After more than a month of silently watching the blogosphere dissect early builds of Window Blue that were leaked on the internet, Microsoft this week has confirmed that Blue, the code name for Microsoft's follow-on to Windows 8, does in fact exist.

As of yet, Microsoft hasn't acknowledged any of the details that bloggers have uncovered. Representatives say only that Windows Blue is a response to what  their customers have had to say about Windows 8. Hopefully, they have been listening, because an awful lot is riding on Windows Blue.

With all the hype and glitz surrounding smartphones and tablets, it's easy to lose sight of how critical a role the PC still plays in many of our lives. No, it's not the same role it played last year, or the year before. But for many of us -- certainly for most of us in IT -- a Windows PC is still a go-to device in our quiver of electronics tools. And because of the pace of change in the enterprise segment, Windows is guaranteed to play a central role for several more years at least.

In that sense, Microsoft isn't just gambling its own fortunes. It's messing with how many of us get things done every day.

That's why the anger over Windows 8 has been so palpable, and why fixing it has become so important. Forcing us to take longer, more circuitous routes to what we do every day feels like starting breakfast one morning only to find that your roommate has rearranged the kitchen. The more you reach for a fork in what's become the towel drawer, the angrier you get.

Can Windows Blue really stop PC users from seeing red? Read the entire column HERE.

Read the entire column HERE.

I dug out an old cellphone for a friend to use in a pinch. It was an 

Or so I thought. With all that's packed into our smartphones today, it's difficult to imagine the Shine as anything more than a quaint relic, an artifact harkening back to the days when consumers stole music but paid for 15-second ringtones of the same songs. But my friend was thrilled because the Shine lasted all day on a single charge. Many of us haven't seen that since, well, 2007.

As it turned out, 2007 was in fact the year that the market began downplaying battery life in exchange for performance, features and flexibility. Of course, the catalyst for the shift was not the LG Shine, but Apple's iPhone -- the device that ushered in the modern-day smartphone era.

Could 2013 be the year that the tide turns, and battery life becomes more important again?

Read the entire column HERE.

The Windows 8 go-to-market plan last year played out like a Greek tragedy: the wounds that Microsoft endured 

I bring this up not to pile on, but to point out some encouraging signs that Microsoft may - finally - comprehend the mess it's gotten itself into and is taking steps to right the ship. It had better. Because every quarter that passes with Windows 8 flapping in the breeze is another quarter that Android and iOS tablets become more entrenched in consumer usage patterns.

Read the entire column HERE.

How ironic that for much of the middle two days of the four-day Congress -- the industry's flagship venue for showcasing the world's latest mobile devices, apps and transmission technology -- that the network in the convention center was so taxed attendees were unable to make calls or check email for hours at a time. Playing with any of the cool new apps was out of the question. Heck, calling someone to tell them you'd be late to a meeting was a roll of the dice.

Indeed, the only reliable means of communication was going old school with it on the 160-character Dino-Net.

The paucity of bandwidth at the mobile industry's own show underscores the urgency of the looming capacity crunch. I went to MWC, you may recall, in search of answers to a problem that, left unchecked, threatens to spoil the seemingly boundless explosion in mobile.

Read about what I learned HERE.

I've got quite the laundry list of new mobile device technologies to evaluate at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this coming week. The list is even larger than the one I wrote about while en route to CES in January.

But my number one priority at MWC won't be any of those cool new features for smartphones, tablets and PCs. First and foremost, I will be investigating alternatives for expanding wireless data capacity.

So why is a guy who makes a living analyzing mobile client technology trends paying such close attention to carrier deployment issues? It's simple: no one will use the cool new features if the wireless network doesn't have the capacity to support them. 

Read the entire column HERE

People who have monkeys for pets should just go ahead and have kids, Jerry Seinfeld years ago joked in a standup bit about pet ownership. "If you need a pet that can roller skate and smoke cigars, it's time to think about a family."

When you boil it down, that's why Microsoft's new Surface Pro won't rack up much in the way of sales. It's an awful lot of computer trapped inside the body of a tablet. Which means tradeoffs.

With apologies to Seinfeld, if you're thinking about Surface Pro ownership, then you're so close. Just go out and get a real computer.

Most consumers will do just that. Many enterprise buyers, however, will be ordering a few Surface Pro's. Click HERE to find out why. 

In my last column, I offered PC vendors some advice on how to position 

Here's the bottom line: PC vendors need to incorporate model years into their product positioning. You know, like the automobile makers do. 

Smartphones and tablets -- the devices that are eating the PC's lunch -- exploit the model-year concept. Suppliers leverage their annual rollouts to generate pull from consumers, and consumers respond. PC vendors, meanwhile, continue to manage new releases like it's 1999.

That's not entirely the OEMs' fault. But it is entirely their problem.

Implementing model years doesn't have to be that complicated. Click HERE to find out how.

Early returns confirm what we already knew: that Windows 8's coming-out was no party. 

The problem: Windows 8 is being marketed as a touch-centric OS, and there aren't many touch-enabled systems available. 

The percentage of touch-enabled laptops that were shipped in the fourth quarter was miniscule -- less than 1%, according to Digitimes Research. That number is forecasted to grow only to about 10% in 2013. Which means that more disappointing sales are on the horizon.

As I see it, the PC ecosystem has two options if it wants a shot at salvaging 2013: 1) Find a way to reverse that 90:10 ratio, so that the vast majority of systems are touch-enabled, or 2) start marketing non-touch systems to end users.

Read the entire column HERE.

 If you want to get the most out of CES, you have to peer around the big TVs and pimped-out automobiles. I'll be keeping an eye on a few key technology trends. They all have the potential to be the next big thing. But will they be? And if so, when?

Read the entire column HERE.