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CloudOn for iOS review: use Microsoft Office on your iPhone and iPad

Thu, 02 May 2013 12:12:17 GMT

Microsoft has been hinting at the possibility of bringing its suite of productivity applications to iOS for a long time now. We’ve heard that Microsoft may bring Office to the iPad next fall. We’ve heard that the software giant is holding out until Apple agrees to take a smaller cut of the profits. What we haven’t heard is that Microsoft is officially bringing Office to iOS in its full capacity.

Most of us have figured out workarounds that make it possible to access Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents on our iPad or iPhone. But nothing will beat the original. If it ever happens.

CloudOn is a universal app that brings Microsoft Office to your iPhone or iPad. CloudOn lets you manage your cloud-based files, plus edit, create, and present Microsoft Office documents. That’s right. You can now use Word, Excel, and PowerPoint on iOS…

Design
Once you’ve either created an account or logged into your preexisting CloudOn account, you will see a list of cloud services that are compatible with the app. You can connect your Dropbox, Google Drive, SkyDrive, or Box account. Once connected, you can see files from all accounts in one location. If this were the only thing the app could do, it would be worth the download just for its convenience.

You can view Word, Excel, and PowerPoint documents, as well as PDFs, JPGs, PGNs, and GIFs. Currently, Apple’s Pages files are not compatible with CloudOn.

If you select an editable file, you can open it in a replicated version of one of Microsoft’s Office applications. For example, if you open a .docx file, it will display the document with Word’s familiar settings and controls, including font adjustments, paragraph alignments, Style, Insert, Text and Symbols, Page Layout, and more. You can even track changes and restrict editing options.

You can also create new files. Create and save new Word, Excel or PowerPoint documents that you can start working on in the app and then finish on your desktop.

The user interface is very intuitive. You can easily back out of a section by tapping the back arrow or the “Home” icon. There are three icons at the top of the screen that represent the main uses of the app. The “Views” section lets you change the way you view files be either workflow, icons, or lists. The “Status” icon lets you view your profile and change your password. The “Applications” section lets you start a new file.

App Use
After you have connected all of your cloud-based files from the compatible services, select a file that you want to edit. If it is a Word, Excel, or PowerPoint document, you can use it almost exactly like you would one of Microsoft’s Office applications.

If you are editing a Word document you will be able to access font options, paragraph alignments, text styles, references, and more. In PowerPoint, you can add text, insert clipart, adjust themes, or create a slideshow. The Excel program lets you format cells, including inputting formulas, creating data sets, and basically everything else that the full application can do.

All changes are automatically saved to the cloud storage you are currently using. So, if you have to stop working suddenly, you won’t lose your changes.

If you want to create a new file from scratch, you can tap the Applications icon and select from Word, Excel, or PowerPoint. All files can be saved to your cloud storage and accessed from your desktop computer, or other iOS device running CloudOn. For that matter, the file can be accessed from anywhere the cloud service is available. For example, you can start a Word file in CloudOn and grab it from Dropbox on any computer or mobile device in order to continue working on it.

PDFs, JPGs, and PGNs can be viewed as full files. Large JPG files are difficult to manipulate, so be sure to decrease their size before saving them in the cloud.

You can also cut, copy, rename and delete documents and folders. If you want to share your file with others, you can either email it to them, or copy a link and send the link address through email.

The Good
You have access to Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and a limited version of Adobe reader on iOS with CloudOn. Everything you need to create, edit, and save documents is available here. All you need is a cloud storage service, like Dropbox, SkyDrive, Google Drive, or Box. Files are easily accessible and automatically saved in your cloud application so you never have to worry about losing changes. The best part is that you can create new Office files that can be edited later from any compatible device.

The Bad
This app lags so bad that it is almost not even worth downloading. I had a difficult time editing any of my files. Every movement on my third-generation iPad and my iPhone 5 happened at least a full second later than my gesture. It was absolutely impossible to use a Bluetooth keyboard. In Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, any time I tried to type using my iPad Bluetooth keyboard case, nothing happened on the screen. Or worse, sometimes, letters would “take off” and suddenly I’d have two lines worth of “MMMM.”

Some serious work needs to be done to get the Office applications in working order. The only reason it is not a complete waste of time is that you can create and edit Office documents with full-featured Microsoft applications.

Value
This app is free to download and the value is immeasurable for anyone looking to access Microsoft’s full productivity suite inside their iPhone or iPad. Even if you don’t ever want to create or edit Word, Excel, or PowerPoint documents from your iOS device, the fact that you can manage multiple cloud storage services in one location makes it worth downloading.

Conclusion
I’d like to say that everyone should download CloudOn because it brings Microsoft Office to iOS. However, the lag is excruciatingly bad and it makes the productivity applications practically useless for anyone trying to actually create or edit a document. However, this app does offer full access to Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, even if it performs poorly. If Microsoft isn’t going to do it, someone has to. Plus, the ability to manage multiple cloud storage services in a single app is not a bad feature. You can pick it up for free in the app store today.

Source: idownloadblog

Microsoft, Windows Phone 8 hardware must keep up with the times

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 11:51:17 GMT

This is a question that I never thought I'd ask -- Is the hardware leaving Windows Phone 8 behind its fierce competition? In September last year, I asserted that "Windows Phone 8 is the best idea Microsoft has had in phone tech" after analyzing the new hardware requirements imposed by the software giant for its smartphone operating system. But as we all know eight months is a long time in the tech world.

This is a tough question to answer. After all, in January, BlackBerry unveiled the BlackBerry Z10 with pretty much the same hardware that was available for Windows Phone 8 at launch. Apple's iPhone 5 is also not far away in terms of specifications. So should Microsoft rest on its laurels and send the engineers on vacation? Well, no. As a smart man once said, "You can never have enough power". And even Windows Phone needs better hardware, although some die-hard fanboys would beg to differ.

The Hardware Is Good...
I'll concede that Windows Phone 8 performs very well on compatible hardware. The dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processors are decently powerful even by today's standards, but a good processor alone does not make for a great nor popular smartphone today, as we all know.

My Lumia 920, bar the occasional hiccups likely associated with the branded firmware that I used to have (I now run a developer firmware on it), performs very well when navigating the interface or the installed apps. I have no major complaints concerning lag when scrolling, zooming, installing software or other such activities, but it's not perfect either.

... But Good Is Not Good Enough
I'm quite sure I've read that Windows Phone 8 is very fluid with no lag or stutter in a bunch of reviews. That's not entirely true. I sometimes encounter a slight stutter when navigating the interface or lag when resuming an app, both of which should be entirely eliminated by using beefier hardware.

When Windows Phone 8 can't handle the number of suspended apps -- because there's no true multitasking like on Windows -- it starts closing the most problematic or first-used ones. Likely due to the same reasons even Internet Explorer comes with a tab number limitation -- one can only have a maximum of six opened at the same time.

If the lag or stutter can be attributed to the processing power, the multitasking issue can be pinned on the amount of RAM. How can Microsoft take care of these problems? It's simple, just add support for the quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processors. Manufacturers could then use a mindbogglingly fast Snapdragon 600 or Snapdragon 800 inside their next Windows Phone handsets.

Look at Me!
Yes, I've got a gripe with the display as well. Windows Phone 8 devices are limited to having a panel with a maximum resolution of 768 by 1280 -- as the Lumia 920 has. But why is that? Well, you can also blame Microsoft's design principle here. Because when Windows Phone 8 came to market the software giant didn't give quad-core processors the stamp of approval so it would have been a mistake to allow manufacturers to use 1080p displays, for instance.

With a higher pixel count the smartphone would need more processing power at its disposal in order to deliver a similar user experience as it does now, otherwise it just bogs down. Basically one limitation creates another. It's obvious, but that proves Microsoft doesn't want to look beyond the near future. Shouldn't now be the time to learn from past mistakes?

And there's the other side of the coin -- manufacturers can't innovate or even follow market leaders. The perfect example for this is the phablet market. There, today's smartphones need 1080p displays in order to deliver the highest visual quality on a large screen. The higher the ppi (pixels per inch) density on a 5.5-inch panel (for example) the better. Windows Phone 8 can't compete for the phablet crown without a loss in clarity and customer satisfaction.

Constantly Behind the Curve
Windows Phone 7, Windows Phone 7.5 and Windows Phone 8 were all designed for the hardware available during the development process, which is a problem if Microsoft wants to release a major software iteration each year.

Windows Phone 7.5 devices ran on a single-core processor, 512 MB of RAM and a 480 by 800 display resolution at best. Not long afterwards beefier quad-core processors with 1 GB of RAM as well as 720p displays were available.

Guess what? Microsoft's operating system didn't support any of those specs. A similar story can be said about Windows Phone 8. It came with last year's hardware requirements when we now have quad-core processors with 2GB of RAM and 1080p displays. Of course, it doesn't support such hardware. So what should be done?

Microsoft should protect Microsoft from Microsoft. The company's thinking of limiting Windows Phone 8 to only support the hardware of its time is rendered obsolete by the fast-paced tech world. Develop today, but think of tomorrow as well.

The best scenario is to bear current hardware in mind but leave room for what's coming next. Or, if that leaves too much room for error, Microsoft could simply update its operating system more frequently to bump up the maximum supported hardware. It should have done so at launch, actually.

The Spec War
Microsoft shouldn't play the specifications war that is constantly underway in the Android world. But Microsoft can't ignore better hardware either. With better hardware the company can give Windows Phone manufacturers the opportunity to more clearly differentiate their products or give them a better fighting chance against the competition.

The company doesn't need to enforce a ton of stickers on the box touting the hardware that's inside, but when customers want to buy a smartphone they shouldn't be able to dismiss Windows Phone handsets based on inferior hardware specifications. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

By today's standards Windows Phone 8 devices are mid-range compared to their Android counterparts. People notice that. Why shoot yourself in the foot if you have the option not to do so? If Microsoft keeps up with similar limitations its smartphone operating system will always be one hardware generation behind. Has it helped so far? I'd say not.

The Options Matter
Truth be told, I find it silly that Microsoft can't provide users with the option to choose what they want. It is the same thinking that got the company into trouble with Windows 8, which even today gets a bad rep for not allowing users to use a simple Start menu on traditional computers. Why not show a sign of change, Microsoft?

As a Windows Phone 8 user I have to commit to using yesterday's hardware when I should be able get the best available today. Does it do the operating system any good? No. Does it do consumers any good? No. I just don't see the point, only excuses.

Source: betanews

Office Tabs Enterprise for Microsoft Office 2010, 2007 and 2003 incl. key

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 12:16:26 GMT

Office Tabs is a powerful office addin to view, edit and manage documents, workbooks or presentations etc via a Tabbed View in Microsoft Office 2003, 2007 and 2010. Microsoft Office has not supported tabbed view by itself yet. Office Tabs solves this issue. With Office Tabs, you can manage multiple documents within a single window easily and quickly.

Source: vustudents.ning

Microsoft Office 365: $1 Billion Reasons You Can’t Ignore It

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 09:02:20 GMT

Within Microsoft’s Q3 2013 earnings results (announced today), the company said Office 365 is now a $1 billion cloud business (using annual run rate figures). I’m not suggesting all MSPs (managed services providers) need to run out and start an Office 365 consulting and deployment practice. But you at least need an educated response as more customers begin to ask you about cloud suites from Microsoft, Google and others.

During the recent Tech Data (NASDAQ:TECD) Channel Link conference in Orlando, Fla., many MSPs and VARs said (A) they were interested in Office 365 or (B) seeking alternatives to the Microsoft suite. But if you really listen closely to the attendees, you could tell that major portions of the channel still haven’t really studied today’s market offerings. For instance:

Outdated Information: Some folks considered Intermedia purely a hosted Exchange provider — without realizing that the company offers a broader cloud suite plus hosted PBX services.
Market Blind Spots: Other folks were seeking partners that easily shift Microsoft Office into the cloud — without necessarily needing to deal with Microsoft correctly. Again, there are plenty of options in the market. One example includes independenceIT, which is developing a relationship with N-able Technologies (among others).

Stuck in the Past: Some VARs continue to lament Microsoft’s decision to kill Windows Small Business Server development in 2012. In some cases I understand that frustration — especially if you have customers in bad broadband areas that can’t really leverage cloud alternatives. But in other cases, I think some VARs are simply being stubborn — holding onto the past even as the future of IT actually becomes easy to predict.
When it comes to business productivity and collaboration software, Microsoft’s Office 365 revenue milestone — $1 billion over the past 12 months — is a clear indication that cloud computing has shifted to the masses.
Even if you don’t jump on Microsoft’s bandwagon, you better have an alternative ride to the cloud bash.

Source: mspmentor

Microsoft Office for Android and iPad coming ... in late 2014?

Thu, 11 Apr 2013 11:03:27 GMT

Apple often speaks of a “post PC era.” Microsoft talks about a “PC plus era.” Each company is framing the future around its strengths, so believe what you will. Whether post or plus, though, mobile computing is here to stay. And if Microsoft wants Office to remain the industry standard, it'll eventually need to offer it on the biggest mobile platforms. Just don't hold your breath for that.

Well-connected Microsoft reporter Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet got her hands on an alleged Office roadmap. It includes some upcoming updates to the suite: a Windows Blue update, an Office for RT refresh, new Office for Mac, and an updated version for Windows Phone.

Sounds reasonable enough, so far. But the real gem is in Office for iOS and Android. Those apps are expected to release in ... wait for it ... October of 2014. As in, a year and a half from now “October of 2014.”

Is this a good idea?
You know Microsoft thought long and hard about this. October of 2014 gives it time to establish Windows 8, Windows RT, and Windows Phone. Use Office as a carrot to draw customers to its platforms. Then – after two years of Microsoft exclusivity – it drops the Office bomb on those other two mobile platforms.

Sounds good in theory. But, like a lot of Microsoft’s mobile strategies, it makes more sense inside Redmond headquarters than it does anywhere else. The biggest problem is that Windows Phone and Windows RT aren’t doing much. I speak not of quality, but of underwhelming sales. A lot of good those two years of exclusivity will do Microsoft if its mobile platforms never catch on.

The second biggest problem is that Microsoft’s optimistic view towards its phone and tablet platforms gives competitors time to take aim. Google Docs (Drive) is becoming a more viable option. The search giant has another ace up its sleeve with QuickOffice. Apple might have something cooking with revamped iWork apps.

Let’s not kid ourselves. These Office rivals have a ways to go before putting a real dent in Microsoft’s dominance in the workplace. But that extra year and a half gives them time to give it their best shot. And time moves quickly in this post-PC-plus era.

Source: gizmag

Microsoft readies Windows 8 patch

Mon, 08 Apr 2013 15:45:19 GMT

Microsoft is preparing major patches for its newest operating system Windows 8 this coming Tuesday, a tech site reported over the weekend. The patches address bugs in Internet Explorer 10, the browser used in Microsoft's Windows 8 and Windows RT, PC World reported.

"This is one of the few bulletins this month that has a critical impact on the current code, hitting Windows 8, Windows RT and Windows 7 with a critical remote code execution issue. We recommend that this bulletin be your first patch and you should update Internet Explorer while you're at it," it quoted Paul Henry, a security and forensic analyst at Lumension, as saying.

PC World said the patches are targeting problems similar in IE from version 6 to 10. As such, the problem affects operating systems such as XP, Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8. Alex Horan, a senior product manager at CORE Security, pointed out browser vulnerabilities can lead to exploits downloaded from infected or hacked websites. Meanwhile, PC World said other Microsoft patches are rated important, "which means they could be exploited to compromise user data."

Source: gmanetwork

Microsoft Windows RT price cuts don’t stop the death spiral

Sun, 07 Apr 2013 20:42:14 GMT

SemiAccurate went in to detail about why Microsoft’s Surface could not compete against real tablets, and the new price cuts are not going to help. Windows RT and Surface RT have absolutely no chance of surviving much less thriving in a market that Microsoft needs to stay even marginally relevant. It was game over before launch.

The problem is simple, Surface costs too much relative to every competitor on the market. This gem of wisdom will probably not stun the average observer, painfully low sales numbers are a clear indication that they actually understand this point consciously or not.

What most people don’t understand is story behind that, the why not the what. Microsoft can never compete in tablets and phones, period, and this is not a qualified statement, it is an inherent property of the choices the company made over the last 3 decades. Microsoft has no chance in mobile no matter what they do, their very business model precludes sucess in a world they still fail to understand.

There are two problems here, both financial in nature. To be fair, there is a third and fourth problem that are technical in nature, but they are actually solvable. These don’t preclude success, just make it extremely unlikely, and the very business model of the company stops them from even attempting a fix. These technical problems can be summed up pithily by the phrase, “The OS is awful”, and “Devs hate it”. If you have tried Windows 8, be it in WART (Windows/ARM RT) or x86 guise, there is no need to explain the first one to you. We will assume you have tried it and like the majority of others SemiAccurate talked to, gave it a chance that Windows 8 failed on merit.

You may have heard that the sales figures were a meager 1.1 million and 0.4 million for Surface RT/Pro respectively, but probably didn’t think about whether they included returns or not. These numbers are so painfully horrid that Microsoft still won’t release them even with the damage that they are doing as whispers. Windows 8 has failed, and Microsoft is withering with it.

Why developers hate it is a completely different story that we won’t get in to here, but lets suffice it to say that the Win8 app store has very few apps in it. Most of these are not what anyone wants, and what they want is not coming either. This tally is advancing glacially because of one thing, money. No one is voluntarily writing for the Win8 store for both solid technical and financial reasons. If this last GDC was any indication, Microsoft has hit the death spiral of paying devs per app made, a game that even their massive wallet can’t win.

Back to the financial problems, we consider the lack of development to be technical in nature so it is not one of the financial problems even if some consider it to be. The first financial problem is the bloat of Windows. Although this may sound like a technical issue, it is not. As SemiAccurate has been saying for over a year, Windows 8/WART needs many times the hardware that iOS or Android needs to deliver a similar experience. Assuming that Microsoft does not want to deliver, or does not allow their partners to deliver, a device that is painfully slow, stutters, runs out of memory, and crashes a lot, they have a big problem.

To give the user the same experience as even a cheap Android tablet, much less a high end Apple iPad, Microsoft needs to put in significantly more powerful hardware. They need to have a more powerful CPU, more powerful GPU, and vastly more storage. We chronicled this problem last year here, but it is worth a re-read if you don’t completely understand the problem because it is absolutely fatal for WART and Windows 8 mobile devices. To do the same job as an Android or iOS tablet, Windows 8 needs to use so much more hardware that it increases the hardware cost to such a degree that the device can not be competitive in the market.

Remember when SemiAccurate exclusively brought you news that HP dumped Microsoft over Surface? This wasn’t a mere spat like some insist, it goes far deeper than that. Microsoft can only compete by doing things that their partners can’t, basically getting for free many things that “valued partners” need to pay Microsoft for, and pay dearly. This puts HP, Acer, Lenovo, Dell, and the rest at such a price disadvantage that there is no point in continuing with WART. HP bailed, Acer bailed, Dell sees the writing on the wall and is trying to go private, and many others are not even bothering. HP Slate7 means Surface will sink below its namesake.

The knife in the back is personified by a tablet that HP calls the Slate7, and it costs $169 at the moment. Sure it may have a smaller screen, lower resolution, less memory, but it has more performance, more usable space, and an app store that actually has apps people want in it. There are no technical specs up, but even if the Slate7 has zero flash storage, adding 32GB would bring the price to <$200. Did we mention that a 32GB Surface costs $499?

Sure Surface comes with a keyboard but you can buy those for $20 or less and it is hard to spend $100 on one even if you go for the high fashion iDevice compatible models. A 16GB Slate7 will likely have more usable space than the 32GB Surface RT once initial mandatory patches are installed. And the killer blow? Slate7 runs Android 4.1. When SemiAccurate said OEMs were dumping Microsoft, everyone assumed we meant WART. We didn’t, we said OEMs were dumping Microsoft like never before, and we meant it. Disregard this data point at your own peril, it is a different world now, and others will follow soon. Don’t tell me you thought the Slate7 was already in planning when Microsoft announced Surface, it wasn’t.

You might now understand why Microsoft can’t compete with Android and iOS, they are bloated to the point that their tablets and phones are in a different price category. This is not a fixable problem and the gap will never close enough to be a non-issue for consumers. This is terminal to Microsoft’s mobile ambitions and there is no possible fix barring Microsoft selling Android tablets in lieu of Windows ones.

Bad as this sounds it actually isn’t the worst problem, that would be the business model that Microsoft uses. Remember Microsoft’s illegal bundling of software that they paid fines and more fines for? In echoes of that, Microsoft is only selling WART with OfficeRT. This is an obvious play to leverage the Office monopoly, specifically Outlook, to force business buyers to buy a Surface or live without their near-monopoly messaging suite.

There are two problems here, first is that Microsoft’s biggest weakness in mobile is in the consumer space, and Office/Outlook doesn’t mean much if anything there. Trust me when I say that teens worldwide care more about the hot social thingy app that is on Android and iOS, but isn’t on Win8, than they do about their Fortune 500 corporate calendar. They use Google, Gmail, and Facebook, Bing and Outlook are not on the top 10 list much less actually desired. Consumers play games and use social networks, Win8 has few if any important apps relevant to these markets. If your corporation hasn’t already standardized on an iPad or Android, they might be swayed to Windows though. Did we mention Surface RT can only run Office RT? Did we mention that Office RT doesn’t have Outlook? Just as a lark, if you read the OfficeRT EULA, you might notice that it precludes the use of Office RT in a corporate setting. This isn’t an own goal, it is just basic incompetence in a multi-billion dollar market.

Adding Office has bloated the cost of Windows RT, a vastly inferior version of Windows 8, from ~$35 to ~$90, or about the cost of adding a volume OEM license of Office to a volume OEM license of Windows 8. You save nothing but you have no choice, that is why we called it forced monopoly bundling. This means that a WART tablet made by an OEM has to pay $90 to Microsoft for every one sold. How much does Android cost? $0.

Actually an OEM gets a percentage of the app and content sales that Google makes from every sale, so that $0 cost actually means the OEM will get an income stream post-sale for Android device sold. iOS has a development cost but Apple doesn’t pay a per-unit royalty and keeps around 30% from each transaction made on the devices. Given the tens of billions of content sales that Apple has made, we will presume that the revenue stream more than pays for the OS development. In summary, the competition is revenue positive for the OS, Microsoft charges $90 per device.

Microsoft charges app devs 30% of sales like Apple and Google do, something that may seem like a neutral thing on the surface, pun not intended. Android and Apple however give devs an audience of hundreds of millions of users for that percentage. Microsoft can offer less than 2 million after about six months presuming zero returns. Apple sold a multiple of that in iPad Minis on launch day, Samsung likely did about the same at the launch of the last Galaxy. This situation is not likely to get better for Microsoft in a meaningful time period either, it is a development Catch-22.

So if you are an OEM, what is your incentive to make a Windows 8/WART tablet? HP is making a 7″ tablet for $169 retail, and it is rumored to have a quad-core CPU and 16GB of flash. If you tried to hit the same price point with a WART tablet, you would have $90 of the BoM taken up by Microsoft leaving $79 for everything else. Take $20 out for the extra flash you need, $10 for the uprated CPU, and another $10 for the added battery and cooling necessary for the higher spec CPU. This leaves you with $39 for everything else like screen, RAM, packaging, cables, and the rest, not to mention PCBs, sockets, and other plumbing. Want a Wi-Fi radio? That will be a tight fit.

If Microsoft tries the same thing, they have roughly a $129 BoM to work with against the $39 of the OEM. Any guesses as to which one will be better, or in the case of Windows 8 will suck less? OEMs can’t play this game and compete against Microsoft much less win. Even with this massive price advantage, the disadvantages vs Android and iOS are completely insurmountable. Surface RT cost $499 retail, the same as an equivalent iPad but with far less functionality. To say it was a painfully slow stuttering mess with anemic storage would be kind, and OEMs like HP would be hard pressed to do that for $100 more.

The obvious answer is that Microsoft needs to cut their prices so the OEMs can compete. In light of the cuts them made earlier in the week, you might think they get it. You might also remember that the point of this article is that the aforementioned price cuts both mean nothing and cannot be sustained. Sustaining them another key issue problem, and is the second fatal problem for Microsoft in the mobile space. What does Microsoft make? Surface aside they make software, specifically OS software. What is their main product? Windows. They must sell Windows at a profit to stay in business. Since their other big money maker, Office, only runs on Windows, the two have their fates intertwined.

If Microsoft gives away their OS for free, it would lop $90 off the cost of a WART tablet, not nearly enough to make a difference. This might erase much of the BoM cost differential, but since 10″ Android tablets max out at $299 on Newegg, it won’t be enough. Sure you can find higher priced Android devices, but you can’t go lower with usable Windows 8 devices. Since all of the Windows RT tablets just had between $50 and $100 lopped off the price en masse this week, it is likely that the drop was Microsoft subsidized, not a real OEM savings.

It is likely that the form of this savings came in the time honored format, MDF funding. This is essentially a per-unit kickback officially intended to be used for things like advertising or promotions, but in reality it is just a cash funnel. That said, it means that Microsoft sees the woeful Surface and greater RT sales debacle and is jumping in to action. Five months after the disaster was obvious to anyone watching. Five months after RT was labeled as a failure. For Microsoft however this is refreshingly swift action, but even that is detrimental to their survival. Why? The kickbacks are roughly equal to the money Microsoft gets for the OS itself, the only income it has from OEM device sales.

So if Microsoft is giving 100% or more of that income on RT tablets back to OEMs as kickbacks, getting effectively no income from software or content sales, and doesn’t have the market share to temp developers, how can it be sustained? How can they grow a market with a $200+ and growing price disadvantage on equivalent functionality to their much more popular competition? They have no advantages in software offerings to tempt users either so price remains their only lever to add installed base.

The biggest potential draw, Office RT, is laughably wrong for consumer and business users alike too. Worse yet it is a forced sale with every WART tablet, you can’t not buy it. That means no potential income from their biggest selling non-OS software title on WART either, Microsoft is still shelling out more per device than they receive in Office plus Windows revenue. More troubling is the fact that even with the lever of, “If you want Office in a tablet you need to buy a Windows Tablet”, monthly sales are far lower than iPad daily sales. And from this, Microsoft has no net income, no potential income stream, and that is before general spending on marketing or development is taken in to account. The author would be surprised if gross Surface sales even paid for its tooling costs. Losing money on every unit while trying to make it up in volume may be a time honored business strategy, but it is rarely successful.

This is why we say that the price cuts that Microsoft just instigated mean nothing. They are too small to make a difference, at best they erase the OEM’s cost disadvantage to Microsoft but not to Android or iOS devices. They do nothing to alleviate the BoM cost handicap, it is not a problem that can ever be fixed. Customers are staying away in droves, installed base is not just tiny, it is hurting the mainstream Windows sales and software development at this point too. There is essentially zero software cross-compatibility with the desktop ecosystem to benefit from, but all of the legacy bloat the desktop entails is carried as BoM cost for mobile. Developers have to be paid to port because they can clearly see the potential for income is both lacking and unlikely to every grow substantially either. This is the classic platform death spiral.

If Microsoft makes this week’s price cuts permanent, they are essentially ceding all income from Windows and Office on the ARM platform in a desperate attempt to hold the meager low single digit mobile market share they have now. If the cuts are temporary, they have the potential for income but will lose even the meager pretense of OEM involvement they have now. The BoM cost problem, post-sale income stream, installed base to tempt software developers, and all the rest are insurmountable problem for Microsoft in the mobile space. Unless Microsoft wants to subsidize all WART tablet sales by several hundred dollars per unit indefinitely, a number that can not possibly be recouped, then all of these problems will only get worse. These price drops are both inconsequential and woefully inadequate.S|A

Source: semiaccurate

Google Quickoffice App Now Supports Editing Microsoft Office Documents on iPhone

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 11:08:21 GMT

Google has updated its Quickoffice iOS app with support for editing Microsoft Office documents on the iPhone. Quickoffice makes it easy to create, edit, and view Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files on your iPad and iPhone. This version is designed for Google Apps users and provides instant access to all your files stored in Google Drive. Just open an Office file on your device, edit, and save back to Drive to be able to access them from anywhere.

Features:
? Create, Edit & View Word documents (.docx)
? Create, Edit & View Excel spreadsheets (.xlsx)
? Create, Edit & View PowerPoint presentations (.pptx)
? Edit & View older versions of Word, Excel, PowerPoint (.doc, .xls, & .ppt)
? Track Changes, Add Comments, & Spell Check in documents (.doc & .docx)

What's New In This Version:
? Now designed for both iPhone and iPad
? Sort Google Drive files by Shared with me, Starred, and Recent
? Support for multiple Google Drive accounts
? Improved chart rendering in Quicksheet and Quickpoint
? Create and share ZIP folders from multiple files
? Bug fixes and performance enhancements

Source: iclarified

Microsoft Corporation (MSFT): Can We See Office On iOs, Android

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 08:29:40 GMT

MSFT : 28.59, -0.02) may extend its Office platform to other operating systems such as Apple, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: AAPL : 428.74, -12.81) iOS and Google, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: GOOG : 800.01, 6.58) Android.

Strategically this move makes sense as Microsoft is re-imagining itself as ‘device and cloud services' focused and so extending Office to other platforms fits that shift. What's more a Microsoft expert, Mary Jo Foley, believes that Office on iOS/Android may happen as soon as this year.

Interestingly, Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft is not denying Office on iOS/Android which is telling and has heard from people that claim they've seen Office on iPad; although, she hasn't seen it herself.

Mary Jo Foley, in a conference call with UBS, said she believes the delivery/payment model will be as an add-on to an Office 365 Home/Business Premium subscription entitling you to install a localized version of Office to an iPad.

Meanwhile, Microsoft needs to shore up its Office revenue as its largest cash cow is on a decline due to stiff competition from Google Apps and other cheaper competitors. Within Microsoft Business, Office is the largest segment, followed by the SQL Server database product.

For the second quarter ended Dec.31, the Microsoft Business Division's revenue fell 10 percent to $5.69 billion. Adjusting for the impact of the Office Upgrade Offer and Pre-sales, Microsoft Business Division non-GAAP revenue increased 3 percent.

Microsoft's Office business have softened somewhat in the calendar fourth quarter of 2012, and early first quarter 2013 as enterprises hesitated ahead of the recent launch of Office 2013 and as many corporate customers evaluate Office 365, the company's recently-launched cloud-hosted Office suite.

Microsoft is focusing heavily on Office 365, adding new features/extensions. To get consumers to switch to Office365, the software giant is offering better installation terms (can install on up to 5 PCs). Microsoft is counting on that as well as more frequent updates as the carrot to get consumers to move to a subscription model.

"MSFT starting to issue updates more quickly vs. big bang refresh approach which is important as it more quickly improves the competitiveness of MSFT's platform," Foley said. The new updates would add necessary new features/fixes/UI tweaks as well as deep level kernel changes that improve the software experience and open-up new markets like sub-10 inch tablets. In addition, Microsoft has put a new code name "Blue" for next-gen product refresh in Windows, office, Servers and Phone.

Foley expects release to manufacturing (RTM) for Client and Server Blue around August '13, Office Blue in fall 2013, Phone Blue in late 2013/early 2014. The Build conference just announced for the last week of June, and Microsoft needs things to show developers so perhaps some demo form of 7 or 8 inch Windows 8 tablet.

Source: istockanalyst

Microsoft's Surface Pro May Be Avaialble in China Next Week

Fri, 29 Mar 2013 09:48:23 GMT

Microsoft’s Surface Pro tablet is finally getting a second market, China, at least according a posting on popular chinese website Weibo. The post, presumably by a representative of Tmall, an official Microsoft partner in China, says that the tablet/laptop hybrids will be available to Chinese buyers on April 2nd.

The post doesn’t reveal pricing details, nor does it link to an official announcement from Microsoft. Microsoft itself hasn’t mentioned any specific details about the Surface Pro outside of North America, and a company representative told Forbes today, “Surface Pro was initially available in the U.S. and Canada starting February 9, and in order to meet customer demand and retailer expectations, it will be coming to Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, New Zealand and the United Kingdom in the coming months. With regard to additional markets, we have nothing further to share at this time.”In other words, Microsoft isn’t saying Surface Pro is hitting China on Tuesday, but it’s not saying it isn’t, either.

Source: forbes