Several different types of smart phones can support Windows software.

If Microsoft needs a fast cash advance to get Windows Mobile 6.5 on shelves sooner, it should highly consider getting one. Microsoft is falling far behind in the world of phones. It announced its new smart phone software today, but the program won’t be out for another six months.

Slip sliding away

Microsoft used to be leader of the pack when it came to smart phones, but its market share is slipping. This is largely because while other companies, such as Apple, T-Mobile and RIM, are issuing software updates while Microsoft is issuing phones. If Microsoft can’t catch up with the new trends in the mobile market, it’s headed for some serious financial problems.

A new outlook

All the other companies competing for mobile market share are treating their smart phones like computers, which get software upgrades frequently and all on the same device. Microsoft is getting the picture now, but is it too late? Maybe if Microsoft offers a fast cash advance to loyal customers, they’ll stay loyal.

Imperfect platforms

Part of the problem is Microsoft’s business model. Unlike other smart phone companies, Microsoft doesn’t manufacture its own phones. The key to Microsoft stepping up its performance in the mobile phone sector is to be specific with its partners about how devices that support Windows Mobile are supposed to operate.

Share and share alike

Microsoft operates its mobile business by selling licenses for its software to several different hardware manufacturers. However, this can mean the devices don’t work quickly enough or seamlessly enough with Windows Mobile. It also confuses users and muddies exactly what the Windows Mobile experience is supposed to be like.

People are much more comfortable using software they can discuss with their friends. If Jane and Jill have the same software but different hardware and different ways of using it, they’re going to end up confused and angry that they have to call an IT person with a question instead of just asking a friend.

Microsoft definitely needs to step it up, and if a fast cash advance is needed to get the company going in the right direction, it will be worth it.

Related articles

• Windows Mobile 6.5 Announced, Leaks Confirmed [Mwc'09] (i.gizmodo.com)
• Microsoft Recite for Windows Mobile previewed (Emil Protalinski/Ars Technica) (techmeme.com)
• Microsoft’s Price For New Windows Mobile Backup: Free (MSFT) (Eric Krangel/Silicon Alley Insider) (techmeme.com)

A payday loan will get me out of this pickle. Here’s how I got into it… I went to an unusual funeral yesterday. My old schoolmate, Sid, bought it when he skidded off the N55 and hit a tree at about 90 miles an hour. Sid was always a little wild and was never a great driver. We met at elementary school and were firm friends throughout our lives, the last five years lunching together every Tuesday at Steve’s Sandwich Shop on Maple Street. It was quite painful for me to watch Sid’s departure after more than sixty years of active friendship.

Sid, the amateur computer buff

Sid’s funeral was different. His wife of forty-eight years, Clara, is a strong-willed and determined woman and she made a decision an hour after she received the news of her husband’s death. She asked the Funeral Director to lengthen Sid’s grave by about 18 inches, not that Sid was extra tall, but she wanted to bury Sid’s computer with him.

“Sid was always fiddling with his computer, adding programs and memory and games, deleting stuff, undoing the screws at the back and messing with all those chips and wires and thingies inside. I am sure no one else can use the computer after all the changes he made to it, so I decided it should go with its master. And perhaps it will be of some consolation to poor Sidney, wherever he is!” she added, a tear rolling down her cheek. “I will ask our son Tony to apply for a payday loan and we will buy a new computer for the house, one that Sid has not modified and that will always work when we switch it on.”

We bury Sid

We stood around the grave and watched as the coffin bearing Sid was laid in its final resting place. Silently the cemetery workers then placed the keyboard, screen and disk drive, each clad in a see-through plastic dust cover, in place at the head of the grave. Prayers were read, a few short eulogies were delivered and we were about to file away from the graveside when Clara clutched my arm.

My cell phone goes with Sid

“Pete, do you have your cell phone on you?” I passed it over. “Thank you,” she said. “I will bury this with Sid too. The email may be problematic and a phone is more reliable. Perhaps he will want to make contact with me.” She tossed my phone into the hole and smiled at me. “Poor Sydney!” she sobbed.

No more emails from Sid?

I have to say that I would be surprised to receive e-mails or phone calls from Sid in the future, but who really knows?

I won’t take it with me

You understand now why I need a new cell phone. I hate the things. They keep you tied to the leash as it were; they ring at the most inconvenient times and the battery is always flat when you need to make an urgent call. I would love to return to the pre-mobile phone era of freedom and silence. But what can I do?  I’ve learned I can’t live without one.  How soon can I get that payday loan to buy a new cell phone?

MODERN TIMES

“MOM! I need a cell phone!”   Things certainly are different from when I was a teenager. It would be called the ‘dark ages’ if you asked my kids. It was before cell phones, the internet, and mp3 players. Yep, I guess from their perspective times were archaic.  How did I get to volleyball practice without phoning my parents? I could have been kidnapped! Well, that may sound ridiculous, but so are my teenagers. If they’re not in a growth spurt and needing new pants every five minutes (which they wear sooo low that I wonder what is holding them up!), then they are in the middle of some drama that I could not possibly understand. Oy vey!

CONSUMING MASS QUANTITIES OF FOOD

Anyone out there ever seen Coneheads? Remember the breakfast scene?  That would be a scene played out in my kitchen after school.  They all file in the back door (an avalanche of back packs) with their friends in tow. I know that they are ravenous, and I try to plan for that.  However, when they are in that state (like a pride of lions crowding over a slab of meat), anything goes. I will come home from work to find that along with the frozen burritos having been consumed, that they ate all the pickles, cottage cheese, and a box of Cheerios. Now, that doesn’t even make any sense.  But neither do my teenagers. Knowing that my grocery budget is blown, I will pick up the phone and get quick payday loans to get me through. They can eat their weight in chicken chimichangas.  Don’t ask me how I know.

SAVE YOUR DRAMA FOR YOUR MAMA

There is a lot of pressure on our kids these days, but how much of that is a bad thing? For example, are there any of you parents out there who’s a ‘rescuer’?  That used to be me (once upon a time).  I couldn’t stand the thought of my ‘baby’ suffering in any way.  Never mind the fact that he may be hitting puberty and is almost 6 ft. tall!  If my girls were late to school (overslept, makeup woes, clothing dilemmas), they would bound up the stairs to declare “I need you to call the office for me mommy. You work sooo hard!  Gee mom, are you getting thinner?”  Yep!  They played me like a harp.   But now, they are accountable for their own choices, including the expensive ones.  Need a cell phone or an iPod?  Here, let me show you what a snow shovel looks like (I understand that they are hard to find these days!) and go see if you can make a few pennies.  Now, they have begun to have an appreciation for how hard it is to earn that dollar and consequently, they are not so quick to part with it.  I want them to have some idea of financial responsibility before they leave home.

SOFT PLACE TO LAND

Knowing that adulthood is looming like a semi truck in my rearview mirror, I would like for my teenagers to begin to take some ownership of their choices in life.  We all make mistakes and home should be a safe haven, but it also should equip them for the road ahead. Hopefully this is done before they leave the nest. However, if they find when they get out in the real world that they need a little extra cash, I’ll let them know that they can get help through payday loans.  It’s worked for mom.

At Personal Money Store we talk a lot about payday loans, but we also like to keep you informed on bargains buys and money saving tips as well. The latest on our list to share with you is what we have heard in regards to Apples flagship product the Apple iPhone.

Have you seen the latest publicity on the Apple iPhone? New information has leaked out across the internet claiming that Wal-Mart will become an Apple iPhone distributor.  Huh?

How Did That Happen?

Wal-Mart is not exactly what you would call a leader in the home electronics arena. Of what they do offer in consumer electronics that are name brand and industry standard, they seem to lack in qualified sales representatives. This provides a less than savory environment to lure buyers into purchasing their products.

What Wal-Mart lacks as a consumer electronics dealer in comparison to other chains who are offering electronics as their specialty, makes it even more of a challenge to become successful in the electronics industry.

Wal-Mart’s New Approach May Allow Them To Compete With The Big Boys

Wal-Mart seems to have caught on to this dilemma and has begun contracting out qualified staff from other firms to work on site at select locations to educate customers and Wal-Mart employees on the different consumer electronic products and the differences between them. Some of these technologies include things like Digital Television, HDTV, LCD, Plasma and etc.

In an effort to increase sales, and provide the customer with a better buyers experience they will be addressing consumers individual needs to help them find the best product for the best price.

Tag Teaming With Apple

Wal Mart is where you can get those wonderful toys.

Rumors which have leaked out on the internet say that the IPhone may be available at Wal-Mart by Dec 15th for only $99 which will help draw in consumers looking for those holiday gift sales before Christmas. The rumors say that this buy will be for Apples 4Gig IPhone model only, not the 8Gig.  That’s a price so low, you won’t need payday loans to get your hands on the latest and greatest.

More Rumors, Different Story

Mac Rumors.com however claims that it will only carry the 8Gig model of the iPhone and the delivery date will be on December 28th missing Christmas altogether. The savings on the 8Gig model won’t be putting anyone out of business as the sale price is set to be $197 which is only $2 less than the $199 norm.

Apple has been very selective in its choice of retailers for its iPhone product. Choosing Wal-Mart as an industry retailer will further increase Apples domination of the mobile phone market due to the sheer volume of product that Wal-Mart sells. The range of merchandise offered at Wal-Mart draws a multitude of traffic to each of their store locations on a daily basis from which Apple will be able to capitalize on.

The Apple IPhone has become a household name, it’s readily available and comes with benefits. Kind of like payday loans.

-Personal Money Store

Yesterday’s article “Payday loans Are Up, Available jobs are down | Want to keep you job? Here’s How”, spoke of the number of layoffs that the nation has been seeing do to the current recession America has been undergoing since December of 2007.

AT&T adds to America’s Layoff Statistics

12,000 more layoffs added to AT&T's Pink List.

Numbers have gone up another notch today as AT&T announced today the layoff of about 12,000 employees or 4% of it’s total workforce. This comes on top of the 4600 jobs that they said they would layoff last April.

AT&T, a telecommunication company based in Dallas, Texas provides phone coverage in 22 states is just one in a long list of companies cutting staff, closing their doors, or going bankrupt.

Why The Lay Offs?

Their seems to be more than a couple things working against the telecommunications company as there basic land based phone line customers have dropped eleven percent in just the last quarter alone.

Many customers who have been subscribing to both a wireless carrier as well as a home based land line service, are beginning to leave their landlines behind for their wireless cell phone plans. This is likely to be influenced by both, customers looking to save a little extra money in a troubled economy and well as a simple preference in the technology and features that the wireless services provide.

Consumers Throwing Out The Old And Ushering In The New

With the onset of the latest cell phone features and services, as well as the increasingly affordable cell phone packages and family plans, consumers are seeing the wireless route to be to their advantage. Ditching the landlines is simply the next step in today’s digital world.

AT&T, understands this well as they have been on the digital front line for many years. They also offer cell phone services and broadband internet access which the company says it will be continuing to fill positions for. It’s this diversification in today’s advances which keeps the company profitable even though their shares have gone down 35% in 2008 alone.  The company may be in need of payday loans if this keeps up.

AT&T's contract with Apple as the sole wireless carrier is undoubtedly helping them brave the storm

iPhone Helps AT&T Brave The Economic Landslide

One of the greatest acquisitions they were able to make recently was that of the popular mobile carrier, Cingular Wireless. Now AT&T, the front runner in the wireless community, continues their campaign out front b benefiting some from the relationship they nurture with Apple, as AT&T is the official wireless carrier of the popular iPhone which consequently, everyone has “Got to have”. The advent of AT&T’s 3G Network has also helped by giving consumers broad band speeds for voice over their mobile devices for voice and data communications.

AT&T’s marketing prowess and front runner technology may be their saving grace over the next 18 to 24 months of predicted economic restraints.

AT&T To Provide Laid Off Employees with a $600 million dollar Severance Package

Of those who have been laid off by the technology giant, many have guaranteed jobs because of union contracts which means AT&T will have to pay severance to all affected workers under the terms of their union agreements. AT&T estimates to pay $600 million in the fourth quarter for severance costs.

AT&T is just one in a long list of employees that have made cuts this year, pushing unemployment rates up from 6.5% to 6.8% nationally. You can view a list of several companies doing the same in the blog post “Recession Has Consumers Seeking Solace In Payday Loans | Is A Great Depression Coming”