Microsoft MVP program…

Rumors that Microsoft was going to do away with their MVP program (essentially the equivalent of TeamSybase) have been put to rest. Actually, their program is just a bit bigger. There are 30 TeamSybase members, and there are something like 2,600 Microsoft MVPs. Part of what was haunting the MVP program is their recent rapid growth: 3 years ago there were only 600 MVPs.

The MVP program was patterned after TeamSybase (actually TeamPowersoft at the time). Microsoft hosted a meeting with a number of TeamPowersoft members shortly before they launched their program. Can't take too much credit though, TeamSybase was patterned after Borland's TeamB, which has been around quite a bit longer. One big difference with the MVP program is that the memberships are only good for one year, you have to keep being re-selected. TeamSybase (and TeamB) membership is continuous provided that you continue to meet program requirements. For a glimpse of the early days of the MVP program, you might check out the following article on one of the first MVP summits.

Further SmartPhone Adventures…

A while back I wrote about why I had switched from an iPAQ PocketPC to a Motorola SmartPhone, and how I was excited about the introduction of SmartPhone support in version 2.0 of PocketBuilder (formerly Pocket PowerBuilder). At the time, I was looking forward to upgrading from a Motorola MPx200 to an MPx220.

More bad news for the Palm OS…

but good news for PocketBuilder. A recently released study shows that the Microsoft OS has moved into the market share leading position for PDA, with 48.1 percent of worldwide shipments for new units. While Windows moved to 41.2 percent a year ago to 48.1 percent this year, the Palm OS moved from 46.9 percent down to 29.8 percent. This is during a time when the worldwide shipment of PDAs increased by 13.6 percent.

The article also notes that the SmartPhone market is increasing significantly faster than the PDA market, and that the current market leading OS in that space is Symbian. I expect that to change though, much as Microsoft has overtaken Palm in the PDA space. One of the few times you'll find me rooting for Microsoft....

More on the demise of the PDA…

More evidence of the shift from PDAs to the smartphone platform: Zelos Group and other take on the IDC report.

The SmartPhone boom may also be indicated by the renewed interest in that platform as a target for internet based apps. Yahoo has just introduced mobile versions of Yahoo Search and Yahoo Local, responding to Google's support for the mobile platform, particularly their recent introduction of Google SMS.

And as evidence of the growing support for the Windows Mobile platform for the smartphone, there are reports that palmOne may introduce a Pocket PC flavored Treo, which didn't do much to help out the share price of it's corporate sibling PalmSource.

While you may not have a decent keyboard on your smartphone, they do have a mouse for them now.

The down side is that if your phone is from Kyocera you might want to watch out for this. One more good reason to use a hands-free device: to keep you cell-phone from exploding in your ear.

Ok, I’ve been asleep at the switch…

Sybase released PocketBuilder 2.0 on Monday, I just noticed it today. Looks like they timed it to co-incide with the PocketPC Summit 2004 and CTIA Wireless I.T. & Entertainment 2004 conference. The product won't ship until the end of November though.

More on the shift from PDAs to SmartPhones

More recent articles on the market shift from PDAs to SmartPhones, including eWeek, The Inquirer and ComputerWeek. Of course, many of those new SmartPhones are Symbian based, but Microsoft and Motorola have indicated that they are working together to make Windows Mobile more dominant.

MobileStar Award

For all you PocketBuilder fans out there, you'll be pleased to hear that PocketBuilder 1.5 was recently awarded the Gold Star (the highest award) in the Developer Tool category by Mobile Village. The iAnyWhere subsidiary of Sybase also received Gold Star awards for SQL Anywhere Studio (Database Category), mBusiness Studio (Middleware), XcelleNet Afaria (Mobile Device Management) and Avantgo (Wireless Web Content Provider). This continues PocketBuilder recognition, which began with PocketBuilder 1.0's receipt of a Jolt Productivity Award from Software Magazine.

Things should really begin to get interesting when 2.0 comes out (RSN) with SmartPhone support. As WirelessNewsFactor recently noted, the PDA market has gone relatively flat largely because end-users are switching to SmartPhones instead.

I'm a convert. I've been using a Motorola MPx200 since February, and am planning on upgrading to the MPx220 when it becomes available (latest rumor is that my provider will announce on Nov 3rd).
Of course, if you must have a stylus, you might want to look at something like the MPX instead, which also has a small keyboard.