Android OS Coming To HP Slate 7, Not Windows 8 RT

If you remember HP's last tablet with webOS (TouchPad), it was something which was short lived and ended up with a fire sale which wiped out the supply very quickly. So, for HP's next tablet offering, one would assume that HP was going to be offering Windows 8 RT on their tablet. A logical expectation given that webOS had been moved to the Open Source arena and not part of HP's future plans. Rumors abound as to what is going to happen to webOS, but for now, the question of tablets for HP remains. But, the expected OS for HP's tablet is not Windows 8 RT, but rather Android.

That's right, Android on their latest 7 inch tablet, the Slate 7. They are bringing their new tablet into the very competitive 7 inch market space. The competition is much greater since Apple came out with the iPad Mini. It seems that things are getting very crowded and prices are being pushed downward. The Slate 7 will retail for $169 and undercuts the iPad Mini at $329. But the decision to enter at a much lower price point is not an easy one to make. And in so making it, they have to reduce costs so that it was affordable. Other than reducing some of the hardware components, the only thing left is the OS by moving to Google's Android. By taking Microsoft out of the picture and reducing some hardware components, they were able to drop the price down to where it is at.

By selecting Android, HP has found an easy to leverage OS to work on the Slate 7 and is easier for them to make changes to it. Much like the Android OS for smart phones, HP can add on their parts to the OS and make it theirs. And with the popularity of Jelly Bean (Android 4.2), there is a known interface that many are familiar with. Along with the Google name behind it, HP has partnered with a popular OS.

The question one has to wonder is whether HP is not happy that Microsoft has entered the hardware market. Given that HP has been struggling with retail sales for the past few years, making a cheaper product which has brand recognition may well help sales. And by bundling Android with their Slate 7, they have added more brand recognition to the product. For Microsoft, this is going to be another indication of their struggling tablet OS.



Microsoft is going to start feeling pressure with HP's decision and may cause some to think about other tablets not including the Surface Pro which they are heavily promoting. For HP, the decision to move to Android for their coming Slate 7 is going to make them stand out as being different from the Microsoft crowd and may be just enough to spur some additional sales to their latest tablet.


Given the lower price for the Slate 7, is this going to be one you might purchase?

Apple Impacting The Future Of Android

We have been seeing Apple attacking the Google Android OS which is running on a majority of smart phones around the world. These attacks have not been directly against Google, but instead against the companies which are using the Android OS. And these continuing lawsuits for patent infringements are going to begin to have a chilling affect on the future for Android and smart phones. Up until a few months ago, we would have considered that Android was going to outlast all the Apple lawsuits, but it now appears that phone manufacturers are going to be getting other options presented to them. And one of those other options will come from Microsoft and Windows Phone 8.

The continuing lawsuits being filed from Apple are going to alter the long term future for the Android OS. There are a lot of you who would not agree with that statement, but given the legal costs and the reoccurring license fees when a company is forced to settle, it makes Android less attractive. Android gives away its Android OS and that is what has made it so attractive to handset manufacturers. The result is global market share for Android. But it is not really free as there are costs associated with defending your use of it. And those instances are growing.

We know that Microsoft charges license fees for the use of their Windows Phone OS. And with those fees, there is an expectation that you will not have to face the same situation which has come down on Samsung, HTC and others. We all know about the lawsuits around the world between Samsung and Apple. And the legal feeds for that alone is draining money from Samsung. We know that Apple offered Samsung a licensing deal at one point of $30 per phone and then be able to use all the iPhone patents. That is a healthy cost to put out there from Apple.

And Samsung is not the only one. HTC has also been involved with a patent lawsuit with Apple and agreed to a settlement paying a fee of between $6 to $8 per Android phone sold. That will cut into what HTC can charge for their phones. These numbers are coming from unnamed sources and is not directly from Apple or HTC. HTC has been seeing declining sales over the past few years and with the lawsuits, it places a drain on the company. And these are not the only ones.

With all of this going on, companies are going to begin to look elsewhere for an OS to drive their smart phones. One is to develop their own, but that puts you out there by yourself in offering new features. Microsoft may be the wave of the future for phone as manufacturers look for an alternative to the Android OS. And with Windows Phone 8, the timing may fit well when making plans for next year. We are starting to hear of more companies looking to sell Windows Phone OS handsets next year.

There have been predictions for Microsoft to have a good foothold in market share by 2015, but it did not sound that reasonable. Looking at where things are at with Apple suing manufacturers, we might see a shift away from Android OS phones to Windows 8 OS phones. Apple may well be pushing manufacturers in that direction.

So much of this is speculation, but one has to wonder how long phone manufacturers can continue to defend themselves against lawsuits.

Microsoft Becomes Hardware Company With Surface

Entry into the tablet market at a high price.

Microsoft's core business has long been software. And the focus of that software has been the desktop. Microsoft for most of its life has believed that the desktop is king and in may respects that has been correct until recently. A shift is moving away from desktop computers and even laptop computers towards tablet computers. Microsoft has made the coming Windows 8 to be the OS for tablets. But that is not enough for Microsoft. They have decided they need to be a hardware company as well. They have really been a hardware company for almost as long as the company has existed.

You just do not think of Microsoft as a hardware company. They have been producing the Microsoft Mouse for so many years along with their Microsoft keyboards. They have manufactured cards that go into PCs and so much more. It seems that they have been in the hardware business for 32 years out of the 37 years they have been in business. So, they are a hardware company, but we just do not view them as such. The reality is they have been involved in hardware for years. And that includes the xBox and Kinect which have been extremely popular for them. But, they have not really been considered a hardware company because they do not build computers.

Building a desktop computer or laptop would have moved them into being seen as a hardware maker. Given the shift to tablets, Microsoft has made the decision to move into what most would consider as being a hardware company with their Surface tablet. This is entering them into a highly competitive market with the likes of Apple and Amazon. Those two companies basically control the tablet market making the entry of a new comer somewhat difficult.

Microsoft has their new Windows 8 OS to run their Surface tablet and that may make a difference for them. Microsoft has their great marketing arm which knows how to promote products. But that may not be enough for them to be successful. The one big thing that Microsoft has going for them is the integration of their Windows 8 OS. It is immediately ready to integrate tablets into a Windows environment within companies. Its built in security within their server OS makes it an immediate success for businesses.

Whether Microsoft can achieve a level of success is an unknown. Part of the problem is the pricing they are putting out with their newest hardware product. Starting at $500, this may be a tough sell when compared to other tablets, such as the Apple iPad. If they were to come in with a price less than the Apple iPad, it would give them a sales boost. The market for tablet prices is currently facing a lot of downward pressures for price. This is especially true for the 7 inch models. At 10.6 inches, it looks to be one that is a little less portable, but could do well.

Just how well Microsoft is going to do with their Surface tablet will depend on exactly who they are targeting for this. It does not look like it is a good fit for small businesses.

Microsoft Betting Everything On Windows 8

The next desktop OS is expanding to be many more things.

Microsoft's next operating system for the desktop is due out very soon. If you have been working with it, you understand just how much of a shift it is from what you are currently doing under Windows XP, Vista or 7. The whole concept of the desktop has changed to tiles. And with these tiles, it bears a close resemblance to the screen for Windows Phone 8. It does appear that Microsoft has made some long term decisions as to how the interfaces are going to look and this is definitely one of those paradigm shifts.

Microsoft is attempting to revolutionize the interface once again, but this time they are trying to do it across many different devices. The changes to the Windows Phone 8 interface work well because of the compact nature of the smart phone. And that will work in that environment. But betting that the same interface will work on all other devices is a big leap in technology. For the phones, Microsoft's OS did not exist, so it was far easier to release and make it a standard. It appears to have been well received.

The bigger problem for Microsoft and the risk is with respect to the paradigm shift for the desktop users which also includes laptop users. I have been working with the Windows 8 for a few months and find it difficult to make the shift to the new interface. There are many who are questioning the change to tiles for Windows 8. It is confusing and along with the some what similar desktop screen included, it creates confusion. Things got so bad this morning while I was trying to accomplish something that I downlaoded Start8 so that I could get back to the old standard Windows desktop so that I could accomplish the task at hand. That is a bad situation to be in. There are other who have voiced issues with the interface which will take some getting used to.

The basic consensus is that you will hate Windows 8 at first and I would agree with that. Some believe that after a while, you will adjust to the changes and life will go on. But the differences will drive you nuts for far longer than that.

For those who have not used a Windows desktop in the past, it will be a far easier adjustment to make. For those who have become very accustomed to Windows and where everything is located, this will be excruciating in trying to learn where everything actually is to use. That is why I downloaded a piece of software to get things back to what I am used to. You may feel the need to do exactly the same thing after using Windows 8 for a while.

One of the big winners for Windows 8 may be their coming Surface tablet. Much of the new interface is designed for use with touch screens which exactly fits their 10.6 inch screen. This is where Windows 8 will really shine and makes perfect sense for users. The problem is that Windows 8 has been designed pretty much as a one size fits all. And for Microsoft this may create a big problem for them. Business users may balk at purchasing the latest version from Microsoft. And they have a big impact on how successful an OS can be for Microsoft. It could even open the door to other companies to get their OS into businesses, such as Ubuntu. That is not want Microsoft should be doing.

Just how well Windows 8 is received is up to consumers. We should know by the end of the year just how well it is received. Add on companies which can return to your the familiar Windows desktop may do very well. Are you considering moving to Windows 8?

Microsoft Creates Fragmentation For Windows Phone 7

Microsoft joins Google and Apple with fragmentation.

Microsoft has long been known as a company who continues to support older equipment with their OS software. They have done that for many years with their backward compatible phrase which meant that the latest version of the OS would work with your computer. Even now as they start to have hardware requirements which require you to make sure that your computer is compatible, they did not leave people hanging. That is until it came to announcing the latest version of the Windows Phone OS. And with that, they are announcing that there is no upgrade path for Windows Phone 7 owners.

What this all means is that only new hardware will be able to support Windows Phone 8. Any phone which is sold with Windows Phone 7 is stuck with that version and has no hope of upgrading to the latest OS from Microsoft which is coming this year. That is horrible news for those who have purchased their phone in the last 6 months. Even Google with their Android OS has provided an upgrade path to Ice Cream Sandwich for most of the phones recently purchased. Apple, who does things much better than Google, supports back to the iPhone 3GS with the latest version of iOS.

While we do expect to see some fragmentation over time where some owners are able to upgrade their smart phone to the latest OS and others purchase a new phone which contains the latest OS, we have not seen this kind of a situation quite like this. It is unlike Microsoft to deliver horrible news to those who have recently purchased a Windows Phone OS mobile device.

That is unless you look at Nokia who has abandoned their Symbian OS to partner with Microsoft and their Windows Phone 7. Even those who have purchased the recent Nokia handsets are out of luck for Windows Phone 8 and do not have an upgrade path. What they will get is a Windows Phone 7.8 version which is supposed to have a closer look and feel to Windows Phone 8. Not much consolation for them.

It is very unlike Microsoft to draw a line in the sand like this and create this kind of fragmentation which Google has been taking heat over for a long time. If this is the "New" Microsoft, they are going to be doing similar things in the future which may leave some people hanging when Microsoft comes out with new versions of their software.

Skype Growth Continues To New Highs

Skype achieves 40 million concurrent users.

Skype continues its growth this month and it is obvious that Microsoft has pretty much let the company run the ship. That is evident in the continuing reports of records being broken for the number of users on Skype at the same time. They have been making announcements this year and it continues to be positive information.

Skype seems to have a unique way of presenting things that is far different than what you might expect to hear from other companies. In their blog making the announcement of 40 million concurrent users, they seem to attempt to put things into perspective in a unique way. This is definitely not your average PR announcement.

Between three and four millennia ago, sometime between 2000 BC and 1000 BC, the world's population stood at 40 million people. Early civilizations like the Egyptians, Phoenicians and the Minoans focused their trading efforts on the sea, building centers of commerce all along the Mediterranean. Letters using these early peoples' alphabet took weeks or months to travel on the sea or overland by boat, horse or foot.

Well, the world certainly has changed a lot since then. Today, we have seven billion people on Earth, and there are centers of commerce almost everywhere. With changes in technology and mechanized forms of transportation, letters (surprisingly) still takes days to get from person to person, while email takes just seconds.

But one of the biggest changes is one we reached today - when 40 million concurrent users were signed onto Skype all at once. This is a massive new milestone for a simple piece of software that helps make meaningful connections a cool part of people's lives every single day.

Skype Premium
This comes after Skype released their Skype Premium product and we have produced the Skype Group Guide for your reference. Skype's future did not look as bright a few years back when Google Voice came out and Google was offering free phone calls. Skype has made a number of changes to improve their services and the result is evident in the numbers. The move to take advantage of business conferencing needs has been very positive for Skype and will result in revenue expansion for them this year.

Whether you need to take advantage of the Skype Premium feature depends on your needs. For those who do not need to collaborate with associates on the web, you probably are not going to need the additional services which they provide. But if you could use the following features, then you should consider it.

• Group Video Call


• Group Screen Sharing


• No partner advertising


• Live Customer Support


• Unlimited calling to a country of your choice

The no partner advertising and unlimited calling to a country of your choice make this interesting to consider. As usual, there are limitations. For the moment, pricing is $9.99 per month, or $4.99 per month if you pay for a full year. The pricing is competitive and the features for collaboration are worth looking at. These items are similar to those offered by competitors WebEx and Go To Meeting.

So the obvious question is how long is it going to take them to break the 50 million concurrent users? Given they hit 35 million on March 5th, that would tend to indicate they will achieve the 50 million mark by June.