Jason Calcanis Says Microsoft is Having a Renaissance

I think Jason Calacanis likes the X Phone, his co-hosts idea to rename the Windows Phone.

Calcanis sat down with a couple of dudes (Erik Rannala, founder of Mucker Lab, and Ryan Block) the other day and the conversation kept swerving over to Microsoft's crazy moves in the market these past few weeks. When it came to the Windows Phone, Calacanis couldn't get over the Nokia Lumia 900 (once he figured out how to pronounce it). He said that when he was at the All Things D conference, the guy from Nokia handed him the Nokia Lumia 900. The phone, says Calacanis, "is more beautiful than my iPhone, and it could be on par with the Samsung." This is at the 28:10 mark. 

That was nice of him, but if you know Calacanis, he wasn't being just nice. The guy doesn't say things unless he's overly moved to say them. It's the New Yorker in him. We must admire that New York spirit. I am from New York. I recognize it, and pay it homage. 

I have not much to say in terms of predictions about the future of Microsoft and hardware / software development. Others are doing that, like Mike Elgan. And Ahmed Siddiqui, who manages the Bay Area's Startup Weekend. I'm obviously pretty positively biased. What interests me is the genuine openness that Microsoft has displayed as it exerts itself in the startup ecoystem. There are more and more developers building for the Windows apps store. Windows 8, as it pushes out, is becoming more an object of admiration than a topic of derision. 

I will continue to point to these kinds of things, because it's heartwarming to see the discussion going in another direction. The more Microsoft proves itself, the more entrepreneurs will continue to come to at least check out what's doing behind the brand.