ballmer

Microsoft held the Windows Phone 8 launch event on the Monday just passed where Joe Belfiore was joined by Steve Ballmer and Jessica Alba in presenting what the next version of the company's mobile platform has to offer consumers. How did everyone feel about what was presented?

Steve Ballmer took to the stage yesterday at Microsoft’s annual powwow, the Worldwide Partners Conference. Steve was as bullish as ever calling 2012 an “EPIC!” year for Microsoft. Steve is always excited but this time Microsoft does have it ‘going on’. Why is Steve so pumped, and what makes 2012 a year of “epic”?

Today we've seen how big giant companies can have a sense of humor (Exhibit A: Nokia) and we'll continue that with Microsoft (who have never been above self deprication, see Rivera's famous example). What you see above is a LG GW910 Panther running Windows Phone 7.0. These were seeded out to developers even before Windows Phone went public (remember all of those early sightings?).

What's funny though of course is the lil' message Microsoft had emblazoned on the package for the device, adopting Ballmer's famous sweaty credo which, yes, we'll post after the break in full re-mix form.

Because it never gets old.

Update: Turns out, Mr. Brandon Watson was the culprit behind the idea. Brilliant!

Source: ZanzibarMcFate (Reddit)

Microsoft took the opportunity to reflect on its accomplishments and give us a peak at what's in store for the future in this year's CES Keynote Address. CEO Steve Ballmer took center stage to deliver a "State of the Union" type presentation for the software giant.  After 14 years of delivering a keynote address at the International Consumer Electronics Show, this would be Microsoft's last.  At least for a while.

Presented in conversation form with Ryan Seacrest moderating, Ballmer began the conversation on Windows Phone. Naturally, he was pleased with the success Windows Phone has had and felt it is the first phone to put people first. It provides a consolidated glance at what's important in your life.

The 2012 Consumer Electronics Show is just right around the corner and Microsoft is scheduled to give the keynote address on Monday, January 9, 2012 which will mark the last keynote Microsoft at CES.

Microsoft recognizes that their industry is fast moving and the manner in which they communicate with consumers must keep pace. Frank X. Shaw, Microsoft's Corporate Vice President over Corporate Communications states,

"We have decided that this coming January will be our last keynote presentation and booth at CES. We’ll continue to participate in CES as a great place to connect with partners and customers across the PC, phone and entertainment industries, but we won’t have a keynote or booth after this year because our product news milestones generally don’t align with the show’s January timing."

Microsoft will now turn to special events to share new products, services and innovations with consumers such as the Big Windows Phone event that was held in New York, through social networking resources and their retail stores. Microsoft won't disappear completely from CES with their partners likely taking the lead in making product announcements at future CES events.  While the approach makes sense, it's going to be strange not to have Ballmer take center stage at CES.

Oh and speaking of the 2012 CES Keynote, as we understand things Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will focus on Windows Phones and the XBox this year. Don't expect significant news but more of a wrap up on the past year. Microsoft may be taking a step back and let Nokia's Operation Rolling Thunder take center stage.

Source: Microsoft Blog

...at least according to Steve Ballmer, CEO of Microsoft at the recent Web 2.0 summit. Now, we suppose we can engage in a semantic debate about what constitutes a "bunch" combined with social-linguistic and pragmatic uses of the term, but up till this point, we were only really expecting maybe two devices from Nokia: SeaRay/800 and the Sabre/703/710.

But perhaps we need to re-think what Nokia may be doing. We know at the very least the SeaRay will be going on sale in various countries in November e.g. France, Italy, so for certain we'll see those devices for respective carriers. But Nokia has always talked about "shipping in volume" in 2012 in addition to bold claims like a new device every three months (remember that one?). So maybe, just maybe we'll see more than just 2011 devices but also what's in store for 2012--like perhaps that rumored Nokia Windows Phone for AT&T?

Then again, if Ballmer was just being colloquial, perhaps a "bunch" really is just two. We'll be live in London next week at Nokia World to find out, so stay tuned...

Source: Mary Jo Foley (Twitter)

Recently at the Imagine Cup 2011, happening right here in New York City, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave his usual keynote speech.

Towards the middle, he finally gave a nod to Windows Phone and even dropped some info regarding the 2nd generation "Mango" phones that we're all expecting late this year, including Nokia's entry:

"Windows Phone. You know, a year ago we didn't have a phone in the market. Now, we're charging forward with Nokia. We have the second generation of our phones coming out this Christmas, and people are starting to do things they had never imagined before. I love the applications that I saw for the Windows Phone from the people in this room, and the way you're pushing that device, and using that device. It was really exciting for me."

Some folks are interpreting his remarks as a sign of slippage on "Mango's" release, noting how Christmas is a few days post-Fall.

We're a bit more hesitant to make such a claim as it raises the question: Are new WP7 hardware releases tied to the software update? We're betting on "no". New hardware has a much more flexible release schedule and we see no inclination that Microsoft will hold off on the "Mango" software updates for current devices until new hardware comes out. Sure, it could happen, but we're not betting on it. Instead, we'll probably see a rolling out of new hardware over a few months ending 2011 into 2012. In other words, not much of a story here.

Source: Microsoft

Steve Ballmer has just wrapped up his 2011 International Consumer Electronics Show Keynote Address. He addressed three key components for Microsoft; Xbox 360, Windows 7, and Windows Phone 7.

Discussing how productive 2010 has been for Microsoft, Ballmer described it as a year filled with new experiences for consumers. Ballmer touched on the success of the Windows Phone Marketplace that now has over 5,500 apps and 20,000+ developers on board. On average, Windows Phone users are seeing 100 apps a day introduced to the Marketplace.

The success is being reflected by consumer confidence in that 9 out of 10 AT&T customers would recommend Windows Phone 7 to a friend. It was clear that Microsoft was pleased with the two month impact Windows Phone 7 has had and Ballmer continued to voice a strong commitment to the new phones.

Here are a few points from Ballmer's keynote on what we can expect in 2011 for Windows Phone 7.

OS Updates: Ballmer phrased it: "Over the next few months we will be delivering a series of platform improvements that show we are taking feedback to heart in an effort to continue to enhance the products we release. The updates will be released automatically and will include a few changes". No time frame was set but Ballmer did mention these updates will bring Copy/Paste to Windows Phone 7 as well as "significant improvement in performance when loading or switching between applications".

Sprint and Verizon: During the first half of 2011, Sprint and Verizon will join the Windows Phone family.  While there was no mention of which phones are headed where, indications remain that the HTC Trophy is headed to Verizon and the HTC 7 Pro will be Sprint's Windows Phone device.

Games: One of the strengths of Windows Phone 7 is the Xbox Live integration. Windows Phone users will see a series of new Xbox Live games heading to the platform including a version of the popular console game, Fable.

Fable Coin Golf (we're assuming it's a golf themed game) will allow any coins earned on the Windows Phone, carry over to the Xbox Live version of the game.  You also have Pro Evolution Soccer 2011 heading to the Windows Phone as well as the much anticipated Zombies!!!.

Apps: We saw a few new apps that caught our interests. There will be an Amazon.com app and a Bank of America app that will allow you to take care of your shopping and banking needs.  Hopefully, this will break the ice for more online retailers and financial institutions to bring their apps to Windows Phone 7.

It looks like 2011 is shaping up to be another year filled with new experiences for Microsoft consumers.

Update: See the entire video presentation after the break (grab a coffee, you'll need it, but it's worth it)

Ballmer and Co. at Microsoft have been pretty coy on the matter about adapting Windows Phone 7 for tablet use. While many of us see it as a no-brainer--it's fast, smooth, elegant, powerful, etc.--Microsoft has said in the past that it won't happen.

While we still don't expect it anytime soon (WP7 is still very early), Ballmer dropped an interesting tidbit in an Ars Technica interview. On the question of tablets and when they would happen, this exchanged occurred:

AT: How long am I going to wait... I don't want to ask you lots of stupid questions about tablets because I know you've been asked them before, so what I'm going to ask you is a very specific question: how long am I gonna have to wait to get a tablet that when I'm on-the-go has a nice touch- and finger-friendly interface, and when I sit down at my desk, I can add a keyboard and mouse and get a nice, full Windows experience. When is that going to come?

SB: I won't give you an answer, because it will all depend on what you want, and we're going to have various things coming at various times coming over the next months and years, and some things, I think you will see things that you will fall [in love with]—I know I'm seeing things that I'll fall in love with, and I know there will be more things that I desire.

The truth of the matter is, look at that device [my Lenovo X300]. It doesn't weigh anything, it just sits there, pretty nice, and very powerful, works pretty well, so you have to say, OK, what is the scenario that we're trying to optimize against? And you're gonna see some things that do a very nice job over the course of the next, let's call it year—you'll see some stuff now, you'll see some stuff after Christmas, you'll see some stuff as we get new Intel chips, you'll see some things as you move Windows Phone along—and which one you'll fall in love with, I can't predict.

Yup. Just 10 words long but 10 words that technically did not need to be there if Windows Phone was wasn't being considered for tablet use.

Dear Microsoft: Wait for WP7 to mature a bit, then just do it.

Source: Ars Technica; Image: Umang Dokey