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Communications Hardware

Microsoft OS Smart Phone for Developing Nations 209

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the red-line-to-pad-the-bottom-line dept.
YesSir writes "The New York Times is reporting that Microsoft CTO Craig J. Mundie and Bill Gates are talking about the idea of a specially designed cellphone that could be converted into a full-fledged computer through a connection to a TV and keyboard. They hope to use this product to bring computing to the masses in developing nations and be a Windows powerd alternative to Nicholas Negroponte's $100 free open-source powerd laptop."
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Microsoft OS Smart Phone for Developing Nations More

Microsoft OS Smart Phone for Developing Nations

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  • I gues this proves the old argument that cellphone's of today are stronger than the pc's of yesterday...

    • Re:proves the old argument (Score:5, Insightful)

      by poeidon1 ( 767457 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:17AM (#14605758) Homepage
      But this cellphone is supposed to work as a PC and this PC is not a yesterday PC. If it is, then probably its better to sell an used machine for 100$ (should be aplenty, my office alone donates 30 machine every year) to the poor instead of wasting that on a useless machine.

      • Re:proves the old argument (Score:3, Interesting)

        by kfg ( 145172 )
        Assuming the used machine runs on batteries powered by solar cells, pedals, small windmill, crank, etc.

        You people need to get out of the city more. It would save me lot of time pointing out that in much of the world there simply no place to plug in a computer; and much of that world is exactly where this idea is targeted.

        Infrastructure is not ubiquitous.

        KFG

        • "Assuming the used machine runs on batteries powered by solar cells, pedals, small windmill, crank, etc."

          In fairness, this idea does seem to have a high-powered crank driving it. 8^)

    • Also, I don't see them producing these PC capable phones for anywhere near $100. Sure you can get a free phone, but that's only due to subsidies from signing a contract. Most phones cost over $150. Now start looking a the phones that can run actual applications like word processors and spreadsheets, along with a real browser, and your looking at around $500. If they can truly make laptops for $100, I think that's the best route to go. I wouldn't assume most people in need of theses computers have TVs a
      • I don't have all the details, but I have heard of rural areas in Africa where cell phone usage has transformed local economies, by allowing individuals to transfer money directly between them, to keep track of loans, by allowing them to look up prices for cattle or grain at 3 or 4 different markets, etc. You don't need all those applications to have a compelling piece of tech. Just a browser to check prices and weather is the main thing.
    • Somebody should have though of using a PDA [pbs.org] as a cell phone/computer before.

  • A Microsoft sticker on every hut! (Score:4, Funny)

    by Elvon Prezton ( 928185 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:08AM (#14605734)
    Jesus, Bill, leave the poor third world alone. You can't squeeze blood from a turnip, you know. But an Ethiopian! You can sure squeeze blood from them. So have at it, if you must. *sigh*

  • Bill's throwing his toys out of the pram (Score:5, Interesting)

    by 99luftballon ( 838486 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:13AM (#14605743)
    Here's a great example of the closeminded view seen at Microsoft so often. He can't get his mind about the concept that to make a developing nation customer pay for their operating system, or for the software needed to use it, is a tad obscene when there's a free or nearly free alternative.

    Crippling the hardware to make up for this software royalty (ever try producing a large document on a mobile phone screen?) isn't the answer. I'm not sure Negroponte has it right either - low cost PC boxes and CRT monitors that are unsellable in the West are going to be a cheaper alternative in the short term .
    • The $100 laptop is powered by a crank (amongst other options) because there isn't always a power outlet available in third world countries.

      How would you do this for a plain PC box and CRT monitor?
    • "(..) low cost PC boxes and CRT monitors that are unsellable in the West are going to be a cheaper alternative in the short term."

      That is probably a common misconception. Old/surplus PC's may be obtained virtually free in the West. But to use them in Africa, you'd have to refurbish them (used, or stuff that wasn't sold because there's some problem with it). Then transport across the globe: big, heavy boxes = expensive. Then operate: consuming lots of (unreliable) power, and dying like the flies (old + env

      • I wasn't referring to refurbished PCs. You could set up a production line building new Linux boxes that could sell fro $100 now in a developing nation - Negroponte's laptop doesn't cost anything like $100 to produce at the moment, it would cost much more and it won't be available for years.

        Developing countries need computers today, and need access to the internet while using them. Setting up local computing centres that could manage power and environment more than individuals would provide an immediate be

        • One of the main thrusts of Negroponte's solution is that, for effective computing, more than traditional computers are required. The $100 machine being designed for OLPC is engineered to work in areas without electricity, without telephone or other wired network connectivity, and will most likely be set up to receive additional materials and assignments via WiFi from classroom teachers.

          How an outdated PC with a CRT monitor would help children who live in a hovel 150 miles from the nearest city, is beyond

        • The $100 laptop from MIT already has a manufacturer lined up and $700 million in financing for the first 7 million boxes so this is not some pie in the sky dream. It is happening now.
      • On the other hand, the main factor that makes secondhand PCs less desirable in the West is the cost of labour to refurbish them. Rather than finding a secondhand 2 gigabyte hard disk, installing it, testing it and installing the software it costs a lot less to buy a new disk or a new PC. Your time or the time of the computer repair guy is probably worth at least $50 an hour. With cheap labour the economics change, and it may make sense to put a bit more effort into getting older equipment working.

        For exa
    • While I am no fan of MS (or Gates), I like the fact that they are now thinking of how to make this happen (in typical MS style, wait until somebody has an idea and then try to steal or improve upon it). One thing that this does, is marry a computer inside to the network. If a village has several tvs and a cheap keyboards, this approach brings the network to the village. It is an idea worth exploring. In fact, for negropointe's PC, I wonder if there is a way to hook these together in a network (ir?) and then
      • In fact, for negropointe's PC, I wonder if there is a way to hook these together in a network (ir?) and then have them use a cell phone as a hub to the outside world?

        yes, that's been part of the plan from day one of its announcement. The crank powered laptops will have a standard network interface and have software for connecting them all on a mesh network. That same network which can share a network connection. So if one system in the mesh has a cell phone for Internet connectivity, all computers on t

    • try powering a monitor or TV with a crank! And how portable is that TV set going to be???? I can see it now, students carrying their TVs to school everyday because Bill Gates didn't want GNU/Linux to be successful in this project. But wait, there'll be a Microsoft branded dolly to cart the TV around and because the Microsoft PoorBoy Phone fits in your pocket, you can use both hands on the Microsoft Dolly...

      Another example of "the road ahead" twisting, turning, and forking all over the place just to make sur

  • Too Certain! (Score:5, Funny)

    by 16K Ram Pack ( 690082 ) <tim.almond@NOSPAM.gmail.com> on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:16AM (#14605752) Homepage
    are talking about the idea of a specially designed cellphone that could be converted into a full-fledged computer?


    Hey, be careful of overpromising, Bill.

    • Re:Too Certain! (Score:3, Informative)

      by arivanov ( 12034 )
      Seconded.

      Cellular protocol stacks are expensive. The intellectual property rights for the essential bits of a phone which make it a phone are around 30$.

      This leaves less then 70$ for the rest. While it may be possible in a few years this is highly unlikely with today's technology. The 100$ laptop which IMO is also too far fetched is much more likely to be successful.
      • But since this will not have a screen on it's own it will need a TV set to work and this 30$ for the celular bits will also add a connection it will probably do not need a wireless card like the 100$ laptop. So I would guess screen + wireless connection could get near the 30$ that was spent on the cellphone IP. :-P

        Sure that as others have stated those compromises would mean that the computer will only work well where exists the infrastructure for it. It must have a power grid (no crank power), it must conne
        • OTOH, you could hook up a cell phone to a network of the MIT $100 laptops (they automatically connect to each other and can share a network connection).
    • I have considered this idea many times since cellphones started sporting memory cards and java apps. With some of the newer phones, all that would be required is a cheap video card and a cable adaptor. The bluetooth keyboard is already available.

      And make no mistake about it, it would be useful. With a keyboard and a TV, you could edit documents, send emails, browse the web, play games, etc.. Pretty much everything that the average PC user does with their windows box could more or less be done with a

  • Convergence (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Council ( 514577 ) <rmunroe@gFREEBSDmail.com minus bsd> on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:19AM (#14605771) Homepage
    Continuing with the idea that cell phones, PDAs, and eventually laptops are going to merge. When you've got enough power in a wallet-sized device to do all your email, messaging, web browsing, and music playing, it'll just be a matter of snapping in different peripherals.

    I'm shopping for a laptop right now, and what I really want is something small. I don't need a whole lot of power, I just need something I can slip in a handbag or backpack pocket (maybe a Fujitsu Lifebook P-series). With Verizon wireless broadband it could sit in my backpack/briefcase and, via skype, serve as a cell phone. It'd also be my PDA.

    There are a lot of different approaches to reaching that convergence, and it'll be interesting to see how it all plays out.
    • With Verizon wireless broadband it could sit in my backpack/briefcase and, via skype, serve as a cell phone.

      One problem with that is you can't recieve calls to your laptop while it's not on (obviously), and you can't leave a laptop on inside a briefcase/backpack.
    • http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,85235,00.html [nokia.co.uk]
      http://www.nokia.co.uk/nokia/0,,57363,00.html [nokia.co.uk]

      No snapping required. Oh... And *handbag* what're you like some kind of a girl?

       

    • Been there, done that (Score:5, Insightful)

      by hey! ( 33014 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @07:32AM (#14605979) Homepage Journal
      have the pissed off customer to prove it.

      I used a treo 600 for over a year. It was remarkably good as a converged device. However if I learned anything, I learned that having a good phone is so important it trumps everything else. It'd be fine if I spent all my time in the city, but I was freqently out of range.

      I switched to an LG tri-mode phone with bluetooth, on the theory that I'd get at least an analog signal in places I used to have no coverage at all, and, guess what: I get perfectly good digital connectivity in places I had no bars before. The phone's memory is so small the web browser is useless, but using it as a bluetooth modem from a PDA works fine. The main problem is that only one device can use the BT modem at a time, and if I use it from windows the windows BT stack is so buggy it refuses to let go; I have to shut the BT radio off.

      I'm not against convergence per se. It's just that converged devices as they now stand do not perform well enough in their comm roles, which is the linchpin for the whole concept. The best of the devices are mediocre PDAs, which is good enough for most of us.

      For a converged device to work,it has to have two things: (1) NO phone trade-offs at all and (2) strong device connectivity to make up for UI tradeoffs. What makes a good phone and a what makesa good PDA or video viewer are all different things. While you may want to watch TV on your phone, you're also going to want to pipe the video to a TV (can anybody in the industry not be watching what iPods are doing these days?).

      Once you have interdevice connectivity up to snuff, what you have is neither strictly a communication device nor strictly a converged device. It's a device that can work equally well in either role, as a network interface or a user interface.

    • The problem is input and output devices. Small keyboards suck. And large keyboards are not exactly portability friendly.
    • ...what a P990 could do. In Q2 2004, I spent 10 days travelling the USA and was able to run my business from the P900 thanks to O2's roaming. a) Send and receive e-mail (with attachments), b) Surf the web using Opera c) Update company intranet d) Take (albiet crappy) photos e) Listen to music f) Organise meetings (using excellent calendar) g) Make notes and ideas i) When I really needed laptop power, used Bluetooth to take my 12" PowerBook online, but I hardly used it and only bought it along to make a pres

  • Phone with a keyboard vs Speccy? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by jetxee ( 940811 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:20AM (#14605774) Journal
    A small computer costs more than a big computer (more engineering challenges). So, Microsoft Phone with a keyboard jack will be either too expensive for developing contries, or will offer worse value/price when compared with really simple computers.

    Yet, state of the art phones are really comparable with the home computers of 80s. But if those computers were sufficient for masses, then they would win the game with a better price of $5 or so :)

    • state of the art phones are really comparable with the home computers of 80s

      The Nokia N80 due out this May has 40MB of internal memory expandable to 2GB flash, if it's like comparable Nokia phones [allaboutsymbian.com] it has a 32-bit ARM-9 RISC CPU running at 220MHz, it has a 3 megapixel camera, wifi, bluetooth, infrared, can run Java, a web browser, PDF viewer, and a lot of other demanding applications that wouldn't have a prayer on a home computer of the 80s.

      Very low-end phones today are comparable to the home computers of th

  • A poor replacement for poor (Score:3, Insightful)

    by poeidon1 ( 767457 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:20AM (#14605776) Homepage
    Its easier to donate them old machines, available aplenty, rather then selling some crappy phone. It requires a screen and a keyboard, when did these become portable without integration as in a laptop.
    • You're going to donate them magic power cords for their non-existent power outlets too?
    • (continuing on from other reply) ...and pay for someone to securely erase the drives, then install the OS? Which then has to be custom tweaked as each of the second hand boxes is different? Drivers? Replacing dodgy hardware with intermitent faults? That's gonna cost $$$.

      Using old hardware might work for you. You recycle it into something useful, you get something useful, and you also learn some new tricks in the process. However, it just doesn't scale and when faced with a challenge such as deliver workin

  • Makes sense - doesn't it? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by cyberjessy ( 444290 ) <jeswinpk@agilehead.com> on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:22AM (#14605784) Homepage
    Looking forward, this does make business sense.

    1. General purpose computing is not processor intensive (especially when you combine it with ASP style internet apps). We could fit it into a phone, easily.
    2. This could drive more powerful and efficient processors for smaller devices. $100 is not improbable in a short time.
    3. Cell phone penetration is good in developing world too (India/China). Its good to have a device with other uses too.
    4. MS might have Windows Live! in mind. Ultimately this might be available world-wide, along with free subscription of Windows Live.

    Overall, here is an interesting strategy:
    1. Home Entertainment+ = XBox 360
    2. Value+ = , Pocket PC, Windows CE
    3. Servers = Windows on x64, IA64
    4. Desktops and Laptops - Windows Vista
    The interesting this is, there is very little overlap between the target markets here. And they have got all the bases covered.
    • let's take a look at this. Every PDA phone on the market is several hundred dollars at best. You can get a full sized Dell for the same price.

      Plugging a cell phone into a dock for a full keyboard, mouse and monitor while a cool idea means that you have to drag those things around with you as you go. or rely on some one else to decide that there is enough market penetration to provide it for you.

      This will end up like the thousands of handheld displays MSFt is selling. It will end up like the tablet PC.
      • It will end up like the tablet PC. A decent enough idea, but done poorly with bad software choices, and never achieve enough market to be effective.

        There are niche markets (like doctors' offices) where tablet PCs make a very compelling value proposition. Are they ever going to compete with laptops? Of course not. Is there enough of a market to justify several companies (as opposed to "every company that does PCs and laptops") producing them? Absolutely.

        The mini-PC phone may well end up in a similar position

    • Re:Makes sense - doesn't it? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by tpgp ( 48001 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @08:25AM (#14606142) Homepage
      Looking forward, this does make business sense.

      Nope - this makes virtually no sense at all.

      Remember we're talking about 3rd world applications here - and you're talking about pushing all the processing to the other end of a network. Many third world countries have good cell phone penetration, but not so high (and so cheap) that you'd want to rely on using it 24/7 for everything

      In addition, MS says
      specially configured cellular phone into a computer by connecting it to a TV and a keyboard. [emphasis mine]
      Uh-huh. Thanks Bill. My eyes hurt just thinking about it.

      Anyone who's ever used a TV as a monitor know they're virtually impossible to read for long periods of time. Look at the way Media Centre type applications have to use huge, high contrast text.

      This is just MS trying to shoot down the competition, with any sort of idea they can, whilst they scramble to think of some other way of squashing it.

      So, in summary, no - it makes no sense, its a much better idea to incorporate a cell phone into a light weight laptop then vice versa.
      • Anyone who's ever used a TV as a monitor know they're virtually impossible to read for long periods of time.

        Not if you have an HDTV, they're not. A 720- or 1080-line HD display should provide at least as much sharpness and legibility as a modern PC monitor.

        So all we have to do is wait for adoption of High-Definition Television in the third world, and then... oh...


      • Speaking as the CTO of a former Internet Appliance company, most televisions worldwide SUCK as a usable computer monitor.

        It's part of why the IA market didn't really take off (To be sure, there were more, but it's the straw that broke
        the camel's back...).

        Stated maximum resolution for NTSC sets: 648x486
        Peak actual NTSC resolution : 540x480
        Typical NTSC resolution : 352x240

        The last line is the average usable broadcast resolution- and as such, many of the sets out there aren't capable more than that cleanl

  • Microsoft isn't stupid (Score:5, Insightful)

    by quokkapox ( 847798 ) <quokkapox@gmail.com> on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:24AM (#14605794)
    Cellphones are more ubiquitous than PCs in Africa; they're already networked and Microsoft feels obligated to offer a realistic alternative to the $100 laptop which with ad-hoc mesh networking could make their entire closed-source software platform irrelevant to this part of the developing world.

    If Microsoft cannot get their tentacles embedded in order to extract a tax on every electronic device legally sold in Africa, that's a serious setback. When Vista bombs later this year and alternative platforms and free software continue to take off everywhere, and Google keeps bleeding them with more papercuts, MSFT stock is going to tank.

    • The problem I see in this entire strategy is that it is missing the point.

      1) Cellphones require power, the 100$ computer can be crank powered. Don't underestimate the power of the crank. In fact I would buy such notebook if it meant I could read my ebooks whenever wherever!
      2) The Microsoft idea requires infrastructure (cell phone, TV, and keyboard). The 100$ computer is an all in one that automatically networks. Here is a question. How many people actually exchange files using a cellphone? very few. How man

    • This is a reaction to a more well-thought out idea. Microsoft is responding with a throwback to the Timex Sinclair & Commodore 64 days where you plug the computer into your telivision and play with it. Do tell, if you are so impoverished that you cannot afford a $100 computer, are you going to take the time to dig up an extra TV and a network connection for this?

      The computer isn't the thing that will empower these people. Information is. And if a computer isn't hooked up to a network, it's just a paperw
    • Microsoft stock can tank, but Microsoft can continue to exist for many years. With the installed base of Windows machines, they aren't going to be losing non-stock money anytime soon, unless everybody switches, an ideal to be sure but it never comes to fruition because the two camps are distinct and don't cross over easily. Anyway, if M$ tanked, life would really suck to not have that alternative.
    • Reading John Perry Barlow's extremely optimistic Wired article "Africa Rising" [wired.com] leads us to believe Africa may be able to leapfrog the whole wires-in-the-ground thing. That it will be suddenly a market so large that Microsoft not having its tentacles in it would cause serious economic concern for them is laughable. I hope for the best too, but I don't see that happening in the next ten years. This at least, coming from speaking with people who actually lived in Africa.

    • "Cellphones are more ubiquitous than PCs in Africa; they're already networked and Microsoft feels obligated to offer a realistic alternative to the $100 laptop which with ad-hoc mesh networking could make their entire closed-source software platform irrelevant to this part of the developing world."

      That seems to just about sum it up. The strategy has a few fatal flaws in it, though. I live in a Least Developed Country (according to the UN), and cell phones here are popular, but they cost about 50-75% of th

  • Power? (Score:5, Insightful)

    by a_greer2005 ( 863926 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:35AM (#14605818)
    Dont those in the third world need reliable power and healthcare before they worry about setting up a TV and cell phone to check their email?

    • Re:Power? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by albalbo ( 33890 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:42AM (#14605841) Homepage
      Many places in the "first world" don't have reliable healthcare.
    • Yes, but you are looking at this from a wrong point of view. It is not about developing the people and nations of the so called third world, it is all about making a profit. The MS CEO does not care whatsoever about those people (apart from a PR point of view), he only cares about what his own company can sell them and how to make more profit doing that.
      • Yes, I've said it before and I am saying it again, it is shameful how cheaply our public officials can be bought. When people are selling them things that the people they serve don't need, they should say no. These guys have caught on to a dream: give everyone a laptop and all will be well. The sheer folly of this argument is clear. In some areas, people work for less than a dollar a day. Which do you think will have a better chance of lifting them out of poverty: $100 to buy farmland, or a $100 laptop? Whi
    • Dont those in the third world need reliable power and healthcare before they worry about setting up a TV and cell phone to check their email?

      It's not that simple, things go hand in hand. Reliable power and modern healthcare depend on communication and IT infrastructure. And at this age, there's no point in installing telephone lines all over the place, like was done in the "1st world" earlier. It's better to go directly to mobile networks, since it's far cheaper. And there's no reason to limit oneself t

    • Re:Power? (Score:3, Insightful)

      by sliz3 ( 933049 )
      As a /.er who happens to be African (and live in Africa), posts like this really annoy me. What's with the stereotyping? I agree that there are areas that are in dire need of such ameneties, but that does not necessarily mean that there is no need for IT, and access to Information. Systems such as these would enable a large majority of children to grow up with access to IT and information. I feel that is far more important than power at home, for example, especially if u've lived ur whole life without it.
    • Nah. The problem with the healthcare often is that you can't _call_ the doctor/hospital in time, or get to a specialist.

      A major problem for the economic growth of people is lack of communications, rather than lack of food and water.

  • mmmmm Spam... (Score:3, Funny)

    by IndigoZenith ( 791590 ) <{ten.sdompotpal} {ta} {htinezogidni}> on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @06:35AM (#14605822) Homepage
    Something tells me my Email inbox is going to Skyrocket when this baby is released.

    There are thousands of rich Princes and Dignitaries in the Third world that need US bank accounts to transfer their 40 million into, I just hope I am one of the lucky ones to get their email!!

  • why? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by rakshat ( 950888 )
    What in the world will the poor people do with all the cellphone and $100 computers. How about giving them medical equipment, building schools and homes first and then giving them computers!
    • hmmm... the thought of life saving, critical medical equipment running on Windows is unlikely to change the way I might feel that they are 'poor' people.

    • Re:why? (Score:2)

      by cduffy ( 652 )
      Having computers will enable people to access information to educate themselves, and will allow them to establish communications necessary for a larger-scale economy (so that they can build their own infrastructure).

      Think of it as a "give a man a fish" situation.

      Medical equipment does nothing but increase the number of poor people. Schools are something, but people can teach anywhere, so long as they have knowledge to pass on and incentive to do so. Communications infrastructure, on the other hand -- that's
    • What in the world will the poor people do with all the cellphone and $100 computers.

      How about learning to build their own medical equipment, building schools and homes?

      "Give a man a fish..." yadah yadah.
  • One can carry around a $100 laptop computer. One cannot carry around a TV to attach to the cellphone.

  • Who needs those $100 tablets? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by subreality ( 157447 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @07:02AM (#14605895)
    Thanks, MS, for providing a nice refreshing dose of vaporware to make sure any competitor trying to do something innovative gets crushed.

  • Shameless (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Essef ( 12025 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @07:04AM (#14605901)
    Just what we need.. :

          - Primary school kids in developing countries with cellphone bills to pay
          - Pay a tax to MS instead of using that money to buy RAM/CPU etc.
          - Take a great idea and through some FUD slow down adoption (governments are
              primary takers on $100 laptop. This sort of FUD might sow enough
              doubt to make those governments think twice)

    When developing countries start to roll out cheap WiMax, VOIP will become the primary communications medium in developing countries. Cellular technology is on it's last legs.

    AFAIAC this is just shameless on MS's part.
  • I can see the submitter is a graduate of a US college.

  • Price? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by kappa ( 104316 )
    Most current smartphones are way more expensive than basic PCs and perform an order of magnitude worse. They become cheaper but the process is even faster for PCs. And what's more, smartphones lack the most expensive part -- usable display!

  • They are late (Score:3, Interesting)

    by protomala ( 551662 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @07:07AM (#14605913) Homepage
    Here in Brazil today it's hard to find young people who don't have a cellphone. There are some problems like closed and no standard and shared SMS system (you can't send SMS in MSN/ICQ because of that), slow GPRS, very small market for applications.. but still there are a huge market for mobiles, cards (most people here use pre-paid system with cards that star from R$ 20 - kind of 8 U$, it's cheaper than having to pay every month, you have 2 months to use a card), download of tunes/music, etc. Current numbers talk about more than 80 millions of people with cellphones, from a total popullation of (aprox) 185 million. And microsoft is basically out of this market, nokia is the big player with symbian, and other like motorola and siemens follow. This is computing for the masses, a simpler, cleaner one sure, but you can have email, use WAP or opera mini to read slashdot. Now if they could get better prices for GPRS (it's R$5 for each MB), once more powerfull phones, like the ones running linux, arrive, people could tell goodbye for their big computers and phone lines.
  • Why are these items just for 'developing' nations? I see this as a potential item for anyone who can't afford an expensive phone. Of course there will still be the high-end models, but for the masses there will always be a need for inexpensive tech.
  • They hope to use this product to steal a market for Windows CE to dominate and destroy Nicholas Negroponte's $100 free open-source powerd laptop concept before it can infect developing nations with the idea of non-Microsoft sofware.

  • Looks Purely Reactive -- but So What (Score:3, Insightful)

    by putko ( 753330 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @07:30AM (#14605977) Homepage Journal
    I see a lot of people remarking that this is some sort of me-too, reactive stuff.

    Well, I guess it is -- but you should get used to that. Microsoft's strength is that it is a great follower, not an innovator.

    They let the innovator (e.g. Negroponte) risk stuff, then they follow on, crushing competition due to their size and resources. They've done this with DOS/Windows/Word/Excel/Access and so on. Every product was a follower.

    They wait until they see someone else kicking ass with a product -- then they do their version, and slowly and gently, they push, push push their competitor out of the market. [Sort of the way the Han Chinese are moving into and dominating Xinjiang and Tibet - no massacres, just push, push push].

    Every thirdworld guy wants a phone. Even before you have a reliable source of electricity, you need your cellphone, if only to find out about crop prices. Clearly the phone is THE growth platform of the future.

    So if the get their stuff in the phone, they've got a few billion customers using windows -- and their company's future is secured.

    Someone at Microsoft probably thought of this before, but it probably only got approval from Billy recently.

    • Negroponte said he had "Fruitless Talks" however people close to the deal said that Microsoft offered Negroponte a open source version on Windows CE... FTA:

      According to several people familiar with the discussions, Microsoft had encouraged Mr. Negroponte to consider using the Windows CE version of its software, and Microsoft had been prepared to make an open-source version of the program available.

      Apple offered a free, although not open source version of their OS:

      Steven P. Jobs, Apple's chief exec

  • Microsoft misses the concept by a mile (Score:3, Interesting)

    by dyfet ( 154716 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @07:34AM (#14605988) Homepage
    I believe the idea of the $100 laptop was principally for school children and to support education. While it may be true that it can be made possible for one to hook up a cell phone to a tv and keyboard appliance and maybe get some very limited computing in the home or hut, nobody is going to drag their TV into the classroom! That is precisely why Negroponte chose to develop a $100 laptop, and not a $100 desktop, or $100 dockable phone.

    • Or for practical purposes - think something like eBay but for commodities. I need Rice, UI can bid for it but can only buy within 100Km. It saves going to a lot of markets.

      Really, markets in Africa are incredibly inefficient. One may have lots of tomatoes but no rice, you may to 30Km to get the one with Rice. Yep, you can do it also by phone, but digital services permit better and wider information transfer.

  • i'll take the $100 open linux powered laptop thank you very much.

    hmm an underpowered limited computer that plugs into a TV...wouldn't this be called WebTV 3?
  • As the companion article at CNet rightfully notes, Bill Gates is mostly launching this out of spite, not out of any well thought out product strategy. He is upset that Negroponte chose Linux over Windows CE for the device because of what that entails: If the device is successful in those countries participating, it will mean more orders for the laptop, further development to make it even cheaper and have even more clever features (the wind up handle is brilliant for those countries where electricity is not
  • I know everyone loves to hate on Microsoft's closed operating system, but the closed nature of cell phones and their networks is worse. What would the Internet be like if you could only use approved applications built into the computer on it? What if every email was $0.10?

    This might be a subversive way for MS to open up cell phones into more general purpose devices with more third party applications.

    If so, that would be interesting, and sad that they couldn't do that here.

    To look at it the other way -- is t
    • To look at it the other way -- is there a Linux powered phone that you can VNC into and write applications for (including programably accessing the phone, bluetooth and cell-based network connection)?

      While not Linux-powered, I seem to have no trouble writing software for my Palm Treo 650. Even with the one I bought from Verizon, who's pathetic attempts to disable the Bluetooth profiles for things like dial-up networking and OBEX file transfer are easily defeated. Other [blogspot.com] people [pdaapps.com] seem to have little trouble w
    • but the closed nature of cell phones and their networks is worse. What would the Internet be like if you could only use approved applications built into the computer on it? What if every email was $0.10?

      I thought that was really just a problem in the USA - I don't think any providers in the UK (or Europe for that matter) restrict what applications are available on phones, or do weird things to lock out phone functionality (other than locking a subsidized phone to a network, but even then that can be unlocke
  • I'm afraid that many people living in the land of plenty (Mr. Gates included) do not fully understand what's going on in undeveloped parts of the world. There's rather strange general opinion that the only difference between developed and underdeveloped (or poor) societies lies in the fact that developed ones use high technology while others don't. There're also tons of studies published on that, only few of them getting close to explain what's causing that difference. In my personal experience it's a) orga
  • Huge areas of the 2nd world use mobiles as the primary telecoms network.
    If you haven't already got copper (and it hasn't been dug up and sold) - you install a mobile network. Have you any idea how many magnitudes cheaper it is to stick in a few BTS, microwave them up than actually start laying copper, in trenches, to each house.
    Then there's the difficulty in getting your punters to pay - payg cards make that very easy.
    My point is mobiles are there and there to stay. 100 dollar laptop is great, but most p

  • Clippy Says (Score:4, Funny)

    by HangingChad ( 677530 ) on Tuesday January 31, 2006 @08:45AM (#14606252) Homepage
    It looks like you're a poor person in a developing nation. Would you like to:

    - Compose Nigerian banking spam?

    - Appeal to the UN for aid?

    - Let your country be used for a terrorist training center?

    - Sell your goat on eBay?

  • Lets forget for a minute that MS is the bad guy in this movie and think on this:

    1- In poor countries, a lot of people have cellphones. In Argentina, even the dogs has one (just kidding!, but people w/o landlines has cellphones, using pre-paid cards you can use it for less than u$4/month). So there is no need to buy anything (OK, a new cellphone, but is mostly subsidized by the telco).
    2- Cellphone CPUs are powerful than old "HOME computers", they even run JAVA.
    3- Due to power and TV requirement, this won't b
  • Maybe kiosk setups, file storage and personalization is stored in the phone. This way a inexpensive computer setups can be used by several people.
    Walk up to a kiosk insert phone, phone gets screened for viruses, you check your stuff do what you need to do.
    Each phone gets a certain time allotment.
    Kiosks designed to be cheap and give privacy.
    This way a old recycled PC and a phone cradle makes up 90% of the kiosk.
    The only thing the phone would need is the equivalent of a USB thumb drive.

    How about just giving t
  • ... only if it comes with an inbuilt censorship regime.
  • Computers transformed the world, not so much cell phones.

    This just shows how far BillyG is gone off base as far as computing is concerned. He no longer thinks that having a general purpose computer is good for that part of the world.

    Think how much your life as changed because of the the general purpose computer. Now think how much your life has changed because of the cell phone. Compare the two. Compare the two again, carefully.

    With general purpose computers, people can produce stuff, with cell phones

  • Recently there was a posting here of an article from Wired about what a wonderful philanthropist Bill Gates is. This article shows the true face of the man, and it is quite ugly. Instead of getting behind, or at least out of the way, of someone else's altruistic efforts, he tries to create FUD and undermine the effort. Why? Because they aren't playing HIS way with HIS toys.

    It takes an incredible amount of effort and hard work to overcome the huge obstacles required to get a project like Negroponte's off the
    • Your post is so lame I hardly know where to begin.

      Whatever you thing about MS and its business practices, the Gates Foundation has given away more money than any other charity in history.

      The man is giving away his PERSONAL WEALTH and ultimately, plans to give nearly all of it away.

      He's helping to eradicate diseases and poverty in a way that most nations and governments should be doing, but never quite seem to get around to.

      What have you done to help pal?

      Yeah, not much - just like me.

      Give the man some credit
  • They hope to use this product to bring computing to the masses in developing nations...

    So to be *formerly* developing nations.

  • The comments regarding televisions above are right on. Solutions should actually be solutions.

    But for goodness' sake, who thinks carrying around their relatively fragile PC is a good idea? I've dropped mine a few times without complete breakage over the seven years I've owned one (er, three) but I can't imagine a device of that form factor being relied upon for computing. Storage would absolutely need to be separate from the phone, regardless of whether it has removable flash; imagine carrying the only copy
  • "Here. Our new smart phone. Whaddya mean "Food & Clothes"? We'll see if we can add that in the next version..."

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