TargetSPEC

Windows Phone 7 Series:  A respectable showing from the antithesis of mobile innovation.   Though, if anyone can be late to a category, it’s Microsoft.  Their monopolistic position allows them to distribute Windows profits to money losing ventures like Bing, XBOX, and soon, I think, Windows Phone.  While the initial spotlight showed prototypes well, it wasn’t without serious issues:

1. Very slow response times
   1. Judgements based on H/W prototypes
2. No Windows Mobile Legacy Application Support
   1. Biggest indicator that MS is serious about future success!
   2. Admission of Windows Mobile Failure
3. The ‘Experience’ by Microsoft
   1. ‘Novel’ UI Design, not so novel
      1. Web OS, Motoblur, Android already provide unified social networking
   2. Hardware button layout controlled by Microsoft
   3. UI cannot be altered by phone manufacture/carrier
      1. Undifferentiated products is the outcome

Here’s what we need to be questioning:

1. The OS is graphically and connectivity intensive, meaning it will need …
   1. Dual-core SOCs for multiple threads and processes
      1. Dual application processor ARM Cortex A8 & A9 based offerings available at OS launch(Q4 2010)
   2. 45nm production processes for SOCs with decent energy efficiency
   3. LED backlighting or OLED displays to have even average battery life(by 2010 standards)
   4. Multitasking ala iPhone foreshadows poor battery life
2. How will developers monetize the Hub UI concept?
3. Does the world need another major phone platform?
   1. iPhone OS, Android, Symbian, Web OS and even Windows Mobile will vie for user/developer attention…
   2. May gain traction while the Smartphone market is growing as a whole
4. How will Microsoft entice the development ecosystem to Windows Phone?
   1. Sweeten the Profit Sharing Ratio of 3rd party apps.?
   2. Enterprises will continue to focus on Windows Mobile for quite some time
   3. Corporate Windows Phone adoption rate slow for first year, at the very best
5. Microsoft has the ability to fund development of the platform for years without netting a dime
   1. Apple, Google, and Nokia are, unfortunately for Microsoft, well capitalized competitors
   2. Technical superiority of Windows Phone will need to be clear
      1. Even if MS had the sizzle to sell, it couldn’t
6. High Spec. Common Hardware Denominator
   1. Think Motorola/Verizon Droid level hardware as a foundation
7. As an OS provider to the world, they WILL stratify their mobile OS offerings
   1. Does this imply a Windows Phone 6 series or 7 series lite?  Yes!
8. No matter how tightly Microsoft wants to control the ‘experience’, it may not be good enough
   1. Competing on the ‘experience’ is a losing strategy with vertically integrated competition
   2. Apple, Palm, and Nokia are highly vertically integrated competitors
   3. Apple is the best at this game with internal competencies in battery, CPU, overall device, and OS design.

Related Links:

Is Microsoft a four-letter word?

Electronics convergence at the George Household has reached a new level.  The idea of a HTPC(Home Theater PC) as a general content player has been in my mind since 1997.  My first build was in 1998 but it was merely a CD/DVD player, Web Browser, and MP3 player.  I wanted more.  I wanted something that would replace every device that connected to my TV, except for the receiver/amplifier.  I also wanted all of these capabilities with zero monthly equipment related costs; such as leasing fees(i.e. for cable equipment) or guide listing fees(e.g. Tivo).  The dream of a fully converged device for consuming all varieties of content was realized, albeit at a price:  $2 per month for a cable card.  The search brought me to the following ingredients, some old, some new, all stirred carefully:

1. Shuttle SP45H7
2. Intel Core 2 Quad Q8400 (2.66Ghz * 4 Cores)(8MB L2 Cache)
3. Corsair XMS2 8GB RAM (4 X 2GB DDR2-800 DIMMs)
4. Seagate 1.5TB (7200RPM)(SATA II)(32MB Cache)
5. Generic Flash Card Reader (Reads Everything)
6. LG HD-DVD/BLU-RAY/DVD-ANY Writer
7. MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
8. Cyberlink PowerDVD 9 Ultra(Integrates with Media Center)
9. MS MCE USB/IR Receiver
10. Logitech Harmony One
11. HDMI 1.3a C2 Cables
12. Onkyo TX-SR607
13. ATI External Digital Cable Card Tuner
14. ATI Radeon 4350 (Passively Cooled)
15. Linksys A/B/G/N Simultaneous Dual-Band USB Wi-fi Adapter
16. Sony Grand Wega XBR KF-50XBR800
17. Linksys A/B/G/N Simultaneous Dual-Band Wi-fi Router
18. Adesso SlimTouch Wireless 2.4Ghz Mini Touchpad Wireless Keyboard

While each item above carries with it considerable thought, the point is that the above parts integrate well, are quiet, stable, and serve as a genuine cable box DVR replacement, even for your grandmother.  If it didn’t work this easily, day in, day out, with remote control ease-of-use, the whole build process would have been a failure.   Here’s what it can do for you:

1. Netflix Streaming
2. Amazon VOD(Video on Demand) Streaming(Requires Keyboard)
3. iTunes VOD Streaming(Requires Keyboard)
4. Hulu VOD
5. DVD, HD-DVD, & Blu-Ray Player
6. HD Cable Tuner & DVR(Including Premium Channels)
7. Photo Viewer
8. Music Player
9. Movie Library Player
10. Web Browser
11. Microsoft Video Streaming
12. PC Gaming(Requires Keyboard)
13. Content Streaming(UPnP)(Recorded TV, Other Video, Photos, Music) from HTPC to any PC/UPnP Client

Stay tuned, lessons learned, pitfalls, and of course information on the next HTPC build coming soon…

The news is out, RIM had a blockbuster quarter selling 10.1 million handsets.  That’s a lot of Blackberries!  Apple, for it’s part sold 7.4 iPhones in 3Q 2009 and every Wall Street analyst is predicting the iPhone will breach the vaunted 10 million per quarter mark as well.  RIM and Apple’s success, quarter after quarter is not new and is no longer surprising.

We also know that the smartphone market as a whole is growing, at the expense of regular(proprietary) phones that access the internet, feature phones.  If you wondered why Samsung is creating it’s own platform called Bada, it’s obvious that feature phones are a dying breed.  This is made clear by the chart below.  In essence, it’s really unfair to call anything besides a major platform proprietary since major platforms are likely to be just as proprietary.  The only way to delineate further would be to label the major platforms, app. phones or platforms, since that is their only distinguishing feature.  All major platforms(listed in chart below) now feature a mobile application store.

So where does this leave us:

1. Windows Mobile/Windows Phone Market Share Eroding
   1. Unit Count Continues to Grow
   2. App Store is a Joke
2. Palm WebOS Devices Struggling
   1. No New Devices on Horizon
   2. Palm Pixi Slow Rumors are True!
   3. Sprint as Exclusive Carrier Hurts
      1. AT&T Started Selling WebOS Devices Recently
3. Android Targets Defacto Platform Status
   1. Unrivaled Platform Development & Smartphone Release Pace
   2. Android Marketplace hits 20K Application Milestone
4. RIM proves it, not Apple is #1
   1. People Want keyboards & Amazing Battery Life
   2. Retains Messaging Mission, Succeeds
   3. App Store is a Joke
   4. OS Needs Visual/Other Upgrades
5. Apple Needs to Sustain Momentum
   1. iPhone OS 4.0 Must be Stunning to keep Mindshare & Marketshare
   2. Hardware Must be Differentiated Going Forward
   3. Future Apple Tablet might make Apple lose “phone” focus
6. In Early Stages of Smartphone Market
   1. Room for every competitor to take market share
   2. Room for mistakes
   3. Room for Samsung Bada?
   4. Room for Whatever Is Coming at CES in January?

All metrics are courtesy of comScore.

Ever wonder why the Storm or iPhone 3G run relatively slow to more modern competition?   Want an easy way to compare current smartphone offerings? Here’s a cross-reference of a few smartphones, their CPUs, and the application processor core(s) used within them.  Keep in mind that most modern SoC(system-on-chip) CPUs integrate multiple dissimilar cores on the same die, but since general application performance is mostly determined by the application or general-purpose processor core, that’s all I’ve included below.  Other sites may state a different speed for each phone below but most phone manufacturers will underclock a CPU for power conservation.  Hence, only actual speeds are stated.  In general you will only see ARM 11 or Cortex A8 cores but since ARM licenses their microarchitecture to manufacturers, a cross reference sheet like the one below will allow you to know what application processor core is actually being used.  Columns for RAM and manufacturing process size were only included as respective ancillaries of application performance and energy efficiency.  While it’s obvious that all modern smartphones use the Cortex A8, I’m really looking forward to Cortex multi-core processors, namely the Cortex A9 in 2010.  As a side note, the introduction of multi-core Cortex-based application processors should provide a good foundation for Apple to finally allow concurrently running applications on the iPhone.

Mark this day, Wednesday November 11, 2009.  Today, we receive official visual detail about Google’s first Nettop/Netbook OS.  Here’s what we know about Chrome’s Genesis:

1. Writable Filesystem Area:  Buffer to Cloud Only
   1. Think no need for Any File Server
   2. All preferences Cloud-based
   3. All Local Data Encrypted
2. Process Separation
   1. All windows are separate processes
   2. All tabs separate processes
   3. Think Multi-Core Netbooks will be needed
3. Some sort of App. Store/Discovery will be available
4. File Type to Website Associations
5. Vast Majority of Filesystem Read-Only
6. OS & Drivers Maintained Automatically
   1. Similar to Windows Update
   2. Mac Like due to Restricted HCL(Hardware Compatibility List)
7. SSD Only Local Storage
8. Purposely Limited Hardware Support (i.e. NICs)
   1. Reference Designs Available
   2. Adherence Rules to Reference Design Unknown
9. As of Now a “companion device”
10. Plug-Ins Supported
11. No Other browsers supported(if that was a question)
12. Netbook Only Focus in 2010
13. Same functionality on ARM and x86
14. No OS-based Advertisements
15. Desktop Metaphor Semantically Replaced
    1. Desktop = Chrome Window
    2. Tab = Application

References:

Gizmodo:  Everything about Chrome OS

The inevitable has happened, after all these years of Wintel(Windows on Intel/x86 Hardware) dominance, the stage is being set for another defacto OS & hardware combination.   Since Windows is on 90%+ of the world’s PCs, the stakes are high and historically, no competitor has been able to break the barriers to entry imposed by Microsoft and Intel, legally or otherwise.  I won’t go into Windows’ previous competitors like OS X, Linux, Unix, or OS/2.  IT Publications are full of them, but here’s what they’re not full of, the name of the next legitimate competitor to Wintel, Charm.   Charm is Chrome OS on ARM Hardware.  Why do I think this poses a risk to the Wintel Empire?

1. Enables Cheaper Class of Netbook
   1. $100-$150 Netbooks(New)
   2. Windows XP/Vista/7 Doesn’t Run on ARM
      1. Exception:  Windows CE/Mobile/Phone maybe tactical answer for Microsoft
2. The product is from Google
   1. Has Industry Respect, Power, & Connections
   2. Unlike Linux Distributions
   3. Will Come Pre-Loaded
   4. Current Partners:  Acer, Adobe, ASUS, Freescale, HP, Lenovo, Qualcomm, TI
   5. Financial Might to Succeed
   6. Consumer Resonance
      1. Mind Share OS Fulfills Immediate Consumer Need
      2. Search & SAS(software-as-service) have  Substantial Userbase
3. OS is Everything you Need and Nothing you Don’t(for Common Users)
   1. OS Runs on Minimal Hardware
      1. Likely Dual-Core Cortex A9 CPUs in Q4 2010
   2. Browser-based GUI Familiar to Everyone
   3. Price is Right:  $0

If you have a ATI Digital Cable Tuner(DCT) or follow the Green Button blog you know what’s required to make a PC-based set-top box yourself.  With the right hacks, it works.  Now, Microsoft has a totally hack free, 100% legitimate way to receive digital cable signals sans Clear QAM and IR blasters controlling an external, cable company provided, set-top box.  Microsoft’s answer is software-based and it’s titled the Digital Cable Advisor Tool(DCAT).  The tool doesn’t do as much advising as it does validating.  The software automates much of what Cable Labs performed with manual processes to validate use of a DCT(ATI’s is the only one available) for a specific PC setup.  Essentially the DCAT validates a protected audio video path(PAVP) for content from source to it’s final destination on your HDCP compliant display.  Unless you have the following though, don’t bother getting Windows 7 and the necessary hardware to use your HTPC with a DCT:

1. HDCP compliant Discrete or Integrated Video
   1. Recommended:  ATI Radeon 4350  (Streams PCM audio via HDMI 1.3; Passively cooled, Low Power)
2. HDCP compliant Video Driver
3. HDCP compliant Display/TV
4. OCUR Compliant DCT
   1. Recommended:  ATI TV Wonder DCT  (Internal(PCI-E) and External(USB) Versions Available)
   2. Potential Future Options in Q1 2010:  Hauppauge & Ceton DCTs
      1. Both are multistream capable
5. Single or MultiStream Cablecard from Cable Provider
6. 64bit Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, or Ultimate
   1. 64bit versions to address 4GB or more is highly recommended

In many ways, the promise implicit in an acronym like OCUR(Open Cable Unidirectional Receiver) never materialized due to to regulations around the testing of DCT equipped PCs, which can be done by Cable Labs only.  The DCAT finally allows the do-it-yourselfer to  do what big OEMs have been doing for some time, now with considerably less hassle.  OCUR now truely deserves the “O” it begins with.  In rare form, for me, thank you Microsoft. 

Reference:

theGreenButton’s Windows MediaCenter Team Blog

AnandTech’s Cable Chronicles

Microsoft has reigned in the netbook market, making it oh so easy for all of us to not worry about our future netbook spec.  Why, you ask?  Well, Microsoft in all it’s wisdom knows what’s best for it’s customers shareholders.  What’s best for its shareholders is a higher ASP(Average Selling Price) for Windows.  Initial plans for Windows 7 starter edition, like XP Starter Edition and Vista Starter Edition before it, was to cripple the operating systems ability to simultaneously run more than 3 foreground applications at once.  Microsoft ultimately decided not to limit multitasking capability, but yet decided to restrict the hardware on which OEMs can install Windows  7 Starter Edition.  Why limit the appeal of your own product?  So you can upsell to higher priced options like Windows 7 Home Premium. 

Windows 7 Starter Edition Hardware Limits:

1. Screen Size:  Up to 10.2 inches
2. SSD/HDD Size:  Up to 64/250 GB
3. RAM:  Up to 1GB
4. CPU Cores:  1
5. CPU Speed:  2GHz

The net market effect of Microsoft’s fiat is this:

1. A prevailing inventory of fairly high-end($400-$500) netbooks with Windows XP Home Edition & Windows 7 Home Premium, but not Windows 7 Starter Edition.
2. Microsoft’s choice to cripple mainstream netbooks(Sub $400) provides market share gaining opportunities for alternative OSs.

Microsoft executives readily concede their pricing faux pas with Windows XP on netbooks and want to take the release of Windows 7 as an opportunity to increase the ASP to traditional levels.  I personally don’t believe executives at Microsoft when they say pricing XP was a mistake, it was simply the best tactical response to the disruptive new computing category that is the netbook.  In hindsight, we may see Microsoft’s fiat power as the height of Wintel hegemony, but there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.  To this blogger, that light is ARM and Google.  I’ll elaborate in the next blog post.   

References:

Computer World:  Ballmer Confirms Windows 7 Restrictions for Netbooks

Newegg Inventory:  Netbooks with Windows 7

Of all the talk and press about Windows 7, few bring up the file sharing issues that will arise when you mix a Windows 7 machine with older versions of Windows or other clients.  While you may have heard of Windows 7’s HomeGroup concept of sharing files, it only works with other Windows 7 machines.  You have to modify the default configuration in order to work with older versions of Windows, Linux, OS X, or even your NAS system.  Ease of use was the intent, but I doubt Microsoft will achieve this with the large installed base of Vista and XP users.  HomeGroups aside, here’s what has changed with the enabling SMB protocol, version 2.0 introduced with Windows Vista(courtesy Microsoft):

• General improvements to allow for better utilization of the network.
• Request compounding, which allows multiple SMB 2.0 requests to be sent as a single network request.
• Larger reads and writes to make better use of faster networks, even those with high latency.
• Caching of folder and file properties, where clients keep local copies of folders and files.
• Durable handles to allow an SMB 2.0 connection to transparently reconnect to the server in the event of a temporary disconnection.
• Improved message signing (HMAC SHA-256 replaces MD5 as hashing algorithm) with improved configuration and interoperability.
• Improved scalability for file sharing (number of users, shares, and open files per server greatly increased).
• Support for symbolic links.

The minor improvements in SMB 2.1, introduced with Windows 7, provided the following benefits(courtesy Microsoft):

• Reduced network bandwidth consumption
• Greater file server scalability
• Better application response time when accessing files over a network

Back to the main point of this post, try the following link as a means to get around the compatibility issues:

Tanner Williamson’s Windows 7 Network File Sharing Fix

Hats off to Tanner Williamson for a well documented solution.

Forget the App Store, the real killer app. is the Web!  If you believe that, as I do in most circumstances, then let the best hardware win!  For smartphone fans in the USA, there is currently only one choice, the Motorola Droid, releasing November 6, 2009 on Verizon Wireless.  I won’t restate the technically superior hardware of the Droid, but it’s the best Android phone going at the moment.   By the way, if you’re waiting on a GSM version of the Droid, AKA the Motorola Milestone,  don’t bother.  That phone doesn’t support HSPA frequencies in the US–meaning no AT&T or T-Mobile options.

References:

InfoSync’s Review of the Motorola Droid

BGR’s Motorola DROID Event Coverage