My first cell phone was an Ericsson, one of the original ones with a single line of LEDs for a screen! Since then, with the exception of 2 years with a Samsung, I have had Nokias. Most recently a 6300, an E51, and currently a 5800 XpressMusic. I like Nokias; they’ve served me well. Later this year I’ll be due for an upgrade, and geek that I am, I’m already weighing up my options, and scheming how I can get the best “bang for my buck”!
I would like a true smartphone, but even Nokia's latest version of Symbian, ^3, fails to impress. No, there are only 2 players in the game right now: Apple's iPhone and Google's Android.
Choosing between the 2 is a tough decision; with the apps you buy and the systems you integrate with on the internet, you're not going to want to start from scratch every time your contract is up for renewal. Your decision should include some longer term thinking; which is the system you will still want to be using a few years into the future?
The iPhone is an icon, as was the iPod. It epitomises cool. However, going the iPhone route means buying into the Apple eco-system, and that's a fairly difficult hole to climb out, should you want to. iTunes is a great concept, and no-one has done it better than Apple, but it still sucks! Apple dictate formats and decides which ones they will support. Download something from the net - good luck trying to get it to work on your iPhone! There is only 1 model of the iPhone released each year, and you better like it, because there is no choice. Should Apple bring out a dud, you're stuck! The Apple vision is seemingly that of a single man, and he will decide what is best for you. Steve Jobs is indisputably a visionary, and many people trust that he will continue to set the trend for years to come.
The majority of people are scared of tech. They want gadgets with simple menus, that work as they should. They don't want too many options to confuse them. These people buy Apple products.
Android is the underdog. Android is open sourced. Android has been adopted by HTC, Sony Ericsson, Samsung, LG, Motorola and others, in a variety of form factors. Android is all about choice - it is the polar opposite of the iPhone! Google hasn't developed an equivalent of iTunes and their App Market is far from perfect. They rely heavily on developers to add the additional features that iPhone users may take for granted.
Yesterday (20 May), Google announced Android 2.2 (Froyo), and lots of exciting new features to up the ante in their war with Apple. Lots was said about the number of handsets being sold, and the growth rate of Android vs iPhone. The internet has been abuzz with people praising this update, and taking comfort in the latest figures. The latest handsets from HTC are stunning, and at this stage I'm definitely swaying towards Android, and all the Google goodness!
However, in a couple of weeks time it will be Apple's turn to take to the stage. They've got their 4th generation iPhone due for release in the northern hemisphere summer, along with V4.0 of the iPhone OS, and Steve Jobs is sure to have something up his sleeve to wow the crowds with.
Maybe I'll hold back on my decision a bit longer!
Thanks for reading.
For me, the most important announcement on Day 1 of Google's annual I/O Developer Conference was the introduction of the Chrome Web Store, due to open later this year.
Web apps existed before now, but they were often hard to find, and we had to rely on news services like TechCrunch and Mashable to review these for us. A searchable store with a list of Google approved, high quality apps will be great for anyone that uses the internet.
There will be a greater incentive for developers to create new and exciting apps if there's a store they can market them through. There will also be a way to monetize apps, but paid apps may not prove too popular. However, people accept that they have to pay for apps in Apple's iStore - they may not mind paying for a web app that offers a unique functionality.
Users will be able to "install" applications by adding a shortcut to the new tab page. When you "install" an application, it can integrate with the browser by using advanced features that require permission: local storage, user's location, notifications.
"An installed web app could be separated visually from other tabs, could integrate better with the OS, and could be granted increased permissions. This special handling of web apps is exactly what we're working on in Google Chrome. Installing a web app in Google Chrome is easy and quick, with no restart required. At its simplest, installing a web app is like creating a super-bookmark to it. Once installed, a web app gets a big icon in Google Chrome's app launcher area, as well as some integration with the host OS," explains Google.
"When running, an installed web app has a special frame and other UI enhancements to make the web app easier to distinguish from other web content. This special treatment makes running apps easier to find and prevents accidentally opening multiple copies of them."
Google are due to launch their Chrome OS later this year, and the Web Store is clearly preparation for that introduction. Google will be able to direct new users to the Web Store to select photo editors, music players, games, etc, as well as Google's own apps (Gmail, Calendar, Docs, etc), all re-written to take advantage of the power of Chrome.
What's great is that we won't have to wait for Chrome OS to experience all this Google goodness - any device that can run the Chrome browser will be able to run these apps.
Thanks for reading.
