Google Phone

Following feedback from developers, Google has made “significant updates” to the Android SDK that will be released in several weeks time.  Although the full list of changes is yet to be announced, both UI and API have been enhanced.  As a result, Google has put back the deadline to submit entries to the Android Developer Challenge part I to the 14th April, both to give time to take advantage of the new functionality and to satisfy coders who have requested an extension during which they could build and polish their entries.

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If Sun seemed vaguely anxious about Android before now - fearing its non-standard implementation of Java might fragment the language - then now they’re coming across as borderline belligerent.  Speaking at the Java Mobile & Embedded Developer Days conference last week, Sun vice-president James Gosling declined to cite his company’s position on Android, claiming Google was yet to define the platform’s business model.

“It’s impossible to have a position, right, because there is no data.  Over the last couple of years, Google’s been showing their phone at telecom conferences all over the world and with different business models, all of which really scared the carriers and handset makers. And then with Android, they put out a bag of code with no business model.  Unless the day comes when they say what they’re going to do with it, it’s just a bag of code sitting out there” James Gosling, VP, Sun

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Last year we suggested that, rather than Microsoft or Apple, Nokia was Android’s main competitor; since then, the Finnish company has announced Q4 2007 sales of €15,7bn ($23bn), an increase of 34-percent over the same quarter the previous year, and strong performance in all regions bar the US.  Today, however, comes the next step in Nokia’s plans to rival the Open Handset Alliance: they’ve made a €104m ($153) bid for Trolltech, a multi-platform Linux developer responsible for the software currently found running Google Earth, Skype, and a variety of mobile devices including Sony’s Mylo messenger.

“The technology landscape evolves and, for Nokia, software plays a major role in our growth strategy for devices, PCs and the integration with the Internet. We continue to focus on areas where we can differentiate and add more value. Common cross-platform layers on top of our software platforms attract innovation and enable Web 2.0 technologies in the mobile space.  Trolltech’s deep understanding of open source software and its strong technology assets will enable both Nokia and others to innovate on our device platforms while reducing time-to-market. This acquisition will also further increase the competitiveness of S60 and Series 40″ Kai Öistämö, Executive Vice President, Devices, Nokia

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As we reported was in the pipeline in late December last year, Google and Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo have reached an agreement whereby Google-powered searches will be the default through the operator’s i-mode portal, keyword based AdWords advertising will be included on search results pages, and handsets will have improved access to Google’s online application suite.  Initially, Google Maps will be preloaded on all handsets and, for those devices with full browsers, Google will be the preset homepage; subsequently Gmail, YouTube and Picasa will all be integrated into the i-mode system.

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The long-awaited (and once delayed) FCC auction for the so-called “beach-front” 700MHz wireless band begins today, with the shortlist (that, at 214 members, isn’t all that short) of potential bidders each hoping to take away one of the five blocks of prime spectrum.  Block C is the most hotly contested, due to its breadth (22MHz) and clustered regions, with big-name players including Google, Verizon Wireless and AT&T all tipped to be interested.

Three rounds of bidding will take place each business day, with information about the highest bid - though not the bidder who has placed it - distributed among participants; there is no set end-date, and the auction ends when no further bids are placed.  Each block has a reserve price: block A at $1.81bn; block B at $1.37bn; block C at $4.64bn; block D at $1.33bn; and block E at $904m, and if those figures fail to be met then a second auction will be scheduled with new reserve prices.

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After a delay while Google’s engineers attempted to fix the submissions system, the Android Developer Challenge has finally opened for entries.  With a total prize-fund of $10m, the competition has both been lauded and criticised as stimulating software coding and simultaneously encouraging developers to jealously guard their skills.  Challenge I, which will be accepting entries until March 3rd, will offer 50-percent of that jackpot, with fifty winning entries getting a guaranteed $25,000 each and the possibility of supplementary awards - ten of $100,000 and ten of $275,000 - for particularly good applications.

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Analysts see Asia as the potential playground for Android-powered devices, claiming that the Google brand cachet will be enough to leverage the open-source OS into a new range of entry- and mid-level cellphones for the region’s new users.  IDC Asia-Pacific analyst Aloysius Choong, believes that the Google name has such broad appeal as to clinch sales with first-time buyers as well as provide a tempting upgrade option to those looking for a new smartphone.

“Asian users typically have higher demands. As we move toward 3.5G, especially with fixed-rate data service plans, more will get onboard the mobile Internet platform.  The more you use your phone [to access the] Internet, the more you expect in terms of extensibility, power and customizability” Aloysius Choong, IDC Asia-Pacific

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In typically scathing style, a post-Keynote Steve Jobs has told the New York Times’ John Markoff of his doubts regarding the Android cellphone platform, calling on Apple’s own experience building the iPhone to illustrate the perils involved in formulating a new mobile platform.

“Having created a phone its a lot harder than it looks.  We’ll see how good their software is and we’ll see how consumers like it and how quickly it is adopted” Steve Jobs, Apple CEO

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All eyes this week may have been on the Macworld 08 Keynote, but that didn’t stop the FCC from releasing the final line-up [pdf] of participants in the fast-approaching 700MHz spectrum auction.  As expected, Google is one of the companies who has made pre-bid qualifying payment and cleared by the government agency to take part; they’ll be competing against Verizon Wireless and AT&T, who obviously managed to get their paperwork completed in time for the auction deadline.

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It’s not just the Android SDK that has come under some fire for being prematurely announced; the much-publicised Developer Fund, which held promises of $10m in funding for coders willing to produce apps for the new mobile platform, has itself been delayed after Google’s engineers discovered bugs in the submissions website.  In fact, at the moment that’s no big deal: the final Terms & Conditions paperwork - which will detail such important elements as who holds the IP of submitted applications - are yet to be ready, leaving developers uncertain and cautious as to their long-term involvement in their own software and in Android itself.

“As you probably know, the Android Developer Challenge submission period for the first round is scheduled to run from today, 2 January, through 3 March. Unfortunately final testing revealed some cross-browser bugs in the application we’ll be using to allow you submit your work. We’re fixing those now, and will have the site up and running as soon as we possibly can. At the same time that the submission application becomes available, we’ll also make the final Terms and Conditions of the competition available” Android Developer Challenge blog

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