Tuesday phone debut is first salvo in Android war
Marguerite Reardon co-wrote this article.
There will be plenty of hullabaloo on Tuesday when T-Mobile unveils the first phone powered by Google's Android operating system. But the event is only the beginning of a long effort to rewrite the rules of the mobile communications industry.
The phone, a somewhat chunky model called Dream built by HTC, is expected to cost about $200 from T-Mobile and go on sale in October. Until other partners in the Google-spawned, 34-member Open Handset Alliance bring their Android products to market, this small piece of electronics will shoulder a lot of ambitions.
For T-Mobile, an Android phone could bring some Google buzz to the scrappy carrier, helping match what AT&T got from Apple's iPhone. It also could potentially persuade customers T-Mobile's new 3G network is worth paying give T-Mobile new revenue from online application sales.
For Google, Android is a tool to spread Internet-savvy phones far and wide. People with powerful networked phones use the Internet much more, and Google wants to be the top company supplying the information they demand online.
"Look at Japan, (where) we have far more usage of mobile Web. It's similar with the iPhone," said Google co-founder Sergey Brin in a meeting with reporters last week. "If the Internet is widely available, that's good for us."
What's not yet clear is how well Android phones will fare in the marketplace. Google's software is untested, and there are plenty of competitors in the mobile phone market.
But Google's advertising business is a money factory, and the company has shown it has patience to invest that money in key projects. So even if the first-generation Android phones don't entice people to line up around the block, competitors who develop mainstream phone operating systems such as Nokia's Symbian and Microsoft's Windows Mobile doubtless are taking heed.
New rules
Android is an attempt to bring some of the ways of the computing industry to the mobile phone world.
For example, taking a page from Microsoft's playbook, Google is trying to enlist countless programmers in its Android charge, relying on them to build applications for the phone. While the mobile phone business hasn't made it easy to add new applications to phones, Google wants to reverse this and bring more of the openness of PCs to the phone market.
"If you're going to be an Open Handset Alliance carrier, you can't lock it down," said John Bruggeman, chief marketing officer at Wind River Systems, a Google ally that helps phone makers build and customize Android for their phone hardware.
Open-source software is another example. The Android software, millions of lines of code that will become open-source software with the release of the first phone, employs some components familiar to the computing industry and some new ones. It employs Linux at its lowest levels to communicate with hardware, but applications running on the system are written in the Java programming language. Java is common in mobile phones, but Google diverged from the mainstream phone industry by creating its own Java foundation, called Dalvik, for running the programs.
Because much of Android is open-source software, it can be used for free, and that means those selling phones can spend their money on better hardware rather than on software license fees, Bruggeman said. In addition, other individual programmers or interested companies can help improve that open-source software, so at least theoretically Android could become an exercise in collective engineering the way Linux has been.
Wind River is contributing code of its own as part of its Android support business. Its customers' second-generation Android phones will ship in the first half of 2009, Bruggeman said, and "There's a good chance we'll make first quarter." He called the Dream a good start, but promised better power management, performance, usability, and features for the sequels.
Running the gamut
Android can be used by any phone manufacturer to build any kind of mobile phone--anything from a simple, inexpensive phone for the developing world to a power user's high-end smartphone.
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Andy Rubin, head of Google's Android project.
(Credit: Stephen Shankland/CNET News.com)HTC and T-Mobile seem to have gone the smartphone route in developing the Dream, which some are calling G1. So far, neither T-Mobile nor HTC has revealed details about the new phone. But rumored specifications for the device and pictures on various blogs suggest it's chock-full of bells and whistles to help it compete in the smartphone market against devices like Apple's iPhone and Research in Motion's BlackBerry devices.
Some of the features that are rumored to be included are a full QWERTY keyboard, 3G support as well as Wi-Fi, a full HTML browser, embedded GPS, easy access to Google applications such as maps, YouTube, instant messaging, e-mail, SMS texting, a 3-megapixel camera, a music player, video recorder and player, and a memory card slot.
The Dream's $200 price tag also hits the smartphone sweet spot for cost. T-Mobile is already selling both the BlackBerry 8820 and BlackBerry Curve for $199 with a two-year contract. And Apple and AT&T are offering the iPhone 3G for $200 with a two-year contract.
T-Mobile already has a decent portfolio of smartphones, including the BlackBerry Pearl, BlackBerry Curve, and BlackBerry 8820. It also sells two other HTC smartphones that use Microsoft Windows Mobile operating system, the T-Mobile Dash and T-Mobile Wing. But as the carrier rolls out its new 3G network, it needs a flagship device that will give consumers, who might be tempted to buy an iPhone for AT&T's network, a reason to buy a phone on T-Mobile's network.
High hopes
But the big question is whether the Dream can live up to expectations.
The iPhone set the bar for what customers should expect from a smartphone. Apple then raised the bar this summer with the iPhone 3G and a new App Store that allows people to buy and download thousands of applications.
Since the iPhone was first launched in 2007 exclusively on AT&T's network, wireless operators have been scrambling to find a cool device to compete. Last year, Verizon Wireless introduced the LG Voyager, which has a touch screen that flips up to expose a QWERTY keypad. Earlier this year, in anticipation of an iPhone with 3G, Verizon launched the LG Dare, a 3G touch-screen phone with a mobile browser.
In June, just a few weeks before the iPhone 3G went on sale, Sprint Nextel launched the Samsung Instinct, a touch-screen 3G smartphone designed to give iPhone a run for its money.
The HTC Dream is T-Mobile's iPhone slayer, or so the company hopes. Because the software has been developed by glamorous Google there are a lot of expectations. And some believe that Android could also be a game-changer, just like the iPhone before it.
Like Apple, Google plans a central site to distribute and sell applications. In August, it announced plans for the Android Market, an online center where people can find, buy, download, and rate applications and other content for Android phones. Initially, the site will only support distribution for free applications. An update later will handle different versions of applications, support different profiles of Android phones, and include analytics to help developers track adoption, Google has said.
Bruggeman, though, doesn't see Google's crosshairs painted on Apple's back.
"I don't think it's an iPhone killer. As long as Apple continues to innovate and create a good user experiences and sexy devices, there's always a place for that," Bruggeman said. "If the mobile phone market is 3 billion units and Apple has 15 million, they are a pimple on the mobile phone landscape. There will always be a room for a pimple on the landscape. Google is playing for the rest of the enchilada."
This post was co-written by staff writer Marguerite Reardon.
Stephen Shankland writes about a wide range of technology and products, but has a particular focus on browsers and digital photography. He joined CNET News in 1998 and since then also has covered Google, Yahoo, servers, supercomputing, Linux and open-source software, and science. E-mail Stephen, or follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/stshank. 
Apple will lose this battle in 9-12 months and see it's share go down to Mac levels of 3%
Here comes the pain!
I became a Apple/Linux fan in the last years. But truly what I want is more balanced competition. I am a customer, and without competition, we have all bad service. So I am more Linux and OS X, than a Windows. I almost hate windows, but if I think well, then I think balance is the better option. So I hope Google triumphs a little, enough to have a good market share and to make others to create and do a better work,
I have in work two PC one with Windows other with Ubuntu, in my home a Macbook PRO (OS X 10) and a PC with Ubuntu. I have almost all of the most famous. So in Mobile world I had windows mobile, symbian S60 and know iPhone 3G (My favorite). Maybe in one year I have some GPhone Android too. :-)
If symbian and apple are like windows XP then windows mobile are like.. dos 1.1
Microsft is no where in competition with these to great giants.. symbian and apple...
Yesterday i was seeing an interview and steve balmer was laughing at apple iphone. hahahah i think he must have seen his own face...
And there's the rub of it. Drop out innovation in that sentence, because thin does not equal innovation, and basically you have what the iPhone is: all looks, little substance, a locked in platform where unkie Steve tells you what to do, and questionable reliability. Honestly I couldn't be less impressed with the iPhone even if it was priced at $99.99. Apple has hamstrung their developers and customers with their practices, which makes me wonder why. My current theory is that OS X can't handle heavy multitasking on that phone (Full blown computer is another matter) so they are neutering what a developer can do with the system and what apps can be loaded on the system.
Honestly, I can't wait to drop the iPhone. Perhaps going with Windows Mobile if they fix a few things. Call me crazy, but it's not a question of the next gen OS. What I truly need are mature business applications. I like the iPhone, but I have a job to do. The thing is, so far the iPhone handles email attachments extremely well. And for that, I like it better than the BlackBerry, which handles PDFs, Excel documents, and Word Documents like an ignorant fool. And the add-on software for BlackBerry, such as RepliGo and otehrs like it still in no way match the iPhone's ability to view PDFs or Excel files. But their is plenty of room for improvement on the iPhone. It seems to me each time you read an email, it wants to re-load parts of it, as if it's not cached at all. On the BB and Treo, once a message is downloaded, it's there. It's fast. It's cached and accessible. Not on the iPhone, and it slows the device down.
Apple, for all that they do correct, seem to make extremely stupid and huge mistakes at the same time. I have to ask, what the heck were they thinking? Are they dumb or something? I can't wait for an email to reload every single time I want to refer to it. And what about background downloading. iPhone tells me there is a message, but it doesn't actually download it. So every day by 4:45 PM I have about 40 messages piled up, and I see the red count of 45, but none are downloaded. It doesn't download them until I open the email app. So again, I have to wait. Apple's concept of time management is the worst of any phone I have ever used. Kudos for what they do right, but they make such stupid mistakes along the way and it completely ruins the experiecne.
In the coming weeks, I'll give Windows Mobile a shot. Mostly looking for a few key things.
1. Better email with strong support for attachment viewing.
2. Messages that download in the background as I get them and are just there.
3. An indicator of new messages so I don't need to actually open the main screen.
4. Spell checker I under my own control.
5. Copy & Paste
6. SalesForce Mobile (iPhone version is red only at this point)
7. Strong 3rd party software.(this time I will look at the software available first)
I am told the AT&T has aweful battery life, and so I'll have to look around even more.
I hope Android gets developer support for key business software. It would be great to have the benefits of the iPhone combined with choice.
Alex
You prefer competition, but you think Apple is the superiour platform?
Macintosh, the brand that doesn't allow outside hardware vendors?
The iPhone, which has been banning applications left and right because they do things that the original hardware should have done in the first place?
The iPod, which "has to" use iTunes software to load it?
I'm confused. Please clarify for me.
Competition breeds better products was the true message of that post.
Stop jumping to conclusions to point out what you so gloriously try to prove that Apple is terrible. We know, we get it, Apple sucks. Move on. Geez.
Let me clarify you about my opinion. I think there is space for all. Must have to be space for all because without concurrency not even Linux could exist. So you prefer windows (that was just my assumption), and I do not. So what?
After using Windows for more than 15 years, finally there are begin to show in the market alternatives far better than the alternative of the king in the castle that was MS Windows.
So yes... I prefer Linux and yes I prefer MAC OS X. Both are different alternatives, and both are much more open than Windows. If you say different you are one of that people who just do piracy of windows app, and that can not count as a real open environment. Have you try one Mac OS X???? Do you know Unix and work with X?
About your strangeness to my good opinion about Mac OS X. Is because first OS X is UNIX. As Unix you have X environment. And as in Linux you can use and compile sources from the world of OpenSource. And I do not see any prison there. I have OpenOffice as my main office solution, as a lot other software I can get from opensource community.
About iTunes, is a dam good service. It is paid and so what? You do not like do not buy. Choice is there! About some policy about iPhone Applications. That is why google phone is so welcome by my. I want alternatives. I want Apple see that they have to be more open in iPhone. And if google secedes it will be good for consumers. But as I know most of App Restritions was because, of copyright and because of AT&T ******** no want NetShare. Stupid if you as my opinion. But you can have Jailbreak and get every application that apple do not sell in is store. :-) Is very easy to install.
About the Microsoft Slogan, "I am a PC" ... but I do not use Windows in my free will. What about that? But if I buy a laptop, I have always to pay for the MS Windows even if I install free OS like RED HAT, Fedora, Ubuntu, or openSuse. What Apple just do is they are hardware producers, not only software. So in the end is almost the some with PCs and Apple.
So what about Apple choice not to use is Operating System in open wide PC machines. I say who loses are they (Apple). Because if they let OS X work in every PC they could expand and conquer much more people. Is a wrong decision, but I thing they are who lose more. If you put a OS X 10 vs Microsoft XP or Vista, both Microsoft lose by far.
So I hope and I want in somethings apple change some aspects. But because sometimes I do not like some decisions, I can not deny OS X are one of the best Desktop Operating System that exist there.
I just do not say the some of Linux Ubuntu, because I think have to turn it self a little more easy in Desktop versions for the customer who are not used to work with computers. I try to put some people using Ubuntu and just few liked, but put some people work with OS X and they all love. But I believe that some Linux distributions in the future could even supplant Mac OS X, but not today. Maybe next 5 years.
Are we clear? :-)
My respects to you. And what options you do, if you are happy good, but give a chance to others even if not perfects. :-)
Cheers!
electricpig.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/htcdreamout2.jpg
There are still so many basic issues with these devices and networks that should be here considering how far technology has progressed. The iPhone's Safari is lacking in many areas of security, and the lack of ability to tether the device to a laptop is ridiculous. Other HTC devices like the Tilt, or Wing, or XV-6800 have browsing limitations due to Microsoft's inability to process some basic, standard web calls. Not to mention if load another solution like Opera the memory constraints make it unusable. Combine these basic engineering flaws with the lack of consistent 3G high-speed data nets for any carrier, and then the nickle and dime pricing of those carriers which make your price tag for a data/voice/txt plan soar over $130-$150 on average, it makes one wonder what you're paying for.
The best thing Android/Google, and T-Mobile can do is provide a flexible working solution that does the core functions of business well, fast and reasonably priced. Then the market will turn. If Android can accomplish just 3 things - 1) fast, secure, reliable, web browsing 2) flexible configuration to add applications that are customizable to the end user experience, and 3) Carriers provide appropriate pricing and speed accordingly to allow for well perceived usability.
The iPhone is a good step to the total package, let's hope that Google takes it to the next level!
There is competition.
Apple definitely allow outside hardware vendor. Dell, HP, Acer, Sony and many others are its competitor. Can't you see it?
OR from your view: there is no competition to Playstation because Sony doesn't allow outside vendor to create clones running playstation OS?
There are plenty applications Apple allowed. At least there are more than 1000 applications now. Can you just name 10% of 1000 before you say banning left and right? Emotions...
What's wrong with using iTunes to load iPods? In what way does that make Apple not competitive?
Before you reply, maybe you should look into the mirror why do you hate Apple so much? Did Apple kill any of your family?
iPhone/iPhone 3G/iPod Touch is pretty much the same device from programming point of view. It has the same screen resolution, same OS, same processor speed. The hardware differences are camera, audio recording and wifi vs edge/3g.
When we did development for WM, we had to consider 7 to 8 different screen resolutions, multiple versions of OS (5.0, 6.0, 6.1 and soon 7.0). To make it worse, the OS are customized by each carrier for their own specific design. The processor speed varies - from 200mhz to dual core 400mhz. Each phone pick its own camera, and they may behave differently. And of course, each carrier has different policy on installing third party apps (and that information is not easily obtainable by regular users). Some allows you to install whatever. Some requires a hack. Some won't let you install no matter what.
You have to realize it is impossible for developer to buy every model on the market for testing. At $400 to $600 each, you need $10K just to have a reasonable hardware pool for testing.
See the problem? To write a single app, it is 3x to 10x more time for WM than on iPhone. And then, let's say you made a decision on the hardware requirement, users never read it carefully. You end up a lot of emails and phone calls from users whose phone cannot run the app.
From developer point of view, we prefer the "closed" model of iPhone. The best market is a single model with a lot of sales, not a fragmented market with dozens of models.
Android has the same problem as WM. By trying to be everything for everyone, from different hardware vendors, different configurations, different carriers (meaning different security policies) etc, it is a impossible market for a small software developer. I doubt you will see a lot of third party apps for it.
And Android doesn't even have the advantage when comparing to WM. With WM, at least some of the code is cross-platform. Many developers may already have the core logic in C/C++, and can be easily ported to WM. Then the main work is the UI. This is the same process with iPhone. Why do you think there are those stories about "this developer wrote this game for iPhone in 2 weeks"? Read the story about X-Plane for iPhone. It is obvious that their core code is in C/C++.
By using Java, first, the performance is lacking for certain type of programming (game, video, photo etc). Second, it requires fresh coding. So, instead of porting your app over for 2 weeks or a months, you start over and spend 6 months on it. Who would do that?
The BS spewing from the Gcrowd can often result in the use of poor language.
Or the guys just giddy like a little schoolboy that Android is about to launch!
This will be the biggest fizzle EVER!
Google's gonna have to spend some big, big, bucks if they want to seriously crack this market with little assurance of success.
I will buy a "GPhone".
Goggle will rock the world with this phone because it will be what the iPhone should have been in 2007.
The party's over, Apple. Time to get to work.
- by TV James September 23, 2008 11:22 AM PDT
- Will it play all the music I've purchased from iTunes? Sorry, Apple's gonna keep the sheep. You can be Apple-cool without spending $2k on a laptop.
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