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Breaking News -
Commentary and
Analysis
Commentary and
Analysis
| All Contents Copyright 2005-11 J.Gold Associates, LLC All rights reserved |
9 November 2011
Adobe Acknowledges the Phone Gap – Extinguishes Flash
Adobe announced that it is restructuring. Included in its resource redirection is an acknowledgement in
a blog post that it will no longer create new versions Flash Players on mobile devices. The battle for
rich media content for mobile devices has raged for several years now between supporters of
technologically superior Flash vs. the proponents of the still evolving HTML5 as the wave of the future
(most notably Apple). With this announcement Adobe is essentially throwing in the towel and
acknowledging defeat.
26 October 2011
Nokia's New Phones- Not Raising The Bar Enough?
Nokia’s CEO announced its next generation phones, Lumia (Windows Phone 7.5 based) and Asha
(S40 based). Although Asha is an interesting device for many emerging markets, it’s the Lumia that is
most important to Nokia’s future. So while Nokia did introduce two new Windows Phone smartphones
of nice design, and three S40 devices meant for the market between feature phones and smart
phones, overall the announcements at Nokia World disappointed on a number of accounts.
15 September 2011
Intel and Google – Who Needs Who?
Intel and Google recently reaffirmed their relationship at the Intel Developers Forum by announcing
they will optimize Android for the Atom platform. While some believe that Intel needs Google more than
the other way around in order to compete against the ARM onslaught, I see it differently.
23 August 2011
WebOS Has a Mobile Future - Just Not with HP
Speculation is rampant about what’s next for WebOS now that HP has essentially abandoned the
platform (at least for mobility markets). The speculation is that it will get licensed, or even sold to the
likes of Samsung, LG or Amazon. But are those the best bets for continuing WebOS as a viable mobile
platform? I don’t think so. I believe a dark horse candidate will move in to buy/license WebOS, one
usually not mentioned but with the ability to turn WebOS into a mobile contender.
11 July 2011
Microsoft's "Can't Lose" Mobile Strategy
Microsoft has been trying to recapture momentum in mobile after ceding the early market leadership it
had 5-6 years ago due to its lack of adequate investment and resultant inability to stay competitive. And
its renewed focus and execution over the past 1-2 years is indeed enabling it to make progress. But
behind the scenes Microsoft has a strategy to become a driving force in the market and will likely
produce more profits than many of the handset manufactures. And this is regardless of whether
Windows Phone is successful.
8 June 2011
Does RIM Have a Back-up Plan?
Many are worried about the long-term viability of BlackBerry given its shrinking market share. Of course,
RIM is still making money and selling lots of phones. But the competition from iPhone and Android is
intense, and it has to do something to be seen as a “next gen” smartphone supplier if it wants to
regain its luster.
13 April 2011
Mighty Oaks from Little Oak Trails Grow?
Intel has announced Oak Trail, its next iteration of the Atom processor targeted at tablets. In its quest to
compete with the current ARM hegemony in smart phones and tablets, Intel is pushing hard to provide
a competitive alternative with its own Intel Architecture. Can Intel overcome ARM’s dominant position,
offer Atom as a viable alternative and win significant market share? Yes, but it will take some time
8 April 2011
RSA- Hacked but not un-Witnessed
It’s now been about 3 weeks since the famed two factor authentication end user token system,
SecureID was hacked. It had long been assumed that this system was hack proof given its record of
security enablement at some of the largest corporations and government agencies. Yet in the end, like
most security breaches, it was compromised as a result of human error and not holes in the
technology. Its important to note exactly what happened, as it indicates why current end user security
models are flawed and why I recommend implementing new comprehensive models just emerging
that will enable the next generation of protection in an increasingly sophisticated world of cyber attacks
on companies and individuals.
7 April
Mobile Security in Transition
Mobile devices are clearly the darlings of business users who are acquiring them in droves, often
despite corporate restrictions on doing so. The trend has so much steam behind it that about 25% of
organizations (and the number is increasing) are now supporting user selected non-corporate
provided devices. To be clear, not all devices are fully supported, nor have access to all of the back
office apps available to users of corporate sanctioned devices. But it’s only a matter of time until this
capability expands. And there is no doubt business users’ demands will increase.
18 March 2011
RIM and Microsoft – Cloudy with a Chance of Collaboration
RIM announced it is partnering with Microsoft on BlackBerry cloud services. Is this just two weak
mobile players trying to reinforce their positions against the onslaught of Android, Apple and others?
Certainly both companies have been feeling the pressure of late. But contrary to what some may
believe, this partnership actually is a pretty significant win-win for both companies, as well as
enterprises.
18 February 2011
Mobile Core Wars
The battle is underway. Companies that supply processors for mobile devices are waging a campaign
to convince users that the more cores they have in their devices, the better. The PC market has been in
a “core wars” state for several years now, as Intel and AMD have added more cores to their
processors. And for the most part this has raised performance (and the expectations of users). But
does a user that primarily surfs the web and does email on a mobile device really need a multi-core
processor?
14 February 2011
Nokia And Microsoft: Can Two Weaklings Make a Muscleman?
Nokia finally revealed what has been rumored for weeks- it will go with Windows Phone 7 as its high
end smartphone platform and abandon Symbian in this space. This alliance will have dramatic
ramifications for Nokia, Microsoft and the overall market, with winners and losers beyond the two
primary players. Can Nokia make this work and regain the market dominance it once had? Can
Microsoft gain mobile market share it desperately seeks? Or is this an exercise in futility?
25 January 2011
Dramatic Changes Coming in Endpoint Security
Current models of endpoint security are becoming outmoded as a more diverse set of mobile and
Internet-connected devices become a larger share of the market. The endpoint protection market will
change dramatically in the next 3-4 years, with major implications for end users, businesses and the
security vendors. Will the vendors be able to change and the end users adapt to the new requirements?
24 January 2011
The Office Desk Phone is Dead!
The market for high priced desktop business telephones and back office PBXes will dramatically
change over the next 2-3 years as users abandon fixed assets for mobile devices (smart phones
primarily but also increasingly tablets and other mobile devices). This means that mobile vendors and
office phone system suppliers must migrate desirable communications features. But can the current
vendors accomplish this task effectively?
4 November 2010
Nokia Gets Qt
Nokia is doing all it can to reinvigorate itself to stem the tide of losses in the rapidly expanding
smartphone market. It is focusing on its Qt development environment as one leg of its strategy, and
rearchitecting its mobile OS strategy as well. But does it have the right stuff to stem its market share
losses and compete with the iPhone/Android onslaught?
26 October 2010
WebOS - Is It Too Late to Matter?
HP is working on getting Palm’s WebOS-based products to market, recently releasing a new version of
the Pre and promising new Web-OS based products soon. But is it too late for WebOS?
24 September 2010
Why RIM Really Needs a Tablet
Rumors have been swirling about that RIM will be announcing its own tablet computer, the BlackPad,
as early as next week. Here’s why RIM needs a tablet offering, and here’s why it does not have to
compete with Apple’s iPad or Android tablets to be successful.
13 September 2010
Why RIM Really Wants DataViz: And Why Everyone Got it Wrong!
Last week, RIM announced it is acquiring some of the assets of DataViz and most of its employees. It’s
rumored that RIM paid the modest sum of less than $50M, although they have not confirmed that. We
believe that this is indeed a good acquisition for RIM, but also believe that the reports saying RIM
acquired DataViz for its Documents To Go product got it mostly wrong.
30 August 2010
Intel – To Infineon and Beyond!
Intel announced it is acquiring Infineon’s wireless business unit for $1.4B. We believe this is a good
acquisition for Intel as it will enable them to better compete in the fast growing smartphone, Internet
device and embedded markets. Having this technology in-house is critical to Atom’s long term
success.
20 August 2010
Intel Acquires a Security Blanket
Intel announced it is acquiring security firm McAfee for approximately $7.7B. While we think the price is
high and Intel may have paid too much for the company, we nevertheless believe this is a good
acquisition for Intel. It will allow them to significantly enhance current security offerings and propel Intel
beyond the competition in both its traditional PC market and the fast emerging growth market of mobile
smart devices.
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