Neowin.net - Gates sees big dollars in little devices

Gates sees big dollars in little devices

Posted by malebolgia on 10 May 2005 - 16:53 · 14 comments & 1208 views

Bill Gates doesn't think his company has been slow to crack the cell phone market. He just thinks the little devices have yet to catch up to the power of his company's software.

Still, with cell phones quickly gaining the power PCs had not that long ago, Gates sees a bright future in which the company can quickly gain share from rivals such as Nokia. Gates spoke to CNET News.com on the eve of a speech announcing Windows Mobile 5.0, the next version of Microsoft's operating system for handhelds and cell phones. In the chat, Gates outlined the company's mobile strategy, explained why Microsoft is steering clear of the portable-game market (for now) and described why he's happy that Microsoft is an underdog, for a change.

Q: Microsoft has been trying to crack the mobile-device market for some time. What makes this market so important?

Gates: Essentially, you find us in every device where software makes a big difference; Microsoft comes in and sees how we can make a contribution. The mobile space, there are so many neat things that can go on if, for example, you use Outlook and our phone, if you use Office and a phone, if you use our mobile format and a phone. The richness of software on mobile devices is just at the beginning. We see certainly a decade's worth of work where mobile devices can get richer and richer.

News source: C|Net News.com

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(3 replies) #1 Posted by lylesback2 on 10 May 2005 - 16:57: very interesting it would be cool to see microsoft powered cell phones sometime it would make surfing and checking email so much easier

(3 replies) #2 Posted by John on 10 May 2005 - 17:46

QUOTE

Bill Gates doesn't think his company has been slow to crack the cell phone market. He just thinks the little devices have yet to catch up to the power of his company's software.

I agree with that statement, though it has been worked on by marketing. Windows Mobile phones/devices have so many features, but require a powerful (read: expensive) phone. I'm sick of phone companies catering to teenagers who just want to "txt" their friends and take pictures that look horrible on anything other than a 1-inch screen. Things like Outlook, instant messaging, email, and mini versions of Word, Excel, and WMP are worthwhile features to me.

#2.1 Posted by Jugalator on 10 May 2005 - 18:32: Yeah, hopefully this attention is simply because the technology is still a bit immature for mini operating systems running on them, and causing the prices you're mentioning. Since that makes them hard to sell, they still cater mostly to "teens". At least that's what I hope for, and that we'll start seeing phones for more professional usage soon. It could be this Gates is thinking of when he's saying that the devices still have a bit to catch up with for his software. A large sign of evolved and mature technology is that it's in a reasonable price range.

#2.2 Posted by sphbecker on 10 May 2005 - 20:16: Microsoft's Mobile software seems to work great if you have unlimited bandwidth and use Exchange as your mail server with Wireless Active Sync. But, in the real world where users do not have unlimited mobile bandwidth and want to use an ISP's mail server (or even Hotmail) they seem to have very poor support.

#2.3 Posted by sphbecker on 10 May 2005 - 20:17: sorry for the duplicate post. I got the "Server Too Busy" error, but it apparently posted anyway. NeoWin's software/hardware seems to need some updating. I frequently have problems as well as very long waits for page updates.

(1 reply) #3 Posted by Colin-uk on 10 May 2005 - 20:13: portable BSOD's !

Cant wait

(1 reply) #4 Posted by chimera963 on 10 May 2005 - 20:33: i think phones suck and should have no interface, no features, except maybe a phone book, that IT. all you need to do is dial a number. ok, im bored...

#5 Posted by enzo on 11 May 2005 - 01:52

QUOTE

Gates: Essentially, you find us in every device where software makes a big difference; Microsoft comes in and sees how we can make a contribution. The mobile space, there are so many neat things that can go on

I think it's funny when Bill Gates uses "neat" when he talks

#6 Posted by ArtOf_War on 11 May 2005 - 08:37: Whatever platform is OK as long as it works the way I want it to

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