The long wait for the first Android phone should be over this fall, when T-Mobile is expected to release an HTC phone based on the Google-backed mobile operating system called the Dream. Following up on growing rumors online, the New York Times has confirmed that T-Mobile is hoping for a pre-holiday launch. (FCC approvals seem to be the last hurdle). The Dream is expected to have a Sidekick-like keyboard that slides out, and will be the first phone to run Android apps. There is even a shaky YouTube video going around purporting to show the Dream (see below)
Originally there were supposed to be a whole slew of Android phones by the end of the year, but they were all pushed out until 2009, with the sole exception of T-Mobile. Add to this another rumor that T-Mobile is going to offer an iTunes-like App store for mobile software across all of the phones it carries, and you can start to see how things are going to change in the mobile industry. Of course, if T-Mobile does replace the conventional deck on its phones with a more iPhone-like selection of apps, the most fully-featured (i.e., Android ones) will shine.
But don’t expect the HTC Dream to outshine the iPhone. This will be the first of many Android phones, and it won’t have the benefit of being designed soup-to-nuts by one detail-obsessed company. It will take an army of Android phones across many carriers and countries to start to seriously challenge the iPhone.
And frankly, it is difficult to find mobile software startups excited about making Android apps at this point. This is a platform war. If there are no compelling apps for Android, nobody will buy the phones. All of that could change the instant that an Android phone is on the market, but my sense is that most developers are taking a wait-and-see approach. (Especially since very few of them have access to the latest Android software developer kit—a sure-fire way to frustrate and alienate them).
Last month at the TechCrunch Mobile Web Wars roundtable, nobody seemed to care much about Android. It was like pulling teeth just to get people to talk about Android. Watch the video below from that panel with Pandora CTO Tony Conrad and Michael Arrington debating how important Android is, or isn’t:
And here’s that dreamy video of the HTC Dream (or not):
What’s the price of the phone and will T-Mobile lock you into a plan when you buy it?
“Last month at the TechCrunch Mobile Web Wars roundtable, nobody seemed to care much about Android ”
You were talking to executives. Nobody cared about Windows 1.0 either, except the developers.
http://www.pock...0000-mark.phtml
I think you are way off on Android.
“If there are no compelling apps for Android, nobody will buy the phones.”
For the general population (not tech crunch readers) apps do not sell phones. Trust me, if enough people buy Android-based phones, developers will start building apps.
It’s an egg-and-chicken kind of thing, and only Google will probably be able to break the cycle. Else, it’ll end up in the Google bin of ‘interesting’ services or products that never led anywhere bu the developers had some fun working on it.
for those who don’t understand it yet, Android is an iPhone killer because it’s multi-task. It’s that simple.
I have to say that I agree with you. The people that read TechCrunch are not your typical consumers. It’s true that with these new smart phones, the apps are important and something that people will get excited about but I don’t think they’ll stop buying the phone if there aren’t as many apps as with the iPhone. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
http://www.KillerStartups.com
Not to mention the fact that there were 1700 app submissions 2 months ago. The second round of developer frenzy is coming to and end now and you will see that there will be LOTs of apps for Android, partly because they wont be forced to share their revenues with the manufacturer like Apple does. All of this before a singe phone is even released… impressive if you ask me.
The other part of this is, when has Google gone at anything whole heartedly and failed. This would be a first, i.e. not likely.
I have an iPhone but I am eagerly waiting to see what happens with Android. It’s so frustrating to spend so much money on something and still feel like you have no control over it.
Since when is $199 “so much money”?? Be serious.
Don’t be a jerk.
$199 isn’t a lot, but $120/month is a TON (especially for AT&T service).
I dont know. I just think Android will be a great platform for developers, but im not too sure how this will eventually be different compared to the iPhone, for developers.
It is just an open source platform that will allow developers opportunities.
Steven
http://crenk.com
Trolling for comments are we?
Apple has a huge, huge lead in the app department. It doesn’t matter how powerful or easy to code for Android is. Apple has the audience and distribution already.
@MatthewSmith is right, for now, that apps don’t sell phones. But that’s because it’s never been easy to install apps on phones. Apple changed that. And in the future, it’ll become more compelling.
My money is on Apple to maintain their lead and exploit the app market as much as is possible.
Time will surely tell!
As an actual consumer I’m following this pretty closely. I want a phone that gives me access to the real web, applications and my email in a way that the iPhone does now, but am reluctant to go through the hassle of switching plans, etc. Not to mention just feeling uneasy about “giving in” to the Apple/AT&T driven hysteria — which I realize is a completely irrational reaction.
I’m also impatient to join the 21st century. T-mobile/Google (my current carrier) is going to have one shot to get me to stick with them and go with Android — and that will be the phone they come out with this Fall. If it doesn’t match the iPhone for functionality they’ll lose me.
So, I would agree that if the apps aren’t there from the start I’ll jump to the iPhone. I’m not going to wait around for shit the Apple can deliver today.
I have been with AT&T for awhile now, but have not yet switched to the iPhone. I am not too keen on 2 year contracts. I am really pulling for Android, Blackberry, Palm, and WinMo7. I think the more quality competition we have in the smart phone space, the less power the carriers have to lock-in consumers.
While the iPhone has been one of the best things to happen in terms of pushing phone technology forward, it has really put too much power in the hands of the carriers.
As a current T-Mobile customer I completely agree with davidconnel on this. I have been foaming at the mouth for months to get my hands on the upcoming HTC Android phone.
I have already seen enough with the apps that I am sold but I am sold more on the premise and opportunity that an open handset would afford me for the future.
Considering that iPhones come with accelerometers and “multi-touch” built-in it’s a heck of a lot more fun to develop for the iPhone than all of the other cracker-jack phones out there that have those 20th Century keyboards and run-of-the-mill standard features.
If that’s the case, then why do so few iPhone apps leverage them? Someone point out one iPhone app that comes within a zip code of being a killer. This isn’t to bash the iPhone, it’s a nice platform and all, but I too don’t care for being bound by a contract, and as a developer I’d like to be able to market my apps how I please, not being forced to dance to the tune set by a device mfr.
I wonder if anyone at Apple is paying attention to how mainstream bricking iPhones has become. There are a lot of people who still want to have access to products and use them however they [the customer] sees fit.
totally agree, imagine for a moment that every apps developpers for PCs would need to pay royalties to Microsoft… would that be fair? well, it’s exactly what steve jobbs is doing with iphone developpers.
I have been planning to move to T-Mobile for a while now. I am waiting on Android and/or their 3G service to start. I love the iPhone but despise AT&T. T-Mobile was the only carrier to not bow down to the US government spying, so they are going to get my money. The Android stuff is just a big plus.
Qwest was the big carrier that did not bow down to the US goverment spying. Not sure about Deutsche Telekom (T-Mobile).
T-Mobile, more precisely its mothership Deutsche Telekom did at least spy heavily on German business journalists reporting company internals over here in Germany. No government involved, though.
Can some one enlighten me why Android is so great? There are other open platforms (LiMo etc.) that are already in the market. Is it just Google’s brand name?
LiMo is a zombie there is no life in it, no community. Symbian will be (really) open in about 2 years, no community.
Android is not just a Linux for mobile (as LiMo) it’s technically the most modern platform you can get, it’s open and there will be for sure the biggest developer community as it’s absolutely the best choice.
The not so tech savvy guys will start to understand when they will see the apps which will be released for the Android platform.
And besides that Android phones will appear in all different setup which the platform handles very well and transparent for the developer (so no problems here). This means that there will be very quickly a big market for applications and it will for sure be bigger than the iPhone market at least by the end of 2009.
Yep. I’m not a Google fan, but they have been pretty successful leveraging their brand. I think they may have hosed themselves with Android by making some Android developers more equal than others. It took a lot of developer energy (and market buzz) away from Android
I can understand your positioning on this however the core phone is built to leverage all the google services natively and can be tweaked and tuned based on the hardware underneath it as appropriate.
Androis is an iPhone killer because:
1) Android is MULTI-TASK, in can run applications in the background, just like any desktop OS, while iPhone can’t. It’s that simple and makes a HUGE difference.
2) Developpers won’t need to share revenues. Just imagine if developpers had to pay royalties to Bill Gates each time they sold their app for MS Windows… well, that’s exactly what steve jobbs is doing.
OS wars aside, when is the mobile industry going to truly change to the point where a 2 year contract is a thing of the past? Mobile providers should compete on service, not on their ability to manipulate prices and feature sets to lock customers in. That’s a mobile future I can get excited about.
You’re not going to see the end of two year contracts for new customers any time soon. Mobile companies spend hundreds of dollars in advertising and subsidizing the cost of the phone (that Blackberry that you got for $99 or that Nokia you got for free certainly weren’t that cheap for the carrier). Because they spend so much money getting your business they must lock you into a contract so they can recoup their investment. They won’t make any money off of your the first year, unless you’re going nuts downloading ringtones and what not, so they need to keep you longer to make a profit. That’s also why thye extend your contract when they give you a cheap or free phone upgrade.
Arrington’s analogy that the iPhone would dominate like the iPod makes the wrong comparison. The MP3 market didn’t exist, Apple came in, built a better product and dominated. The analogy is to Mac desktop/laptops. There, Apple builds the best systems, has the best OS and has great developers, but the existing market is so huge and entrenched they can’t take more than 5%. That will likely be the similar result in the global phone market — Apple won’t “defeat” Microsoft, Nokia, Motorola, HTC, RIM, etc. etc…(neither will Android)…they are more likely to find a profitable niche
Most new products suck. Most new tech products suck. Most new cell phone products suck. Most new smart-phone cell phone products suck. Most android products will suck.
Some people buy products that suck. More people buy products that don’t suck. iPhones don’t suck. T-mobile’s first android-based product will probably suck.
I like T-Mobile. I use a T-Mobile Dash. It kind of non-sucks. I kind of like it. I have no reason to get an iPhone even though it doesn’t suck. And I have no reason to get a T-Mobile Dream whether it sucks or doesn’t suck. My inertia is real and I don’t care.
EXACTLY!
YES YES YES! Your outlook on life is book-worthy. Maybe you can build an empire on this philosophy.
I agree with John Vermes. The T-mo Dash I own is very much non-sucky so I’m not tempted to go gamble $300+ on a new (probably sucky) phone. However, I think the Android-based Dream will have mostly non-sucky characteristics.
HTC and Google are both very non-sucky companies. These two non-sucks are hopefully gonna have some children that dont suck. Even if it doesnt take off right away because of attention from iPhone, it’ll still be a low suckiness marriage with children.
My money is on Google and HTC.
Yes, I too hope the Android based phones do not suck.
As for the 3G iPhone, I hear it sucks pretty badly as to battery life. G4TV kept mentioning the short battery life recently. I’m holding out for something cool and Googlish… meanwhile my old RAZR is just fine, thnkyouvrymch… (so where do we place those bets?)
It also has some GPS issues. Big time suck.
Wow! A dose of realism in TechCrunch! Never by a version 1 of anything.
Guess these comments will be deleted by tomorrow.
“(Especially since very few of them have access to the latest Android software developer kit—a sure-fire way to frustrate and alienate them).”
Everyone with the Internet has access to the Android SDK. It was even available before the iPhone SDK.
Not so fast there Kimosabe. It has been pretty well documented that Google spoke with forked tongue to Android developers. Not everyone got the latest releases of the SDK — which has led a lot of people to slip their schedules and push out release dates until next year. Obviously, TMo was one of the favored few. Either that, or one of their execs got a case of brownpants when the 3G iPhone came out and decided to ship whatever they have for a September release date.
False. Only the winners of the developers challenge have been give the latest version to use, violating the spirit, if not the letter, of Open Source.
My only solace, as someone who can’t the latest verion of Android?
…The ulcers that it is inducing in carrier executives because it will allow Skype/SIP through the SIM, not just WiFi.
forget contracts, get an iphone, unlock it and get a prepaid plan without a contract at tmobile..
all works except virtual voicemail.
end of story..
bye bye
All I can say is that I switched from tmobile to get the iphone and as of yet I do not regret that decision. I really really love my iphone. On the other hand, if the dream can somehow best the iphone in certain key ways, it’ll probably win me back over.
Fundamentally, I believe the difference isn’t that apple products can do what other products can do (in many cases they can’t), but they can do all the things people actually want their products to do, and do them easily and well…that’s the standard the dream will have to surpass.
“Especially since very few of them have access to the latest Android software developer kit—a sure-fire way to frustrate and alienate them”
Not quite sure what was meant with that comment in the article. I went to the site and found the SDK for free (http://code.goo...nload_list.html).
Apple will win this “war” for one simple reason: there is not now, nor will there ever be, a “killer app” that will drive consumers from one platform to another. PIM, maps, the web, music/video and that’s it. What WILL drive customers back and forth will be eye candy and no one feeds that need better than Apple.
OK, you’re right, teenage girls will opt for the eye candy. Smart adults will go for something they can configure the way they want it and not some goofy touch screen.
“No one in this world has ever lost money by underestimating the intelligence of the great masses of the plain people. Nor has anyone ever lost public office thereby. ”
H. L. Mencken
Sorry, but “smart adults” don’t drive the world, the economy, or product development. Hordes do.
> What WILL drive customers back and forth will be eye candy…
Do they teach that in business school now? What will drive customers when features are sufficiently equal is PRICE, PRICE (and reliability). Do Apple and/or AT&T have a history of being cheap?
I read stories about iPhone’s 3G chips from Infineon being unreliable and about iPhone’s casing getting cracks. Seems to me 80% of the market are wide open for companies playing the mobile game as Microsoft did for the PC or Walmart, Carrefour and Aldi do for food stores.
Apple was ahead with the Apple II and lost it later, because Steve Jobs DOES NOT WANT to be cheap. I can understand that, but I think he will loose the phone battle because of this. The only thing that can save Apple in the long run is that the iPhone’s reliability might be higher than that of the multi hardware/multi software consortia that are Apple’s competitors.
a) IMO, Apple is as bad as I believe Microsoft to be. If I’m not forced to use their hardware and apps then I’d rather just use them as TP
b) As phones become better and more widespread in the USA, we will approach the level of the Baltic nations and prices will plummet. Overpriced gadgets like the iphone will die out…as will companies that act like your “Dutch uncle”. Farewell Microsoft and APPLE, hello to a new age of open source and Google…hello to being able to make your OWN choices.
DIRT MAGNET.
This is one of big sucky things about the iPhone. I copied this sentence from a blog at zdnet, and it states my objection to all touch screen devices.
“The only downside to the gorgeous ice hockey rink-shaped display is that it’s a dirt magnet.”
And it’s not just touching it with your fingers that makes it dirty.
“… layer of grease that builds up on the iPhone display. ”
Just think of all the time being wasted wiping the darn screen.
//sigh//
not to mention impossible to use it for ladies with long nails
Only people that care about openness of the phone are on this site and on Slashdot. NO ONE ELSE CARES!
Cellphone Consumers don’t base their decision on which operating system a phone is running or how robust an app store is, it’s a mix of ease+great features+emotions along with the bare necessities…look at the iPhone…most people don’t care wether its got Mac OSX/Some other OS on it….heck there was no app store to begin with…..but people flocked to the stores to buy it…..its the emotional connection that apple has made with them….look at the ads run by apple….they even have training for people who are absolutely zero tech savvy…..plus every apple store host knows every detail about the iPhone…..have you ever tried talking to a rep @ the t-mobile store???…..try this….observe a non-tech savvy consumer in an Apple Store trying out the iPhone 3G..and the question he/she asks the apple store host….there’s probably a 1/10 chance that it’s going to be about the app store/os….when dads/moms/grandpas/grand mamas/brothers/sisters/boyfriends/girlfriends are thinking of buying the iPhone as a gift….they are not thinking on the lines of app stores/OS…they are saying “hmm…wouldn’t this be the coolest gift this christmas+its practical…If I buy a T-Mobile phone…probably an iPod will end up on the next wishlist”
IMHO Google like it’s other services may have to give the phone away for free and make money/share revenue with the carries based on some ad system…thats probably the only way they’ll beat apple quickly…else they’ll need a BillG to kick Apple’s ass
And there is what makes the iPhone successful — phone + iPod. You are spot on Ace, nobody but us geeks care about apps. It’s all about the media. The average American only cares about one thing : being entertained. With the iPhone they can take their entertainment with them and not look like Batman with a friggin utility belt.
If you think I’m wrong, look at the volume in aftermarket DVDs and satTV/Radios for cars.
All I’m saying is, they’d better be ready to sink some serious advertising dollars into this product. I don’t want to see it flop because there wasn’t enough mainstream awareness.
would someone please give me a lamen’s description of android please? Thanks.
iPhone: designed and sold by SuperMarketingDroid.
Android: operating system of GazillionCommercialsDroid.
It’s an operating system for phones that is completely open… meaning you can customize it any way you want and install apps that have complete access to the entire system (unlike iphone).
and, how is that different than winmobile, or symbian?
Good point on the detail obsessed Apple allusion. The first generation of android phones from T Mobile will be crap. The reason I think this is because they haven’t proved that they can produce a high flying smart phone yet. Why would anything change now?
FYI something you may be interested in… mega entrepreneur John Assaraf from “The Secret” and author of “The Answer” is holding a free conference call August 20th about how to condition your mind to reach entrepreneurial success. I’d highly suggest listening in. Go here for details and registration…
http://www.John...30;..s=hiac2008
did Apple release any other phones prior the iPhone? Nope.
Well, yes, if it’s designed by committee, rather than by one company, heaven knows what might go wrong. The 3G might actually work, for example.
Developers care about openness! The more open a system is, the less we have to spend to get into it. The less we have to spend the easier it is to get into it. Since developers build the apps, they are critical. to paraphrase Bill Gates… Developer Mindshare is determines the life or death of an OS.
There is a second benefit of Google that most people don’t discuss… It is Java. It is something that most developers already know and have access to. That makes getting moving to developing for Android much easier than developing for the iPhone.
Another benefit is that I don’t have to buy a new OS just to build apps for a phone. I can build for the Android platform using anything I want… Mac, Linux Wind XP, Wind Vista… just about anything that will run Java.
Personally, I won’t buy the iPhone, even though my wife wants me to. I am waiting for AT&T to get an Android or Open Symbian platform and I will get that. Symbian because it is proven, Andriod because I know the languages involved and can build something I want for it.
Well it’s not quite ’soup to nuts’ that they don’t have experience with. The Danger team has been around for a while now and from I understand they’re tapping into the lessons learned on hardware from the Sidekick, which is now in its 4th (?) iteration, so they’re not totally starting from scratch.
I stay with my sidekick instead of buying an iphone because i prefer the keyboard on the Sidekick and that’s enough to compel me to stay, and I’m very interested in this new phone b/c of the keyboard they’re promising. I can’t type on the iphone. If enough people buy the phone, developers will jump on that market & create as many applications. One of the sidekick’s stupidest (IMHO) moves was to create a proprietary os, which this new phone can learn their lesson from too.
ew, what’s with the gross breathing behind the Android video?
Here is a story, and it is just my story, but I believe it reveals a great deal about the massive wave of change unfolding in the U.S. mobile industry.
I had an idea. One that I thought could provide much needed simplicity to a certain core elements of daily life- cooking. A light bulb went off in February, that what I envisioned would be best made into a mobile application. My experience in the mobile space was limited to some graphics I’d designed for a couple of clients’ mobile applications, but I knew about user experience and interface design from my web career, so I drew up a wireframe and some rough screen designs, showed them to a friend in the mobile industry and began to research what would be involved in getting such a product developed and distributed. This became a full-time pursuit.
Since I was new to the industry and had a lot to learn, I talked to and heard about many who had been through these trenches. I went to an SDForum event where the panel was so grim about opportunities for developers that one developer asked “Well what the hell would you suggest we do?”. All drew a blank except one mobile software executive who said, “You have to weigh if the U.S. market is worth it”. His company’s primary markets are Japan, China and Italy.
So here we were, in the heart of Silicon Valley, and it is recommended that we skip the U.S. and develop for Europe and Asia. And it actually made sense. I was relieved he’d said that. Who wants to hassle with this bureaucratic environment, when there are much more innovative and open markets globally?
The only other hopeful thing I heard that day was when a Nokia guy stood up and said that Nokia is interested in distribution and if they liked an app, then a licensing deal could be done within a couple of weeks, not the months it took with carriers.
I took away from that panel the pain that the seasoned developers had been feeling for so long, but also basked in the rays of a few bits of freshman optimism- these were that I could:
A. Go global until the U.S. came around
B. Approach Nokia in the future with my app.
Android was scarcely mentioned at the SDForum, but just one week before, on the advice of a friend, I had found someone on the Android message boards who would make my application wireframes and design into a functioning application and we would enter the Android Developer’s Challenge.
I began to read about and think about Android and it’s promise, all the while refining the app and working with my Challenge partner to make it work on the Android emulator.
As the months and work continued, it became apparent that the open vision of Android was quietly changing the entire nature of the U.S. mobile market, and this contest was very representative of the shift towards valuing the offerings of developers and ultimately giving them a reasonable and various paths to entry into the market. As my awareness grew, I would breathlessly explain Android to people and what it would mean to the industry- sometimes to dull eyes, sometimes to a hint of interest.
In March, Steve Jobs announced the $100 million iFund and also that, to the delight of many, they would open the iPhone SDK. Blackberry announced the $150 million Blackberry fund shortly thereafter. Open was the new black.
March was also the Android Challenge deadline, and we submitted our entry. We were later notified that we were among the Top 50 out of the 1,788 submitted apps, and split we the $25,000 prize. We added several new teammates for the second phase and got to work to refine and augment the app to compete against the other 49 for Top 10 or 20 status. We are awaiting the results.
Being in the top 50 has afforded us great viral publicity, which felt a bit awkward when we were still in our alpha stages and yet to test on a device (we are still yet to test on a non-emulator), but it was also extremely validating. We’ve had mentions in Smart Money, TechCrunch, AndroidGuys, Nikkei (Japan), even two separate pieces in Stuff.tv (UK men’s magazine). I’ve been invited to speak on several occasions about my thoughts about the future of mobile.
In July, a screenshot and description of our app, Cooking Capsules, appeared in Wired magazine- the first listed of their four top picks of indie apps for Android. Also in July, the Apple App Store opened it’s virtual doors and people, despite the economic times, stood in long lines to get their hands on a 3G iPhone and downloaded apps at a pace that could only be described as unbelievable.
What a shift from the bloody knuckle recent history reports from developers a few months before at the SDForum panel! When else in history had developers had any real mention, much less extreme recognition? Developers with good ideas have been around a while- they just haven’t had an industry that supported indie players and innovation until now. The barriers were too great.
Perhaps I lack what you would consider an objective opinion as one of the Android Top 50, but frankly, I am as in the dark as most (Top 50 and otherwise) about the nuts and bolts about how exactly this will all play out. I too, very much, want much more light shed. But I am fueled by excitement about the massive and disruptive changes that the very whisper of Android has so swiftly perpetuated throughout the industry. And all of this while, like the apps, it still has yet to even launch on the first of many handsets.
I was on the Mobile Web Wars panel (ahem- raising my hand high when you asked who cares about Android among a couple of other comments I made), and let me state once again, and more strongly (and uninterrupted) for the record:
To say that I am very excited about Android would be a massive understatement. Android is a volcano. Not the kind that erupts suddenly like fireworks, but the kind that slowly releases molten lava that changes the entire landscape in such an unpredictable yet enduring way that no one realizes the impact until they look back at a snap shot from a few months or a year back to find the old way unrecognizable. Android isn’t about the first physical gPhone to come to market. Android is about affecting positive change throughout an entire market that has been crying out for openness for years. Android has impacted the opening up of the industry and they are getting ready now to compete with those already enjoying the fruits of the very landscape they have so greatly influenced.
That’s really interesting – glad you posted this!
Thanks for posting, I love the volcano analogy and I think you are 100% spot on with your points.
I think it’s Tom Conrad not Tony
But that aside… sure if Google can pull off the Android and get working devices in market it’ll be interesting to see how quickly developers adopt and how much money they can make (vs how much Google takes)
Windows Mobile has had a very open but fragmented development/distribution model for a long time (native or managed code, a dozen online stores, installation over the air or via ActiveSync) but because it’s been hard to promote your app to a huge community effectively the market has either been driven by word of mouth or a lot of advertising. But you had the option to go it alone and not pay anyone a dime for distributing your app.
Even the Crackberry didn’t spot that opportunity with their business tool that tried to challenge MS on the Email solution.
Apple came along with the App Store and all of a sudden developers have a clear way to publish and consumers consume.
It’s not the best – Apple takes their percentage and may or may not include you in the store… but consumers don’t have to worry or wonder where to go.
If Google (either on their own or in conjunction with T-Mo) can produce that experience but at the same time learn from MS about making the barrier to entry low (cheap, easy, no arbitrary “rules”) it’s going to help push the market in the right direction (and hopefully MS and RIM will follow)
If they can produce the marketplace and the market, and deliver the tools to develop and commercialize the apps then Android would be a compelling market for many new and existing mobile developers…
There are strict limits to the apps for the iphone that don’t exist for Android. Want to develop an alternative media player for the phone a la tunewiki or anything else to enhance the standard experience? It won’t get approved for the itunes app store and only jailbroken iphones will get to use it. Want anything like a wifi music syncing app? Will happen for Android but not for the iphone because apple will not give you access to the iphone system in that way.
Once apps like these and beyond are available on an Android phone the differences will be abundantly clear. Aplle will either be forced to change or will not maintain a large share of the market due to the closed nature of their system.
Cmon Google, get with the programmer and get the SDK to a stable release, give it to developers and then sit back and watch as it snowballs. Without a stable release, manufacturers and carriers are going to be hesitant about developing for it since they won’t even have a final product for their products.
Android is looking good so far and I want to see it come to light. I have it running on my Sprint HTC Touch, courtesy of Martin (dzo) of XDA-Developer’s and http://www.myhtcphone.com for providing an installer, tips, support, and Android news.
If you own an HTC Vogue (Sprint Touch) pick up the installer for Android and play with it on your phone (it runs like an app so it won’t delete or overwrite your current Windows Mobile install) from:
http://www.myhtcphone.com
Let’s wait and see what happens with Android. Rumors have swirled for months and I have yet to see anything (though we have all heard all the great things which have been promised).
http://kreuzer3...ng-to-t-mobile/
“If there are no compelling apps for Android, nobody will buy the phones.”
No, it’s not about apps. iPhone is not a hit because of apps. Facebook is not a hit because of apps.
the success of Android hinges completely on the overall user experience and features of the phones. apps are fun, but what really matters is the basic package and UI.
> If there are no compelling apps for Android, nobody will buy the phones.
Please. What nonsense. There were no compelling apps for the first gen iPhone because they weren’t allowed. Strom is right – it is the overall user experience that will sell the phone. And frankly, from my experience the first gen iPhone was better than the second. What is funny is how many time you guys have written that dev aren’t interested in Android. This post is really just a tiresome retread. (”This time from the T-mobile angle!”) We get it already. What until the phone hits.
Only here on Techcrunch is it about apps and killing iPhones. The success of the iPhone is strictly about usability and function. The same is true for the long lasting iPod line of products. We’re too immersed in apps, walled gardens and killing products to understand the basic reason for adoption of a brand. The Android product line will be a match for the iPhone product line if they can at least match or surpass it in usability and function.
And speaking of walled gardens, it looks T-Mobile agrees with the concept of an app store, according to this: http://snurl.com/3hmpx
Blow. Me.
android is SPYWARE, plain and simple. Avoid at all cost.
What’s with all the iPhone praise? The thing was just a light show when it came out, and the new ones aren’t offering much more. Designer phones are great for tech noobs that want to show their friends how cool their phone is for the first week, and then complain for the next 6 months about how much they spent on their new toy when the prices plummet.
I bought a Palm for $100 and I’ve never been happier. My screen may be small, my keyboard smaller, but I can put whatever app I want on the damn thing, and if the app doesn’t exist, I can MAKE it.
I’m not saying that the DIY route works for everyone–but I just don’t see how anyone sticking a “techie” label to themselves can give any credit to Steve Jobs’ unadaptable rectangle. As far as “stability” goes, stability–at least to me–means not having to send my phone somewhere for something as simple as a BATTERY REPLACEMENT. (Full disclosure: some of my best computers are Macs…)
As far as Android goes, give Google some time. If they step away from awful providers like T-mobile, it should take off.