Microsoft’s Data Plays
After years of planning and false starts, Microsoft Corp. is ready to get into the wireless Internet market in a big way. The
computer software giant trumpets its “Airstream” Exchange 2000 wireless extension for the enterprise, platforms for new
subscriber devices such as the Pocket PC personal digital assistant and Stinger smartphone, the Microsoft Mobile Explorer
microbrowser and MSN Mobile content for mobile Web customers. Even though it’s appeared late on the scene, does Microsoft
still have the advantage over its competitors?
To get a glimpse at how things might play out in the coming months, Wireless Week Editor Rikki Lee
recently sat down with Scott Gode, group product manager for Microsoft’s Business Productivity
Group, to discuss the company’s newest wireless data initiatives.
Wireless Week: Will there still be a large market for Microsoft in wireless data, with the company
coming in so late in the game?
Scott Gode: We’re hopeful that this will be the case. The marketplace is relatively new and carriers,
end-users and even corporations are still trying to figure out exactly what their wireless strategy should
be, exactly how they should partner with either device manufacturers or solution platform providers.
Even though we are perhaps a bit later to the game than some of our competitors, we can offer a full
end-to-multiple-end solution. Encompassing the content and the devices as well as the wireless access
platform will not only give us a leg up but also make us interesting to the various audiences we’re going
to be talking to, including developers.
WW: A few years ago, Windows CE hit it big as a platform for mobile computing devices. Why
wasn’t there a continuing move toward making that platform more user-friendly for wireless devices?
Gode: We did get an early start on the device side with Windows CE, but we also had a few missteps along the way. We tried to
use Windows CE too much as a broad, ubiquitous solution for many types of things, whether that was a PDA solution for the
consumer or a controlling system for pumps for a gas station or in set-top boxes for TV sets. We’re very much still bullish on CE
as a core kernel for the Windows operating system for small, non-desktop solutions.
But in the area of devices, with our newest set of Pocket PC solutions shipped by Hewlett-Packard, Compaq and Casio, we think
we’ve successfully gone back to the drawing board and optimized the WinCE kernel for what users want today–that’s very
affordable, very user-friendly but also still has the power of a desktop solution so you put a wide variety of applications on top of it.
It’s not just an electronic version of your daytimer; it is truly a solution for every person, whether working in banking or health
care.
WW: How do you plan to spread the word about the Pocket PC and other solutions Microsoft is offering?
Gode: By virtue of some of our experience in the software marketplace, we look at what we’ve done in Microsoft Office. A
large part of our success with Office is understanding how consumers think and what they want–developing a forum for talking to
the consumer, whether it be someone using Office at home or Office in the corporation.
We very much plan to continue to leverage some of that experience and our strengths in this wireless mobility world. That means
going in through some of the relationships we enjoy on the corporate side, using some of the relationships we have with various
wireless operators in the United States, in Europe as well as in Asia, or just looking at how people are using these new devices,
how people want to be mobile. We have the concept of the “mobile generation.”
We think there’s a lot of enthusiasm that can be generated by focusing on some unique solutions for the way that people haven’t
used wireless devices before or the way they want to use them but haven’t been able to.
WW: The Pocket PC is positioned to take some of the market share from Palm OS devices. How successful do you think the
Pocket PC will become?
Gode: We’re fortunate that we’ve already been so successful and will continue to be. The Pocket PC hasn’t been shipping for
that long now, and we’re still in the process of getting the initial set of data in–the number of devices that are moving through the
channel and what’s been sold. The first 100 days-plus since initial shipment of these products, the channel has had a hard time
keeping them in stock. We’ve seen the accessories for these products go through the roof in terms of demand, in terms of price.
We think that’s a good indication that we hit the mark and that we’ll continue to, especially with some of the things we’ve got
planned going forward.
WW: What do you see as the benefits of the Pocket PC platform over the Palm OS?
Gode: A couple of things. One, the Pocket PC is a more robust, multitasking kind of platform. You can do more things with it. It
lends itself more toward not only usability from the end-user perspective but also usability from a developer perspective.
Developers whom Microsoft and the industry in general have worked with for years can develop solutions quite easily for the
Pocket PC platform.
Second, we’re thinking about Pocket PC in conjunction with other device opportunities that Microsoft is pursuing, the Microsoft
Mobile Explorer microbrowser for the phone and our new “Stinger” project for the smart phone. We very much see the Pocket
PC as one of a couple different solutions for the end-user that will tie well together.
Third, we don’t see this as a pure device opportunity. We are looking at synchronizing and integrating that device with a
server-based platform play that will provide additional opportunities. For example, you can imagine having Pocket Streets on the
Pocket PC as an application. Let’s say we’re working with Disney, for example–which would provide information on a Web site
or a Web service about all the different entertainment possibilities at an amusement park. We could overlay and synchronize
information at the server hosted by AT&T or Disney onto Pocket Streets in the Pocket PC to give users a richer experience, tell
them where they are not only in terms of geography but what things are going on there. You can give a much richer experience
for the consumer and a richer experience for the corporation trying to make some of their services and benefits known and seen
by the user.
WW: Many subscribers might be expecting a “desktop-like” Web experience on their wireless devices. How do you get across
the idea that the mobile Internet is a different kind of experience?
Gode: You’re right; a lot of people are expecting a desktop-like experience. And we actually believe that’s one of our advantages
over somebody like Palm, which has created a totally different sort of experience than what we have … As far as how to make
users more comfortable with that new look and feel, it just depends on how that user needs to work.
In some cases you’re seeing accessories come out, such as a foldup keypad to put in your Pocket PC. For someone who isn’t
comfortable with a transcriber format or using a stylus to type in information, you have an opportunity to give them a keypad.
There are in-between ways with accessories and user interfaces to optimize for that change in lifestyle.
In the end, it’s an educational process that it’s a different way of life … As users tell us that they’ve got different ideas on how
they can be more comfortable to do that, we certainly have our ear to the ground and are making changes as we go forward.
WW: Do you see any particular platform–such as i-Mode or WAP–will have the best future?
Gode: Between Europe, Asia and the United States, they’ve perceived differing strategies both with the respect of the airlinks
they use as well as the markup languages or protocols they use to enable that user experience on top of the airlink. Our strategy at
this point: Let’s play in all the different games. Let’s have a set of devices, particularly from a wireless perspective, that will work
with i-Mode, Mobitex, CDPD, GSM, TDMA, CDMA. Let’s make sure from a protocol or language perspective that we optimize
both for WML as well as HTML. In fact, our Microsoft Mobile Explorer is unique in the industry in that it’s a dual-mode browser
that works with either one. If you take the Phone.com microbrowser, it’s just WML. If you use that microbrowser in Japan,
where i-Mode is in the HTML world, it’s not viable. It’s definitely giving us an advantage because we’re not trying to make a bet
at this point. We’re trying to optimize for the reality of the way the regions are, and let the markets decide. |
