SoftwareShift

IPhone and IFund

Last week was all about Apple. It captured the interest of the entire tech blogosphere with the announcements of the IPhone SDK and the IPhone integration with MS-Exchange. And on top of that, Kleiner Perkins launched a new $100 million fund to finance IPhone application development.

First, I commend Apple for turning the IPhone into a (profitable) platform by providing an SDK. There are going to be tons of developers who are going to jump all over this.

Secondly, the Exchange integration is brilliant. This will allow business users to take a serious look at the IPhone (However, as a blackberry user, I'm not sold on the soft keyboard). However, I wonder how MS feels about this. I think this helps the position of Exchange (and by extension the server OS) but opening up the business crowd to another competitor besides RIM can't be good for Windows Mobile (or Windows Mobile developers).

Now, the IFund. Assuming that Kleiner expects a 10x return, is there $1 billion worth of opportunity in IPhone apps in the near term? I'm not sure about this. Apple is going to provide "official" support to Kleiner which, I'm sure, will help exit valuations but how much revenue can a developer with a single app contribute? Look for aggregation and/or consolidation plays here.   

Why Apple Will Dominate Next Gen Computing - readwriteweb.com
iPhone Exchange Support; Did Microsoft Make a Mistake? - readwriteweb.com
Apple Opens iPhone But Key Restrictions Remain - wired.com
Apple Targeting Business World for the iPhone - slashdot.org
Apple and Kleiner Perkins launching $100 million iFund for iPhone Developers - valleywag.com
iPhone SDK Limitation: Only One User-Made App Running Concurrently, No Background Processes - gizmodo.com
iPhone SDK Available Today for Free, $99 to Publish Your Apps - gizmodo.com

Here's an interesting development:

Sun to Bring Java to the iPhone via the SDK - gizmodo.com

Or maybe not: Sun dreams the impossible Java on Jesus Phone dream - theregister.co.uk

Closed Platforms and the IPhone

I finally got to touch an IPhone a few days ago and it's definitely a very cool device. I'm even considering it as option when my wireless contract ends in September. However, after using it for a little while, I think Apple made two mistakes.

The first is the lack of qwerty keyboard. For this reason alone, it will never displace the Blackberry in the business market or the Sidekick in the younger instant messaging crowd.

The second mistake is the lack of an open SDK. I understand the desire to not give users the ability to break their own phones but allowing approved developers to build 3rd-party applications would have made sense. Apple could have exerted some influence over all 3rd-party efforts. But, they chose a different route and tried to control consumer and developer usage by keeping the platform closed. Unfortunately for Apple, that strategy quickly failed. IPhone hacks began to appear days after the official market release.

It's amazing that companies still believe they can control usage via a closed platform. Computer Security 101 tells us:  Security by obscurity never works.  Apple should have provided a way for developers to interact with the IPhone. It would have allowed Apple to participate and interact with the development community. Now, trying to rein in those 3rd-party efforts in is going to be very difficult. I wouldn't be surprised to see lawsuits from Apple.

Anyway, I wonder what the first solid 3rd-party application will be...

Phone Can Now Serve Web Pages, Run Python, Open Source Apps - gizmodo.com

Crashed iPhone in Single-User Mode Shows Need for Changes at Apple - gizmodo.com

By the way, the first Open Phone Platform:

openmoko - openmoko.com

Facebook and Microsoft Follow-Ups

Here are a few follow-ups to recent posts about Facebook and Microsoft:

How Open Is Facebook, Really? - readwriteweb.com

Bay Partners Launches Facebook-Apps-Only Fund - techcrunch.com

Analyzing the Facebook Platform, three weeks in - blog.pmarca.com

And MS:

When Microsoft Met GPLv3 - groklaw.net via slashdot.com

Microsoft, Linux, Patents and FUD

MS is now claiming that Linux violates hundreds of their patents.

I'm not quite sure what to make of this one. I wanted to immediately dismiss this as typical MS FUD but I'm not sure it should be quickly dismissed considering the publicity the Linux community has gotten over the last year. First it was the end of the SCO litigation, the unpopular Novell deal, the growing popularity of Mozilla products and Open Office, the proven usefulness of the LAMP software stack, and now Dell is selling preloaded Ubuntu. Personally, I'm not sure MS knows what to do about all this and so it is trying to buy some time to figure something out by doing some loud hand-waving.

The other possibility is that they are attempting to "scare people straight." They can use their weight to keep people from even considering other alternatives. As long as they keep the perceived risk of moving to Linux high, people will be very reluctant to explore the world of Linux.

More commentary below:

Linus Responds To Microsoft Patent Claims - via slashdot

Microsoft's anti-Linux patent claims: Arm-twisting for Novell-like deals - searchenterpriselinux.com

Is Linux Infringing Microsoft Patents? - oslawblog.com

Microsoft too busy to name Linux patents - theregister.co.uk

Linux Foundation Prepares For Microsoft's Legal Action - informationweek.com

Author of Linux Patent Study Says Ballmer Got It Wrong - eweek.com

Microsoft reignites its war on Linux - linux-watch.com

Sue me first, Microsoft - digitaltippingpoint.com

Microsoft is not the real threat - markshuttleworth.com

Linux Foundation Fires Back at Microsoft - businessweek.com

MySQL IPO

Here's one that may have slipped under your radar. MySQL is planning to go public. Specifically, Marten Mickos wants to be able to go public by the end of this year. This is a definitely a milestone for the company and for open source in general.

Unfortunately, for MySQL, the motivation for the IPO is probably to provide a return to the VC's rather than a need for an influx capital to grow. Mickos' even states that they have only burned through half of the raised VC investments. Personally, I would like them to gain more inroads against oracle and MS before going public. MySQL is a great product but I don't believe that they are at the tipping point of becoming the 3rd and equal player in the enterprise database arena.

BTW, read the slashdot commentary. Mickos posted a comment.

MySQL prepares for IPO and reveals Oracle endorsement - businessreviewonline.com via slashdot

MySQL set to join the open source IPO club - businessreviewonline.com

Sun and KKR

I wonder where this one is going. It was announced last week that KKR was going to invest $700 million in the form of convertible bonds. What is interesting about this is that Sun doesn't need the money. According to Jonathan Schwartz's blog (more CEO's should blog, by the way), Sun has $4bn in cash. So why? Who solicited who? Why is KKR interested in Sun? How does Sun plan to leverage the relationship? There will now be a KKR employee on Sun's board.

There is speculation going on all over the internet. And this could be just for the money on both sides but the underlying circumstances indicate something else. I wonder if Sun is going to try to reposition itself as a different company by leveraging KKR's buyout knowledge to acquire other companies.

The Quarter, KKR, etc. - Jonathan Schwartz's Blog

Barbarians on a Leash - redherring.com

Software Wars

This amused me. However, not sure if MS is still at the center...

A map depicting the epic struggle of Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) against the Empire of Microsoft. - mshiltonj.com

Microsoft FUD

I'm sure all of the readers here have been keeping up with the recent uproar caused by Microsoft in the past week. Interestingly, people from the Open Source, Free Software and Linux communities have all voiced their concerns about Ballmer's (MS CEO) statements and the Novell/Microsoft deal.

Now, Novell stepped up and refuted Ballmer's statements. This was a good move to try to prevent the alienation of the Linux community. Though, I wonder how much this is going to fix.

But, when the rhetoric finally ceases, there are going to be some interesting changes within the Linux community. This is just the beginning.

Novell counters community, Microsoft FUD - linux-watch.com

Redhat Continued...Microsoft/Novell Deal

As mentioned in the previous post, Redhat has gotten a substantial amount of attention lately. This time it's a deal between MS and Novell to collaborate on interoperability. Though, I'm not sure what MS's motivation is here, but Novell definitely benefits by getting official support for its .NET interpreter and direct MS endorsement.

Redhat has obviously downplayed the deal but I think Redhat knows that the Linux vendor landscape has changed since Novell is probably Redhat's largest direct competitor. I think that it's going to get very interesting for the major Linux vendors/supporters for the next 2-3 years.

UPDATE - Interestingly enough, the Samba Team is not thrilled about the idea. I wonder if Novell will lose support over this.

Microsoft and Novell Enter Landmark Linux Partnership

Microsoft's Amazing Shift on Linux

Red Hat downplays Novell/Microsoft deal

Samba Team Asks Novell to Reconsider

Redhat and Oracle's Linux Fork

Redhat has gotten quite a bit of media attention lately. This is due to Oracle's offering of an OS based on Redhat linux and Microsoft's deal with Novell. This is going to be an interesting time for the linux community since Redhat is the most popular distro.

Focusing on Oracle's move, this is not that big of a deal for Redhat and its distribution of linux. This is primarily Oracle's doing since they plan to due their own bug fixes and not contribute them back into kernel development. Essentially, they are going to end up creating their own proprietary distro. So, they will take some customers that rely on Oracle but this move will expand the adoption of linux. Plus, I'm not sure if Oracle is up to the task of maintaining their own distro. And failure here will expand the market and then send customers back to Redhat.

UPDATE - Interestingly enough, the Samba Team is not thrilled about the idea. I wonder if Novell will lose support over this.

How Red Hat Lost Friends And Gained New Enemies - informationweek.com

Can Red Hat Survive? - via slashdot

Will Open Source Vendors Be Priced Out? - linuxinsider.com