SteveBallmer
Latest
Coming up live from D8: Steve Ballmer and Ray Ozzie, then Peter Chou from HTC
Hey humans -- listen up. We'll be liveblogging the next D8 session featuring Microsoft's Steve Ballmer and Ray Ozzie around 8:00AM PT (we'd like to give you more specific times, but they don't provide them). Then later on in the day, around 11:30AM PT, we'll hear from HTC head Peter Chou. You can check in to the Ballmer liveblog right here, and the Peter Chou liveblog will be right here. See you then!
Debunk: Steve Ballmer not speaking at WWDC
An analyst named Trip Chowdhry at Global Equities Research set off a firestorm of rumors last night after he claimed that Steve Ballmer would appear onstage with Steve Jobs at WWDC for exactly seven minutes to announce Visual Studio development for the iPhone -- and the maelstrom of crazytalk quickly expanded to include everything from a Bing partnership to Silverlight for the iPhone. Turns out all that chatter was just as insane and untrue as you'd expect, though: Microsoft's official Twitter account just clamped down on the speculation, saying that Ballmer isn't speaking at WWDC, or appearing on Dancing with the Stars. Sorry kids -- looks like we'll have to just hold out hope for next season.
Ballmer downplays Microsoft's shift in market value, says it's a 'long game'
Nothing too shocking here, but Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has made his first public comments on his company's recent slippage in market cap, and he's unsurprisingly downplaying the numbers. Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi, Ballmer said simply that "we are executing very well," and "that's going to lead to great products and great success," later adding that, "I will make more profits and certainly there is no technology company in the planet which is as profitable as we are," and that "stock markets will take care of the rest." What's more, while he seemingly didn't refer to Apple by name, he did say that "it is a long game," and that "we have good competitors ... we too are very good competitors." As you might expect, Ballmer was also asked about the recent shakeup at Microsoft, but he apparently wouldn't say anything more than that he "wouldn't predict any drastic changes" in strategy for the division, and that "we'll have to accelerate plans" -- although it's not exactly clear what will be "accelerated."
Rumor for developers, developers, developers! Steve Ballmer to present at WWDC?
Barron's reports, you decide: According to Trip Chowdry, an analyst with Global Equities Research, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer will have seven minutes of stage time at WWDC 2010. [Wait, what now? –Ed.] According to Chowdry, Ballmer's topic will be Visual Studio 2010, Microsoft's development suite.The supposed announcement will center on VS10's hypothetical ability to write native apps for iPhone, iPad, and (gasp) Mac OS. Currently, such apps can only be created in Apple's Xcode environment. There are a couple of schools of thought that might discredit or support this rumor. On one hand, the current Xcode-only development regime requires a Mac. As many of us know, once you go Mac, it's difficult to go back; these iPhone and iPad developers may go on to make great Mac apps, too. The flip side of this is that requiring Xcode, and thus a Mac, serves as a large barrier to entry for many developers and the apps that they could potentially make. VisualStudio may attract users who wouldn't switch desktop platforms to develop for the iPhone or iPad. Given the notoriously secretive nature of Steve Jobs's keynotes, it's difficult to imagine that information like this, if true, could slip out. It's also hard to reconcile the full-court press against other IDEs for the iPhone (the notorious 3.3.1 clause) with the idea of letting Microsoft deliver a fully supported development platform for Apple's crown jewel devices. [Translation: Trip Chowdry may have some bad intel here. –Ed.] WWDC will begin on June 7, 2010. [via MacRumors]
Microsoft's Robbie Bach and J Allard leaving as part of broader shakeup; Xbox and Windows Phone teams now reporting directly to Ballmer
Well, it looks like the rumors were true. Not only is Microsoft's J Allard now officially leaving the company, but so is Robbie Bach, President of Microsoft's Entertainment & Devices Division, amid what's described as a broader restructuring that will effectively dissolve the division and give CEO Steve Ballmer more direct oversight of Microsoft's consumer initiatives like Xbox and Windows Phone as of July. Contrary to earlier reports, Allard says that he's not leaving due to the cancellation of the Courier, but instead says that after nineteen years with the company, he simply wants to devote more time to his personal interests, "particularly adventure sports." Allard also insists that he won't be moving on to Apple, Google or any other Microsoft rivals -- in fact, he's staying on as an advisor to Steve Ballmer. Robbie Bach's departure is equally curious -- despite being just 48, his move is being described as a "retirement," and he says that the decision was his own and that he wasn't encouraged to leave. He'll also apparently remain with Microsoft through the fall to aid in the transition. When all's said and done, mobile communications VP Andy Lees and interactive entertainment head Don Mattrick will each separately report to Ballmer -- both have headed their divisions for some time now, so we'd assume that things will otherwise proceed as planned. Still, the loss of talent at the top is certainly noticeable -- we'll see how Microsoft responds now that Ballmer is firmly driving its mobile and gaming efforts. We've got Ballmer's full letter to the company and Microsoft's official PR after the break, so take a peek. Update: Mary Jo Foley has J Allard's parting email to his employees.
Switched On: Kin dread spirit
Each week Ross Rubin contributes Switched On, a column about consumer technology. When deciding how to bring technologies to market, companies face the decision of whether to offer them in its own products, pursuing a strategy of vertical integration, or license constituent elements for inclusion in others' products. In the wireless operating system space, Apple, RIM and Palm (since Web OS) have chosen the former strategy while Symbian, Google (via Android and Chrome OS) and Microsoft have generally pursued the latter. It is difficult, if not unwise, for a licensing company to compete with its partners. Attempting to avoid this dynamic led to the disastrous split of Palm, Inc. into the PalmSource software company and PalmOne hardware company back in 2003. With the imminent release of its teen-targeted, social networking handset, though, Microsoft is seeking to have its Kin and eat it, too.
Microsoft workers hiding their love for the iPhone
According to The Wall Street Journal, about 10% of Microsoft's employees are avid users of the iPhone. While it's not surprising that tech geeks like those who work for Microsoft would be interested in the iPhone, what is surprising is the lengths some Microsoft workers go to in order to hide their "forbidden love" for a competitor's device. While workers openly use their iPhones around fellow employees, when senior executives walk by, iPhones mysteriously disappear. Some workers even try to disguise their iPhones with cases to make them look like any old smartphone. While there's no official ban on iPhone use at Microsoft, Steve Ballmer has made his stance on the issue pretty clear, saying that when his father worked for Ford, his family always drove Fords. Since Microsoft makes its own competing phone OS, it has to be irksome for executives like Ballmer to see employees using competitors' hardware; the Journal compared it to seeing Coca-Cola workers sitting around drinking Pepsi. Over at Apple, things are a bit different; most of its employees "eat their own dog food," so to speak. Almost all Apple employees, right down to the retail level, actually use the products their companies create, including the iPhone. Workers for Apple told the Journal they couldn't remember seeing workers using mobile phones other than the iPhone for quite some time. So when you flip back to Microsoft, it's kind of understandable that executives like Ballmer are less than hospitable toward employees' cavalier usage of competitors' products. The way to get employees to use your own products, however, isn't by creating a culture of fear in the workplace, whether it's officially endorsed or not. Instead, build a better product that your employees actually want to use. If the only official way to convince workers to use your own phone OS instead of the iPhone is by reimbursing employees' service fees only for Windows phones, then how can you expect to attract more consumers to your brand? If Windows Phone 7 Series turns out to be worthy of the frothing adulation some have heaped on it, perhaps a few of those iPhone-using Microsoft employees will be convinced to start drinking their company's own Kool-Aid instead of Apple's. Whether the public will follow suit is another story entirely.
Ballmer's visage evoked for 'developers, developers, developers' demo app on Windows Phone 7 Series
You could argue that Steve Ballmer's classic "developers, developers, developers" mantra is more important to the success of Windows Phone 7 Series than of any other product in recent Microsoft history, so it comes as no surprise that he's pulled it out of his hat one more time for MIX10 today. Demoing how easy it is to take advantage of the platform's many rapid-development features, the team showed off a gangly Silverlight version of the big guy in lieu of the real deal (apparently he had a scheduling conflict and couldn't be around for the event). Ballmer actually recorded a "developers, developers, developers!" rant just for the app, which the visage chants incessantly; you can adjust voice pitch and throw the doll around with a few flicks of the hand. Scary? Yes, yet somehow, we'd pay $0.99 for it. Follow the break for video.
Steve Ballmer compliments Apple, Hell freezes over
The Seattle Times is reporting that Steve Ballmer, who notoriously laughed at the iPhone, had some good things to say about it last week in a speech he gave at the computer-science building at the University of Washington. "Apple's done a very nice job that allows people to monetize and commercialize their intellectual property," he said. Ordinarily, a comment like this might not be significant, but in this case it adds fuel to the fire that Apple will replace Google with Bing as the default search engine in the next iPhone OS. Google and Apple are increasingly at odds and it's possible that Apple may see an alliance with Microsoft as a way to stave off Google's mobile growth. For Microsoft, a deal that puts Bing on the iPhone would be a huge win as mobile search is becoming increasingly common. Smart phones are becoming more mainstream and the iPhone is increasingly dominating the handset market. Currently Microsoft offers a Bing iPhone app. Whether Bing goes further on the iPhone remains to be seen because Ballmer, rather uncharacteristically, is staying mum. The Seattle Times cornered Ballmer after his speech and asked is there an "enemy of my enemy is my friend" thing going on, to which Ballmer just smiled, said he couldn't answer and climbed into his car.
Steve Ballmer teases new Xbox 360 form factors, price points and options
Turns out Steve Ballmer's talk up at the University of Washington delivered even more saucy info than we were initially led to believe. In a transcript of the subsequent Q&A session, Steve is shown to have delivered the following statement on the topic of large-screen televisions and Microsoft's related hardware strategy: For that big screen device ... there's no diversity. You get exactly the Xboxes that we build for you. We may have more form factors in the future that are designed for various price points and options, but we think it's going to [be] important. It's safe to assume new form factors point to a smaller rather than larger 360 chassis, though the price points and further options he mentions are wide open for speculation. It wouldn't be unreasonable to forecast Microsoft pushing out its own slimmed-down console to match up with Sony's PS3 Slim, but we also shouldn't discount the idea of an Xbox 360 with Project Natal hardware integrated into its shell. In other words, we really don't know what Steve has going on under that shiny dome of his, we just hope it's as exciting as he makes it sound.
Steve Ballmer emphasizes importance of the cloud, Google pretty much does likewise
Microsoft has had its run-ins with the cloud before, but if CEO Steve Ballmer is being serious (and we're guessing he is), the company is about to get even more connected. Speaking with computer science students this week at the University of Washington, Ballmer was quoted as saying that "a year from now... 90 percent [of Microsoft employees would be working in the cloud]." He went on to say that the cloud base "is the bet, if you will, for our company," and he noted that it'll "create opportunities for all the folks in [the] room to do important research and build important projects." It's not like any of this is an epiphany, though; we've already seen a shift to Google Documents given the ability to access it from any web-connected computer, and with the proliferation of broadband on the up and up, it's only a matter of time before it's more convenient to open a web app than to wait for your taskbar to stop bouncing. In related news, Google Europe boss John Herlihy has essentially mirrored those thoughts, calling the desktop an item that will be "irrelevant" in three years. Why? Largely because most everything you'll need a tower for will be available via a mobile or the web, but we all know that sect of hardcore gamers will keep the beige boxes rolling for at least another score.
Live from Microsoft's Windows Phone press event at MWC 2010
We're in our seats and the show is about to begin. Hang tight! Everything is set to go at these times: 04:00AM - Hawaii 06:00AM - Pacific 07:00AM - Mountain 08:00AM - Central 09:00AM - Eastern 02:00PM - London 03:00PM - Paris 11:00PM - Tokyo
Former Microsoft VP Dick Brass weighs in on why Microsoft 'no longer brings us the future'
It's a sad tale, if you hear Dick Brass tell it. In a new op-ed for the New York Times, the former Microsoft VP explains how he thinks the Microsoft corporate culture has "never developed a true system for innovation," and that while the company is obviously strong at the moment, he doesn't see the company retaining its dominance if or when the Office and Windows revenues die down. His own anecdotes are a little heartbreaking: his team developed ClearType (first announced in 1998), but due to infighting and jealousy within the company, was kept from shipping as a default until 2007 with Windows Vista. Similarly he argues that the Tablet PC was much restricted by an Office team that didn't believe in the concept, and therefore never developed a version of Office that was stylus-friendly. Dick left the company in 2004, and he says the tablet group at Microsoft has since been eliminated, and that almost all the executives in charge of "music, e-books, phone, online, search and tablet efforts over the past decade" have also left. The man isn't out to get Microsoft: he sees the company as important, and its profits have obviously gone to great philanthropic ends through Bill Gates and others, but if what he says about the anti-innovative corporate culture is true, it sounds like Microsoft has some work to do before it can return to its place of preeminence as an innovator, instead of the fast and effective follower it seems to be becoming in many areas.
Found Footage: Steve Ballmer signs student's Mac
Earlier this week, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave the keynote address to the Nashville Technology Council, which was held at Trevecca Nazarene University (TNU) in Nashville, TN. Steve, who is on a multi-city tour to promote Microsoft, joined other prominent technology professionals like Abbie Lundberg, editor-in-chief of CIO Magazine. After the speeches were done, Steve did a meet-and-greet with TNU Students to answer brief questions, sign autographs and so on. One student asked for Steve's autograph -- on a MacBook Pro. To his credit, Steve handled the awkward moment well (as another student's camera rolled), writing "Need a new one? Steve Ballmer" smack-dab over the laptop's logo. Kudos to Steve for his cool-headed response (we can't imagine what Steve Jobs would do if asked to sign a Dell) and for that student with the nerve to pull such a stunt. You can see close ups of the signature here. [Via MacDailyNews]
Steve Ballmer's shocking autograph of MacBook Pro caught on video
It's likely that if you were told to describe what you think would happen if someone asked Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer to autograph a MacBook Pro, it would go something like this: Steve would fly into a blind fury, grabbing the laptop and smashing it against a far wall with the force of ten men, laughing as the computer shattered and sparked out of existence. He would then leap towards the young man who'd made the request and pin him to the floor, pulling out a Bowie knife while whispering that he would like to "Gut [him] like the pathetic animal he is." Next Ballmer would dash out of the room only to return with a canister of gasoline, some hairspray, and one of those long lighters, all while shouting that he would "Show the world what [he's] really made of." Ballmer would escape from this scene of utter destruction in a helicopter, but not before circling the college campus (or wherever this took place) and dumping toxic waste on hundreds of students. But, no. He pretty much just signs the laptop. See it all happen after the break.
Microsoft CES keynote PR leaks early: HP slate device is just a PC, Natal in holiday 2010
Microsoft's CES keynote has been marked by disaster: first the power went out, knocking the PCs on stage into recovery mode, and now the PR for Ballmer's speech has posted early. The big news is no news -- that HP slate device is a Windows 7 PC, not the rumored Courier tablet. We're sure HP and Microsoft will have some interesting things to say about it, but a lot of hearts are breaking out there. Other big items: Project Natal will launch around the holidays in 2010, the HTC HD2 will hit T-Mobile as expected, and the Mediaroom 2.0 IPTVs service will bring on-demand programming to PCs and phones. The full PR is after the break, but we'll post highlights here if we see anything else as we comb through. [Thanks, Andrew]
Live from Steve Ballmer's CES 2010 keynote
We're in our seats and eagerly awaiting the start of Steve Ballmer's (and Microsoft's) CES 2010 keynote. Hang tight for just a few, and the proceedings will get underway. Check back at 6:30PM PT -- that's when the real action begins.
Microsoft to reveal HP built Courier slate tomorrow?
It was 2001 that Bill Gates first introduced the Tablet PC in Las Vegas. Tomorrow will see the launch of what could be Microsoft's next take on the Tablet PC right here at CES if the New York Times is correct. According to "people familiar with Microsoft's plans," Steve Ballmer will introduce an HP-built "slate-type computer" during the opening CES keynote. The rumored device is said to be a "multi-media whiz with e-reader and multi-touch functions" in tow that could be available by mid year. So what will it be? The Courier supported by a full-suite of content partners, or will it be just another Windows tablet in search of mass market acceptance? You'll find out tomorrow right here at Engadget.
Shareholders ask Ballmer about Apple
While Bill Gates looked on, Microsoft shareholders asked CEO Steve Ballmer about Apple at their annual meeting this morning. Steve's CEO-speak responses illustrate the larger problem. Portfolio reports that one investor asked about the company's reputation with young customers: "I'm just wondering why your marketing group can't do something to try to rein in this next generation, because you've got a real bad image out there." He also said that Apple's ads make Microsoft look like "a buffoon." That's when the CEO-speak began. "There's certainly always opportunities for improvement," Ballmer said. "[There is] ... a group of people with whom our market share is less." When you hear "opportunity for improvement," you're screwed. Euphemistic language clouds meaning and hides the truth. Think "economic downturn" and "previously enjoyed" instead of "depression" and "used." Or "opportunity for improvement" instead of "problem." Remember the Windows Mojave ads, in which producers tricked customers into thinking Vista was an unreleased version of Windows, only to then throw open the curtain and essentially say, "See? It's really Vista! You DO like it! There's nothing wrong here!" Instead of telling people what they like, sanitizing language, insisting that the only reason the iPhone has 75,000 apps available is to make it usable on the Internet and denying your kids iPods, just say, "Our reputation with young people is poor and here's what we'll do about it." That's when you'll get something done. [Via MacDailyNews]
