| 30 Aug 2009 |
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Business: (Feature) Google Fails To Squeeze Into Smartphone Market
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Its Android software has not impressed the techies, writes DOMINIC RUSHE in New York
AUGUST was supposed to be the month that Andre Torrez kicked the iPhone habit. Like many tech-savvy early adopters the chief technology officer at Federated Media in San Francisco had had enough of AppleApple
's omnipresent iPhone.Frustrated by stories that AppleApple
was squeezing software developers and rumours it was blocking applications that could compete with products controlled by AppleApple and its partners, Torrez decided it was time to switch.Like all good techies he made the move a public event - blogging a day-by-day account of his defection to a G1 phone powered by Android, a mobile software platform developed by GoogleGoogle
.Torrez is hardly alone in developing a new-found antipathy for AppleApple
's iPhone. in recent months several tech writers have turned on the world's hottest smartphone, frustrated by its service and concerns over AppleApple's tight control over the development of the myriad applications the phone now runs. GoogleGoogle
's Android, in contrast, was designed to offer open standards - a system supposedly more attractive to software developers. For the average consumer, arguments about "open source" versus closed systems might look academic. But AppleApple knows how important the advanced guard of techies is to a company's fortunes. When they move on, many follow.Luckily for AppleApple
, by day three Torrez's enthusiasm for the G1 was already waning: "I can't think of one application that works as well as the average iPhone app. I need to keep looking," he wrote.By day seven it was over. Queuing to use a cash machine, Torrez found he had even lost the will to Twitter. "I give up. I thought it would be fun to see what life was like on a different platform but I think I've seen more than enough on this hardware," he wrote.
"On Saturday my family was here to visit and I found myself reaching for the iPhone to check on a restaurant, map some directions, and to check on an order. Given a choice between the two I just could not keep flipping that thing open knowing there were other perfectly good computers nearby ... I took the G1 into work today but I came home knowing what I had to do. I switched back to the iPhone."
Good news for AppleApple
. Bad news for GoogleGoogle. launched Android but so far it has disappointed. After the initial hype, Harry Wang, analyst at Parks Associates, said he was surprised by how slow the rise of the Android had been. "After the G1 was introduced I expected more products to arrive featuring Android. The pace is so slow," he said.Some have pinned Android's slow start on GoogleGoogle
's decision not to launch its own phone but to partner with a variety of providers. Announcing Android in November 2007, Eric Schmidt, GoogleGoogle's chief executive, said the operating system was "more ambitious than any single GoogleGoogle Phone". "Our vision is that the powerful platform we are unveiling will power thousands of different phone models," he said.So far those phones have failed to materialise and the iPhone's popularity has convinced developers to set aside their open source preferences to work on applications for AppleApple
. As for consumers: "They care about the experience," said Wang. "So far Android hasn't offered much in that regard."Next month will be a big push for the system when MotorolaMotorola
is expected to introduce new phones powered by Android. The phone giant has lost a lot of ground to rivals including AppleApple and BlackBerry.Wang said there was still a lot of ground left for Android-powered phones. At the end of 2007 there were 35m smartphones in America. Parks Associates reckons that number will be closer to 90m by the end of 2009. Wang said GoogleGoogle
was a formidable competitor and had signed up impressive partners. But GoogleGoogle has a lot of work to do convincing even AppleApple's least happy customers that it's time to join the Androids.COPYRIGHT - THE SUNDAY TIMES, LONDON
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Community Comments (3)
I think that the only phone at that time was the G1 (HTC Dream). Now, this month there will be up to four devices running a version of Android. Motorola will have the Morrison, HTC had released the Magic (Which is a MUCH better device), and soon the Hero will make its way to America. I think that the 1.5 release of Android OS (Cupcake) has made vast improvements.
I think the turning point for Google will be in the next 18 months. Users will have a choice of carriers (instead of AT&T) and they will have a choice of devices coming out to fit into different budgets. T-Mobile has better package prices (than the iPhone) and users are seeing these trends across the world.
Two things I see that CAN improve are the SDK:
1. They need some sort of "interface builder" like Apple that is intuitive and easy to use.
2. A more robust developer community with the addition of easy to navigate forums and tutorials for new developers.
My 2 cents.
If all the competition and (most likely paid) article commenters can come up with is jibber jabber about the iPhone's and/or Apple's "shortcomings", that's pretty lame in light of the iPhone's factually huge sales figures, numbers of apps, and downloads.
All the while this jibber jabber goes on, Apple's statistics keep rising. So where are the competition's statistics? That's right. Nowhere--at least nowhere near Apple's.
Guys you are outdated. Everyone in the tech world knows that G1 was a phone for developpers to prime the pump.
Did you look at the hero from HTC ? That one is really becoming a phone.
On top of that, you should review your milestones. G1 has been launched on September 2008, 23rd. Not yet one year.
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