revealed earlier this month that it sold 16.24 million iPhones in its first quarter of fiscal 2011, resulting in $10.5 billion of revenue for the company.The iPhone’s share of global handset profits has been steadily climbing. In August of 2009, Apple was reported as making 32 percent of the industry’s profits.

Android’s annual revenue for google is $1 billion as of last year. Even with aggressive estimates, if these revenues are $2 billion this year, we can clearly see that Android’s revenues and profits(Google + All OEM’s) out together are nowhere near iOS and iPhone. This is the story till now. As I have mentioned right at the beginning that the Android revenue model is still a TBD for Google. Considering the fact that, Android is now immensely popular and is also a lot more polished (Can Apple fanboys still call the platform a cheap  unpolished cousin of iOS?), and the fact that Google has spent all those billions in buying Motorola Mobility, it is time for Google take a harder look at the revenue models for Android. So, I sat down today to do the same:

Location based advertisements: I have put location based advertisements right at the top even before the search advertising because I simply don’t think search advertising can create enough revenue for Google to sustain the Android ecosystem. With the rollout of Google offers, and the buyout of Dealmap by Google, it is pretty obvious that Google can venture into this space very quickly. Location, along with intentions (Google+ and possibly Twitter status updates) can make for a killer combo which will help Google serve out deals to Android users. My point of contention, however, is that even a third party app can do the same on Android.

Mobile payment platforms: Mobile payments is going to be big. With Square doing so well on the iPhone and NFC making a headway of late, Google mobile payment system called the Google wallet stands a good chance of churning out a lot of revenue for Google. Imagine making orders and payments in a restaurant through your Android (not too tough to imagine).

App Store revenue: Although there are multiple app stores (Amazon, Getjar appstore’s) for Android, Google should be able push hard for the official Android market to get the majority of good apps. Although the quality of Android apps available in the Android market is still questionable, Google can still make a lot of money from the market(take a leaf out of the iOS appstore).

Search Advertisement Revenue: The one trick, that has made Google the company it is, may be not a as successful on the mobile platform as it has been on the PC’s (It might work better on the tablets, once the Android tablet’s become worth a mention). However, this trick will still hold on to a part of the revenue that is generated by Android(95% of Android searches are through Google).

Google’s own apps: Google’s own apps which include Gmail, Google docs, Google+ etc. should be able to generate a lot of revenue for Google through ads, and through tie ups with the OEM’s and data providers.

Tight integration of Google Voice and video calling services like hangout: Google Voice is a killer app. With Google Voice rolling out in many countries, it should be be able generate a lot of revenue. Skype’s revenue might be at stake and Microsoft will have bear the brunt.  Similarly, Video chat applications like hangout (Not yet released on Android) can be a major revenue churner for Google.

Motorola Mobility: All the $12.5 billion spent on Motorola can’t be because of the patents that Motorola Mobility holds. Google can now start releasing pure Android devices along with no bloatware.

If Google can buy out one of the major carriers, Sprint or T-mobile in the US, and enter into exclusive partnerships with carriers in UK, China, India and Brazil, it can lead to some real disruption in the industry. Just a speculation at this point in time, but this can be the killer move which can still make Google the greatest company ever.

Google-Motorola-T-mobile

Better phones and in home carriers,OEM’s  can lead to better sales and a true Nexus phone. The Nexus one was supposed to ship for $99 with no contracts and the carriers didn’t approve. And you thought all the carriers were your friends Right??

More devices such as TV’s and refrigerators:  Google has already ventured into television with Google TV. Will there be an android for more devices? How Google will monetize Android on those devices is to be seen too.

Patents:  Google making money out of patents. Anyone??

These were some of the mechanisms which I could think of for Android to make money for Google. However, after this discussion we must not discard the fact that Google still makes a lot of money from iOS and other smartphone platforms by serving ads and by serving its suite of apps.

Get in touch with the writer at mitra[dot]arkid[at]gmail.com.

The blog post says:

As part of the shutdown of GoogleLabs, Aardvark will be shutting down at the end of September.

Aardvark began as a small experiment in a new kind of social search, and over a few years blossomed into a service that made millions of connections between people to answer each other’s questions.  It was a great experience in seeking to combine a broad vision for the future of technology with a rigorous user-centered design process.  Over this time, we learned a lot about creating and maintaining online communities, and how to facilitate sharing of knowledge between people.

We’ve been excited to share these lessons within Google over the past year, especially as part of the effort behindGoogle+.  It has been gratifying to see how well this project is doing — even in these early stages, Google+ has already become a great place to share knowledge online, eclipsing the original vark.com! — and there is much more to come very soon.  In this and other projects at Google, the Aardvark team remains committed to developing powerful tools for connecting people and improving access to information.

Of course, we’re also sad to say goodbye to the original Aardvark here at vark.com.  Who would have thought that a digital version of a nocturnal burrowing mammal would have engendered so much affection!  We’re very grateful to the whole Aardvark community for your support along the way.

Onwards,

Max and Damon

p.s.  In the spirit of data liberation, we want to make sure that any of you Aardvark users who would like to retrieve your past data from the service can do so.  Right now of course you can log in and manually copy anything you’d like to keep.  Or if you prefer, you can email us at support@vark.com and we’ll send you a bulk dump of your data (please allow time for us to process these).  After September 30, there will be no way to retrieve your data, as shortly after that we will delete everything permanently.

Aardvark shutdown

I have been a long time fan of Aardvark, which I thought was the closest to  a real time Q&A system and was better at getting general answers than Quora. With over 100 million users logged in the Gmail, it would have been nice if Aardvark was incorporated as an alternative to Google Answers(as a default bot which can answer you). I have been a user of Aardvark for more than a year and a half and have loved the service, loved answering questions which popped up as chats. With the Q&A space so hot, I am not sure why Google would shut down one of the most intuitive attempts at solving the realtime Q&A problem. Hope, Google doesn’t regret. Aardvark team is now a part of the Google+ team (I am not sure, for how long though) and I hope to see a little bit of realtime Q&A coming into Google+ via the Aardvark team. I am sure Google is not done with its streamlining efforts, but I hope Google stops acquiring startups with wonderful ideas and implementations of Web 2.0 and then shooting them down.

Get in touch with the writer at mitra[dot]arkid[at]gmail[dot]com.

NOKIA needed change. And change they did. Stephen Elop took charge in Sept. 2010. Elop is an ex-Microsoft and the first winds of change he brought to NOKIA – shut their ailing Symbian Platform down (Meego too) and a partner with Microsoft to produce WP phones. That NOKIA’s sales have only declined since Elop took over is not quite a surprise. Let me start by saying that NOKIA-MS deal cannot possibly turn Espoo’s fortunes around. First off, WP7 donot have a substantial market share. Mobile OS is soon becoming a personal brand people have started associating with. Its difficult converting an iOS or Android user to a third platform. Plus, as is generally believed (and supported to an extent by Google’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility), people want to have an ‘under the same hut’ HW/SW integration now. Maybe MS has a long term plan of buying NOKIA out, but that is pure speculation at this point.

Having worked with their Telecom unit for a while now and at their offices for a few months, I understand the employee predicament to an extent. The development talent is second to none. There cannot possibly be a reason why Espoo cannot churn out a frontline Mobile OS. But Alas ! The last thing NOKIA needed was a guy from Microsoft to show the way. The general feeling towards Elop’s directions are far from being positive, not only in the offices but even amongst general population. NOKIA was in a management mess before Elop came in. The big company ‘process’ syndrome had taken roots. Top line developers had decided to put their time and energy to where it was worth. While this deal makes sense for Microsoft (in that they will have one of the top HW makers to ship their WP7 with), it hardly has much for NOKIA.

NOKIA have just come out with the Belle update for Symbian. Not that its great or something – at best a copy of Android’s swift Notification slider and yes an NFC incorporation. But if the way ahead is with WP7, why still keep bringing the Symbian updates ? To maintain a pool of faithful current Symbian users ? Get real ! Somehow Android was never an option in Elop’s mind. Wonder if that has something to do with his roots ! It just feels bad to see a giant going down the path of mediocrity. With the kind of R&D investment in their own platform, wonder what was so luring about a billion MS dollars ! How the first shipment of this partnership holds up, will be clear by start of 2012. And so will be the verdict on whether a snub on Intel was right in favor of a handshake with MS. But for now, as I see it, Management, poor planning and lack of a killer instinct were central to NOKIA’s woes before Elop came in. And guess what, they have just made it worse !

Readers can put in their views in the comments section. I can be reached at vikashbitmesra@gmail.com. My twitter feed – _Vikash