So everyone was talking about the Google Phone. Now everyone is talking about Android. It’s not iPhone-level buzz. Not yet anyway. If you don’t know the details, well, Google “Open Handset Alliance”. The short answer is it’s a bunch of wireless players (T-Mobile, Sprint, HTC, Samsung, Motorola and the like) getting together with Google around a new, open platform for wireless devices.
So what do the participants get out of it?
Google gets an opportunity to become a major part of the wireless landscape and to significantly extend its ad network.
The lagging carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile get a platform that, in theory, enables them to develop richer data applications more quickly and easily. It’s also probably the closest that they’ll get to countering the iPhone in the mid-term. The brand association with Google probably doesn’t hurt either.
For manufacturers, Android will simply be added to the stable of platforms they use in developing new devices. HTC, for example, is currently developing a new device using Android, but isn’t planning to abandon Windows Mobile 6 used in most of its current smart phones.
So what about consumers? I’ve seen very little talk about what the user gets out of this. Eric Schmidt, Google’s CEO said “The fundamental problem that most phones people have today is that they don’t have fully powered Web browsers.” It is? I’d say one of the more fundamental problems they typical user would note is that the phones don’t perform as they expect them to.
And mostly what they expect to do is make calls wherever and whenever
they want. Yes, more and more people are using data, getting online
through their phones. And yes, data revenues are a very important part
of carrier profitability. But it’s still a small percentage of users
that are looking to have a PC-like experience. Poor browsing is not a
“fundamental problem” from a user point of view.
So let’s skip that and say the consortium is all about getting
capability that users want, giving them an experience similar to their
PC. And with easier development, they can give users cooler, richer
applications to boot.
Will this arrangement actually deliver? Will the players match the
openness of the platform? Is it open for the user or simply open for
the developer? And seeing that not all of the players are involved, it
looks, at least right now, like this just becomes another platform.
It won’t be long until we see. The HTC entry will probably be the
first, sometime in Spring 2008. If it has the impact the iPhone has,
maybe things will gel. But there’s an awful lot of moving parts for an
industry that isn’t known for playing particularly well together in the
sandbox. An awful lot of ‘ifs’ to make this what it could be. At the
end of the day maybe it really is just another opportunity for Google
to get their fingers into the wireless pie.
David Lewis
Comments
Connections
There was a great snippet in the Wall Street Journal that puts a little more perspective on what the end user could get out of this arrangement. Namely, multiplayer mobile gaming, location aware services and applications, and personalization.
“With its announcement today of details of its ambitious plans (see related article1), the Web search and advertising giant hopes to induce software companies to develop an array of new features for cellphones, from more widely available location-aware services that automatically link users to reviews of nearby restaurants to ways to almost instantly share photos with everyone in a user’s address book.
If Google succeeds at rallying developers previously turned off by the hassles of developing for mobile phones, it could open the way for consumers to start doing more easily on their phones what they can already do on the Web. Phones are also likely to become more personalized, with screens that can show customized content.
Services available on cellphones overseas but rarely or not at all in the U.S., such as multiplayer mobile games or high-definition television, could emerge. Other changes will be more subtle: Cellphones may be able to run several functions at the same time more easily, for instance.”
Don’t get me wrong – I think in theory this is a cool idea with potential. And plenty of people say they are interested in having internet on their phones. How they actually use it once it begins to give them what they want (like location based services, social apps, etc)and who uses it will be the telling part. There will certainly opportunities, for instance, to create really compelling applications or suites of apps that get users not previously using data to dive in.
All that side, I’m just not completely convinced this model will deliver that. It’s not just dependent on Google successfully rallying developers – they certainly can pull that off. It’s that convergence of Google, developers, manufacturers, and carriers that will be important. I’m trying to think of a precedent for a consortium developing a compelling user experience (as opposed to a single entity owning the end state and with 3rd party partners like Apple, Palm or similar)and can’t think of any – thoughts?
“Nuance joined the Open Handset Alliance with other industry leaders to grow the entire mobile ecosystem,” said Steve Chambers, president, mobile and consumer services division, Nuance Communications. “We’re committed to apply our strength and leadership in voice-based search and messaging to move the market forward. By packaging and optimizing embedded speech technology components for open source distribution, we’ve given developers the opportunity to access speech solutions through open APIs using the Android platform and to easily upgrade to new, more advanced speech features as well. We believe deep collaboration with members of the Alliance will grow our core mobile business and fuel the proliferation of speech-enabled applications worldwide.”