Mobile is all about getting the Internet in your pocket these days. It appears for some of the major players who are driving the scene it is all about picking customers pockets as well. Apple has led the charge with its iPhone and now that T-Mobile, Google, and HTC have announced the G1, the first handset featuring Google’s Android, there is another big player in the game. Of course the other OEMs and Telcos are still in their fighting for their piece of the pie.

Sales figures on the iPhone 3G are eye-popping, even more so given the problems it has had since it launched. Anticipation is high for whatever Android will see usher into the market over the next period of time. Everybody should be happy, but there are, to my mind, some self inflicted wounds that these companies are dealing with, that while they may not slow down momentum, tell me that they really don’t see the long view. This is analogous to the moves toward capping regular broadband and tiered broadband.

This weekend’s discussions here at GBM and elsewhere about Steven Sinfosky’s comments in a recent post using the Tablet PC bits as an example of components of Windows that can be turned off have generated quite a bit of passion. In the big picture that is a great thing. Quite a few folks weighed in with comments to this post (including Mr. Sinofsky). Loren Heiny’s intital response has also generated a lot of good discussion, as has James Kendrick’s post about the topic.

Some see this as much ado about nothing. Others (like myself) see this as, if nothing else, a troublesome comment by Sinfosky given his leadership role. I think the difference of opinion here is both healthy and productive as it certainly is putting a discussion of Tablet PCs front and center again, both here, and hopefully at Microsoft.

A couple of other interesting notes here as the discussion moves along. James Kendrick posted a link to Twelve unnecessary Vista features to disable, this morning. Note that the Tablet PC bits are included in that list of twelve. Also note that some commentors to jk’s post are poo-pooing this specific list for a variety of reasons.

Loren Heiny has illustrated his thoughts further, as only a Tableteer can, by taking Ink to screen with this cartoon. 

As the discussion continues let’s keep some historical perspective in mind.

• When Tablet PCs rolled out there was a separate OS, Windows XP Tablet Edition. While that distinguished a difference, it also led to confusion as many didn’t understand the distinction. The amount of times those of us evangelizing the platform back then wrote that it was a superset of Windows on top of a fully fledged XP can’ t be counted. There was a separate Tablet PC development team within Microsoft.
• Tablet PC got absorbed into the OS and the Tablet PC team got absorbed into the larger Windows platform as well. If you were around the Tabletscape then, you will remember a hue and cry from many that thought this would be the harbinger of bad news for the future of Tablet PCs.
• That hue and cry got somewhat ameliorated when it was announced that with Vista the Tablet PC bits would be included with some Vistas SKU’s and that the goal was to make that functionality available to any OEM who wanted to take advantage. The intimal hopes here were that we would see a much tighter integration between the OS and Tablet PC features. That didn’t occur to the extent many were hoping for.

Mr. Sinofsky’s comments here and elsewhere in the discussion can certainly taken at face value that some might be reading more into them than he intended. That said, I think those of us who have been around through the rocky evolution of Tablet PCs and the rough acceptance path it has had within Microsoft, even with Bill Gates as a champion, are always leery of any conversation starter about Tablet PCs and how it is connected (or not) to the Windows ecosystem.  

Yesterday, Loren Heiny responded to a post by Microsoft’s Steven Sinofsky about customizing Windows and the many responses that they have received from users, some of whom think that allowing users to turn features on or off based on how they plan to use their computers. In the post he listed the Tablet PC bits as an example that could be turned off.

Some examples are quite easy to see and you should expect us to do more along these lines, such as the TabletPC components.  I have a PC that is a very small laptop and while it has full tablet functionality it isn’t the best size for doing good ink work for me (I prefer a 12.1” or greater and this PC is a 10” screen).  The tablet code does have a footprint in memory and on the 1GB machine if I go and remove the tablet components the machine does perform better.  This is something I can do today.  Folks have asked about Photo Gallery, Movie Maker, Windows Mail, Windows Calendar…this is good feedback and good things for us to consider for Windows 7. 

Loren’s response was similar to mine:

Yes, he’s saying that even on a Tablet PC, the Tablet bits don’t have enough value for him.

Loren took Steven to task for his comments on screen size and Inking as well, recalling the Tableteers lament for the HP tc1100, which by most accounts was a great, if not the great Tablet PC at a 10inch screen size.

Sinofsky responded in a comment to Loren’s post saying the following:

I think you read more than I wrote " src="http://www.lorenheiny.com/wp-includes/images/smilies/icon_smile.gif" />

I just said that for me, a 10 inch Prime screen is too small for inking. Maybe I just write too big. When I use ink I mostly use OneNote and I just find that a 10 inch Prime screen at 1280×768 is not enough information density.

That’s all

Maybe, maybe not. Here’s my issue. Sinofsky has clamped down on communication about Windows 7 and now is using the blog, Engineering Windows 7, to talk about the process behind assembling the next version. I applaud the effort to talk about what’s happening behind the scenes. That said, I don’t think Sinofsky is as naive about the impact of what he writes in that blog as he appears to be about Tablet PCs. Maybe I should say I hope he isn’t. When you control information the way Microsoft now is doing, and talk about that control, what you choose to share has powerful meaning, even if used as “an example.” The same is true with what you choose not to share. This community has been on pins and needles about the future of Tablet PC computing for some time now in the wake of Microsoft’s poor marketing and implementation of what Tablet PCs can and do offer. That only increased when the Tablet PC’s biggest advocate, Bill Gates, retired from the day to day.

That point is driven home to me by Steven’s comment. He chose to focus on the screen size issue rather than address Loren’s larger issue:

The performance fix for the Tablet bits is not to remove them. It’s to address the lower level implementation details. I wish he was signaling that that’s on the Windows 7 to do list.

So do I, Loren. So do I.

So, Steven, you’ve opened the door for dialogue now with the Tablet PC community, and at the risk of making you feel like you need to say even less about Windows 7 in the future, what you wrote “too big” in this instance, is an invitation we’d love to take you up on. Let’s talk about the future of Tablet PC computing. I think you’ll be surprised by what you hear.

Microsoft is busy spending $300 million on a new campaign to roll out, refurbish, re-build, revive, renovate, re-constitute, re-invent, re-whatever its image after ceding the battlefield for far too long and allowing Apple and others to shape the story since the launch of Vista. I hate to say it, but the effort seems not only misguided but doomed to fail. If this was a Broadway show the closing notices would be posted before intermission.

Mary Jo Foley is pointing to Microsoft’s revamped website which is featuring that first new splashy ad featuring Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld. As for the ad-what a waste of shoe leather. As for the site? Well, it is pretty. Mary Jo is also letting us know that Microsoft is going to spend some dough hiring and placing 150 or so Microsoft trained “gurus” in Best Buy and Circuit City stores in the roll up to the holiday season.  Think of them as ‘personal shoppers.’ Think of them as quickly being out of work.

It is no secret that applications that install themselves or stubs of themselves in the Task Tray create love/hate affairs with most users. If you use an application or service frequently, the convenience of having it there outweighs the overhead and resources it consumes. Most users are skilled at the various methods of removing applications from their startup when they don’t want them there and in those instances there are no issues, beyond losing what functionality the apps or services provided.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve got several applications I do need to run on occasion, but not frequently, that need or use a Task Tray presence. I prefer to not have them in the Task Tray always. Instead I create shortcuts for these apps and place them in a ShortCuts folder and only activate them when I need them, so they aren’t sitting around hogging up resources. A few examples of this are:

• Audible’s Download Manager
• Amazon.com’s MP3 Downloader(I use Amazon’s service to order DRM free and cheaper music than iTunes)
• My Webcam’s Menu Interface (the camera works better when it is running)
• The Eye-Fi Manager (for uploading pictures via WiFi to my computer)
• PDANet (for tethering my Windows Mobile phone) 
• Callburner (we use this for recording podcasts on Skype.)

With the Amazon and Audible apps it isn’t that easy. Each time I activate the app by clicking on the shortcut it installs properly, but the service I’m using doesn’t recognize that it is running and I have to go through the process of installing it again from the web. That’s a real PITA. If I remove CallBurner the same thing occurs, the application has to reinstall itself and re-hook into Skype before you can use it. That process has sometimes caused a system crash.

Two things here, vendors.

• Don’t assume I want your application always hanging around.
• Figure out some way to allow users to turn your service/apps on and off with some ease.

Sure, I could avoid the hassle by just leaving things alone, but I like to at least think I have some control over my environment.

Of course the answer to the question in the headline of this post is yes. I don’t know if you’ve been following the recent testing going on regarding Apple’s woes with the new, some would say regrettably named, iPhone 3G, but there is a wave of influencers out there pointing their fingers more at the networks than at the hardware after these tests. Logic would seem to dictate that the test findings (which in essence boil down to “it depends”) would reveal vagaries and differences. And this isn’t just true with the iPhone either. It affects other handsets and wireless cards and multiple networks.

That old saw, “Your mileage may vary” is more than true here, even in the best of circumstances. We’ve all seen coverage dwindle away to nothing at conventions, sporting events, and any large confluence of users trying to access the network. But it brings up some interesting issues when it comes to truth in advertising, and perhaps even billing and accounting.

If a user goes over his/her precious cap they are charged more for doing so. Caps and tiered plans are bing floated around by broadband providers under the guise of protecting their networks, which simply translates into upping their profit margins. But unless a user really pushes hard, there is no reduction in the billing rate when service degrades and a device becomes unusable.

The closing line in an interesting article on touch and multi-touch from Michael Fitzgerald in The New York Times sums up one way to look at the potential for advances of touch and multi-touch in the future:

“A lot of people don’t realize they want it until they use it,” is attributed to Roger L. Kay, president of EndPoint Technologies, who thinks that by 2013 10 percent of mobile computing devices will have touch.

The article begins with the premise that Apple’s multi-touch has changed the landscape, which is a point that I can’t disagree with. It goes on to talk about N-trig digitizers being used on Dell Tablet PCs and on the UrbanMax that was demoed by Intel at the recent Intel Developers Forum (IDF). It also mentions that Microsoft’s inclusion of multi-touch in Windows 7 might just be the spark that gets developers to begin creating applications that take advantage of it.

In my opinion it isn’t just the applications. It is a combination of the device and touch that will answer the fowl or the breakfast protein question. Let’s talk about applications for just a second. What applications work well with touch, or better yet, demand touch as user interaction? In my limited experience, and perhaps vision, touch works well when we are consuming and selecting information or data. I think gaming will also have an impact here. Beyond that, the ways we interact with machines to  create content versus consuming it, seem, at the moment, to require input from a keyboard, a stylus, a mouse, or voice, if and when voice finally gets a foot hold. Again, my vision may be limited here, but touch as a metaphor seems geared more towards consumption than creation.

The iPhone offers no alternative way to work with the device beyond touch, (and voice in limited ways) and that’s the key to the advances Apple has sparked. But even that’s still a novelty. It says a lot that Koi Pond is the number one paid app in Apple’s App Store. A similar app can be had on Microsoft’s Surface, but as of today you’ve got to travel to one of a few locations to touch it on a Surface Table. But quite a few folks are walking around with it in their pocket on iPhones. Size of the device will matter also.

HTC is coming out with some very interesting touch screen mobile devices, but they haven’t completely cut the keyboard umbilical cord yet. What does that say? It points up the hesitance that most manufacturers have when it comes to reaching for a touch-centric world. Are they chicken, or just being prudent with their bottom lines? Ultimately, the answer to the barnyard riddle won’t really be known until device manufacturers swallow hard and cut that cord forsaking physical keyboards in their various mutations. Steve Jobs had the guts (vision?) to do that with the iPhone and it seems to be working. But why is it then that I wish I could occasionally tether a BlueTooth keyboard to my iPhone?

Over the past two years, it seems as if the WindowsMobile platform has completely fallen out of favor especially with the media and, to a slightly lesser degree, the blogosphere. The media darling of the moment is definitely Apple's iPhone. There isn't a day that goes by where someone isn't commenting on how great (or horrible) the iPhone is. In the midst of the iPhone frenzy, solid devices running WM6.1 gets minimal attention.

I have a big soft spot for Windows Mobile. It was with WM2003 that I started integrating seamlessly between my workstation and my mobile devices. Sure, I had Handspring products before my first WM2003 device, but back in circa 2001, the software wasn't quite mature enough on Palm's OS to really call it seamless integration. There were actually big giant rips in that seam. Those issues were mostly put to rest when I made the jump to WM2003. Every subsequent upgrade to WinMo has increased functionality and connectivity. WM6 is significantly better than WM5, which was a HUGE improvement over WM2003.

Somebody, somewhere in Cupertino is seriously beginning to regret calling the new iPhone the iPhone 3G.

Maybe (and I stress ‘maybe’) there is the beginning of some clarity coming with the mysterious issues surrounding 3G reception and Apple’s new iPhone 3G. No surprise that clarity isn’t coming from Apple or AT&T. For a few days now I’ve been watching as a growing chorus has been rising about 3G connectivity issues. Some analysts are saying the problem is with the Infineon chips Apple is using in the device, and that the problem may require a recall. Others point to software issues. As users complain and forums fill up with complaints, neither Apple or AT&T has felt any compunction to offer any info on the issues, while the lines still exist and the sales continue to roll in. Intriguingly other carriers overseas are beginning to point the finger at Apple. To be fair, a number of users are reporting no issue whatsoever. To be fair again, some are reporting that taking their phone in to an Apple Store to complain results in a fairly simple test and an exchange for a new phone. (I heard this on MacBreak Weekly’s podcast last night.)

MacRumors and Business Week are now reporting (based on the old reliable sources, …ahem) that Apple is going to address the issues with a software update. Because of Apple and AT&T’s silence on the issue so far speculation is rampant and it now looks like the discussion is moving into the mainstream media.

When I read things that say the problems may exist in areas of high density it makes me cringe. AT&T isn’t alone in this, as none of the Telcos seem to think that providing enough bandwidth in high density areas is a priority even as they try to find ways to cap and reconfigure charges for its usage on the one hand, while touting its availability on the other. They love to invite a crowd for dinner but not provide enough food to serve everybody.

AT&T, in my opinion, has largely failed with its 3G coverage unless you are in select areas and that alone makes me wonder why Apple chose to get into bed with them in the first place. Apple and AT&T may be on the brink of a larger failure unless they choose to change their secretive ways. Anyone who has had any experience at all with the Telcos know that they really don’t care about their customers despite their marketing. Apple used to get away with its secretive ways when it was smaller and its fan boys would rush to its support with a bleeding edge furor.  But now with huge growth (its market cap surpassed Google this week fueled in part by its success with the iPhone) Apple needs to seriously think of changing its ways. With the chorus beginning to get louder it won’t be long before State Attorneys General and EU regulators (and those in other countries) start to pay attention to consumers.

The news that Best Buy is going to be selling iPhones as of September 7 isn’t the point of this post. That news does raise an interesting question though. You can certainly say that the iPhone has already become a sales success so Best Buy isn’t really taking a gamble here at all. But will OEMs and Best Buy (as well as other big box retailers) be making the same moves with NetBooks (or whatever you want to call them), MIDs, and other smaller devices? My recent experience at Circuit City where you couldn’t find the Acer Aspire One, even though it was on sale, because it was too small to fit the current lock down system for notebooks, makes me wonder.

Whether it is an iPhone, a NetBook, a MID, or a UMPC (don’t laugh) these devices need to be seen, and yes, held, by consumers. Part of the sell, and part of the attraction is the diminuitive size and how the device feels in your hands. Will these devices have to provide some sales traction before they hit the Big Boxes? Or are the profit margins so small (especially on NetBooks) that no one can make enough money to justify the shelf space?

Some may say that the popularity of the iPhone in Best Buy may preclude others from jumping into the competition. I think it is an big opening and opportunity, if they want to go for it.

The news is full today of the apparent and unsurprising success of Apple’s App Store, raking in over $30 million in a month. That news is also rounded out by some other commentary that wonders just how many of those apps people are really using once they’ve downloaded them, and where the real killer apps are hiding.

Couple this news with word from the Washington Post this weekend that T-Mobile is looking to open its own App Store, and it looks like once again Steve Jobs has shifted the dynamic. Although I think we are far and away from knowing what that shift really means beyond the fact that easy, over the air access to applications are a major attraction. (Even though many still counsel that the best way to prevent crashes on an iPhone is to download or update apps from your computer and sync them over.)

I’ve limited myself to the apps I’ve downloaded and they are mostly for specific purposes, not just because they are cool. Do I use them daily? Nope. But I use them as frequently as I did the apps on my Windows Mobile device when I need to accomplish a task.

Many have felt the siren’s call and gone download crazy whenever we get a shiny new device. And many in turn, have felt that enthusiasm fade when we realize it is time to put the device to work. And then comes that inevitable day when you go looking through your start menu or applications and wonder why in the world you ever downloaded this or that app. I don’t think that is any different in this circumstance, nor will it be in the future.

If anything this feeds on a geek lust that already exists, and like all lusty appetites it will fade with time. After all, how many flashlight apps or tip calculators does one really need?

On the one hand the debate about the viability of Tablet PCs has been going on for quite some time. On the other hand one could say that the fact there is a debate almost proves the thesis.

Loren Heiny picks up on a recent post from Rob Bushway and has this to say:

However, I’m also convinced that the numerous stumbles that Microsoft and its partner OEMs have made with the Tablet form factor have all but guaranteed that the era of Tablets as we know them now is nearing an end.

Loren has much more to say and you should read his entire post because the key in that paragraph above is “as we know them.” Loren goes on to say that he believes we’re on the cusp of a new generation of Tablets with the iPhone being the first of them, and to a large extent I agree with his thesis.

Things are moving so fast that I think it is impossible to pin down where they might be heading. The year ahead promises to prove interesting with Atom just beginning to roll out and I think that is a key. While we often focus on Microsoft, and now occasionally Apple, about what we’d like to see and what we wish we had, the real focus might need to be on Intel and where it is heading.

As for me, I still hold out hope that the Inkers won’t be forgotten in the current stage of the evolution Loren talks about. It might indeed be time to welcome the next era, but I hope the best part of the last one doesn’t just get left behind.

Passions do get kooky over all things Apple and all things iPhone these days. Turns out we’ve got some further reporting from Jon Gruber of Daring Fireball that reveals info on that black list feature that many (including myself) followed down a trail that said Apple can use this to remove apps remotely.

First, the news from Mr. Gruber is that according to an “informed source” the code in the mysterious URL is for preventing listed apps from accessing the API’s Core Location. The Core Location API allows developers to access the location aware features of the iPhone and for privacy reasons Apple (or anyone I would guess) doesn’t want malicious tampering with that. Fair enough.

Second, keep in mind that with the launch of the App Store, Steve Jobs did suggest that Apple could possibly disable an app on iPhones if it behaved badly. I tie this to DRM issues. Remember, you don’t own this stuff you’ve downloaded, you license it. If the license keys get pulled so does your app, or song, or video. Both Yahoo Music and Microsoft’s MSN music ran into firestorms on this awhile back with angry consumers.

Third, in my little warped brain, the larger point of the earlier article I posted still remains. Clean up the testing process for apps going into the store so you don’t have these kind of issues in the first place. Of course some clear communication could only help that issue as well, and we all know that Apple loves secrecy.

Apple has had an interesting month since its launch of the new iPhone, the App Store, and MobileMe. MobileMe is an admitted “work in progress” that costs users $99 a year to participate in. The new iPhone is showing some cracks, (literally and figuratively), while selling like crazy even with inventory problems. But up until now, the App Store was getting by with generally good reviews, even with some bugginess and issues; some of which seem to have been resolved with a new firmware update.

But now it looks like Apple might have bitten off more than it can chew in the App Store as well. From my vantage point I see two problems. First, Apple’s secrecy, and penchant for hiding behind closed walls, is leading to confusion among consumers trying to purchase apps, as well as the developers who create them. Second, Apple’s DRM legacy, apparently has reared its ugly head, just as Apple promised it would when it came to the App store. Apple is now in the process of removing apps remotely  that don’t adhere to some standards from iPhones. Take for example the the legend of NetShare. It has led a short and colorful life as an iPhone app. This application that allowed users to tether their laptop to their iPhone was available, then not available, then available again, without even the developers receiving a clue from Apple as to what was going on. Now it appears that NetShare, and any other app that doesn’t live up to some standards set by Apple, can be remotely removed from your device after you’ve purchased it. The jury is still out if you receive an automatic credit for this, or you have to run the support gauntlet to get your dough back.

The right hand just doesn’t know what the left hand is doing here and consumers and developers are caught in the middle of what is looking more and more like a 3 Stooges slap fest. Apple prides itself on its control of things. Remember that’s why in the beginning they didn’t want 3^rd party stuff on the original iPhone, it was all about control. OK, great. Control things. But, er… um.. if you’re going to control things, don’t let offending applications make it into your store in the first place. Seems simple, right? I would think so. But apparently Apple is either too swamped to do this in some sane fashion, or just doesn’t care. Either way it is no way to run a railroad.

The bottom line here is this. Apple has a good, no great, thing going. Whether through sloppiness or design they are in the process of mucking it up.

UPDATE: It appears the article I linked to has been updated and that Terry White has said the disappearance of NetShare may have been removed due to "bad timing." OK, fair enough. I think the larger point still remains though. Apple stated up front when they launched the App store that they could in fact remove an app if it misbehaved. Those are ther rules if you want to play. But, who defines misbehavior and when? Apple? AT&T? And why can't that get defined before loading an app into the App Store in the first place? Again, right hand, left hand.

In the category of winning hearts and minds Microsoft has released some video of, and information about, its Mojave Experiment, an effort on its part to try and change perceptions about Windows Vista. While saying up front that this isn’t part of the big and expensive marketing effort they are planning, they do provide some info into the focus group testing the videos represent. Intriguingly they told those in the focus group that this was a new OS called Mojave and then later revealed it was Vista. The following is from the Windows Vista News Blog:

For those new to the Mojave Experiment, it's a focus group effort we initiated a few weeks ago. We interviewed and polled 120 participants in San Francisco, in hopes of better understanding everyday users' perceptions of Windows Vista and seeing whether there really is a gap between perception and reality. We wanted to see how people reacted to Windows Vista when they were not aware they were seeing Windows Vista. We recorded our discussions, and today you can see them for yourself.

Some other facts about the research: