2010 Mobile War quotes

“We did not enter the search business. They [Google] entered the phone business. Make no mistake: they want to kill the iPhone. We won’t let them." - Steve Jobs Feb 2010

“This don't be evil mantra: It’s a load of crap.” - Steve Jobs Feb 2010

"We had been working on Android a very long time, with the notion of producing phones that are Internet enabled and have good browsers and all that because that did not exist in the marketplace. I think that [Steve Jobs'] characterization of us entering after is not really reasonable." - Larry Page

"Folks who want porn can buy and [sic] Android phone." - Steve Jobs Apr 4 2010

"You know, there's a porn store for Android. Anyone can download them. You can, your kids can. That's just not a place we want to go." - Steve Jobs

“In reality, we think the open versus closed argument is just a smokescreen to try and hide the real issue, which is, what's best for the customer, fragmented versus integrated. We think Android is very, very fragmented and becoming more fragmented by the day .” Steve Jobs, Oct 2010

Contrasting Google's open OS with Apple's closed system with a “Draconian future, a future where one man, one company, one device, one carrier would be our only choice.” Vic Gundotra, Google

The definition of open: "mkdir android ; cd android ; repo init -u git://android.git.kernel.org/platform/manifest.git ; repo sync ; make" - Andy Rubin Tweet

"We are very committed to the integrated approach. No matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as closed, we are confident that it will triumph over Google’s fragmented approach no matter how many times Google tries to characterize it as open" - Steve Jobs Oct 18 2010

"Apple's attempt to draw RIM into Apple's self-made debacle is unacceptable.One thing is for certain, RIM's customers don't need to use a case for their BlackBerry smartphone to maintain proper connectivity" - Mike Lazaridis, RIM

"We've now passed RIM, and I don't see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future" - Steve Jobs, Oct 2010

"For those of us who live outside of Apple's distortion field,.................As usual, whether the subject is antennas, Flash or shipments, there is more to the story and sooner or later, even people inside the distortion field will begin to resent being told half a story." - Jim Balsillie, Oct 19 2010

“They (Adobe) are lazy” - Steve Jobs Feb 2010

"Flash was created during the PC era – for PCs and mice" - Steve Jobs Apr 4 2010

"It turns out that on the internet, people use Flash," Google vice president of engineering Vic Gundotra May 20 2010

"If Flash is the number one reason that Macs crash, it has as much to do with the Apple’s OS…On Jobs’ claim that Flash drains mobile gadget batteries: “Patently false.” - Shantanu Narayan Apr 29 2010

“Flash is an open specification.. It’s a published specification… Open systems always triumph.” - Shantanu Narayan Apr 29 2010

Doing both

Doing both - How Cisco Captures Today's Profits and Drives Tomorrow's Growth by Inder Sidhu Senior Vice President of Strategy and Planning for Worldwide Operations at Cisco is an excellent and a must-read book for any mid-sized to a large company executive who often is forced to choose between two opportunities or two choices with opposing principles.

One example is when a company is looking to expand into new markets and business models. The challenges faced in growing a company from a startup to a mid-sized company are completely different from taking the company from mid-size to the next level. The key difference is that a startup or an early growth company has the flexibility to change and adapt the business model and organizational structure without much distraction to the existing structure whereas, bigger companies set up for a specific business model cannot change without significant distraction. For example: an organization well set up to sell high priced/high margin, low volume product to enterprise customers cannot diversify to sell low priced/low margin, high volume product to consumer market. On the other hand, a company cannot afford to ignore adjacent markets. The author of the book cites an example where Cisco which was selling $500,000+ equipment to enterprises just could not afford to ignore the consumer networking equipment market which was due to grow from $24b to $70b. To expand into this market, Cisco acquired Linksys and let Linksys run as a seperate business unit with its own sales, development and marketing divisions. When the next opportunity to sell highly customized product to telecom service providers came along, Cisco again found that it did not have the required expertise to customize and service the highly demanding service providers. Cisco acquired Scientific Atlanta which had significant expertise in providing set top boxes to telecom service providers. The next opportunity that Cisco did not want to ignore but on the other hand did not have the expertise was SaaS. To enter into this market, Cisco acquired Webex. Through these acquisitions, Cisco has successfully expanded to adjacent markets and has built a great internal model for recognizing, acquiring and integrating companies.

The author also talks about the strategies adopted to enter into emerging markets while continuously growing in established markets. Unlike most other US companies looking at emerging markets for only cheap labor, Cisco opened their global center of excellence in Bangalore, India and made this their second head quarters.

Cisco while emphasizing on excellence in their products and services, provides an equal importance on the relevance i.e does the product or service help customers achieve their own goals? This is key for any Product Manager or technologist to remember as it is not uncommon to see many companies launch products that do not take off since they are not relevant to the users. Lesson is focus on both relevance and excellence not one or the other.

The other topics covered in the book include how companies need to ensure customer satisfaction while also ensuring that partners (eg. resellers) are happy, reward super star performers while also promoting team work and supporting decision making while authoritative leadership is enforced when required.

Reading this book has provided me new approach to solving problems, at both work and personal life. However, it does not mean "Doing both" is the approach for every problem. It provides a new framework to think through and may be useful in a lot of situations.

VZ Navigator 6.2 launched for BREW and RIM

We launched the new version V6.2 of VZ Navigator for RIM and BREW devices on 10/20. The initial set of devices that will have this new version will be Tour1, Tour2, Storm1, Storm2, Curve2, LG 9200 and the LG 11000. Great team work, lots of weekend work and particular emphasis to usability and quality went into making this release not only much better than VZ Nav V5 but also has raised the bar for future releases.
Key emphasis in this version has been to further improve usability based on the feedback that our valued users have provided from VZ Nav V5. Some of the key improvements that has gone into this release are:
1. Dashboard navigation: Dashboard navigation provides a simplified view and displays the most essential information of upcoming maneuvers . Dashboard view does not display the map of the route and displays only the up coming maneuver, current road name, up coming road name, etc.. Dashboard navigation is specifically useful for smaller tier devices with limited display area/small screen size and avoids overwhelming the user with too much on a small screen.

2. Look ahead - Look aheads allow the user to scroll and preview the next maneuvers on the route. I personally like this feature, particularly on meidum to long trips as I am always curious to understand the entire route before starting.
3. Better traffic alerts - Much better traffic congestion and incident annoucements.
4. Bing search (for brew) - Brew will be using Bing search that was released earlier this year on RIM. Key new search features include spelling suggestions and the search is powered by Bing/Microsoft.
5. RIM devices now include Suretype support for all text fields within VZ Nav.
6. Ability to upgrade to Global support (across Europe and North America) on RIM devices capable of global roaming

In addition to the above, several other improvements within navigation provide for a improved user experience and satisfaction. Go VZ Nav!!

My top Droid X apps - part 1

I want to share the top droid applications that I have been using on my DroidX and what I like about them. Before I get into specific applications, let me comment on the key attributes of a mobile application that are important. I am sure the readers will have more to add to the below list but is a good starting point for a mobile Product Manager and a mobile application developer. The below is not specific to Android applications and can be applicable for any mobile OS.

While Apple and Google claim to have thousands of applications on their stores, only a fraction of these applications perform useful functionality or designed well. Browsing through the Android market place, one can notice that a lot of applications have achieved download numbers of any material significance. Of course, there are challenges of discover-ability, brand name recognition and the app. developers do not have the resources to spend on advertising. However, I have seen too many that do not offer useful functionality, no differentiation from the other million similar applications, not compelling enough or no sticky-ness factor for users to continue using the application. In the crowded application market place where the barrier to entry is very low, it is critical that application developers focus on identifying the key factors for a mobile application to succeed.

Below are some of the key elements I would focus when building a mobile application:

1. Good User Interface:
(a) Does the application have a good look and feel designed for a small screen with minimal options?
(b) Is the UI designed for the user to perform key functionality with minimal clicks and no irritating pop-ups?
(c) Does the application use the same UI paradigm/conventions, native controls and framework, gestures, icons and images as the device native applications providing the user a uniform and a native experience? Examples include swipe, muli-touch, double click (on some devices to zoom-in, zoom-out) and transition.
(d) Is the application easy-to-use, simple and intuitive?

2. Accessibility and Responsiveness:
(a) How fast can I access the application and the core functionality?
(b) How fast does the application start and be ready for the user input?
(c) Is the installation of the application fast and seamless?
(d) Can the user buy the application with minimal clicks (remember one click purchase) and no lengthy EULAs?

3. Integration and Dynamic content:
(a) How well is the application integrated to the phone functionality (Call, SMS) as well as other applications (Eg.: Maps, Navigation, Contacts, Calendar, Location/Geo-tagging)?
(b) Does the application deliver dynamic data content based on location and context?

4. Using the hardware capabilities: Does the application use blue tooth (specifically if the app. has audio announcements), accelerometer, hardware acceleration, etc.

5. Notifications and Alerts: Does the application use the platforms notification mechanism (both visual and voice) where required?

6. Multi-tasking: Does the application support multi-tasking per the platform's implementation i.e be able to run in the background, support prioritization Eg. On receiving a voice call, the app should go to the back ground and the application audio should take lower precedence over voice call.

6. Personalization: Does the application offer personalization features i.e remember my favorite genre, my frequently accessed content, etc.

7. Battery and memory consumption: Simple things like turning the back light off when not required or after certain duration of inactivity.

8. Speech recognition: Use speech recognition where ever possible.

9. Seamless updates: Frequent and seamless updates are extremely important to ensure end user issues are resolved and new features provided.

10. Cool-factor: Last but not the least, let us not forget the viral nature of the mobile applications.

E-Readers part II

4. Content or Hardware?
Panelists had differing opinions on what is driving e-readers. Is it all about the content, better access to content or is it about the hardware providing a better reading experience and ability to annotate, etc.? Access to content is the key to customers. When Barnes and Noble initially looked at the e-reader market, their main goal was to be able to have content available on all devices. For example, Barnes & Noble supports the i-pad and Amazon has an Android kindle application.

5. DRM - Can I move a book that I bought on kindle to a sony reader?
The answer "legally" is no because you will have to break the DRM for Kindle books. However, some e-reader (Sony) supports ePub open format. Sony also lets you reading the book on 5 devices.

6. Is the indusrty headed to a subscription model like netflix where one can check-out and check-in books for a subscription?
This is certainly possible considering the way delivery of books has changed (compare to buying music on a CD versus iTunes), but in the book industry this will take some time and thinking. Key is to get support from publishers.

7. Will text books be digitized?
Barnes & Noble has started digitizing text books but this is much slower as it needs support from universities, students, etc. but will slowly happen.

My Droid X

It has been 4 weeks since I have been using my DroidX and I am happy with it. Of course, people comment me about carrying a bulky device just like in the "old" days. One of the things that I do like about the device when compared to HTC incredible (3.7") is the Droid X's 4.3" screen. The bigger screen along with a fast browser has definitely slowed me down on buying the i-pad and has given more time on deciding if I have to really buy the i-pad when there are a bunch of other Android tablets coming to the market this holiday season.

Now getting back to the DroidX, the one apprehension I had about this device (or any touch device for that matter) was my ability to continue with my 40+ words per minute typing on a phone which I have been doing on my blackberries for the past 3 years and a Palm treo device before that. Typing on glass is definitely different but the 4 weeks has been good enough for me to get used to it. The automatic word suggestion feature on this device is pretty good as well. I do not see why I would go back to a device with a keyboard. I also predict that the days of smart phones with keyboards will be long gone in the next couple years.

Apart from the big screen, I like the 8 MP camera and the 720 p HD video. The phone has noise cancellation mic and great call quality - best I have seen in the market so far.

Getting on to the email, well of course, nothing at least for now can beat the blackberry email service. While Android 2.0 has built in support for the Microsoft Active Sync push technology, I have seen performance issues such as lag times in syncing of the Sent and the Inbox folders.

Thanks to Verizon, they have ensured that the UI is not "BLUR" ified like the earlier versions of the Motorola Android devices (like the Devour). On the Devour, user had to create a Moto Blur ID as part of the initial set up of the phone. (Another account that user has to maintain for the phone and the irritating experience of going through the set up to use the phone were both "bad" user experience. I wonder how Motorola thought this could be a selling point). While the UI is not "BLUR" ified, Motorola has retained the useful BLUR functionality of unification of all the contacts whether it be from email, facebook, twitter or your corporate contacts. By now, this feature is probably added on most mobile platforms (Blackberry 6.0 being the latest). The unified social networking inbox is kind of useful but I am more comfortable with launching the specific application when required.

I am yet to use the wireless media sharing functionality (uses DNLA technology) and the HDMI port. I will post more once I use this functionality as well as more of the device.

E-Readers - part I

Earlier this week, I attended a panel presentation of the state of the E-Reader market with panelists from Sony, HP and Barnes & Noble. I had a few interesting take aways from this event.

1. Do E-books threaten publishers?
E-books will still need publishers to brand, market and sell. While there may be some very few , popular authors who may decide not to go to a publisher and use the e-book channel to go directly to the consumer, it is not expected that the publisher role will be impacted.

2. Considering that e-books are cheaper than physical books, will the total sales in dollar terms decrease?
While a physical book sells for $25, the same book in e-format sells for $12.95 with 70% share to the publisher and 30% share to the e-book sales channel. This is almost 50% reduction in the average selling price. However, the economics will still favor the e-reader market as new reading habits and selling patterns develop. E-readers provide for better discoverability, easier shopping experience, instant gratification (unlike ordering a book and receiving it later), recommendations based on users' preferences and integration with social media of content thereby increasing the total sales. New selling patterns such as being able to sell a portion of the book will increase the total audience.

3. Will i-pads and other tablets kill e-readers?
While there was no convincing answer from the panelists, the price points of an e-reader, battery life, less strain for the eye, e Ink display (better for reading and certainly on the beach on a sunny day) will be some of the key distinct features of e-readers atleast for the near future. It is my opinion that the market will continue for e-readers but there will be some overlap of users who would just use a tablet for multiple purposes including reading.