Comments on: Android may catch RIM and Apple looking the wrong way

By: footballerslives

footballerslives — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 09:15:18 +0000

Mokk & others: there are already Android prototypes and videos of it in use. It is AMAZING.
Normally I’d say “google is your friend” but in this case it’s “youtube is your friend”
Check it out first then judge.
I personally like it far better than the clunky iPhone and RIM OS. I will be the first on the Android train when it comes out.

@Jay: or they pay for it with the ads on the downloads page like apps on Window Mobile have for years…just sayin’

By: KenC

KenC — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:06:04 +0000

I am excited about Android, but I think only a fool would think that Apple isn’t looking very closely at Android. In fact, I don’t think Apple looks at Blackberry very much. It’s a one-trick pony.

By: zato

zato — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 01:35:39 +0000

Apple and Google are partners.

By: Jay

Jay — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 23:55:34 +0000

Do you really want ads pushed to your phone all the time? Do you want google to know what businesses you call so they can target ads to you? Google makes money ONE way – ads. So the ONLY way Android makes sense is if they PUSH ads to your phone. YUCK!!!!!!!

By: Kontra

Kontra — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 20:36:09 +0000

Speaking of actually shipping products, I examined 10 factors that put Apple in an unassailable position in the mobile platform wars and reviewed the weaknesses of iPhone competitors in:

Who can beat iPhone 2.0?
http://counternotions.com/2008/03/10/iphone2-competitors/

By: flintwall

flintwall — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 19:01:40 +0000

Well thanks for the PR, I’m sure they appreciate it. But lets get real. Apple will have around 7.5 million phones out there and an app store and a host of apps and likely the iPhone 2.0 at around the time that the first Android phones appear so it’s not game over as you imply.
‘In my opinion Google has done everything right so far.’… well if this was remotely true, they would have done it before Apple released the iPhone and not be playing catch-up.

By: AdamC

AdamC — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:27:17 +0000

Apple is only opening the iPhone to the enterprise and I believe it is not in anyway facing up to RIM. But RIM is the one that’s feeling the heat and must meet the Apple challenge.
As for Android, it depends on its usefullness and if it has the same users’ experience as the iPhone, no matter what Apple do Android will still have its legions of fans.
BTW the SDK more or less is keeping Android at bay.

Peace.

By: Robert B.

Robert B. — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:58:53 +0000

In your dreams I suppose the scenario is very real. You’ve conveniently left out the devices, software, and service that are all separate from Google. You are letting your hopes cloud your vision of the future. Apple will surpass RIM in 2009. The business market success will build into 2010 with many of the same “Mac fanatics” stories you’ve heard before. Android powered devices will sell large numbers, primarily in the lower price spectrum. Software will have the same issues of conflicts, battery life, and confusing interfaces as the revenue stream for software just doesn’t support quality products. Much is stolen, and complex software difficult to sell in quantity. Apple will be selling multiple iPhones worldwide and have over 50% of the smartphone market by 2010.

By: Don

Don — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:33:47 +0000

You may be absolutely right.

However, we won’t really know until there’s any hardware produced, will we? I mean, look at all of the hardware that currently runs on Google’s software right now.’

Uh..wait a minute…

By: Synthmeister

Synthmeister — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 15:18:53 +0000

Some points to ponder…

1. Android is still vaporware in terms of a real, working, product that’s affordable.

2. All applications might be equal but they still have to share the inherent limitations of memory, processing power and battery life in a mobile device. If you get a bunch of “equal” apps running on your mobile phone, then kiss your battery life and/or system responsiveness goodbye.

3. This “Open Handset Alliance” has done more to stifle innovation so far. They continually try to figure out ways to monetize your phone which make no sense—$3 ringtones for songs you already own, not allowing you to upload your own songs to your phone—and they don’t seem to understand an elegant user interface even if it slaps them in the face.

4. “The only way for the the Android project to fail would be if the OS just sucked.” Hmm. When was the last time Google or the Telcos created a world class OS? Oh yea, never. And BTW, the Telcos could still screw up everything even if the OS was world class. I can easily see the Telcos and Google becoming at odds over this. They are both trying to monetize the use of the “digital pipes.”

5. Apple, for example, is (or will be) making money off of every step in the mobile space:
A. Hardware; B. Retail, C. Recurring monthly subscription revenue: D. Software sales: E. Music Sales; F. Peripheral Sales. Now Goggle is making money off of the ad revenue and… ugh, hmm.
What other company is doing that?
6. Apple has a huge advantage by having an industrial strength OS shoehorned into a