When Google announced it was developing an open source operating system (dubbed Android) for cellphones that would give consumers choice, it was only a matter of time until we heard the heart murmurs of cellphone execs. It’s competition cardiac arrest.
Digital Journal — On Monday of this week, Google launched its new Android project for cellphones. The timing of the event could not have been more (planned) perfect, as Guy Fawkes Day represents an overthrow of a long-time ruler.
In this case, Google came out with guns-a-blazin’, and announced a platform that could potentially change the wireless world forever: Android. The friendly robot-named cellphone project includes an operating system and interface that is standardized and open, so that multiple developers can build applications for cellphones as easily as for the Web. The Open Handset Alliance, backed by Google, aims to create an operating system that will run on all types of mobile phones, and ultimately make hardware more affordable for the consumer.
The alliance is made up of a group of 34 major telecommunications and manufacturers for mobiles, including big boys such as: T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel, NTT Docomo, China Mobile, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, Motorola, Samsung, HTC, Qualcomm, Intel, Google and many more. They will start shipping phones with Android in the last half of 2008.
But whenever you use the words “open” in an industry that is now used to gorging on a feast of fatty profit, you produce corporate indigestion within all the revenue hogs. The idea of change, to them, is akin to replacing their succulent turkey breast smothered in gravy with a small plate of baby spinach and a light vinaigrette dressing. There is still a lot to be had, but the way it looks on their plate makes it unappetizing.
The current problem needs a fix. As News.com reports: “Most experts and consumers agree that accessing the Internet on a mobile handset is very different from accessing it on a PC. Often, users get stripped-down versions of Web sites, with far fewer applications available. The shortcomings have been blamed on whoever controls the network, the device itself, and the underlying technology. Also, the mobile market is incredibly fragmented, and software developers are forced to support various systems.”
Google’s Open Handset Alliance, is the supposed solution.
But not all cellphone manufacturers and developers are convinced Android is the fix, yet. With so many partners on board, reports indicate the cellphone market fears Google’s Android project could fragment the market even more, meaning developers have to make applications for each segment.
“Right now, Android just adds to the headache of developing different versions of our applications for different operating systems,” Kay Johansson, CTO of MobiTV, told CNET. “It will be just another platform we have to support. I think for the Google platform to really be a game-changer it’s going to have to offer more than just an open-source operating system for a mobile phone. It will have to create mobile Internet devices that happen to make phone calls.”
Developing applications on a handheld is not simple, and in many cases developers must produce dozens of versions of the same program so it can work on various screen sizes, on various operating systems and on various carrier networks.
Google’s Android project hopes to fix this problem, but carriers are so far weary because the big-G is not the first company to promise this. Google still hopes it can deliver on this promise when it launches the developer kit on Nov. 12.
Still, as CNN reports, there is still fear: “Alliances typically don’t work. Responsibilities are not clearly defined, and there aren’t any penalties for failure,” said Lisa Pierce, wireless analyst at research group Forrester.
Perhaps more interesting is the reaction of the establishment (in this case Apple, Microsoft, Verizon and AT&T). They have shown little reaction to Google’s Android announcement, and none of them joined the open handset alliance. It’s not surprising, given the fact this open source, Linux-based initiative backed by dozens of companies could start a massive industry battle. The results would be devastating for the establishment should they lose.
Microsoft, perhaps, has the most to lose (as it always seems to be the case when you mention the name Google in the same sentence). With strong growth of its Windows Mobile operating system that currently exists on a wide range of handhelds and smartphones, Microsoft no doubt fears the idea of competition, especially one that is open source and one that removes the chance of a monopoly.
And despite the fact there are about 18,000 applications already built for the mobile Windows OS, an open source alternative has the potential to get much lager, as there are a great deal of partners in the alliance.
Scott Rockfeld, a mobile communications group product manager at Microsoft, told PC World Windows Mobile already offers the features planned for Android and that Microsoft was not invited to join the OHA. “We already have an alliance around Windows Mobile, with 160 wireless operators in 55 countries and with 48 device makers,” he said. “Nothing new and revolutionary was announced. It was ho-hum compared to what we’ve done for the last five years with Windows Mobile.”
Of course.
Apple finds itself in an awkward position. To Apple, Google’s Android project is kind of like the friendly fat guy that sits beside you on a plane. He’s kind, so you don’t want to be rude, but he’s driving you crazy, as he squishes your right forearm and spills your coffee every time he wiggles to find comfort.
Apple has not said much about Android, only that “Google is an important partner, and this announcement doesn’t change that.” In English, that means (loosely translated): We love our iPhone and how dare you provide a potential way for competitors to make devices similar to it.
Apple announced an iPhone developer kit will be released in February 2008, allowing programmers to build applications for the phone. Sweet deal, except Google’s alliance will do the same on a much larger scale.
AT&T is playing the cool kid. The been-there, done-that approach. “We offer a very open environment to customers who can access e-mail and tunes, including Google content and graphics,” AT&T spokesman Mark Siegel told PC World. “AT&T is the exclusive carrier for iPhone in the U.S., he noted.”
Verizon is the Gemini of the bunch, the two-faced friend that will hug you and stab you in the back while doing so. They have been friendly to the public and the announcement, but they have also been fighting behind the scenes; they have shut down the idea of open access and open devices with the U.S. FCC. Publicly, however, they have said “Verizon Wireless shares the goal of more open mobile application development,” said Jeffrey Nelson, a spokesman. “We haven’t ruled out joining this group.”
Have your cake and eat it too. Enjoy.
Despite all the criticism, Google has shown it does have the ability to deliver on its promises. And the cellphone world needs an innovation like Android.
And as developers move forward causing the competition to put its tail between its legs and scream bloody murder, they will no doubt remember, remember, the fifth of November.
