Thurrott Daily: January 30

Good morning. Thurrott Daily: January 29

1/30/2016 9:53:11 AM

How to take good news and just make it sour

I’m pretty impressed with how the mainstream press has reported on Microsoft’s quarterly earnings given the pro-Apple bias you usually see in such quarters. But then I saw this little piece of crap headline: Microsoft Boosts the Dow (For Once).

The go-nowhere stock is actually going somewhere—and it’s having an impact.

Microsoft’s stock recently traded up 4.5% Friday to $54.41, with the so-called “old tech” company adding 16 points to the Dow Jones Industrial Average … The rally is notable for several reasons … Microsoft’s stock went through a decade-plus malaise, moving very little, which led market watchers to dub it a go-nowhere stock.

From 2001 through early 2013, the stock was basically unchanged, hovering around $29 a share. In the past three years shares have risen, now sitting 9.3% from their 1999 record.

Microsoft celebrates the first anniversary of Outlook on Android and iOS

As I’ve written previously, I’m a huge fan of Outlook on Android and iOS, and in fact think it’s a better app than the Outlook apps in Windows 10 (for PC or mobile).Today, the apps—which came to Microsoft in the Accompli acquisition—have just passed their first anniversary.

It has been an exciting journey for all of us on the Microsoft Outlook team since launching Outlook apps for iOS and Android exactly one year ago today. We’ve been humbled by the response from the more than 30 million people actively using our app and thrilled that Outlook remains one of the Top 10 Best Productivity Apps in the App Store with a 4+ star rating.

However, we’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible. This past year laid the foundation for great new features and partnerships coming in 2016 to help you get more done on the go—even on the smallest screen.

This is all just the beginning. We’re delivering new features and improvements each week. Let us know what you want to see and vote on future feature ideas right within Outlook by going to Settings > Suggest a Feature.

“Soon Facebook users can react with ‘yay,’ ‘sad,’ ‘haha’ or more”

It doesn’t take a team of researchers to figure out that only having a “Like” button is a good idea. Unless you’re Facebook, apparently.

After four months of testing outside the U.S., Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg says that “pretty soon” six new emotions will be added to the social network throughout the world.

The new reactions will include symbols for angry, sad, wow, haha, yay and love.

My reaction? Duh. Maybe they’ll add that one in 2027.

“Apple could bring long-distance wireless charging to iPhone, iPad as soon as 2017”

You just never know. But here’s what I do know. Today, you need a cable.

Apple as the new Microsoft

Yes, these comparisons are never exact. But in the same way that Android is in many ways the new Windows, Apple is likewise in many ways the new Microsoft. Case in point, this story:

Apple recently acquired an augmented reality start-up called Flyby Media and hired Doug Bowman, who ran the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech and who has researched topics such as immersion in virtual environments.

An Apple spokesman confirmed the Flyby deal and said, “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”

In a phone call with analysts to discuss Apple’s most recent quarterly results, the company’s chief executive, Timothy D. Cook, was asked about virtual reality. He said he thought the technology was more than a niche.

“It’s really cool,” Mr. Cook said. “It has some interesting applications.”

When Microsoft controlled the personal technology industry, it often formalized new areas of expansion simply by expressing interest in a market. And the would-be competition—in many cases the companies that pioneered in that very market—would simply skulk away, knowing that Microsoft would destroy its chances.

Today, things are obviously different, and there are two established tech giants (Google, Facebook/Oculus Rift) doing big work in VR specifically. But Apple’s impact here is much like Microsoft’s in that, by entering VR, it has in effect formalized the market. That is, before today, there was a question mark around VR and its future. Today, we simply accept that it is a thing, and a real market. All it took was Apple to express interest.