Since I moved to the Silicon Valley for SiSense, a Big Data Startup, I’ve been surrounded by Apple and Google lovers. iPhones, Android Phones and Tablets are abundant in the San Francisco Area and it seems everybody here has one, at least. So, you’d expect that anyone moving here, would naturally mirror the habits of the Valley. Not the case for me.
The new Windows Phones have been available on pre-order since yesterday so expect technical reviews to abound. From a business point of view, I’ve found the devices to have compelling advantages above the competition and I think that many of the Silicon Valley technophiles should give the phones another look.
Investors should think about Windows Phone 8 as a new beginning for the company; beyond testing the value of partnerships with Nokia, AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, Microsoft is betting on different software: for this release, it rebuilt Windows Phone on a shared core with Windows - this means more developers will be able to build for it. Early numbers show strong momentum: after BUILD 2012, 1,500 new developers were registering for the new platform per day, making the Windows Phone 8 software development kit (or SDK) the most downloaded SDK Microsoft shipped this year.
There are lots of reasons why I like my Windows Phone. I’m listing below a few categories that I think might not be obvious to all - particularly for Apple or Google fans. Now, it’s up to Microsoft to deliver on its strategy at scale. Steve Ballmer will be in the Bay Area next week, sharing the stage with Reid Hoffman at the Churchill Club. I’m sure he will be talking about how he expects to win here.
Open Platform
This might surprise some of the readers but I’ve found my Windows Phone more open and flexible than the other systems I’ve played with: I’ve tried two-iPad generations, the latest Nexus Tablet for instance. Adding a Gmail account to my Windows Phone is a 1-2-3 step. Same for my Yahoo! mail. Calendars sync no problem. However, adding a hotmail account to my Nexus Tablet is not exactly a walk in the park (not as difficult as using Apple’s Airport express to create a dedicated wifi network in a hotel room, but close).
Business Productivity
Apps matter to me but only to a certain extent. My phone is the extension of my laptop. I use it primarily to scan through emails, plan my day and...*shocker*, I know...make phone calls and join conference bridges. This must be the reality of most business users. When it comes to this level of productivity, I’ve found that it’s difficult to beat my device. For instance, my phone can scan through the 8,000+ contacts with ease (I haven’t tried it but my Android owner friends tell me that their phones choke when they load over 1,000 names). What’s more, WP8 merges contacts across all my social platforms (email programs as well as Facebook and LinkedIn). This is particularly useful because I don’t really have to worry about where my contacts come from - I just need to know that I have their info somewhere and that the place they all come together is my phone. That’s clever because that’s where I need them the most anyway.
The same applies to my calendars. I have a personal calendar on hotmail, a work and an event calendar on Google apps. Because the information merging capability of email extends to my calendars, I can see all my events in one view on my phone; this is very convenient and prevents me from booking work events over personal ones or vice versa.
I’m sure you’ll hear about other features present or missing in the next few weeks. In the meantime, for investors and business users, let’s see if this release can help the Microsoft stock, which has already been up by 11% since the beginning of the year.
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Bruno Aziza is a Data Geek, author of “Drive Business Performance” and Vice President of Marketing at SiSense. Prior to SiSense, Bruno worked at BusinessObjects/SAP, Apple, Microsoft and other data start-ups. Bruno is French, has studied and worked in Germany, the UK and the US. You can connect with him directly at bruno.aziza@sisense.com
