In the unified communications world, Microsoft has been on a hot streak as of late and it doesn’t seem to be ending anytime soon. Its most recent acquisition of Nortel patents plays well with the roll out of Lync, partnership with Polycom and Skype purchase, which entrenches Microsoft as a major player in the enterprise communications field. And with Wednesday’s unveiling of the first Mango phone in Japan expect to witness more of Microsoft’s three-fold plan for UC dominance.
Wired has a great article about the Microsoft you don’t know, chronicling Mighty Microsoft, New Microsoft & Secret Microsoft and suggesting that the Redmon based company is getting much more interesting. Even while the sale of flagship products has remained flat, and the economy has been hounded by a debt-crunch, Microsoft found a way to increase its Q4 profits to $6 billion – up 30% from the same period in 2010.
While the Guinness Book of World Records calls Kinect the fastest selling consumer electronics device ever, surpassing 10 million units sold in March, the full potentials of this technology have yet to be realized. Experts from Redmond Mag are asking if businesses will adopt Kinect for teleconferencing, while doctors are utilizing the unique features of the system to facilitate quicker and safer operations. Even famed guru Deepak Chopra is getting in on the action, preparing to release Leela, a game hoping to incorporate a little bit of ‘stillness-meditation’ into the fast paced lives of gamers everywhere.
Just how Microsoft plans to incorporate all of its products into one unified technological steam remains to be seen, but if the recent announcement of Windows 8 sheds any light, Microsoft hopes to have Windows in your work, windows on your phone and windows in your home by years end. Only time will tell how these technologies will fuse together with Microsoft Exchange archiving.