Technology And The Cult Of Fan Boys

I am operating system agnostic.   Apple clearly makes the best laptops and has the best software developers for the desktop and laptop platforms.  Apple also had the best hardware and software for mobile.   Android clearly has caught up and passed Apple in some ways,  especially value, in the mobile sphere.   Android is more flexible than IOS. The Android share page is unequaled in IOS. Being a fan of a company is fine, but rather childish.   They, the companies, are only a fan of your money. The game is about who can push the technological envelope to make you desire their products. That is why I sold my iPad 2 and bought a Nexus 10.   That is why I have bought both generations of the Nexus 7 instead of an iPad Mini while using every generation to find iPod Touch devices with a hot spot and Jawbone headset as my phone.  I started with a paid Skype in account and moved to a paid Magic Jack account.   That saves me $1200 every two years over a regular smartphone plan from a cellular company.   It is absolutely the best technology at the best price.

John H. Armwood

Google raises the white flag on transforming the US wireless industry | TechRepublic

Image via CrunchBaseGoogle raises the white flag on transforming the US wireless industry | TechRepublic

By Jason Hiner

November 22, 2010, 3:00 AM PST

Takeaway: In order to guarantee Android’s success in 2010, Google has snuggled up to the telecoms and given up on changing the US wireless industry to make it better for consumers.

The technology industry is full of once-great companies that held on to an idea, a product, or a platform too long and ended up eventually falling hopelessly behind their competitors and going out of business or being acquired because of it. Think of DEC, Sun, and Palm.

However, the yin to that yang is when a company doesn’t give a new initiative enough time to run its course and pulls the plug too soon. Google has been guilty of this in 2010. The culprit is not a technology or a platform in this case. Instead, it is Google’s multi-faceted strategy for transforming the US wireless industry. This ambitious scheme — which few companies other than Google would have the influence or resources to pursue — has been aimed at helping US mobile users. It has now been utterly abandoned.

The final indication that Google has given up on this altruistic idea is the Google Nexus S smartphone, which CEO Eric Schmidt essentially confirmed the existence of last week during his interview at the Web 2.0 Summit.

A decade from now, 2010 will likely be remembered as the coming out party for Google Android, but it should also be remembered as the year Google traded in its advocacy of wireless fairness in order to purchase Android primacy.

I’m sure there have been lots of high fives on the Google campus this year as the numbers were released showing Android passing iPhone and BlackBerry in US market share for smartphones. However, I hope that somewhere in a cubicle or a corner office at Google there have been at least a few head-shakes or face-palms, because Google has had to ditch some of its highest ambitions in order to achieve Android success. If you’re really cynical, you could even argue that Google sold out the average consumer in order to bend to the wishes of the telecom companies and phone makers.

There have been lots of signs that this was happening throughout 2010 but the final confirmation is the Nexus S, which will reportedly be built by Samsung, sold by Best Buy, and locked into T-Mobile for wireless service. That may not sound like a big deal, if you don’t know the history of the Nexus One, the predecessor of the Nexus S.

The Google Nexus One was released in January to breathless reviews from the tech press, but lackluster sales from the public. It was a fantastic piece of hardware, truly the best Android phone that had been released up until that point and some would still argue that it’s the best overall Android smartphone to hit the market.

But, the most unique part of the Nexus One was that you could only buy it online from Google and that it was not locked to a wireless carrier so you didn’t have to sign a two-year contract the day you started using it. The trade-off was that you had to pay the full non-subsidized price ($500) to buy “the Google phone.”

For the US market, this was intended to be a first step toward mimicking the European wireless model where you can purchase your phone and your wireless service separately, giving wireless users more freedom to match up a preferred device with the service that made the most sense for the user’s needs.

Unfortunately, sales of the Nexus One were not very good in the first quarter. Users still preferred smartphones that were $200 or less - even if it meant signing a long-term contract that cost over $1000 a year. Plus, many of the people who did pony up the 500 bucks for the Nexus One and had problems with it complained about Google’s lackluster customer support.

The Nexus One, which was supposed to be opened up to all four of the big US wireless carriers, landed first on T-Mobile and then AT&T. However, before the long-anticipated availability of the Nexus One on Verizon, the product was cancelled. Then, the Sprint version was cancelled, too. Google eventually sidelined the phone and made it available only to Android developers looking for a testing device, and Schmidt said Google would not do a Nexus Two.

Now, here comes the “Nexus S,” but the only resemblance to the Nexus One is that it runs the stock Android OS without any of the additional UI “enhancements” that HTC, Motorola, Samsung and others have been layering on top of Android (typically doing more harm than good).

When you combine this move — assuming the Nexus S reports are as reliable as they appear — with the fact that Google has cozied up to its No. 1 Android partner Verizon Wireless and punted on Net Neutrality for the US wireless networks, it certainly appears that Google has lost interest in helping shape the future of the US wireless industry to make it more it friendly for consumers. That’s a major letdown coming from a company that once put up over $4 billion to bid for the 700Mhz spectrum for the sole purpose of meeting the FCC’s minimum bid and forcing the winning telecoms to accept the FCC’s open access rules.

Verizon’s 4G LTE network is built on the 700MHz spectrum that it won in that auction. We’ll see how closely it sticks to the open access guidelines when it goes live at the end of 2010.

Maybe ditching its wireless-changing ambitions was necessary for Google to achieve Android’s success, but I like to think the two things could have co-existed. Google could have hired someone else to handle the customer service and retailing of the Nexus line but continued to offer unlocked, full price smartphones in the US to give users a chance to warm up to the idea. And, meanwhile, Google could have continued to put pressure on Verizon and other carriers to keep their open access promises.

We don’t know the conversations that are happening behind closed doors. Google may be putting pressure on Verizon and other carriers in private while keeping a united front in public. But, it sure doesn’t feel like it. It feels like Google has gotten so bullish about Android’s expansion that it has tossed its consumer advocacy aside and assumed that an ascendant Android will solve all problems.

I’m sure that I will get a hold of the Nexus S and I will review it. I will probably even like. After all, the Galaxy S models are among the best Android smartphones on the market. But, based on what the Nexus S represents — Google’s surrender to the telecoms — it will be tough to ever get enthusiastic about it.

Related articles

• Is This Google's Next Nexus Smartphone? (pocketnow.com)
• Google Nexus One: Lessons Learned from the Failed Experiment (pcworld.com)
• Amazon Wireless Has A Great Deal On The Sprint Nexus S 4G (pocketnow.com)

Report: Google, Too, Is Collecting Location Information From Phones : The Two-Way : NPR

Image via CrunchBaseReport: Google, Too, Is Collecting Location Information From Phones : The Two-Way : NPR

by EYDER PERALTA

Two days after researchers discovered that Apple's iPhone keeps an unencrypted log of everywhere you go, The Wall Street Journal reports that Google is also collecting location information from Android devices:

In the case of Google, according to new research by security analyst Samy Kamkar, an HTC Android phone collected its location every few seconds and transmitted the data to Google at least several times an hour. It also transmitted the name, location and signal strength of any nearby Wi-Fi networks, as well as a unique phone identifier.

Google declined to comment on the findings.

Until last year, Google was collecting similar Wi-Fi data with its fleet of StreetView cars that map and photograph streets world-wide. The company shut down its StreetView Wi-Fi collection last year after it inadvertently collected e-mail addresses, passwords and other personal information from Wi-Fi networks. The data that Mr. Kamkar observed being transmitted on Android phones didn't include such personal information.

Google's passive collection of data has come under scrutiny before. In response, it has said the data they collect is anonymous and at least for the data used for traffic information on Google Maps, Google says it deletes the start and end point of each trip.

Google even has a page explaining how to opt out of sending your GPS coordinates to the Google Maps' My Location. When you first setup an Android phone, it specifically asks if you'd like to send anonymous data to Google. A user has the ability to turn off location services.

Here's the rub: Turning off location services would in essence take away what makes mobile devices so appealing. It means you couldn't

find your nearest pizza joint on Yelp! or use Google Maps to find your way back home.

Google took issue with the Journal's use of the word "unique phone identifier." The number Google receives is random, they say, and it is only used in order for the servers to be able to adequately communicate with the phone.

"All location sharing on Android is opt-in by the user" read a statement released by Google. "We provide users with notice and control over the collection, sharing and use of location in order to provide a better mobile experience on Android devices. Any location data that is sent back to Google location servers is anonymized and is not tied or traceable to a specific user."

On the Apple front, yesterday, Congressman Ed Markey (D-Mass.) sent a letter to Apple's CEO Steve Jobs.

"I am concerned about this report and the consequences of this feature for individuals," Markey wrote.

Markey then asks several questions from Jobs. Among them: Did Apple notify its users that iPhones were recording location and Wi-Fi information and then copying a backup file with that info onto the computer with which the device is synchronized? What is Apple using this information for and is it for commercial reasons? What is Apple doing to protect the underage users who own their devices?

Related articles

• Google's Android Phones Also Collecting User Location Data (outsidethebeltway.com)
• Report: Apple, Google collecting location data on users - USA Today (news.google.com)

iPad 2.0 will Help Apple Rule for Years, Analyst Says - PCWorld

Image via WikipediaiPad 2.0 will Help Apple Rule for Years, Analyst Says - PCWorld

By Ross O. Storey, MIS-Asia Mar 5, 2011 8:40 am

With Apple's launch of the second version of its iPad, research house Ovum predicts that it will take until 2015 for devices running Google's Android platform to catch up.

Ovum principal analyst Adam Leach said that in such a fast-moving market, Apple was forced to release a new version of its iPad hardware to stay ahead.

"Apple clearly had first mover advantage. However, its competitors have been hot on its heals with a slew of tablet devices from big brand vendors such as Samsung, Motorola, HP, HTC and RIM, all of which have announced tablet devices which aim to replicate the Apple experience, which is notoriously difficult to match," Leach said.

"Much of the early growth of the tablet market can be attributable to the Apple iPad, a device whose sales constituted 90 per cent of the total market opportunity in 2010. The remaining 10 per cent of shipments in 2010 was made up of devices running variants of Google's Android OS".

Honeycomb Popular

Leach said most device vendors are looking to exploit Google's latest version of the Android operating system, honeycomb, to deliver a user experience that can compete with Apple's own iOS.

"However, some vendors, notably HP and RIM, are choosing to invest in their own software platforms," he said.

"Ovum's belief is that the platform dominance of Apple and Google will continue through 2011 and beyond, albeit with devices based on Google's software platform commanding an increasing proportion of the total market opportunity".

"However, devices based on Google's platforms will only overtake those based on Apple's platform by 2015, when we forecast 36 per cent and 35 per cent market shares respectively, of a total market with shipments of about 150 million units in 2015," Leach said.

This compares with Ovum's estimate of 10 per cent for Google and 90 per cent for Apple at the end of 2010.

Study: Apple's Mobile Browser is Fastest - PCWorld

Image via CrunchBaseStudy: Apple's Mobile Browser is Fastest - PCWorld

By Nick Mediati, PCWorld Feb 25, 2011 8:50 PM

Sick of waiting for pages to load on your mobile device? Get an iPad or iPhone. That’s the upshot of a mobile browser speed study done by a company called Gomez. They found that Apple’s mobile version of Safari was fastest and BlackBerry’s browser the slowest.

According to Gomez, the iPad fully loads pages in 8.4 seconds on average. The iPhone comes in second at 19.7 seconds, followed by Android at 36.5 seconds, and Blackberry at 61 seconds.

Gomez also analyzed perceived page loading times--that is, how long it took each browser to load the items visible "above the fold" on screen (i.e. the elements visible to you when you first visit the page without scrolling down). Perceived load times are shorter because … In this, the iPad again came out on top, with a perceived load time of roughly 6.6 seconds. The iPhone clocked in at about 15.7 seconds, followed by Android at 28.2 second, and BlackBerry at around 43.8 seconds.

Some have tested mobile browsers on a particular OS--such as our Android browser comparison from September--or have compared browsing on one phone to browsing on another, but as far as we're aware, nobody else has released this sort of mobile browser speed comparison before.

Browser Testing: No Clear Winners

These are by no means end-all, be-all numbers. Browser speed testing can be a bit of a thorny issue. There are many variables involved, depending on your hardware, your network connection, your operating system, the Web site itself, and so forth. For example, Gomez's numbers don't match up exactly with the testing we've previously done.

In the case of Gomez, the company, which helps companies improve the performance of their Websites and applications, decided to take what it considers to be a "real-world" approach to measuring browser performance. Its data is based on over 282 million Webpages served across over 200 popular sites. Gomez used data collected from business customers that use its performance monitoring services. It only takes into account Webpages visited using the browser included with the operating system, so browsers like Opera Mini were not included.

Also, since the data is in aggregate, it includes data from both Wi-Fi and cellular network users, and users from different cellular networks. It also includes data from all sorts of different phones and tablets with different hardware configurations. Still the information they provided to us is interesting, and gives us at least an idea of what the general experience of using each browser is like.

And as we've said in the past, other factors beside speed should dictate your choice in browsers--and now, smartphone OSes. Go with whatever works best for you.

How about you? Do Gomez's numbers reflect what you've experienced? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

A Very High-Tech Super Bowl | Tim Bajarin | PCMag.com

A Very High-Tech Super Bowl | Tim Bajarin | PCMag.com

s I walked on the field of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium earlier this week, home of this years Super Bowl, I couldn't help but marvel at all of the technology built into this brand new $1+ billion dollar stadium. Most obvious is its famous Mitsubishi HD Screen that spans from 20 yard line to 20 yard line and gives anyone facing it a fabulous view of any replay or the special programming it displays.

Around the stadium there are 3,500 46-inch HD screens, all Internet connected, so that if you are in any of the 100+ skyboxes or walking around the stadium, you don't miss any of the action on the field. Since they are IP connected, depending on where these screens are located, the management can send special messages or even targeted advertising to any one of them at any time, as well.

According to Peter Walsh, the CIO of the Cowboys stadium, this facility was built to not only take advantage of high-tech advances, but to make them available to all who come to the stadium for any event. For example, they have 1,000 Wi-Fi access points that are designed to cover the wireless needs of over 100,000 people doing simultaneous transactions. Their goal is to deliver the ultimate consumer experience, and they believe mobile and wireless technology should be a key part of that experience.

At the upcoming Super Bowl, the Cowboys, along with the NFL, will make two apps available for the iPad and Android platform to deliver stats and other information related to the game. With these apps, you can even vote in real time for the games MVP. They're highly encouraging people to bring their iPads, Galaxy Tabs, and smartphones and use them to enhance the whole sports experience. All of the major wireless networks have special towers inside the stadium to achieve strong wireless signals.

But the real technology marvel at the new Cowboys Stadium is its IT center. It manages all of the Wi-Fi hot spots and can even tweak them in sections where more of a back end push is needed during any given time. For example, Walsh pointed out that at the beginning of the game, a lot of people take pictures or videos of pre-game festivities and send them to friends. At that point, any section where a lot of this is taking place gets more bandwidth for that short period. During half time, when the Black Eyed Peas are performing, thousands may be tweeting and possibly sending live video. Here again, they have the ability to fine tune hotspots to meet the "local needs" of the users at any given time.

This new IT center, which was put together for them by CDW, is the envy of all of the NFL stadium execs and the NFL showcases it as the ideal example of how to create an efficient and all encompassing IT infrastructure for a high-tech stadium. According to Lance Caserottti, a Solutions Architecture executive at CDW, the Cowboys management turned to them for help with the total technology integration to tie all of these technologies together to create a state-of-the-art sports complex.

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AppleInsider | Apple's iPad tops Time's top 10 gadgets of 2010 list

Image via WikipediaAppleInsider | Apple's iPad tops Time's top 10 gadgets of 2010 list

Time magazine awarded Apple four slots on its 2010 top 10 gadgets list, naming the iPad the No. 1 gadget of 2010.

Apple briefly fell from grace last year when Time magazine awarded the Motorola Droid the status No.1 gadget of the year, calling it "Android's first credible challenge to the iPhone."

This year, however, Apple is back on top with the wildly successful iPad.

"It's not the first touchscreen tablet in the history of computing, but it's easily the most successful so far," wrote Doug Aamoth for the magazine. "With 3 million iPads sold in their first month alone and a market for interactive magazines and newspapers created almost overnight, Apple finally managed to make tablet computing cool."

According to Time, 2010 was a big year for Apple. The recently released 11-inch MacBook Air, which has been "flying off the shelves," came in third. The iPhone 4, Apple's fastest selling product ever, came in sixth. The new streaming Apple TV rounded out Apple's place on the list at No. 7.

Google also had a good year, and it's clear from the list that the search giant is giving Apple a run for its money. The Samsung Galaxy S Android smartphone took second prize. In fourth place was Google TV, specifically the Logitech Revue. Google's own Nexus One came in fifth, ahead of the iPhone 4.

To its credit, the iPhone did show up on another list: Top 10 iPhone Apps, of which Netflix was No. 1.

Times' list highlights the growing rivalry between Apple and Google. Apple has established a significant lead in the tablet market, and it's No. 1 spot on the top 10 gadgets list affirms that competitive answers to the iPad have yet to take off.

On the other hand, 2010 was the year where collective Android sales overtook those of the iPhone. Time acknowledged the growing success of Google's mobile operating system by awarding Android smartphones the No. 2 and No. 5 spots, ahead of the iPhone 4's sixth place finish.

More...

AppleInsider | Google delays netbook plans for Chrome OS to mid 2011

Image via CrunchBaseAppleInsider | Google delays netbook plans for Chrome OS to mid 2011

Google's plan to bring a web-centric, open operating system to netbooks has been delayed until the first half of 2011 as the company continues to work on Chrome OS, originally expected to launch this summer. The OS is held up on a wide variety of problems, from missing hardware support to Android-like fragmentation.

In an announcement earlier today, Google noted that its free Chrome browser, based on the WebKit open source project maintained by Apple, has tripled from 40 million to 120 million users. The Chrome browser is the basis for Google's forthcoming Chrome OS, which pairs the Linux kernel with a web-based app environment.

Google originally intended to ship Chrome OS on both Intel x86 and ARM-based netbooks by the middle of 2010 in a parallel effort to the company's Android operating system, which uses native and Java-like apps rather than being a web-based platform.

Chrome OS imagines an iPad-like future

"Google Chrome OS is being created for people who spend most of their time on the web, and is being designed to power computers ranging from small netbooks to full-size desktop systems," the company blogged last summer.

"We hear a lot from our users and their message is clear — computers need to get better. People want to get to their email instantly, without wasting time waiting for their computers to boot and browsers to start up," the company explained.

"They want their computers to always run as fast as when they first bought them. They want their data to be accessible to them wherever they are and not have to worry about losing their computer or forgetting to back up files. Even more importantly, they don't want to spend hours configuring their computers to work with every new piece of hardware, or have to worry about constant software updates. And any time our users have a better computing experience, Google benefits as well by having happier users who are more likely to spend time on the Internet."

While Google continues to work the bugs out of Chrome OS, Apple has already answered the problems Chrome OS was intended to address with the iPad, a simple new rethinking of the the PC which has vaulted Apple into position as the first place US mobile PC maker and third in mobile PC sales worldwide.

Apple also delivers a range of Mac notebooks from the light MacBook Air to professional MacBook Pros and its desktop line of Mac mini, iMacs and Mac Pros. Unlike the Chrome OS, these machines can run native Mac apps, can host X11 Linux apps, and can even run Windows apps in a virtualization environment.

New beta Chrome OS hardware

In anticipation of the launch of Chrome OS with partners Acer and Samsung next year, Google is making available test hardware for interested users. Noting that "some of the features of Chrome OS require new hardware," Google will offer its Chrome OS testers netbooks with "full-sized keyboards and touch pads, integrated 3G from Verizon, eight hours of battery life and eight days of standby time."

Hinting at new hardware-level security, Google's Chrome Blog also states, "even at this early stage, we feel there is no consumer or business operating system that is more secure" than Chrome OS. Part of that security may also come from the fact that Chrome OS lacks (by design) core support for typical operating services, as well as basic support for hardware, ranging from printing to USB devices.

The company's description of its netbook-like test hardware for Chrome OS also muddles the idea of whether Google plans to take on the iPad with Chrome OS tablets (as many pundits have projected), or whether it still plans to resurrect the netbook, a form factor that was all the rage when the company first announced the Chrome OS as an initiative back in July 2009, before the iPad deflated the netbook as a market segment and began eating into conventional PC sales.

Google may attempt both, allowing its licensees to experiment with a variety of devices to see which can gain traction. Such an effort would likely fractionalize Chrome OS as a platform just as it enters the market in competition against the second generation of iPad. Apple is also working to deliver a new Mac App Store to deliver apps driving sales of the thin, light MacBook Air and its full sized notebooks and desktops.

The difference is that Apple already has a large installed base of Mac users to market apps toward. Chrome OS will only run web apps, and offers no backwards compatibility with Android, or Windows, or even existing Linux apps.

Related articles

• Analyst: Google Chrome OS is No Windows Killer...Yet (pcworld.com)
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The New OS Wars: Winners and Losers | Tim Bajarin | PCMag.com

The New OS Wars: Winners and Losers | Tim Bajarin | PCMag.com

The new OS war will be between operating systems that can work on all types of digital screens.

For decades, when people talked about OS wars, they were mostly referring to the Windows vs. Mac battle. These two operating systems have dominated the PC landscape with Windows owning about 90 percent of the market. This OS war has been great for the PC industry, because as Apple continues to innovate on its OS platform, it forces Microsoft to innovate as well, and in turn, consumers constantly receive new and more powerful OS platforms for their PCs.

Recently, Apple introduced some a new twist to the Mac platform with the creation of the Mac App Store. However, the reality is that while Apple can gain some new market share in the PC space, Windows will always be the dominant PC platform. There are too many vendors backing the Windows OS for any single company like Apple to gain much ground on the Windows monopoly.

Now there is a another OS war developing around smartphones, and if you think the PC OS wars were nasty, just wait for this OS war to heat up. We've already seen charged rhetoric from Apple CEO Steve Jobs over the iPhone, Andy Rubin at Google defending Android against the competition, and RIM's CEO Jim Balsillie ranting about Jobs and company during the iPhone antenna dilemma. All of these folks realize that the stakes are very high and that they need to do whatever is necessary to keep the market looking at them and pushing their platforms forward. To put these OS stakes into perspective, market researchers say that 1.2 billion cell phones will be sold worldwide this year. And while smartphones represent only 22 percent of the cell phone market for 2010, they will make up 60 percent of the market in the U.S. by 2012 and 65 percent of all cell phones sold worldwide will be smartphones by 2015. That means that by 2015 we could see as many as 750 million smartphones sold around the world, which is a massive market and will create amazing market opportunities.

The good news is that because the smartphone market is so huge, there clearly can be more than one major player in this game. And at the moment, it appears that the Apple iPhone and the many Android smartphones will mostly dominate the future smartphone market. But competitors, such as RIM, Palm, Microsoft, Nokia, and others, will also be vying for the hearts and minds of smartphone buyers. The OS battle to get apps written for all of these platforms is already in high gear.

However, when I think about the future OS wars, I look way past smartphones to what some call a "digital ecosystem" that will enter our lives in the future. It seems, to me, that while smartphones are clearly an important part of our digital lives, the Internet connected navigation system in our cars, or the Internet connected screen in our refrigerators, or the Internet connected touch screen mirror in our bathrooms will become just as important. In fact, I believe that we will have a heap of screens in our digital lives, and all of them will beg to be smart. That means that they will need a solid OS with a powerful and easy to use interface, along with the intelligence to handle all Internet-related content and app specific content.

If this is the case, any of the smartphone or PC vendors who have created an OS just for a smartphone have made a strategic mistake. For example, while Microsoft's Windows Mobile OS is now a solid contender in the smartphone war, it does not appear to be useable in things like tablets, navigation systems, or any other digital screens. In fact, Microsoft has four distinct operating systems: one for PCs, one for game consoles, one for smartphones, and one for embedded devices. If it wants to take part in the coming digital screen explosion, it may need another OS for a grand total of five operating systems.

By contrast, Google's Android OS was initially designed for smartphones, but is now being extended to the Google TV platform and will soon be on tablets. Android can also be used as an OS in things like set-top boxes and navigation systems, and it can power a whole host of screens. And, it has an SDK that will allow apps to be created for all of these devices as well.

Apple also has an OS that fits this multi-use description. Its iOS is also highly extensible and is already used in the iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. In fact, Apple already has 125 million iOS devices on the market, giving it quite an edge on the competition. Given its cross device nature, iOS could eventually be used on dedicated navigation systems or whatever device Apple wants to create in the future. Apple iOS also has an SDK and an app ecosystem that could be used across any device it creates.

More...

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• Android adds to dominance of smartphone market (news.cnet.com)
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Can the iPhone Thrive in Apple’s Closed Ecosystem? - NYTimes.com

Image via WikipediaCan the iPhone Thrive in Apple’s Closed Ecosystem? - NYTimes.com

SAN FRANCISCO — If you want a smartphone powered by Google’s Android software, you could get Motorola’s Droid 2 or its cousin, the Droid X. Then there is the Droid Incredible from HTC, the Fascinate from Samsung and the Ally from LG.

That’s just on Verizon Wireless. An additional 20 or so phones running Android are available in the United States, and there are about 90 worldwide.

But if your preference is an Apple-powered phone, you can buy — an iPhone.

That very short list explains in part why, for all its success in the phone business, Apple suddenly has a real fight on its hands.

Americans now are buying more Android phones than iPhones. If that trend continues, analysts say that in little more than a year, Android will have erased the iPhone’s once enormous lead in the high end of the smartphone market.

But this is not the first time Apple has found itself in this kind of fight, where its flagship product is under siege from a loose alliance of rivals selling dozens of competing gadgets.

In the early 1980s, the Macintosh faced an onslaught of competition from an army of PC makers whose products ran Microsoft software. The fight did not end well for Apple. In a few years, Microsoft all but sidelined Apple, and the company almost went out of business.

Can Apple, which insists on tight control of its devices, win in an intensely competitive market against rivals that are openly licensing their software to scores of companies? It faces that challenge not only in phones, but also in the market for tablet computers, where the iPad is about to take on a similar set of rivals.

“This is a really big strategic question,” said Toni Sacconaghi, an analyst with Sanford C. Bernstein and Company. “No one knows whether openness will ultimately prevail as it did on the PC.”

More...

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• Who offers the best iPad 3G data plan deal? (macworld.com)
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Windows Phone 7: Microsoft Antes Up in Smartphone Race - PCWorld

Image via CrunchBaseWindows Phone 7: Microsoft Antes Up in Smartphone Race - PCWorld

Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer officially launched the Windows Phone 7 mobile operating system Monday and announced nine new phones and partnerships with wireless carriers. It's a landmark moment for Microsoft that needs to prove its Windows-centric phones, with links to Microsoft Office, Xbox Live, and a nascent library of apps, can woo the masses away from Apple, Android, and BlackBerry-based phones. The first handsets with the new OS will be available November 8, said Ballmer.

Here at a press event in New York City Ballmer did his best to make the case the Windows Phone 7 smartphone platform has legs and will carve out an ample niche in the smartphone market it has yet to crack.

More...

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Google's Android leads U.S. smartphones | Reuters

Google's Android leads U.S. smartphones | Reuters

(Reuters) - Smartphones running Google's (GOOG.O) Android software were the top seller among consumers in the United States in the second quarter, industry tracker NPD said on Wednesday.

Android accounted for one-third of all smartphones purchased in the April-June period, with Research in Motion's (RIM.TO) BlackBerry sliding to second place for the first time since 2007.

BlackBerry lost nine percentage points of market share, falling to 28 percent. On Tuesday, RIM unveiled a new touchscreen device as the company tries to reinvigorate its image with consumers.

Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iPhone was in third place with a 22 percent share.

Android is available on smartphones from a number of different manufacturers.

NPD said Motorola's (MOT.N) Droid was the best-selling Android handset in the second quarter among U.S. consumers, followed by HTC's (2498.TW) Droid Incredible and EVO 4G.

Google said recently that 160,000 Android phones were activated each day during the second quarter, up from 65,000 in the first quarter.

Smartphone unit prices averaged $143 in the April-June quarter, down 9 percent from a year ago.

(Reporting by Gabriel Madway; editing by John Wallace)

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• RIM's BlackBerry Torch: Not Hot Enough (pcworld.com)
• Android knocks BlackBerry out of U.S. consumer lead (theglobeandmail.com)
• Android hits top spot in U.S. smartphone market (news.cnet.com)