Posts Tagged ‘Google’

Looks like Google has delivered, as rumored, on the Nexus One. But, I’m going to stick by my prior opinion, for now: This phone – while sleek and elegant – is not the game-changer many had hoped for. Other than paying more for the privilege of unlocked-ed-ness via Google’s website, there’s no new mechanism for getting service. Let’s hope this is merely Google testing the water, before it makes a big commitment. If not, frankly I’m disappointed.

One good piece of news: the device will be available in the near future on Verizon – implying Google is going to continue its commitment to CDMA hardware, and making another world-class smartphone available for the large number of Americans who prefer that service.

More details here. Git’chasum here.

AndroidGuys is reporting that Google’s Android Market will start managing “paid applications” in 1Q 2009.

We’ve talked about the proliferation of application markets and certainly we admire our Capitalist market sytem and therefore applaud new entrants who seek to add value. But often that diversity is at odds with simplicity and perhaps more importantly with ease-of-understanding in the marketplace. Google’s Android Market moves beyond the carrier-based model by centralizing a space where users can find useful tools independent of their phone make/model and carrier. The additive power here is, indeed, the power. The brand – Android – is memorable, catchy, and therefore easy to find (on, where else?, Google!). Google can make this a win for customers.

But, Google needed to provide the financial incentive to counter the gold rush toward the Apple iTunes App Store. It will be interesting to see how the “paid app” marketplace links to other Google offerings (Google Checkout, e.g.?) to build a cross-fertilization with Google’s expansive empire (perhaps, by the way, the only such empire that can compete with Apple’s iTunes music and video near-monopoly).

PS: to developers out there: check out PhoneGap. You can build a mobile application using Web 2.0/AJAX technologies, wrapped by PhoneGap into a native application for iPhone and Android (and RIM Blackberry!), and get placement in both the iTunes store and the Android Market. Here’s a great post over at OpenIdeals that shows you how easy this process can be.