Microsoft Takes Aim at Google with new Smartphone Part II
The biggest news in the telecom world recently is that Microsoft http://www.microsoft.com/ has introduced a new smartphone to compete with the new Google http://www.google.com/ phones powered by the android operating system like the Nexus One Phone. The best way to get a true review of the Nexus Phone is to go to http://www.google.com/phone and click on the YouTube http://www.youtube.com/ video link on the page to see a demonstration of the phone which is powered by the android operating system. We are currently also investigating the technical specifications link of the Nexus One Phone, along with investigating the new Windows 7 smartphones by Microsoft. Do not worry RIM we will review the latest & greatest Blackberries in our next blog. In our opinion, Microsoft has an advantage in the application software area of smartphones because of a battle it won during the PC wars of the 1980s-90s. The current smartphone market is similar to the PC market in the 1980s-1990s where you had a battle of operating systems on PCs, except with the smartphones the leaders are Nokia, Google, Apple's IPhone, RIM (the blackberry), Palm and Microsoft. During those battles Microsoft won the business office application software battle with Microsoft Office displacing WordPerfect on the PC and MacWrite on Apple Computers. Microsoft's software position is under assault by the Itunes software model of distributing software to smartphones, but the Microsoft Office 2010 office suite is on the way and is currently in beta testing and we are helping with that test. Keep reading and stay tuned, we will keep you posted on this battle with a review of Microsoft's smartphones running Windows 7, and some Android basics in our next blog. Now on to our next topic...
Toyota's Troubles & GM News along with upcoming Auto Shows
Bob Lutz the former GM http://www.gm.com/ Product Guru once commented that GM had caught up with foreign car companies like Toyota but it would take time for the perceptions' of U.S. car customers to catch up with that fact. It turns out he was right when it come to Toyota http://www.toyota.com/ but this fact was covered up by a media bias against the big 3. An excellent story documenting this fact can be read in DBusiness a Detroit based business magazine. For more info on this story e-mail Mr. R.J. King the editor of DBusiness at rjking@dbusiness.com. The point being because of lax regulation by the National Highway Safety Traffic Association and excellent PR by Toyota people were not aware of problems with the Toyota Prius and other cars by Toyota until they were recently brought to light by a YouTube video of "Steve Wozniak aka The Woz" talking about his Toyota Prius speeding out of control http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u44XjkWgFac and other incidents. Steve Wozniak is the co-creator of the Apple computer with Steve Jobs.
In our opinion, the Toyota Prius problem will turn out to be a computer software/hardware problem, combined with the increased use of consumer electronics in cars like smartphones & Ipods. Just for example, if you are using a computer at home and then start talking on your cell phone, there will be static on your cell phone if you come near your computer (both computers and cell phones are regulated by Federal Communication Commission). This problem with Toyota car quality also represents a change in culture for Toyota. Toyota caught up with the U.S. in car making excellence in the 1970s-80s by using the quality control methods of a U.S. statistician Edward Demming; who helped Toyota to create a quality control engineering culture at Toyota factories and in the executive suite. When Toyota made it a goal in the 1990s- 2004 to surpass GM in sales that represented a shift in culture from a quality control engineering culture to a sales culture at Toyota. This combined with Toyota's Just In Time Inventory system (JIT) to give Toyota an edge. Former GM CEO Jack Smith brought the JIT system to GM after his experience at the NUMMI plant in California, jointly managed by Toyota & GM until recently.
To solve this problem with their cars Toyota has to first admit the problem, not blame the victims here in the U.S. or elsewhere. Second, their engineers need to do engineering root analysis by quantifying the problems where there were accidents or near accidents where the victims are credible with safe driving records and find out the commonalties statistically when there were accidents to try to spot trends like were victims on cell phones/texting, was it hot, and other common factors in the crashes or near crashes. They also need to analyze all the software code in the Toyota Prius line by line and other cars for software bugs. Our condolences go out to the victims of these accidents; these problems show the perils of the increased use of software and processors in cars, and how stringent software testing is needed when software controls or helps to control key car parts like the brakes.
GM News
Ed Whiteacre is a fine engineer and a great executive and I am sure he will set the ship right at GM. However, we in Detroit need to acknowledge the end of an era with the departure of first G. Rick Wagoner former CEO of GM, and more recently Robert (Bob) Lutz Product Guru at GM. Though they are older, they represent what our children must be trained to be in the competitive job market of today & tomorrow; highly skilled, multi-lingual executives at home in foreign cultures. Unknown to many, Rick Wagoner worked in Brazil (GM de Brasil) at GM before becoming the CEO, knows Spanish, and was quite content in Brazil (Brasil) before being chosen to become CEO and later Chairman at GM by Jack Smith the former CEO of GM. Bob Lutz is fluent in German and English and has worked at first GM then BMW, Ford, Chrysler, and as CEO of Exide a battery company. Rick Wagoner took the risk of recruiting an older executive, Lutz. The risk paid off with GM winning product awards with the Chevy Impala, and the Saturn Aura. Wagoner also took the risk of raising health care as a competitive issue for U.S. industry during the 2004 Presidential election, and later took the risk of leading the big 3 to Washington D.C. to ask for help for GM, Ford, and Chrysler. GM was also a good corporate citizen in Detroit under Wagoner, finally revitalizing the riverfront with the River Walk project so that citizens of the City of Detroit http://www.detroitmi.gov/ and the rest of Michigan can enjoy the riverfront with our neighbor, the City of Windsor http://www.citywindsor.ca/ Canada. They did not finish the job, but they laid a strong foundation and left excellent products for Big Ed Whiteacre to take GM to the next level like the release of the Chevy Volt, and more fully integrate telematics (Ed's & board member Pat Russo's speciality) into the automobile of the future. Here's to Rick and Bob and may they soon be recognized for their contributions though the baton has been passed to Big Ed. Speaking of GM being a good corporate citizen 2 GM employees helped kids from Detroit place first in the U.S. in a robotics contest; e-mail info@DetroitAutoScene.com for details on this story.
Auto Show News & Reviews
The Geneva Switzerland Auto Show that started on March 4th and ended on the 14th home page is at http://www.salon-auto.ch/en/, and is where Mr. Lutz announced his retirement. the New York International Auto Show is coming up on April 2nd - 11th for more info go to http://www.autoshowny.com/. Mr. Winston Shines is a Consultant for Maximillian Bryan & Marcell Technologies Internationale LLC, he has written for Baseline magazine http://www.baselinemag.com/, and has written the book Training Today's Youth for Tomorrow's Technology. For more info go to http://www.mbmtinternationale.com/.
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