Posted by Eric Mills on Wed, Oct 21, 2009 @ 09:23 AM
There has been a lot of buzz about Android, the Google mobile operating system lately. The recent big news was the release of screenshots of Android 2.0. I am underwhelmed. The screenshots are dingy and unexciting. This wasn't the wow I was expecting.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all for some competition for the iPhone, and I'd love to see Android succeed, but I just don't feel that it can compete with iPhone in the near future. Actually, it reminds me of linux. The technology folks loved it, but everyday folks ignored it. I've been telling people to watch out for Android because of all the additional handsets that are coming out in the next year, but after getting a good look at these screens, I'd say that Android really needs to work on their marketing. Why exactly should I buy an Android phone? Because I can run mobile apps in the background? Because it costs less? Because it is the best phone my carrier sells? Ok, I guess these are good reasons, but I was hoping for something better.
Posted by Eric Mills on Mon, Jul 20, 2009 @ 09:03 PM
Earlier this month, Flurry released market share statistics of mobile apps across "200 applications, 25 million consumers and four platforms: Apple (iPhone and iPod Touch), Blackberry, JavaME and Google Android". I find these numbers fascinating.
Blackberry has a huge number of handsets out there, but it appears that nobody is using the Blackberry apps. I approached a Blackberry user recently and inquired about the "Blackberry app store", Appworld. He didn't know anything about it. That is part of the problem. While Apple is spending millions on the "There's an app for that" campaign, Blackberry is doing nothing. I don't think there are many iPhone users who don't know about the app store.
Here is the other part of the problem: Blackberry apps are a pain compared to iPhone apps. It feels more like installing a PC program than a mobile app. Download, install, set permissions, find, test, reset permissions, test again, find something better to do. Wake up Blackberry.
Android is going a lot right. According to Flurry, they have around 7x the number of developer and consumer mindshare. This is cool. I can't wait to see how the market reacts to the 20 new handsets coming out on Android next year.
How long can this iPhone domination last? I say at least a couple more years.