Finally the rumors on the gPhone finally become true…sort of. The Open Handset Alliance backed by Google is introducing a new linux based mobile platform called Android. So there is no actual iPhone direct competitor, just an OS and an SDK for now. The first phones using it will come out in the second half of 2008 and manufactured by HTC.
With information still sparse on details, it seems as this is more of a sudo-vaporware long term strategy rather than go to market technology. Google is all about the open now a days: OpenSocial and now this.
It’s pretty cool to have an “open” strategy, but at some point in time shareholders are going to start wondering where the profits will come from. Sure you can extend Adsense to OpenSocial apps and subsides the phone’s software dev with a little advertising….but how much? And since the phone is open, what would prevent a phone manufacturer from changing the default search engine from google to yahoo?
Handset sales are far outpacing PC sales, thus creating a big market for mobile advertising. How this is going to affect usability in a small screen is yet to be seen. The one phrase that stuck in my mind was in the Open Handset Alliance Android page:
For example, Android enables developers to obtain the location of the device, and allow devices to communicate with one another enabling rich peer-to-peer social applications.
Location relevant advertising is the next big thing. New in an area and want a quick sushi hit? Just power up your android and type: sushi. No need to know the zip code or city name. Plus you’ll have access to yelp reviews through Open Social. So you’ll instantly know where to go and if it is any good. Sounds like a dream come true. Now let’s hope it doesn’t become vaporware.
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