Thurrott Daily: October 5, 2015

Here’s what’s happening today.

10/5/2015 12:29:29 PM

Fitbit app works on Windows 10 Mobile now

You gotta give up a round of applause for Fitbit, which announced today that its Fitbit app for Windows 10 now works on Windows 10 Mobile too. It provides a nice live tile, supports Cortana, and integrates with Notification Center. What’s not to like?

10/5/2015 9:03:36 AM

Watch tomorrow’s Microsoft hardware event live

From Microsoft: On Tuesday, October 6, at 10 A.M. ET, we will reveal exciting news about Windows 10 devices. Watch it live online or on your Xbox.

10/5/2015 8:18:51 AM

The relevance of Windows to the personal computing market

I tweeted this over the weekend, but Benedict Evans has tweeted a fascinating chart showing how Windows has gone from absolute dominance of the personal computing market to near-irrelevance since the release of the iPhone. Why? Because most people perform personal computing tasks on phones (and to a much lesser degree, tablets) than they do on the traditional PCs where Windows still dominates.

Related: Windows slips to third place on Gartner’s latest device forecast.

Soon, you will be able to remap your Xbox One controller’s buttons

Responding to a question on Twitter over the weekend, Microsoft’s Mike Ybarra wrote that Xbox One controller button remapping—which is a feature of the upcoming Elite controller—will be coming soon to all controllers. That is literally all we know right now.

Apple is cult, but it wants to be a religion

Apple’s biggest fans, not to mention its leadership, are busy turning the cult into a religion. And the way you do that is to canonize co-founder and savior Steve Jobs while attacking anyone who tries to suggest that he was anything other than perfect. (When in fact, he was an asshole.) The Wall Street Journal offers up the latest example of this in a story around the Steve Jobs movie called Apple Co-Founder’s Allies Take Aim at Hollywood Over ‘Steve Jobs’. In this case, Steve Jobs’ widow “repeatedly tried to kill the film” because it accurately portrays Jobs as “cruel and inhumane” and an ex-Apple execute complains that “a whole generation is going to think of [Jobs] in a different way if they see a movie that depicts him in a negative way.” The irony? The movie is based on Jobs’ official biography. Look, Steve Jobs made great products. But ultimately Steve Jobs just made great products.

Followup: Tim Cook marks anniversary of Steve Jobs’s death, remembers a leader, mentor, and ‘dear friend’

On Microsoft’s lowered expectations for phones

Apparently, it’s July again because the Wall Street Journal is drumming up old news in Microsoft Lowers Its Expectations for Phones. For more timely discussions on this topic, I wrote about this in Analysis: Microsoft is Scaling Back on Windows Phone Dramatically and This is How Microsoft Can Find Its Smart Phone Niche, from back in July. But does the WSJ offer anything new to this story?

No. But to reiterate a few pertinent bits using the WSJ’s words:

Windows phones are a niche business. “This year, about three out of every 100 smartphones sold will run Windows … Apple Inc.’s iPhones and smartphones powered by Alphabet Inc.’s Android software together comprise the other 97%.” (Mostly Android, but the WSJ loves to over-emphasize Apple.)

Reduced expectations. “Microsoft no longer is gunning for the mass market, but grabbing for niches such as businesses, where the company hopes its smart phones will have a competitive advantage.”

Promises broken. “Two years ago, when Microsoft plunged into the smartphone-handset business with an agreement to buy Nokia Corp.’s mobile-phone operation, Microsoft said it would own a 15% smartphone market share by 2018. The company has dropped that ambition.”

Money loser. “Microsoft’s phone operation lost 12 cents for each smartphone sold in the three months ended June 30, on average.”

Microsoft has conceded defeat. “In July, Microsoft effectively conceded failure by wiping away about 80% of the value of the $9.4 billion Nokia deal and announcing plans to cut nearly 8,000 workers, mostly in its mobile-phone operation.”

Plan B. “Microsoft is working on Plan B: making sure its software can succeed even if Windows smartphones don’t. Mr. Nadella has stepped up efforts to make or improve iPhone and Android versions of software such as Microsoft Office, the Cortana digital assistant similar to Siri, and the Skype video-calling service.”

Weird. It’s like I wrote all this already.