Posts filed under 'Windows Mobile'
Microsoft is taking on both the challenges and opportunities that
exist around the current unified communications platform and product
lineup.
To
do this, the Redmond software maker is introducing voice technologies
to its current lineup, developing new products and expanding the
unified communications features its current products provide, as well
as offering services itself and in association with its partners.
In a two-hour presentation at an event here in San Francisco on
June 26, Jeff Raikes, the president of the Microsoft Business Division,
presented his vision for Microsoft’s unified messaging strategy and product roadmap of the future.
“This new world of work has people at its core, and they are
assisted by the software we provide to simplify the way they work
together, especially across organizations and countries,” he said,
adding that communication choices have expanded, leading to
communications chaos.
“There are also just too many devices out there, and workers do
not have enough time to deal with the complexity associated with all of
this. This wealth of devices and connectivity is also putting strain on
IT administrators,” he said.
The PC environment had seen a lot more innovation from a
software perspective than the desktop phone, and PC innovation has
improved the richness of that experience, Raikes said, noting that
significant challenges and opportunities lie ahead in the unified
communications field.
The complexity of the user experience remains a big challenge,
with research showing that the average organization has 6.4 types of
different communication devices and 4.8 communications applications,
resulting in infrastructure islands, he said.
The real opportunities for unified communications lie on the
productivity front, around collaboration and better business results,
while meetings remain an area of great opportunity and challenge, he
said, noting that the virtual meeting experience “should and could” be
even better than actually being present at that meeting.
Raikes then gave a demonstration of the Microsoft Office
RoundTable, an audio-video collaboration device with a 360-degree
camera, expected to be released in the first half of 2007, that, when
combined with Office Communications Server 2007, delivers an immersive
conferencing experience that extends the meeting environment across
multiple locations.
The Power of Unified
Microsoft’s vision for Unified Communications enables a people-centric solution of rich, intuitive, and seamless communications across e-mail, IM, voice, data, video, and conferencing. Microsoft offers companies a complete software platform that unifies all communications with their business applications and processes, streamlining how people reach each other and communicate. Microsoft is delivering revolutionary economics and manageability, with a flexible, reliable, and secure infrastructure for Unified Communications.
June 27th, 2006
There’s no question that at some point we’ll be able to depend much less on carrying around all of these chargers with us for our personal electronics. It’s good to see that there is real effort being put into alternative means of powering devices instead of just the focus on device efficiency.
http://www.personaltechpipeline.com/blog/archives/2006/06/brightest_cell.html
June 15th, 2006
Engadget Mobile gets its hands on the Motorola Canary, Motorola’s follow-up to the hugely successful RAZR.
read more | digg story
June 15th, 2006
Now this is a very interesting device. InflightPower.com has announced its InFlight Power USB Unit which allows you to charge small electronic devices via a standard headphone jack found in most airline seats.
Basically you get about a minute of charging for every 3 minutes you are plugged in, but it should certainly extend your battery life.
Matt Ridings
MSR Consulting
read more | digg story
June 15th, 2006
Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. cell phone service provider, plans on Monday to launch a wireless service that lets parents check their children’s whereabouts and alerts them when they venture out of bounds.
Parents can use the service to set up geographic limits and receive text alerts if their children, who also carry phones, go too far from home. The service also lets parents check where their offspring are via a map on their cell phone or computer.
The Chaperone-branded service from Verizon Wireless, a venture of Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group, follows in the footsteps of a similar service that Sprint Nextel introduced in April. Entertainment conglomerate Walt Disney is also set to offer a similar service when it starts selling cell phones this summer.
Such services are aimed at bringing in revenue from a location technology that U.S. wireless service providers are required by law to put into cell phones so that safety workers can pinpoint the location of 911 emergency service callers.
Mobile packages designed for families have become key to growth at U.S. operators, which currently sign up as many as 60 percent of their new subscribers via family discount plans, according to technology research firm Yankee Group.
Verizon Wireless did not say how many of its customers have children in the 5-year-old to 9-year-old target market but an executive concurred with the Yankee estimates on family plans and said the market for this service could be big.
“You’re looking at a good percentage of customers that have families with children,” said Jamal Jones, Verizon Wireless manager of consumer products, in a conference call with reporters on Friday.
The Verizon service costs $9.99 a month for just the location-viewing feature and rises to $19.99 a month if the parent also opts for a boundary-setting feature. Sprint charges about $9.99 for its service.
Verizon is initially launching the service just for parents with children using the Migo phone from LG Electronics, a four-button phone designed especially for children. Verizon started selling the Migo in November.
Executives said Verizon Wireless may develop a version of the service for older children, using more sophisticated phones, but they did not give details.
Parents can access the service using about 10 different phone models sold by Verizon Wireless including several phones from LG and some phones from Motorola and Samsung Electronics.
June 10th, 2006
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