On why Android makes way more sense than Google Phone

There has been a lot of talk about whether or not Google has done the right thing by developing Android. Some say developing its own phone, the so-called Google phone, would have been a better idea. Some say Android is the better idea. Now, where do I stand in this issue?

It’s very simple. Android is Google’s best chance to dominate the mobile world. The reason is very, very obvious. Just think - How did Google become the top dog in the internet? By serving ads to websites all over the world. In other words, Google made everyone use their service.

Now, think of the same scenario here in the mobile world. Instead of creating a phone which can only be used by so many users, Google has come up with a mobile platform which has the potential to reach hundreds of millions of users all over the world. Android is capable of reaching a wide range of operators and users all over the world and this is exactly the route to Google’s success in the mobile world.

With Android, operators will find it easier to make their subscribers use mobile internet as that is where the revenue is. The more the number of users that use mobile internet, the more money it will be for Google, as it will be serving ads through Android. In other words, Android will help Google replicate its online success in the mobile world.

Remember – it’s a market of over a billion users out there. There’s plenty of fish in the sea. Google, in my opinion, has both the experience and the expertise to pull it off in the mobile world, just like they did in the online world. So, wait and watch.

Categories: Google.

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Nokia buys Symbian and poses serious threat to Android

So, Nokia has finally made the big move. It has taken control of Symbian, which in itself is big news, and on top of it has announced that Symbian software will be available for free. Talk about making news…

The open source software – which will be an integration of Symbian, Nokia Series 60, the MOAP platform of Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, the UIQ standard by Motorola and Sony Ericsson – will be controlled by the Symbian Foundation, which is a non-profit organization.

In more ways than one, it looks like the perfect move. After all, Nokia and Psion created Symbian about a decade back and Symbian is still the number one software on smartphones and advanced multimedia handsets. With around 60% market share and an ability to reach over 200 million mobile users, Symbian is undoubtedly the market leader when it comes to mobile phone software. However, things are about to change.

Apple made a splashing entry into the market with its iPhone last year and Google is getting ready to launch its own mobile software, Android. What this means to Symbian, in layman terms, is there’s going to be competition. A lot of it. Especially, Google is hell bent on making Android successful at any cost and it could most likely rattle the dominance of Symbian. So, Nokia has taken the plunge and has made its intentions clear. To retain the number one spot in the market and to stop the dominance of Apple, Google, and to a lesser extent Microsoft and Research In Motion.

Here’s the most important thing about this move. Nokia stands to lose hundreds of millions of dollars by making this open source software free of cost. Nokia earns several hundreds of millions every year through software licensing revenues alone and making it an open-source-free-for-all would mean a huge cut in its revenue stream. Still, Nokia has made the move and this has made everyone take notice.

Experts already predict that this move will rattle Google considerably. Google is planning to take the market by storm by offering free, sophisticated mobile phone software in the form of Android and now it will have serious trouble contending with Symbian, which is not only hugely famous and established, but also free of cost.

Well; how many times do I pat my back? I predicted a Nokia vs. Google scenario quite some time back and you can bet your bottom dollar that it has come true. What do you say?

Categories: Google, Nokia.

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Google Android to be launched within this year

Ever since Google made the announcement about Android, much has been talked about the mobile software system. Almost every other day, you could see someone talking about Android. The kind of buzz it created in the market was incredible. The initial reaction was nothing but excitement for Android, then it was seen as the potential Apple iPhone killer, and things were looking bright. But then, after some time, some people questioned Google’s logic of making people wait for a long time to get a glimpse of its product. The wait, however, is over.

Last week, at the Annual Developer Conference at San Francisco, Google unveiled the near-completed Android platform to people. The reaction from the crowd gathered there, unanimously, was a big ‘wow.’

Sample this – you can unlock phones by drawing a certain shape on the touch screen. No need to enter passwords or any such thing. On the homepage of the device, you can bookmark all your favorite web pages. There is a magnifying tool that you can use to zoom in on the text in the web pages. And there is an automatic compass tool which helps you with road maps. With all this and more, Android certainly caught everyone’s attention at the conference.

Google has also made it clear that Android will be launched within this year. Google firmly believes that its open source mobile platform will benefit users more and will become the major player in the future.

Analysts believe that with close to 3 billion mobile phones in the market, the scope for an open source mobile platform like Android is huge. They estimate that Google could be able to rake in as much as $5 billion every year from the mobile advertising market.

I have no doubt that Android will be a very useful, very innovative, and very futuristic platform. However, the important thing here is its ability to change certain perceptions about mobile web like the Apple iPhone did. Before the launch of iPhone, surfing the internet from the mobile phone was considered a cumbersome process and very few did that. Bang came in the iPhone and made mobile surfing so much easier. Similarly, if Android could change certain perceptions about mobile phone and offer great user experience, we are in for another revolution in the mobile industry. Are you excited about the launch of Android? Will you give it a try? Most importantly, do you think it will live up to its expectations?

Categories: Google.

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Google to introduce its mobile advertising service in China

After its successful mobile advertising deal with Japan’s topmost mobile carrier, Google is all set to sign a similar deal in China. Google has officially announced that it will soon launch a mobile advertising service which will cover mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.

While Google has made it clear that it will be partnering with Far EasTone and Chunghwa Telecom in Taiwan, it has not said anything about its partnerships in mainland China.

Chinese mobile market is considered one of the fastest growing markets in the world and Google has stepped into it with great expectations. It remains to be seen if this deal can turn out to be as successful as the one it signed in Japan with NTT DoCoMo.

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google.

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Google to invest $500 mn in Clearwire

Preparing a launch pad for its Android platform seems to be the most important thing on Google’s mind these days. As I had already mentioned, the Microsoft-Yahoo deal is a goner now and Google is one happy company. So, it’s only concern right now is to make Android a success. And its latest $500 million deal with Clearwire speaks volumes about its passion to make Android a success.

Google has announced that it will invest $500 million to help Clearwire, the erstwhile-popular wireless internet provider, find its mark in the market again. This is part of the deal made by Google, Intel, Comcast, Bright House Networks, and Time Warner Cable to invest a collective amount of $3.2 billion to unite two of the biggest wireless broadband business in the market today – Sprint Nextel and Clearwire.

Clearwire, meanwhile, will work on building the first nationwide WiMax network in the country. As you know, WiMax transfers data way faster than 3G wireless networks that we have today. So, with a nationwide WiMax network, mobile users will be able to access multimedia content on their mobile phones easily and this will in turn give Google a chance to serve a wide range of mobile content backed with ads.

Also, as expected, Clearwire will now officially join the league of companies that support Android platform. As of now, the list of companies that support Google Android is pretty big and Google is trying everything in its power to make Android a success.

When Google came up with the idea of Android, some people thought it would be a bumpy ride for Google, as the market is currently ruled by Symbian OS, Windows Live Mobile, and Apple iPhone. Well, as of now, it looks like Google is ready to face the competition. What do you say?

Categories: Cell Phone Advertising, Google, All things mobile phones.

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