Pyramid: Why Windows Phone will beat Android
(Credit: Pyramid Research)
Pyramid's initial report asserted that by "2015, Windows Phone will establish itself as the leader in the smartphone OS space," thereby beating Android for the top spot. And the firm qualified that statement in its new note to reflect its belief that Microsoft's mobile OS will become the leader much sooner, as early as 2013.
With Android enjoying a huge lead among smartphone users, how can Pyramid point to Windows Phone as becoming the major player so quickly? As part of the answer, the research firm cites the new deal between Nokia and Microsoft.
Though Pyramid believes Android will continue to grow this year and next, it feels that the combination of Nokia and Microsoft will prove to be a powerful force in the industry within just a couple of years. Nokia will help to reduce the price of Windows Phone handsets, helping them expand in the marketplace, according to Pyramid. Beyond Nokia, other mobile phone makers, including Samsung, LG, and Sony Ericsson, are still in the Windows Phone camp.
As Windows Phone devices drop in price and spread out across multiple vendors, the multi-vendor approach currently benefiting Android will become less of a competitive advantage, Pyramid said in its note.
Pyramid doesn't deny that Nokia has lost market share, in part by sticking with Symbian for so long, but it sees the company as strong enough to ride out the current wave and learn from its mistakes.
"They are big enough and strong enough to take on a couple of painful hits and come out of the struggle stronger than ever," Stela Bokun, Pyramid senior analyst, said in the note. "They are in a good position to learn and adjust because they know what was bad about Symbian, what's creating gains and what's causing problems for Android, as well as what the upsides and downsides of a system such as that of Apple, where the OS only runs on hardware manufactured by the vendor."
Finally, although Android's growth may slow a bit by 2013 compared with the last couple of years, it will still challenge Windows Phone for dominance, Pyramid said, with the two platforms closely battling for the top spot of the market.
Pyramid isn't the only research firm anticipating a leading performance for Microsoft's mobile OS.
IDC released a report in late March projecting that by 2015, Windows Phone will enjoy the second largest market share behind Android, also citing the Nokia/Microsoft partnership as a key reason. IDC is forecasting that Windows Phone's share will be only 20.9 percent compared with 45.4 percent for Android. But the research firm is estimated a compound annual growth rate for Windows Phone of 67.1 percent over the next four years, by far the highest among all of the top smartphone vendors.
Free Windows utility lowers your printing costs
How much ink or toner do you want to save? Just raise or lower PretonSaver Home's sliders accordingly.
Tired of burning through pricey ink and toner cartridges? PretonSaver Home promises to cut these consumable costs by up to 70 percent. Best of all, it's free. (Note: You can use the previous link to download the program, but click here to go to Preton's site and register for the activation code.)
This Windows-only utility works its ink-saving magic by removing overlapping pixels (of which there are many, apparently) from the printed page, thus reducing ink consumption. And it's compatible with pretty much all programs and printers.
But does it work? And, more importantly, does it work better than your printer's own Draft mode, which ultimately accomplishes the same thing?
I started by printing a few "mixed" Web pages (containing both text and graphics) on my laser printer. The good news: The PretonSaver Home-powered pages looked virtually indistinguishable from the regular ones, despite the driver's claim that I'd used 13 percent less ink.
On the other hand, the printer's own "toner saver" mode did just as well (though without any quantifiable savings).
With a color inkjet, the PretonSaver and non-PretonSaver pages were again nearly identical unless you looked really closely.
When I switched to photos, however, the PretonSaver images looked a bit lighter, but no less sharp. Very good overall, very passable. The inkjet's economy mode produced very poor results in comparison.
I really like the PretonSaver driver's instantly calculated savings, slider-adjustable level of "savings aggressiveness," detailed reports, and other interesting data. Whether it's as accurate as it claims, that's tough to say. Time will tell.
The utility originally sold for $39.95, then $19.95. Now, it's free for home use. You'll need Windows XP, Vista, or 7 to run it; Preton offers both 32- and 64-bit versions.
Bonus deal: If you're among the few people on the planet who haven't yet played Angry Birds, or you just want to play it on a screen larger than your smartphone's, Roxio is offering a free browser-based version of Angry Birds. You need a decent video card, though; on my oldish Compaq laptop, it was too slow to play.
Bonus deal No. 2: Penny-auction sites promise big-ticket items (laptops, iPads, and more) at huge discounts. But are they worth your time--and money? Find out in my new blog post: Are Penny-Auction Sites Worth the Price?
Teen arrested after allegedly ranking girls on Facebook
How history might have been different.
If Mark Zuckerberg had been arrested for posting ratings of female classmates on Facebook, where might he be now? Living in some hollow shame in Mountain View, rather than living it up in Palo Alto?
This question must be considered on hearing the news that a 17-year-old student at the Oak Park and River Forest High School in the Chicago suburbs was arrested for allegedly doing something that sounds rather Zuckerbergian.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the boy was arrested Monday and charged with disorderly conduct after he allegedly published on Facebook his rankings of female classmates.
There are those who find much of Facebook disorderly. However, the Chicago Sun-Times reported last month that the young gentleman had allegedly posted a comprehensive list, ranking 50 of his female classmates. It apparently included some rather predictable criteria.
There was allegedly a subjective bio of each girl, coupled with separate ratings for their faces and bodies and references to race, ethnicity, and alleged sexual behavior. There was also an indicator of whether their "stock" might be in the ascendancy or not. The vocabulary was not exemplary.
This, some might imagine, is precisely the content of conversations boys have with boys about girls. However, in this case, it was public, on Facebook, and accompanied by fliers that contained full details of the list.
Moreover, the Sun-Times reported that there exists a cell phone video in which the accused is seen at school addressing a crowd and proclaiming the philosophy: "Women are the future, unless we stop them now."
School officials told the Chicago Tribune that the student no longer attends their school. One wonders what his future might hold and whether, one day, he may become titan of tech. Or at least a programmer.
If Mark Zuckerberg had been arrested for posting ratings of female classmates on Facebook, where might he be now? Living in some hollow shame in Mountain View, rather than living it up in Palo Alto?
This question must be considered on hearing the news that a 17-year-old student at the Oak Park and River Forest High School in the Chicago suburbs was arrested for allegedly doing something that sounds rather Zuckerbergian.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the boy was arrested Monday and charged with disorderly conduct after he allegedly published on Facebook his rankings of female classmates.
There was allegedly a subjective bio of each girl, coupled with separate ratings for their faces and bodies and references to race, ethnicity, and alleged sexual behavior. There was also an indicator of whether their "stock" might be in the ascendancy or not. The vocabulary was not exemplary.
This, some might imagine, is precisely the content of conversations boys have with boys about girls. However, in this case, it was public, on Facebook, and accompanied by fliers that contained full details of the list.
Moreover, the Sun-Times reported that there exists a cell phone video in which the accused is seen at school addressing a crowd and proclaiming the philosophy: "Women are the future, unless we stop them now."
School officials told the Chicago Tribune that the student no longer attends their school. One wonders what his future might hold and whether, one day, he may become titan of tech. Or at least a programmer.
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