As we all press endlessly into the future, we cannot help
but wonder what it holds for us and when it comes to technology, people like
myself try as best as possible to see into the future.
Why?
It’s fun.
That being said, I have always been one to keep an eye on Microsoft
and their antics, especially lately with the Nokia Buyout and the rumors that
Microsoft could potentially be in the market to buyout blackberry as well.
Microsoft has been the dominating presence of technology in the past but is
still struggling to regain its foothold after the mobile paradigm shift of the
last decade.
In the wake of the recent buyout, what is Microsoft going to
do during the course of the next five years? The company is in a churning state
of change and as of right now, investors are worried (and so am I) about its
future.
Though I think I’ve officially put it all together.
You see, in recent news there seems to be a leak of Microsoft’s latest software update to Windows Phones known as GDR3 (or General
Distribution Release 3). This leak, which was a craigslist find, seems to
outline some major changes that lay the foundation for what is known as Windows
Blue, the grandiose update supposedly linking all of the different Microsoft
platforms once and for all, thus unifying the new platform across all devices.
It’s interesting that we hear news about this now, right
after the acquisition of Nokia, and in the wake a new rumored Nokia device, the1520, which keeps up with the large-screen trend by upping to a phablet.
So what can we expect?
Well, here’s my theory. Many people believe that the surface
branding is going to die; I don’t believe that to be true. In fact, I
wholeheartedly believe that the Lumia line is what Microsoft is going to kill.
Microsoft is going to do it’s best to keep the branding under one name:
Microsoft. As I said in a previous blog, Microsoft’s most difficult challenge
is going to be to bring the branding issue under control that has been plaguing
them. Therefore, Microsoft is going to rebrand the next Nokia device (likely
the 1520) to “Surface Phone” or something along those lines, and will make it
the transitional device on a slow step-down to a 4.5in surface device. Once this
is done, Windows will release the “Blue” update and unify all of the devices,
thus making the interface the same across all of them. During this time, I’m
expecting to see one or two more companies scooped up, namely Dell and
Blackberry, as Microsoft drops third party support and brings hardware
production under one roof. Sub-brands like Dell, AlienWare and blackberry will
be integrated into the Microsoft brand, and suddenly we will see a very
apple-like, IT-and-Business-Friendly, all-1st-party Microsoft.
While all of this is plausible, it is of course quite a
distance off in the future and could be massively interrupted by the change in management that is on its way. Furthermore, my prediction hinges on Microsoft’s
ability to bring the desktop and laptop market in-house – something that could
spur a lot of problems, but also potentially open up the market for other
up-and-coming operating systems like Ubuntu Edge and Chrome. Things like this
could spell death for companies like Acer and HP though, who have already seen
a few woes in this new mobile universe we live in.
All-in-all, I think one thing is for sure: Microsoft cannot
keep living on the edge of first party – they will have to tip one way or the
other, and continuing to trust other companies with their Operating system is
not something that I believe Microsoft wants to continue doing. The advent of
bloatware and other issues with Windows PCs is putting a blemish on their name
that only going 1st party can eliminate. Since this is most likely
their goal, I have based my prediction off of what is most likely to need to
occur, and then judging what I believe to be the only logical steps to get
there.
In short, this is my prediction, based on a little research and
mostly intuition. I’m sticking to it, so
let’s see what happens in the next several months.
Photo Source found Here
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