Smartphone Thoughts - Daily News, Views, Rants and Raves

I recently ran across an interesting article written by Sascha Segan from PCMag.com asking an interesting question, "Has Android Already Failed?" Personally, like Steve Mueller from Mobility Site, I feel it is way too early to write the Android platform off. Let's face it, when Google and HTC teamed up to release the T-Mobile G1 (HTC Dream) the handset wasn't really built around the needs of the average consumer. Sure the HTC Dream is a great little handset on its own, but you would have to be blind to not see that this device was built for the sole purpose of having development hardware on the market for individuals interested in the platform as a whole. It is, after all, a dream device for the open source junkie in your life. You can build almost anything you want for it or install any of the various homebrew Android operating systems out there in the digital realm that are ready and waiting to be flashed to the handset.

What annoys me about these articles however is just the assumption that Android is a failure because it has sold so few handsets over the course of its first six months on the market. I personally consider selling 1 million handsets a success and I seem to remember all the Windows Mobile fanboys out there, myself included, shouting from the rooftops when the HTC Touch Diamond sold its first million handsets. Read more...

"Microsoft's Robbie Bach feigned an uninterested yawn at Apple's 6.9 million iPhones figure in an interview with BusinessWeek the other day. He wasn't particularly insulting of the product, but didn't think the number means too much in the long run. "Apple had a big launch of a new product, and they launched at scale in a lot of new countries with a lot of new [wireless] operators. This quarter, RIM is having its big launch, and at some point we'll have our big launch. We'll have to see where things normalize." While that statement is encouraging for the fact that it semi-implies that Windows Mobile 7 is supposed to be released at "some point," we're not sure we're picking up what Robbie is putting down -- 6.9 million of a single device seems to imply a bit more than "launch buzz." Things devolved quickly when Bach started spouting about how carriers want a balanced ecosystem. That may be true, but consumers are the ones that buy the phones, and if their RAZR buying habits are any indication, "ecosystem" isn't their top priority."

Well if Robbie Bach should have learned anything by now Apple has a way of making launch buzz last an eternity. Every time an Apple product starts to fall out of the public consciousness, BAM! Another Apple event is just around the corner to put the Internet in Apple frenzy. I'm just baffled that after the suffering years of abuse via smear advertisements by the hands of Apple regarding Vista that they have still not learned to take Apple seriously. Feel as you may about the Apple iPhone but we can't ignore that it is pretty much printing money for Apple at the moment. The longer Microsoft stalls in releasing their new operating system the more speed and momentum iPhone sales will gain.

"Microsoft has positioned Windows Mobile quite nicely in the enterprise but it seems these days that the buzz is in the consumer space. Apple's recent revelations that they've sold 6.8 million iPhone 3Gs in a quarter and the release of the first Android phone have moved the attention squarely into the consumer space. In a recent interview by Techradar the business lead for Microsoft Windows in the UK, John Curran, stated that Microsoft isn't worried about either competitor."

I personally feel that Microsoft is looking at this the wrong way. Instead of looking at this problem as one you should ignore because of limited form factor and limited distribution, they should be paying more attention to the emotional influence these devices have on their users. No matter how you feel about the iPhone the truth is that the device has changed the landscape and given consumers a new direction to turn to for their mobile computing. Just being the Swiss Army knife of devices means next to nothing if no one wants to use them. I can understand the need for corporate speak every now and then but hearing it more frequently in regards to Windows Mobile makes me a little afraid that the next version of the operating system will be just more of the same. Maybe Microsoft really hasn't picked up on the fact that users prefer more easily to navigate devices that are fun to use.

"My brother, the cinematographer, is a MAC kinda guy. So, naturally he packs an iPhone of which he is very proud. While visiting me last week he was showing off the virtues of his iPhone with a bit of a smug air and a tinge of superiority. He quickly established that the iPhone makes phone calls, surfs the Web, does email and SMS, takes pictures (but has no flash), and it does it all on a really cool, high-resolution, finger-friendly touch screen..."



Over at Mobility Site, Tim Hillebrand has brought us one of the most amusing articles I have read this week. I was hoping to post this earlier in the week, but with our server woes I decided to push this back to Friday to give you guys and gals a good chuckle before the weekend. Tim goes through the list of all of Apple's good qualities that was packed into their little device that could and than in classic 1980's buddy comedy fashion the article takes a turn for the comical going through everything you would think this fancy high end device should/would include in its repertoire list but doesn't. It just goes to show us that Apple's handset has as many growing pains to conquer as Microsoft's cellular device offerings and also that Tim's brother is a good sport for letting him write this article about him. ;)