Android unleashed - can Google's gPhone learn from the iPhone?
Google's long awaited Android mobile phone operating system is finally here, with T-Mobile preparing to unveil HTC's first Android phone. Adam Turner wonders what Google can learn from Apple's iPhone blunders.
Treating customers like beta testers hasn't helped Apple win favour with the enterprise market. Only an IT department with a death wish would consider ripping out BlackBerry to roll out iPhone at this point.
Even consumers are entitled to be suspicious of Apple after its iPhone blunders and MobileMe disaster. So what can the gPhone learn from all this?
Lesson 1: Don't release half-baked products
The fact we've waited so long for Android to hit the market would seem to indicate Google has learned this. Considering all the pundits are predicting that the future of the internet is mobile, Android is quite possibly the most important thing Google will ever release.
Get this right and the world is its oyster. Get it wrong and it'll have missed the chance to kick the iPhone while it's down and grab disgruntled users looking for something better than Windows Mobile.
Lesson 2: Give the people what they want
The list of what the iPhone can't do is almost as long as the list of what it can do - driving away a lot of potential users. I don't think Google will make this kind of mistake. Expect to see Android phones offering the likes tethering, cut and paste, MMS, flash-compatibility, GPS and a camera of at least 3 megapixels with video capture.
I couldn't see Google waiting until gPhone 2.0 before catering for business users either. Expect Android to offer push email, contacts and calendars (probably with Exchange compatibility) and a decent Office-compatible productivity suite along with security features such as remote lock and wipe.
Also expect the browser to allow editing in Google Docs. If Android can offer the best of iPhone and BlackBerry, Google will have a killer device on its hands.
Lesson 3: Be all things to all men
The iPhone's high price tag and one-size-fits-all approach has certainly cost it market share - and Apple can't use platform stability as an excuse after the disastrous 2.0.x software updates.
All this talk of Apple and BlackBerry ignores the 800 pound gorilla in the corner - Nokia. Finland's greatest son dominates global phone sales and whatever kind of phone you're looking for, Nokia has something for you - from the lo-fi Nokia 2108 to the N96 wonderphone.
Android's open source approach should allow for different flavours of the OS to suit different devices and different markets, without oppressive licensing fees, allowing it to capture large market share rather than just trying to skim the technosexuals and business executives off the top.
If you don't think Nokia is scared, look at its defensive play in acquiring and open sourcing Symbian. Nokia circling the wagons in anticipation of some true competition.
Lesson 4: Don't try to own the customer
The primary purpose of any new Apple product is to drag customers into Cupertino's walled garden, sipping exclusively on the sweet nectar of iTunes. Unfortunately this drives Apple to design products that benefit Apple rather than end users.
The Apple-faithful don't seem to mind, but it stops Apple cracking the wider market. Nokia and Google's business models are very different, giving them more freedom to give end users what they actually want. I doubt Google with inflict iPhone-like activation woes on customers either.
Steve Jobs may have carried the iPhone down from the mount Moses-style, but if Google can learn from his mistakes I suspect an army that marches behind Android will be invincible.
Other Blog Entries written by Adam Turner:
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