Last week, at D5, Steve Jobs mentioned that the combined AT&T/Apple will support some form of open application development for the iPhone later this year. The latest rumor is that the announcement of an iPhone SDK will come at the WWDC for Apple later this month. First, let me say that it (an open SDK) would just be a wonderful step in the evolution of the phone – so many folk would be attracted to it that I think we will see a tital wave of new applications in the first six months of launch. That said, I worry a bit about the rules of engagement on getting applications onto the phone. Steve Jobs mentioned the concept of iPhone “security” being a key concern about opening the iPhone platform up, and as he talked more on the topic, some of his choices of wording made me feel that he was not able to get AT&T fully across the line on a totally open platform. I wonder what terms of service, certification caveats, and bandwidth constraints may be implied to get your application in the carrier’s distribution channel. I don’t think all that will be revealed at the developer’s conference, but it is certainly something I will watch closely.
That said, as I think of all the attention about the iPhone’s potential as an open platform, I do wonder why nobody mentions the Microsoft-powered smartphone platform as a current shipping mechanism for “open” application distribution (which in my mind, is a legitimate claim). Is it some underlying flaw in the platform itself that prevents it from getting more credit as an open platform? Is it because it is pretty old news? Or is it because of the utilitarian UI it employs, which, while somewhat evolved, is the antithesis of the iPhone experience? That’s my view – sex does sell, and the iPhone is the epitome of mobile sex appeal. As a developer, when I see the form factor, the multi-touch input capabilities, and UI of the iPhone, I am really drawn to it as a great way to showcase my stuff. If Microsoft is to offset the momentum that the iPhone is generating, they need a change in the playbook.
There is the ongoing rumor of a phone project in Robbie Bach’s area (sometimes referred to as the “Zunephone”), which I think is a great organizational move by Microsoft. Keep the current Windows Mobile/Smartphone team on mission to evolve the current shipping platform, but make a more radical move to attempt a new integrated (hardware and software) experience to hedge your bets in the space. It took 3+years of iPod success before the tiger team for Zune got chartered. This time out, get going now, even if does mean spotting Apple a year lead. When Microsoft chose the Toshiba hardware as the platform to get Zune to the market, it showed a willingness to take a non-traditional approach. I think they get props for the approach, but in their hardware selection they way underestimated how much the physical form factor of a device matters in CE plays like this. I am not sure there is an analog yet in the mobile space that Microsoft could use to jumpstart their efforts (the LG Prada isn’t the answer here – it doesn’t match up well feature-wise against the R1.0 iPhone), but I do hope Microsoft accelerates its efforts here - it will help evolve carrier thinking tremendously. But at the end, as both Steve and Bill mentioned – both Apple and Microsoft view themsleves as software companies at their core, and it will take just as much or more effort by Microsoft to let go of the UI metaphor nutured by their teams over the last 6 years and innovate their software as it will to identify the right hardware platform.
We’re all well served by choice, and as a member of of the team that tore down one of the last walled gardens in my prior role, we learned that playing defense is never a winning playbook. An improved Microsoft offering, matched head to head with Apple, is a sorely needed catalyst to drive mobile software to its next level.
