Why Microsoft is the coolest innovator of the year
It's October and Apple, Google and Microsoft have concluded all their major announcements for the year. You wouldn't believe it, but according to me, Microsoft has proven to be the most innovative of the three this year. The title of the "cool tech company of the year", if we had to choose among the three, would be won by Microsoft, hands down.
The combination of the Hololens, the launch of Windows 10 and now the announcement of the Surface Book show that Microsoft had more aces this year than Apple and Google combined. Yes, Apple had the iPad Pro and the new iPhone, while Google has the new Nexus devices and a new verison of Android, but all these are basically either me-too products or yearly iterations.
The Hololens, which Microsoft showcased in January was something outlandish and sci-fi. It is something right out of Star Trek - the holodeck to be precise. The demo of the mixed reality was frankly quite jaw-dropping. Windows 10 has been a success, even though it has not made a lot of money. The Surface business has been so successful that both Apple and Google are tailing Microsoft by making productivity focussed tablets. But even Microsoft has moved the needle further with the new Surface products - the Surface Book and the Surface Pro 4.
The Surface Book, particularly, should strike fear in the hearts of Microsoft's partners and perhaps even Apple because of its ingenious design. While its mobile phones, the new Lumia 950 included, still look unimpressive, they are the progeny of the previous lackadaisical Nokia management. Under Microsoft, finally, you can expect radical change.
Impressively, while Google announced the new "Now on Tap" feature for Android Marshmallow, Microsoft beat Google to the punch with Bing Snapshot. It's Cortana assistant is improving faster than both Siri and Google Now and Bing, the search engine, is also finally on the track to make money.
The Xbox business also looks in good shape. The latest from the stable, Xbox One, will unlock the feature to play older Xbox 360 games when it gets updated to Windows 10 later in the year. Even Sony couldn't manage this feat with Play Station 4.
Lastly, it is worth noting that its applications are improving at lightning speed and even Apple has acknowledged that the tech giant is the best at productivity. All this is based on a robust global cloud infrastructure business, which now operates even out of India.
Microsoft has put its money everywhere and under CEO Satya Nadella, it doesn't seem to be doing a shoddy job of anything. It is nimbler and operating like the Silicon Valley start-up, something you certainly can't say about Apple or Google.