Microsoft Defends Lack of Multitasking
It seems that Apple is not the only company that is planning to don the cape of being stubborn. According to recent reports, it seems that Microsoft is wholly under the impression that users do not want multitasking features on their mobile phones.
According to Greg Sullivan, the senior product manager for Microsoft, the presence of multitasking will greatly reduce phone performance. He believes that above all else, users want smoothness and speed on their handsets –at the cost of multitasking.
What Greg, and many others at Microsoft fail to realize however, is that multitasking and handset slowdowns, are actually issues that Apple has already been through. The first Apple iPhone OS came out lacking these very same features, and in the past couple of years, users had continuously asked for these to be implemented. In time, Apple saw that the functions are truly needed and decided to put them in.
Microsoft should already know better. That was the truth for Apple before, and that is how it will be –there is not point not adding in multitasking features.
Even if it means that the handset would slow down when running multiple apps; that is a decision that Microsoft has to give to the users, not decide on their own. Users who are specific about having the best and fastest device performance would naturally not make use of the feature. But the rest of the smart phone community would not mind the occasional slowdown, would certainly appreciate having multitasking.
Cut and paste is a more nonsensical issue. Microsoft should know better than any other developer how important the function can be, but they still decided to do without it. While the selective text selection feature will be useful (for addresses, contact numbers, emails), it will not be able to copy shopping lists, product names and other important bits of information.
Disney to Establish Footing in iPhone App Development
It looks like the iPhone OS is going to be the next gaming platform that Disney Interactive is setting its eyes on.
Disney has already been an established brand in the video game market –especially in the past few years. With their purchase of the Kingdom Hearts license from (then) Squaresoft (now known as Square Enix) to the development of the Disney Interactive studios that focuses heavily on creating games internally. This latest game, Epic Mickey is an expansive third person adventure game for next generation consoles.
Now, it appears that Disney is seeing the value of games on smart phones and would like to start creating their own apps particularly for the Apple iPhone. Their Apple-preference is seen in the acquisition of Tapuluous, the developer of successful iPhone apps such as Tap Tap Revenge. Tapulous is not just a well known app developer, but they are also an established Apple supporter. The choice to get Tapulous is also quite strategic; the company is currently working on social games for the iPhone.
In any case, this makes purchasing an iPhone 4 (or sticking to the older iPhone 3G/3Gs) a pretty nice alternative for any Disney fans –because with this, no official Disney apps will be released for other platforms.
So far, there has been announcement as to exactly what apps and games will be made available for the iPhone -though some expect some tie-ups with existing console titles or even some functional apps that provide insight into the history of Disney and its works.
In many ways, it is not surprising to see Disney making such a move. The entertainment company has always been at the forefront of the industry and with smart phones becoming a heavily influential media channel –it is natural that Disney would step into the industry as well.
Mobile Platform Round Up: A Quick Look at Today’s Choices
There are plenty of operating systems out there, and while one can name at least three major mobile platforms, we can be sure that many more will be added in the years to come. Here is a quick look at some of the operating systems that are being used today.
Apple’s iPhone OS is making plenty of news with the announcement of the new iPhone, but even the OS itself has already been making headlines. Putting aside the issue with the SDK’s license agreement, the new iPhone OS is actually more of the old Apple features with a brand new look and some faux-multitasking capabilities added in. It is not all that impressive, but aside from the things that Apple still refuses to give (tethering, WiFi syncing), there really is nothing much to improve on the older features.
The Google Android operating system has to be the most famous OS of the time. With thousands of apps being added in each week and the number of users growing, the Android is an excellent choice for the average smart phone user. The apps are cheaper (many are even free) and best of all, the OS is full of fun features. The only issue with the Android is that with the many devices that are available, some phones with different hardware have compatibility problems.
Microsoft’s Windows Mobile and Windows Phone operating system are in a threshold. Windows Mobile has mostly failed in the general market but has held a steady number 2 spot in the business market. The Windows Phone 7 OS on the other hand is yet to be released and from the initial presentations, it looks ready to compete with the iPhone OS.
The Symbian^4 OS has also yet to appear on an existing device, but the world is eagerly awaiting the open source version of their latest OS version.