BBC NEWS | Technology | Google's Android mobile unveiled

[Andrew Robinson]

2008/9/23 Peter Korsten <peter at severity-one.com>:
> Tony Scharf schreef:
>
>> I don't really agree.  One thing I don't like is the way apple is
>> picking and choosing which apps get published...
>
> Fair enough, but the consumer doesn't, like, give a damn. :)

>From what I can see, very few finished apps have been rejected just
'because Apple says no', the guidelines are pretty clear about what
they are *going* to say no to. It's only the blocking of the fart
noise generator that seems overzealous to me.

Google's App store policy is currently unclear. Over on slashdot,
there is lots of noise and confusion about android possibly being
'tivoised', and therefore unclean in the eyes of the
lord^H^H^H^HStallman

>> Apple will always have the fanboys.   Your one of them, which colors
>> your opinions.  Objectively, I think google has a chance at getting a
>> bigger piece of the pie, simply because they won't have a 'one size
>> fits all' mentality like apple.
>
> I have my reservations about Google as well. Google is fast becoming a
> new Microsoft, and whilst they blow the open source trumpet, strangely
> enough that doesn't include their search technology.

I'm left wondering what they get out of the whole project. If it's
open source, it can't be much of an ongoing profit centre. Is it just
them showing off that they can do better than Windows Mobile on their
first go, and taking a stake in the phone OS market out of principle?

> I also think they may be underestimating the mobile market, or
> misunderstanding it. Whilst the GMail application on my E61i is nice,
> it's quirky to work with, and once you've seen an e-mail on your mobile,
> you can't download it on your PC.

The problem that the phone will have (and the iphone suffers from this
too) is that a lot of the features are 'coming soon', but public
perceptions will be built on the state of the thing at launch. If the
public thinks Android = Geekphone, then it's doomed to be a niche
product.

- Andy_R