Former Microsoft Chief Software Architect Ray Ozzie has just released a mobile app and service -- and it's not for Windows Phone, but instead the iPhone. They can't be pleased in Microsoft Land about this.
The new service is called talko, and to a certain extent it's looking to kill conference calls and traditional phone meetings. With it, you make phone conversations more collaborative and interactive. You record the calls, and can then tag them, mark them, and share them with others. So, for example, you can tag particular points during the call that are especially important. Others can then search for those tags and jump right to that point in the call.
There's a lot more as well, including sending voice and photo messages, being able to see visual indicators of who's on a call, snapping photos during the call, and even asynchronous conference calls.
Microsoft can't be too happy that the app was released for the iPhone rather than Windows Phone. The talko website says "More platforms coming" but doesn't specify which. There's no doubt one will be Android. Not so clear is whether there will be one for Windows Phone.
Ozzie never made much of an impact at Microsoft, largely because Microsoft never knew how to use him, and he never played the turf war games. He's one of the few people that can truly be called a tech visionary, starting with his days working on Visicalc, through his works with Lotus Notes and then Groove Networks. If you're interested in "what-if" games, you might imagine what Microsoft would have looked like if it ever let him do serious work at the company.