Nokia & Microsoft – And what it means for QT and MeeGo.

This post has been filed under politics for a reason; because it is widely believed that there can only be three mainstream smartphone ecosystems, in addition to niche platforms such as RIM, and with Android and Apple IOS occupying two of those positions the race to be the third depends massively on the perception of momentum. Consumers and developers will follow the perceived trend, and so creating a vision for where your platform will go is as much an art of political manoeuvre as it is a science of engineering prowess.

Nokia want to be (a part of) that third platform and they didn’t have confidence that MeeGo could take them there.

SDSR – Overspent & underfunded, huge chops for a minor cut.

It should not be news to anyone that the Defence budget was a shattered ruin by the beginning of 2010, when the Gray report revealed an unfunded 10% budget deficit over the coming decade, in addition to Treasury insistence on Defence funding of the acquisition costs of the Trident replacement which represents a further 2.5% cut, and, a Treasury demand for  a 7.5% reduction as part of the Defence contribution to balancing the country’s shattered public finances. And yet people are surprised at the huge number of capabilities and platforms that got axed at the SDSR……….

Why? Did we not all spend the preceding twelve months consuming a non-stop diet of horror stories?

Labours problem and the Lib-Dem opportunity.

Conventional wisdom says that the Lib-Dem’s are done as a third-force in British politics, opinion polls have them down to single digits, they are vilified for back-tracking on their manifesto commitment to student top-up fees (ironically the result of the consensual coalition carve-up style of politics they advocate), and they are beginning to realise that for all the ministerial positions the thrust of the policy narrative is blue in hue. Surely the end is nigh?

This blog takes the view that things are not so bad as they appear.

2011 technology trends.

A set of brief predictions for technology trends that will occur, or become apparent, during 2011.

What does the future have in store.

Think Defence Naval Series – Recommendation and commentary.

The Think Defence site has begun a series of articles looking at new ways of structuring the forces with the aim of achieving the best bang for the buck, or Capability Plus in TD parlance. The first service to attract scrutiny is the Royal Navy. The articles are packed with informed detail, cast a harsh spotlight on many long accepted assumptions about what the Navy should do, and provide a number of excellent solutions for preserving and enhancing capability. The purpose of this article is first and foremost a recommendation that people should read them.

Additionally; both thanks and awe that TD has remained such a prolific writer throughout.

How Long Can The Eurozone Plates Be Kept Spinning – And why would anyone try?

Surprise surprise, the eurozone crisis of confidence has returned with a vengeance, only this time with apocalyptic statements from the EU’s president, Herman Van Rumpoy, that if the Euro did not survive, neither would the EU. First we must strip away the hyperbole; the presumption of a continuation of europe’s ‘natural’ state of warfare and ethnic cleansing without the moderating influence of a pan-european ‘national’ identity is utter clap-trap. The reality is that if the Euro does not survive then the EU of ever-deeper political union will not survive, instead it might devolve back to something that more closely resembles the European Community of old. Whether this is a terrible thing is a matter of perspective. However, there is no doubt that the current Eurozone without full economic governance and the political mandate for a transfer-union will never function effectively, or that the current direction of sequential bail-outs as contagion spreads is destined for catastrophic failure for all members and neighbours.

So if political union is impossible, and collapse is unconscionable, what other option exists?

The Witcher 2 – First AAA title to be available on release DRM free.

CDProjekt are about to embark on one of the most risky experiments in PC gaming history, releasing a their new title DRM-free on Good Old Games and doing so from day one. One way or another we will soon know the answer to the question we have all been asking for years; is it possible to create a viable business case for developing and publishing DRM-free media in a digital & online world?

The experiment will have far reaching consequence’s, well beyond the realm of PC gaming itself.

The SDSR 2010 – What dare we hope for 2015?

The SDSR was never going to be satisfactory, the perpetual wars during declining budgetary prominence was always going to result in a car-crash, and sure enough that crash arrived with the financial crisis in 2008. This has resulted was a lot of unsatisfactory decisions, mostly due to the (correct) commitment to the Afghan mission conflicting for the desire for a force structure for 2020 and beyond, but did we avoid making the difficult choices demanded by RUSI in the FDR paper; capability cost trends?

What that is recognisable can we pull out of the rubble?

The Entente 2010 – What does it mean & whither will it lead?

France and Britain have concluded a set of new Defence agreements that will see the countries work more closely together, but what will be the result? The countries share a great number of complimentary & similar characteristics including GDP, Defence budgets, UNSC membership, nuclear deterrents, overseas dependencies & global foreign policy ambitions, but both have defined their ambitions though opposing reactions to the Suez crisis. In both instances to never find themselves marginalised in world affairs through opposition from the US, but on the one hand by by converging already complimentary ambitions, and on the other by creating a european framework through which independence of the US can be achieved.

What does this agreement tell us about how those ambitions have evolved since the Cold War?

Ipad/Air – Apple segments the mobile market.

This blog has long hoped that Apple would produce an 11.6” macbook, judging it to be the perfect compromise between portability and power, and now one has arrived to a largely positive response. As a tech enthusiast one can admire the streamlined and powerful design of Apple OS’s, conversely, as an open-platform geek one can reject the walled-garden Apple likes to enforce, thus leaving an abiding respect for the excellence of their hardware design. Where Apple treads consumer demand often follows, and in this instance the ill-defined mobile-tech market is about to coalesce, the results of which will be seen in the second half of 2011.

The tablet/netbook crossover is about to have a much sharper edge.