For many is glaringly obvious, mobile is set to become the primary access point of the internet in this coming decade. But where do we fit in? In yet another encounter in the big tech wars, this time it's Apple that titan Google is taking on. Over the past few months Google’s mobile operating system, Android, has debuted on a host of smartphones, which has riled Apple's co-founder Steve Jobs enough to tell his employees: “Make no mistake, Google wants to kill the iPhone.”
Taking this to heart, Apple this month sued Taiwan's HTC Corp, the maker of touchscreen smartphones using Google software, accusing it of twenty hardware and software patents infringements related to the iPhone.
As if to make matters worse for Mr Jobs, a recent article in TechCrunch confirmed his fears: “I've been using the Nexus One with TMobile since mid-December as my primary mobile phone. This is the best Android-powered phone to date. It's also the fastest and most elegant smartphone on the market today, solidly beating the iPhone in most ways. In this rapidly evolving market there is sure to be something better just around the corner. But if you are looking to buy a high-end smartphone right now, this is the phone for you.”
But what will come of this in a time some prematurely describe as the Year of Mobile? According to Jason Steinberg of ClickZ: “2010 is the year of mobile…Everyone in advertising and media has been hearing that statement for nearly three years running. And for the last two, it's been followed up with a less than reassuring 'and this time, we mean it'.”
To back that assessment up, the BBC reported: “…developer activity for the iPhone has risen 185% in advance of the iPad's April arrival. Applications for the iPhone can be ported over to the new device. We have definitely seen a shift back to the iPhone with the anticipation of the iPad and a little bit of the disappointment with the Nexus 1 (Google phone), Simon Khalaf, chief executive of Flurry Analystics told business site MarketWatch.com.”
via Mobiles To Change Economics Of The Internet.