Why Nokia is Microsoft's best bet

BACKGROUND
This year is truly going to be the battle of the OSes - Windows, OS X and iOS, and Android. Moreover, it's going to be a battle of ecosystems between two traditional rivals - Microsoft and Apple. With Apple launching Mountain Lion this summer and Windows 8 expected to come out in September-October this year, the race only gets more exciting. Windows 8 is also going to come in the tablet version and is said to be the real competitor to the iPad. The Lumia 900 is launching in the US on 8th April, and is expected to be a blockbuster launch.

I call it the war of ecosystems because the devices these companies make and the software they offer are so integrated into one another, that not having even of them would be like an incomplete jigsaw puzzle. From mainstream computer devices, tablets and phones, they are also competing in the space of cloud computing and entertainment devices. The integration offers a great unified user experience and it may essentially boil down to just this.

Taking about the Apple ecosystem, it recently announced its latest Desktop and Laptop OS 10.8 Mountain Lion, dropping the name it was synonymous with - the Mac. This indicating that there is now greater integration between iOS and OS X. With ML, Notification Centre, iMessage, Game Centre, Twitter Integration, Reminders and Notes - all iOS apps have now come to the OS 10.8. At the same time  iWork and iLife was ported into iOS. Apple offers the iPad as its tablet offering and iPhone as its mobile device. iTunes is the one stop hub for all media - songs, movies, TV shows, audio books, tones, books and mobile apps. Apple TV is Apple's entertainment device that allows you access iTunes content on a TV set. Not only that, with Airplay you can use it as a wireless projector for you Mac, iPad and iPhone. Binding it all is iCloud which keeps all content synced and up-to-date on all devices including iTunes purchased media. Apple also has Game Centre for those who love gaming on iOS. Many games are now on the Mac OS as well, making it a complete ecosystem.

Windows too has a great ecosystem offering as well. By adopting the Metro Tile interface across all devices, it has brought it uniformity. The new Windows 8 offers drastic UI changes for earlier versions of Windows. It is great to look and simple to use. Self updating tiles make your screen come to life. The Messages app now merges your MSN and Facebook contacts into one, and you can chat without even logging on into Facebook. Nokia Lumia is the perfect device to use the Windows 7.5 OS Mango. With great hardware and software, Nokia completes Windows on the phone and I will explain this later. Windows 8 has also specifically been designed keeping in mind the tablet market. Windows 8 will be great on a tablet device, and we just have to wait and watch for that. With the success of the XBOX, Microsoft had a perfect gaming device and with Zune, they are trying to get more media content on board to make XBOX not just about gaming but also entertainment. XBOX is now integrated into the 7.5 OS Mango and Windows 8. To top that, there is Skydrive which is the cloud offering of Microsoft and available on all devices. Skydrive is now built into Windows 8 and merges with Office. This again completes the Microsoft Windows ecosystem.

WHY IS NOKIA THE BEST BET FOR WINDOWS THEN?

The new OS 7.5 Mango is on phones manufactures by Nokia, HTC and Samsung. Samsung has been concentrating its core on using Android on its devices and giving it the push to take on Apple. They have not provided such a push for the Windows based phones, which seems like they already think Mango is inferior to Android. Moreover they are developing their own OS Bada. So in priority, they will push Windows last. As far as HTC is concerned, they too are now focussing on Android heavily. Not much push is given to the Mango OS. This means that lesser attention will be paid to these devices and if you buy them you may be stuck due to lack of services and native apps by these manufacturers (although HTC had HTC Sense).Nokia on the other hand, is empowering its devices with Windows OS and is thus able to put all its effort and resources behind it. They are not dealing with any other OS except Symbian but it is now clear that the Lumia range of phones is going to be its flagship for a long time to come.

With the Lumia 900 launching on 8th April in the US, massive preparations are underway by AT&T and Nokia. Infact the Head of Device at AT&TJeff Bradley has commented, "Before you walk into the store, you know this is our hero phone...At all levels, this is a notch above anything we’ve ever done." This means that AT&T is putting a lot into this, even more than it's best selling iPhone. They have never done or said such a thing for any Android device or even a Windows device made by HTC or Samsung. So I guess it's not so much about Windows as it is about Windows 7.5 on a Nokia Lumia. This is another reason why Windows can bet big on Nokia.

One of the reasons iOS is criticized is because of the lack of a native mapping and GPS device. Even the Windows OS doesn't have GPS, it has Maps. But Nokia completes it with Nokia Drive and Nokia Maps which is far better and extremely convenient to use. Its not only these but other apps as well made by Nokia that add to the Windows OS like Contacts Transfer, Network Setup, TuneIn Radio, CNN and TuneIn Radio. 

There was a time when your dealer would recommend a Nokia phone for you. Overtime that has changed and now the same dealer will tell you to go for Samsung. I realized that it is because the margins and commissions on those phones are more. But, if you're someone who is looking for Windows it should be the Lumia. If you're someone who is looking for an ecosystem and an integrative experience and you're a  Windows person, then Lumia is the perfect phone for you. It will not disappoint. The takeaway in all this is that now it's Microsoft's turn to talk about their products, their ecosystem and not leave it on Nokia alone to promote and market the Lumia Windows phone. When they want to promote their mobile devices, they should show Lumia as the frontrunner and also show how it fits into the entire ecosystem.

iCloud v/s SkyDrive

One of the emerging technologies today is cloud computing. Earlier available to only big corporations, cloud computing is now available even to consumers for their files and docs. One of the early players was DropBox (which still stands out among the existing players), Apple's iCloud bought to the forefront cloud computing and how it can lead to perfect synchronization between devices. Launched last year, every individual who doesn't own an iPhone or iPad knows about iCloud, but little is known about a service called SkyDrive.

SkyDrive is Microsoft's cloud service for its users. Launched in 2007 as Windows Live Folders and available to a few testers, the service was then made available in 62 countries in 2008 and was renamed as Skydrive, with an initial 5GB of space. Every user now has a limit of 25GB. I only came to know of the service two weeks back when I first started using the Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone. I was searching to see if there was a cloud service that the Windows phone had when I stumbled upon SkyDrive. And I must say, I am very impressed by this offering. Just disappointed that I din't know of it earlier and it has never been a talking point that Microsoft has used or what Nokia can use. In this post, I am going to compare and contrast what i think is going to be a big battle: the battle between Microsoft and Apple for their respectives Phone OS, and their cloud service iCloud v/s SkyDrive.

SPACE
iCloud offers all users a minimum 5GB of space. It allows you to purchase additional space on the cloud. An additional 20GB comes for $40/year, while additional 50GB comes for $100/year. If you have multiple Apple devices and keep a backup of each of them on iCloud, then 5GB maybe less and you will have to purchase additional space. SkyDrive offers every user 25GB. As of  now its not expandable but it will be an option soon where Microsoft is believed to give unlimited space for documents and photos, and 25GB for everything else. You can't keep a backup of your Windows Phone on SkyDrive. This is a feature that SkyDrive should get.

ACCESSIBILITY
iCloud is now an integral part of iOS 5 and the new OS X Mountain Lion. Inbuilt into iOS 5, a user is expected to provide login details at the setup stage of the device or is free to create an account. It then syncs seamlessly with apps that support iCloud. With the new Mac OS, you can now browse files on the cloud on your MacBook Pro/Air or iMac without logging into iCloud.com . There is no facility as of now to drag and drop files like DropBox. You have to upload/download files through iCloud.com on a browser. iCloud is available on all Apple Devices, and through iCloud.com for those using a PC. SkyDrive on the other hand is available to all users who have a Windows Live ID. Not only can it be installed on a Windows Phone, but also on an Android and iPhone, making it available on all major phone platforms. You can access it anywhere by signing into you Live ID. While there was no support on Windows 7, hopefully Windows 8 will see some inbuilt SkyDrive features which can be a definite plus point for SkyDrive.

CONTACTS AND CALENDARS
iCloud offers seamless integration for your contacts and calendars. Updated on one device, contacts and calendar entries will be available on all devices - iPhone, iPad and Mac. Contacts and Calendars on your Windows Phone syncs will Hotmail. It will not readily show in Microsoft Outlook (not for me atleast). It would be a great plus point fot Microsoft to merge this with Microsoft Outlook and Address Book on Windows. One thing that happens on Windows Live is that your contacts also show your Facebook Friends and LinkedIn connections.

DOCS
On iCloud, you can upload Powerpoint and Keynote Presentations, Word and Pages docs, Numbers and Excel Sheets. These can be edited through the Pages, Keynote and Numbers apps (purchased apps) on the iPhone and iPad. Other than these, no other file formats are allowed. PDFs can be opened on iBooks but cannot be arranged into folders. Docs automatically show in these apps. SkyDrive is extremely flexible. You can create folders and upload files to them directly. Even PDFs can be uploaded and viewed. With Microsoft Office now inbuilt in Windows Phone OS 7.5, docs on SkyDrive can be viewed and edited on your phone. You can replicate your exact file and folder structure of your PC on SkyDrive and carry you docs with you right in your pocket with your Nokia Lumia Windows Phone. This is a great feature and I'm wondering why Microsoft hasn't publicized this yet. It's time Microsoft decided to take on better marketing and support its partners, especially Nokia which can make do with a great feature like this.

PHOTOS
On SkyDrive, you can upload your photo library and arrange them as per your preferences. This gives users the flexibility of keeping large albums online and accessing it anywhere. Photos clicked on your Windows Phone is not automatically added. This is where iCloud scores a brownie point. With Photo Stream, photos clicked on one device can be seen on all other devices. Earlier, you could not upload photos from your library onto the cloud. After launching the iPhoto app, you can create journals out of your photos and put them on iCloud. You can't directly upload them from your computer to iCloud. In that sense SkyDrive is better as it offers more flexibility.

MUSIC AND APPS
I'm afraid theres no comparison here. iTunes is the one stop shop for purchasing music, movies, TV shows and mobile apps. With iTunes Match, you can store all your purchases on the cloud and access it on all other Apple devices. The experience is just magical. Apple has merged iTunes and iCloud extremely well. The service though, comes at a small fee of $25/year. There is Zune Pass, which gives you access to all music for a fee. This is an area of development for Microsoft. With the XBOX which is now a entertainment device and not just for gaming, the Windows Phone and soon to come Windows tablet and Windows 8, there is a need to create an ecosystem something like what Apple has created with iTunes.

SHARING
The photo journals you now make on the iPhoto app and uploaded on iCloud can be shared with people of your choice. Documents on iCloud, however, is only visible to you and cannot be shared with anyone to view or edit. You can either mail a copy of your document or upload Keynote, Pages and Numbers docs to iwork.com to share with others on a view-only basis. Viewers can add notes or download the doc. On the other hand, docs on SkyDrive can be shared with anyone on a view-only or view and edit basis, making collaboration easier. You can also share photo albums with others. Sharing is easier on SkyDrive than iCloud.

Both iCloud and SkyDrive have different features that make it stand out. SkyDrive offers more flexibility but Apple's ability to simplify cloud and integrate it into the very backbone of the Apple ecosystem makes it easier to use and more accepted. Apple has used its prowess in marketing to make more people aware of  iCloud and how its used with Apple devices. Having said that, Microsoft too has a good service, they need to focus on making it more known and acceptable to the public. There is a need to simplify the UI, and greater integration into the Windows Phone and Windows ecosystem. SkyDrive provides a great rallying point for Nokia to promote its Lumia range of phones, because SkyDrive actually has the ability of transforming the smart phone to a PC in your pocket or what Windows phones were called earlier - 'Pocket PC'. Microsoft should recognize this and support its partners better to achieve seamless integration.