Microsoft to buy mobile software company MobiComp

The game of mergers and acquisitions is on for sure. After Nokia’s successful acquisition of Symbian, it’s now Microsoft’s turn to get into the act. Microsoft announced a few days back that it will buy MobiComp, a Portugal based mobile software maker.

MobiComp is particularly known for its apps related to data protection and sharing. MobileKeeper Backup & Restore, an app which stores and backs up mobile data, and MobileKeeper Sharing & Communities, an app which connects the mobile phone with social networking communities on the web, are the two most important apps that Microsoft is said to be interested in integrating into its Windows Live Mobile.

Microsoft has not disclosed the cost of this acquisition and the terms of the deal.

I think this acquisition will do loads of good to Microsoft and will serve as a morale booster. Apple made news with 3G iPhone, Google is almost always in the news with Android, Yahoo is going great guns, and now Nokia has made headlines all over the world by buying Symbian. Microsoft needed something to get back into the limelight as far as the mobile market is concerned and it has come in the form of this acquisition. The competition, my friends, is only going to get more intense.

Categories: Microsoft.

0 comments.

What does Nokia plan to do with Symbian?

Ever since Nokia acquired Symbian and announced that it will be made free of cost, a lot of questions have been raised. The most important question, and the most obvious one too, is the one about the hundreds of millions of dollars that Nokia stands to lose by giving away Symbian free of cost. But then, I’m surprised to notice that a lot of people can’t see the woods for the trees.

Nokia’s plans are very clear. It wants to put Google, Apple, Research In Motion, and Microsoft out of commission by making its open source software the most wanted and the most used mobile software in the world. What this open source software means to developers around the world is that they now have the opportunity to develop as many applications as possible. This will make Symbian handsets more popular than ever.

In my opinion, a lot of developers might prefer Symbian over Apple iPhone or Google Android. The reason is simple. The iPhone, as popular as it may be, is not exactly the market leader. And Google is yet to come up with Android. So, at this situation, developing apps for Symbian, which is the most popular mobile software as of now, sounds really sensible.

If developers around the world started building useful apps for Symbian handsets, it would make Symbian handsets even more popular than what they are right now and the sales will increase exponentially. In other words, Nokia will sell more mobile phones than what it does right now, thanks to this move. And that is exactly what Nokia wants.

Now, it will be interesting to see the reactions of Google, Apple, Microsoft, and RIM. Something’s gotta give. Let’s wait and watch.

Categories: Nokia.

0 comments.

Nokia buys Symbian and poses serious threat to Android

So, Nokia has finally made the big move. It has taken control of Symbian, which in itself is big news, and on top of it has announced that Symbian software will be available for free. Talk about making news…

The open source software – which will be an integration of Symbian, Nokia Series 60, the MOAP platform of Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, the UIQ standard by Motorola and Sony Ericsson – will be controlled by the Symbian Foundation, which is a non-profit organization.

In more ways than one, it looks like the perfect move. After all, Nokia and Psion created Symbian about a decade back and Symbian is still the number one software on smartphones and advanced multimedia handsets. With around 60% market share and an ability to reach over 200 million mobile users, Symbian is undoubtedly the market leader when it comes to mobile phone software. However, things are about to change.

Apple made a splashing entry into the market with its iPhone last year and Google is getting ready to launch its own mobile software, Android. What this means to Symbian, in layman terms, is there’s going to be competition. A lot of it. Especially, Google is hell bent on making Android successful at any cost and it could most likely rattle the dominance of Symbian. So, Nokia has taken the plunge and has made its intentions clear. To retain the number one spot in the market and to stop the dominance of Apple, Google, and to a lesser extent Microsoft and Research In Motion.

Here’s the most important thing about this move. Nokia stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars by making this open source software free of cost. Nokia earns several hundreds of millions every year through software licensing revenues alone and making it an open-source-free-for-all would mean a huge cut in its revenue stream. Still, Nokia has made the move and this has made everyone take notice.

Experts already predict that this move will rattle Google considerably. Google is planning to take the market by storm by offering free, sophisticated mobile phone software in the form of Android and now it will have serious trouble contending with Symbian, which is not only hugely famous and established, but also free of cost.

Well; how many times do I pat my back? I predicted a Nokia vs. Google scenario quite some time back and you can bet your bottom dollar that it has come true. What do you say?

Categories: Google, Nokia.

1 comment.

Google Android to be launched within this year

Ever since Google made the announcement about Android, much has been talked about the mobile software system. Almost every other day, you could see someone talking about Android. The kind of buzz it created in the market was incredible. The initial reaction was nothing but excitement for Android, then it was seen as the potential Apple iPhone killer, and things were looking bright. But then, after some time, some people questioned Google’s logic of making people wait for a long time to get a glimpse of its product. The wait, however, is over.

Last week, at the Annual Developer Conference at San Francisco, Google unveiled the near-completed Android platform to people. The reaction from the crowd gathered there, unanimously, was a big ‘wow.’

Sample this – you can unlock phones by drawing a certain shape on the touch screen. No need to enter passwords or any such thing. On the homepage of the device, you can bookmark all your favorite web pages. There is a magnifying tool that you can use to zoom in on the text in the web pages. And there is an automatic compass tool which helps you with road maps. With all this and more, Android certainly caught everyone’s attention at the conference.

Google has also made it clear that Android will be launched within this year. Google firmly believes that its open source mobile platform will benefit users more and will become the major player in the future.

Analysts believe that with close to 3 billion mobile phones in the market, the scope for an open source mobile platform like Android is huge. They estimate that Google could be able to rake in as much as $5 billion every year from the mobile advertising market.

I have no doubt that Android will be a very useful, very innovative, and very futuristic platform. However, the important thing here is its ability to change certain perceptions about mobile web like the Apple iPhone did. Before the launch of iPhone, surfing the internet from the mobile phone was considered a cumbersome process and very few did that. Bang came in the iPhone and made mobile surfing so much easier. Similarly, if Android could change certain perceptions about mobile phone and offer great user experience, we are in for another revolution in the mobile industry. Are you excited about the launch of Android? Will you give it a try? Most importantly, do you think it will live up to its expectations?

Categories: Google.

0 comments.

Apple and Google woo mobile application developers

Things have never been better for software developers. Both Google and Apple have announced mega buck contests for mobile software developers around the world and not surprisingly, the response has been great with scores of developers around the world working hard to come up with groundbreaking mobile software.

Google’s Android Developer Challenge promises $10 million in total prize money while Apple got Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) to invest a whopping $100 million in iFund to develop software for iPhone.

Though, on surface, it looks like an even competition, Apple has got the upper hand at the moment as developers are more interested in Apple. The reason is obvious. Apple iPhone has got a huge customer base. So, if you, the developer, come up with a useful mobile application, you’ve got millions of takers instantly. Also, you can sell your application in Apple mobile store. So, instant recognition, lots of money, and of course lots of fame are what you get at Apple.

Google, on the other hand, has got its own plans. It has already announced a $10 million dollar contest for developers and it might also set up an Android fund with similar VC backup. Also, experts feel Google might have the upper hand in the long run due to two reasons. First reason - KPCB announced Java fund during the dot-com boom but nothing fruitful came out of it. So, some developers think the $100 million dollar deal with Apple is more of an eye candy. Second reason – Though Apple dominates the market as of now, Google will surely overtake Apple and in future, Android will most likely be the most sought-after operating system for mobile phones.

If you are a developer, you better get started. For once, money is there for the taking, literally. So, which side are you on?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google, Apple iPhone, All things mobile phones.

0 comments.