Google Phone

While some are content to pit Android against atypical ‘rivals’ like the iPhone, InformationWeek’s Eric Zeman is posing the far more realistic question of what Nokia can do to preserve their 78-percent smartphone OS market share. 

“Even the latest iteration of S60 (which has been under constant development for eons) doesn’t do some of the things we saw in the Android demo. While Symbian and Nokia are probably hard at work developing touch-capable software and phones, Google already has done it, to a certain extent. The demos highlight how applications can be used and tied together seamlessly to create a natural workflow” Eric Zeman, InformationWeek

Thing is, Nokia have already been showing off their touchscreen cellphone concept: the imaginatively named Nokia Touch, which is set to launch sometime next year complete with the next generation in haptic-feedback.

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Could Google be saving their 700MHz money and have Sprint’s WiMAX in their sights instead?  That’s a possibility according to mobile investor Paul Grim, who sees the fledgling next-gen wireless broadband technology as perhaps one of the best options for fast-tracking Android into the mainstream.  The idea of such a partnership isn’t new - we wrote about it back in August - but with the launch of the OHA platform and the nearing 700MHz auction, some commentators are beginning to back away from predictions that Google will flex its credit card and pick up sole ownership of the spectrum, instead suggesting that either a co-buy or MVNO route would be more feasible.

“The only way to shortcut the slow option is to ensure WiMAX becomes viable. Sprint’s only route to glory is a completely open network — through WiMAX … [Google] would be smart to maybe partner on the spectrum auction to freeze out Verizon, invest in a joint venture to run Xohm [the Sprint WiMAX project], or maybe even become an anchor tenant as a mobile virtual network operator [MVNO] on the network” Paul Grim, SunBridge Partners

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Developers concerned about the amount of time it might take to get up and running with the Android platform will hopefully have their fears assuaged, after Google’s Dave Burke - an engineering manager within the mobile team - demonstrated how quick it can be to code up an application.  Talking about the OHA’s plans at the Future of Mobile Conference in London today, he managed to put together a working mobile browser in less than eight minutes.

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Lest we forget, Google and the OHA is not the first player to step into the mobile Linux arena.  The LiMo Foundation - whose membership includes some overlap with the OHA - has been developing the open-source OS for mobile use, and Technology News spoke to Executive Director Morgan Gillis about the potential for change now that Google has set its sights on cellphones.  Predictably upbeat, Gillis reckons LiMo and Android have more to gain from cooperation than competition, and that even if dominance was on the agenda they’re targeting different areas:

“[W]hile Google’s focus is on consumers and the user experience, LiMo’s focus is on the middleware — the layer of technology that sits beneath the user experience layer. LiMo is really catalyzing next-generation user experiences on mobile Linux from whomever they may originate.  So there is a very elegant dovetailing between Google and LiMo in terms of our respective areas of focus” Morgan Gillis, LiMo Foundation

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Somewhere in the caves of the internet there are people playing Robert Scoble Bingo - you can get a full house if you predict which technologies will float the former Microsoft tech-evangelist’s boat, without getting sidetracked by those he takes an avid dislike to.  Latest under Robert’s loupe is Android, and if you thought an open-source, Linux-based free platform together with $10m of financial backing for developers would make him moist around the pelvis then think again; he’s not impressed.

“I didn’t see ONE feature that will get normal people to switch from the iPhone. This comes across like something developers developed for other developers without thought of how they were going to build a movement” Robert Scoble

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It was HTC’s “Dream” reference design that supposedly had a large part in persuading companies to sign up to the Open Handset Alliance, to the extent that the handset manufacturer is considering putting a commercial version into production sometime next year, but their other Android plans have been up until now less than clear.  However, at a meeting with investment firms in Taiwan last week, company CEO Peter Chou revealed that, if it really is released, the Dream will be one of 2-3 gPhones using the Android platform that HTC intend to supply in 2008.

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One week on, and the first Android SDK details are emerging from the Open Handset Alliance.  Initial thinking was that the SDK toolkit would be primarily available for participating developers, but it turns out that - more in keeping with the Google way of doing things - it’s a full release, together with tutorials, toolkits, APIs and tips for amateur coders to start hashing something together for upcoming gPhones.  Those a little more proficient have another incentive to develop for the platform: a $10 million prize fund for the best Android applications.

After the cut: Sergey Brin and Steve Horowitz discuss the Android SDK and demo primary apps

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Could harsh-talking Symbianite John Forsyth have been right about wary developers eyeing up the Android platform with less than stellar enthusiasm?  CNET News spoke to a number of mobile programmers about the prospect of Google’s OHA and the upcoming gPhone SDK, and the feedback seems to indicate more than a little reticence:

“Right now, Android just adds to the headache of developing different versions of our applications for different operating systems … It will be just another platform we have to support” Kay Johansson, CTO, MobiTV

Analysts are already glancing nervously at earlier attempts to standardise the mobile app space, particularly the work of Sun Microsystems, whose Java programming language promised “write once, publish many”, and OHA-member Qualcomm who developed the BREW app development environment.  Despite the best efforts of both companies, neither has managed to fundamentally change the adaptation and modification that’s necessary to coerce software into running on different handsets and across different networks.

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Say what you like about chair-throwing Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer (and lord knows, most people do), he know how to give a good soundbite.  When asked for his reaction to Android at a Tokyo news conference, the opinionated exec dismissed the new platform, calling it “just some words on paper” and going on to emphasise the market share Windows Mobile has among smartphones.

“Right now they have a press release, we have many, many millions of customers, great software, many hardware devices and they’re welcome in our world” Steve Ballmer, CEO, Microsoft

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Valleywag have “acquired” screenshots of what we’re told is the first Android application, WhatsOpen - software that can locate stores nearby to you and tell you not only their location but whether their open, what their contact details are, and summon up user reviews so you know if it’s worth the trip.  Seemingly a mashup of Google Maps and some database trickery, the app apparently caught Sergey Brin’s eye last month and he’s been working with the developers ever since.

It does seem like the exact sort of software you could imagine Google being involved with - mapping, directions, reviews and, quite possibly, paid-listings to squeeze out some ad revenue - nothing earth-shattering but, if handled right, incredibly usable when on the move.  According to Owen Thomas the people behind it are busy writing “the first wireless app” for Android.

More images after the cut…

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