Microsoft New Zealand managing director, Paul Muckleston, has used his keynote speech at the Dynamics Day conference, hosted by development and distribution partner Intergen, to offer attendees a look into the technology giant’s crystal ball.
Among the brands to keep an eye on are Microsoft’s smartphone operating system, Windows Phone, its search engine, Bing, and its gaming input device, Kinect, Muckleston says.
"Windows Phone has until now filled a boutique position in the market, with around 5% market share,” Muckleston says.
"We’ve had great reviews across the board, and partnering with Nokia, which still ships the most mobile phones out of any company in the world, we expect this to really grow.
"We think when this happens it’s going to make things really tough for Blackberry and for HP’s webOS, because the developers are only going to be interested in the top brands.
"In the search space, with Bing integrating with Yahoo we now provide a clear second choice for advertisers.
"When you’re the underdog you can try new things, and we’re looking at things like working with Facebook to influence searches so that things your friends have liked come further up the search results.
"We’re also looking at new applications for the Kinect product, beyond the gaming sector.
"For example, we’ve done a trial in mines, where people who used to have to spend fifteen minutes decontaminating can now input data using a touch-free system. We’re looking at implementing the same thing in hospital operating theatres.
Muckleston says Microsoft’s current worldwide customer base is around 1.3 billion.
"We were also recently confirmed with a triple-A credit rating by Standard & Poors,” Muckleston added, referring to the analysts’ recent downgrade of the credit rating of the United States.
Muckleston also took a moment to thank the representatives of Intergen, who attended the event in force.
"I can’t think of another industry function where so many of the distributor’s employees are present. It’s a real sign of Intergen’s commitment to its customers.”