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Interesting piece on usability & situations in which each is applicable:
"Apps may remain better for tasks that are intensely feature-rich applications, such as photo editing — whereas mobile sites will be better for design problems like e-commerce/m-commerce, corporate websites, news, medical info, social networking, etc. that are rich in content but don't require intense data manipulation."
From a WP7 user's perspective (also don't forget that he actually developed the WP7 platform). Not flattering at all.
Summary:
"A typical non-geek consumer would be absolutely-fraking-crazy to pick an Android phone over a Windows Phone. Windows Phone is vastly more refined, cohesive, and easy to use. Period.
People who enjoy “managing” their phone might enjoy “managing” their Android smartphone. Those folks will probably forget how much fun “managing” a smartphone was after they’ve used Windows Phone for a while. Instead they’ll see how much fun it is to “use” a smartphone."
As an open source project, Android couldn't have asked for more success. However, the primary backer - Google - is in a very unenviable position given the kind of returns it is getting for the efforts put in.
Google is really following in Microsoft's footsteps with their very own version of IE6\WinXP in the form of Android 2.X. Honeycomb was kind of like Vista (lots of hype, with little market impact) while ICS shows signs of being like Win7.
Also, the fact that Amazon has based the Kindle Fire on Android 2.3 is going to guarantee even more headaches for developers (unless Amazon beats other OEMs to the ICS upgrade)
This doesn't seem to have mattered much so far, but we'll get an idea of the actual market impact as Windows Phone gains traction.
"As we know it" being the key here
Quite a comprehensive article. Google did do some things right and before Apple, after all.
Steve Jobs was onto something with the 10" form factor for tablets, it seems. This study indicates how difficult it is to use regular (desktop versions) websites on a 7" tablet. Even though the screen is much larger, the user experience is better with the mobile version of a site on a 7" screen.
All very good, but it is a very narrow view based solely on the US. The real so called Blue Ocean is actually in the developing markets where the number of mobile phone users makes the US market pale in comparison. That would be the actual chart that you need to understand.
Makes for pretty sad reading, and the situation with Android updates outside of the US is even worse. I share the exact sentiments with my Galaxy S i9003 that's still stuck on Froyo 2.2
Highlights the perils of android being an open platform with very little control over the hardware & end user experience. And it's not just the users getting affected in this case.
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Platform fragmentation: It’s shorthand for saying that multiple devices — all boasting different internal components and screen sizes — are loaded with a wide variety of OS versions. In the world of Android phones, all this variance from device to device can cause problems for engineers who must perfectly match hardware builds to software builds. In the end, consumers are sometimes faced with hardware that doesn’t seem to work.
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That means pushing out lots of updates to phones that may not be ready.
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Makes for pretty sad reading for an OS that is supposed to be at version 4.0. Problems aplenty for both users & app developers.
Definitely not an Android fan. I agree with the bit about the feel of the OS, but not the app variety on the market\app store.
Useful utility to run android apps on Windows
Another piece on Android focusing on the business model:
"Some will argue that the best product will win the market and that Apple will still dominate the smartphone market. The history of the personal computer market is no omen for this thesis. If you think about it, the people that know this better than anyone are the exact Apple loyalists who have been frustrated for years at Apple’s lack of dominance in the PC market. Disruptive business strategies can and have trumped better products. And with no change to the current market, the Android leveraged position in the market could result in staggering unit share gains. This is not to say that the Google Android is better than or as good as the Apple iPhone. The key point is that it does not have to be. It only needs to be dramatically better than the current feature phone. Which it is."
"With its disruptive and leveraged strategy, it is Google that is attempting to be the Microsoft of the smartphone market. Perhaps ironically, Apple is well positioned to be the “Apple” of the smartphone market."
Google is doing what Microsoft did, and in a very different way... "Android, as well as Chrome and Chrome OS for that matter, are not “products” in the classic business sense. They have no plan to become their own “economic castles.” Rather they are very expensive and very aggressive “moats,” funded by the height and magnitude of Google’s castle. Google’s aim is defensive not offensive. They are not trying to make a profit on Android or Chrome. They want to take any layer that lives between themselves and the consumer and make it free (or even less than free). Because these layers are basically software products with no variable costs, this is a very viable defensive strategy. In essence, they are not just building a moat; Google is also scorching the earth for 250 miles around the outside of the castle to ensure no one can approach it. And best I can tell, they are doing a damn good job of it."
A tool for Android to install non-market apps when restricted by your service provider. Thankfully this is not yet a problem in India.
Not good at all. It goes on to show how dissimilar the dynamics of the mobile phone platform is to the PC. The members of the so called OHA seem to have locked up their contributions. So, is this a failure of open-source\free software?
Apple did make some
Pretty interesting thoughts: 'Although Google doesn't need to "win" the battle with Apple, Apple's hysteria, along with its insistence on fighting the wrong battles, means that Google has a decent chance of winning. HTML5 may be Apple's last chance to cha
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