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iWork For iCloud Beta Launches To Public
Apple today opened up access to its iCloud for iWork beta to the public, following a period of testing which has seen the service gradually becoming more broadly available. Initially, only developers had access, but in July, some non-developers began receiving invites. Now, any user with an Apple ID can test out iWork ahead of its official fall launch. To do so, just visit iCloud.com and sign in.
The launch of iWork for iCloud is a major step for Apple, which is now preparing to compete against Google and Microsoft in cloud applications, in addition to on the desktop and mobile (via the iOS versions of iWork). The company first announced iWork for iCloud at this year’s WWDC event in June, noting then that the iCloud-enabled suite would include support for previously native-only apps Numbers (spreadsheets), Pages (word processing), and Keynote (presentations).
As with Microsoft Office’s 365, the idea with iWork is to combine the best of both worlds – native and cloud applications – into one package. This move will help Apple compete in the enterprise, where employees often use a combination of devices, including desktop and laptop computers, as well as smartphones and tablets.
The iWork for iCloud apps support Safari 6.0.3 or later, Chrome 27.0.1 or later, and Internet Explorer 9.0.8 or later, on both Macs and PCs. Users can create their documents via the web, then they are automatically synced to other Apple devices, including iPads and iPhones.
What isn’t yet clear is if iWork for iCloud will be free to use online, or if access to the service will somehow be bundled in with the three iOS apps which currently sell for $30. However, during this beta trial period the apps are free to try out by anyone.
Apple is preparing to announce a new iPhone on September 10, so we expect we’ll hear some more about iWork for iCloud then.
Steve Ballmer To Retire As Microsoft CEO Within 12 Months
In a surprising move today, Microsoft just announced that long-time CEO Steve Ballmer will retire in the coming 12 months. He will stay at the helm of the company until a special committee appoints a new CEO.
“There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time,” Ballmer said in the company’s press release. “We have embarked on a new strategy with a new organization and we have an amazing Senior Leadership Team. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our company’s transformation to a devices and services company. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction.”
On July 11, Microsoft announced a major reorganization to focus more on hardware. Ballmer signaled this change after firing Steve Sinofsky. At the time, he said that it was “imperative that we continue to drive alignment across all Microsoft teams, and have more integrated and rapid development cycles for our offerings.”
Instead of separating the company into multiple divisions (Windows, Office, Entertainment, Online…), Microsoft is now divided into functions to serve a single purpose (Operating systems, Devices, Apps and services…), very much like Apple.
That’s why today’s news is even more surprising after Ballmer achieved such a big change for Microsoft. If his successor doesn’t like the ‘One Microsoft’ vision, he or she will have to do another reorganization.
Even before Steve Ballmer’s retirement, commenters talked about a potential CEO for Microsoft. While he was fired recently, Steven Sinofsky was one of the most powerful executives at Microsoft and many regarded him as a Ballmer successor. Julie Larson-Green is another candidate. Microsoft has chosen to announce that Ballmer is on his way out before appointing a new CEO, which may indicate that his departure might come sooner than expected. The newly appointed special committee probably doesn’t have a name for the next CEO yet.
Steve Ballmer became Microsoft CEO after co-founder Bill Gates retired in January 2000. Since then, the company has been very successful with products like Windows XP or the Xbox 360. On the other hand, it has developed controversial products as well, such as Windows Vista, the Kin, the Zune and more recently the Surface RT. He’s also famous for his “Developers, developers, developers” rally cry.
Over the past 10 years, Microsoft shares have been mostly flat, while other companies such as Google, Apple or Amazon have soared on the stock market. Shares are currently trading up 9 percent in pre-market hours.
Steve Ballmer wrote the following memo (emphasis ours):
I am writing to let you know that I will retire as CEO of Microsoft within the next 12 months, after a successor is chosen. There is never a perfect time for this type of transition, but now is the right time. My original thoughts on timing would have had my retirement happen in the middle of our transformation to a devices and services company focused on empowering customers in the activities they value most. We need a CEO who will be here longer term for this new direction. You can read the press release on Microsoft News Center.
This is a time of important transformation for Microsoft. Our new Senior Leadership team is amazing. The strategy we have generated is first class. Our new organization, which is centered on functions and engineering areas, is right for the opportunities and challenges ahead.
Microsoft is an amazing place. I love this company. I love the way we helped invent and popularize computing and the PC. I love the bigness and boldness of our bets. I love our people and their talent and our willingness to accept and embrace their range of capabilities, including their quirks. I love the way we embrace and work with other companies to change the world and succeed together. I love the breadth and diversity of our customers, from consumer to enterprise, across industries, countries, and people of all backgrounds and age groups.
I am proud of what we have achieved. We have grown from $7.5 million to nearly $78 billion since I joined Microsoft, and we have grown from employing just over 30 people to almost 100,000. I feel good about playing a role in that success and having committed 100 percent emotionally all the way. We have more than 1 billion users and earn a great profit for our shareholders. We have delivered more profit and cash return to shareholders than virtually any other company in history.
I am excited by our mission of empowering the world and believe in our future success. I cherish my Microsoft ownership, and look forward to continuing as one of Microsoft’s largest owners.
This is an emotional and difficult thing for me to do. I take this step in the best interests of the company I love; it is the thing outside of my family and closest friends that matters to me most.
Microsoft has all its best days ahead. Know you are part of the best team in the industry and have the right technology assets. We cannot and will not miss a beat in these transitions. I am focused and driving hard and know I can count on all of you to do the same. Let’s do ourselves proud.
Steve
Philippines Telco Rolls Up Six Messaging Apps - Including Facebook Messenger & WhatsApp - Into One Unlimited Access Data Bundle
The rise and rise of mobile messaging apps is being fuelled by a variety of factors (cost, convenience, the virality of the network effect, stickers… the list goes on). But in emerging economies an increasing number of carrier tie-ins are also helping WhatsApp and co. to continue ‘killing it’. Such tie-ins typically involve the carrier selling bundles of unlimited access to a messaging services for a set fee — such as this WhatsApp bundle offered by Airtel in Nigeria. In exchange for waiving data costs for the service, telcos get to attract more customers by piggybacking on the popularity of WhatsApp (et al), and drive a new messaging-related revenue stream to replace their declining SMS revenues.
It’s a partnership that many carriers used to exclusively have with BlackBerry. But as BlackBerry’s popularity continues to decline, and alternative mobile messaging platforms have emerged and grown fat with users, there’s no sensible reason for carriers not to diversify these free messaging bundles and get into bed with even more players. And today Philippines carrier Globe Telecom is doing just that. The telco has announced it’s extending a previous bundle it began offering last July, of free access to Viber, to include five more messaging services: Facebook Messenger, Kakao Talk, WhatsApp, WeChat and Line.
The Globe Prepaid GoUNLI30 offer will let customers pay 30 peso ($0.70) to buy one day’s free access to all six OTT players, plus unlimited texts to all networks, and unlimited calls to other Globe/Touch Mobile users.
All of the OTT services included in the Globe bundle have multiple millions of users apiece — Globe refers to them collectively as “major OTT players” — with Facebook Messenger the relative runt of the group, with around 60 million global downloads, vs kingpin WeChat’s 300 million registered users. (Active monthly usage is a more interesting metric for messaging apps, albeit not one they all report. For an idea of the top of the market, WeChat recently reported its MAU as 190 million.)
What’s especially interesting here is that Globe claims it’s “practically unheard of” for a telco to partner with multiple OTT companies. Indeed, go back a few years and carriers were frequently attempting to block OTT services like Skype, rather than encourage usage. A lot has changed since 2009, however. The success of so many mobile messaging apps in building huge user-bases for one vs carriers’ collectively failure to create popular OTT messaging services of their own. And, from the carrier business point of view, ongoing declines in traditional voice and text revenues necessitating a new approach to data-centric business models.
Messaging startups are increasingly looking like the missing piece of the puzzle in emerging markets. So it seems unlikely that the Globe partnership will remain a multiple OTT outlier for long — which is certainly good news for “major OTT players” who can expect to see their user-bases bolstered by such partnerships. It may also be helpful for local messaging startups in these markets, provided they are able to accrue enough users to get their service on carriers’ radars.
Globe, which reported a total mobile subscriber base of 36.1 million at the end of the first half of this year, told TechCrunch it will be looking for more OTT players to partner with in future — based on what its users are asking for. In other words: if you can build it and make the users come, carriers might come knocking too.
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