“Google’s recent announcement regarding the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) is set to increase competition with Apple’s iPhone, but won’t initially offer any features the iPhone doesn’t already provide, according to industry analyst Gene Munster of Piper Jaffray,” MacNN reports.
“The Open Handset Alliance consists of Google, T-Mobile, HTC, Motorola, and other companies that aim to develop an open software platform for mobile computing called Android. Apple’s iPhone… already offers many of the features — like full Web browsing functionality — provided by the new software. As a result, Apple has little need to join the OHA and has little to fear from the competition, according to Munster,” MacNN reports.
“The analyst firm reiterates its ‘Outperform’ rating on Apple shares with a $250 price target,” MacNN reports.
Full article here.
Somehow, I imagine that when Google’s apps finally make it to other handsets, they’ll be nowhere near as nice as Google’s apps that are already on iPhone.
They will be a few years behind before they even launch.
Sweet! Can’t wait until Google ships their mobile phone software. Bah.
Y’all still sure that native apps aren’t the way to go?
Just my $0.02
& of course each phone maker will customize Google for differentiation.
Considering that Google’s CEO sits on Apple’s board, is it possible applications written for Google’s OS will also run on iPhone?
Is this trend:
Apple: Great products, great company; then
Apple: Good company, good products; then
Apple: A company better than the worst; then
Apple: Products better than the worst; then
Apple: Loyal customers? Who cares?
Too bad.
Can’t wait to listen to ads on my phone. NOT!
MW – wrong. Exactly!
@The Only Thing to Fear:
What is your point? And what does it have to do with the topic?
IIRC the story at iPhone’s launch, the story was that Apple wrote the Map app and tied into Google’s data. And Google’s CEO was impressed.
Interesting. “Apple has little need to join the OHA and has little to fear from the competition” Right now, Apple has a good position, getting better by the week, and the OHA has … Google. Do I need to point out that the OHA doesn’t need the “entire product” to cut a big hole in Apple’s? All it needs to do is come up with a bit of software that Apple will need to play catch-up on and … oops! Now, it’s true that the iPhone has some decent software now. That’s now. Right now. And it has a premium bit of hardware. Right now. The hardware knock-offs we’re big sellers in Asia before the first iPhone was sold! Easy to copy … and that’s for hackers who don’t much care if they get it “right”. The software may be harder … even if they use an Open Source OS for their base. Still … they have Google. And Google’s engineers. This is a potential danger. Those geeks are every bit as plugged in, resourceful, inventive, and insightful as the geeks at Apple. And maybe just a bit hungrier.
Apple ought to consider joining in.
Dave
Further fragmentation of the handset marketplace only helps apple look even better. What is Google going to give us that Symbian, Windows Mobile, BREW, etc. etc. haven’t already tried? Someone should try putting a real OS on a handset. Oh wait, Apple’s already done it.
Google is attempting to have broad appeal by offering its software for cheap. If advertising revenue is good enough and the user experience of that advertising isn’t prohibitive somehow, they may do well. They will compete with the low to middle range. They are not catering to the same sort of customer that Apple caters to. At least, there is only some overlap between the two groups.
People who buy Apple are buying “up.” For goodness’ sake, if Bang and Olufsen can survive with all the cheap crap out there, Apple has little to fear. Google will make some cool stuff, but they have a sort of Fisher Price quality to their work, too. Cool stuff, but not the prettiest, to say the least.
Apple has nothing to fear. And anyway, Apple’s certainly not sitting still, resting on its laurels.
@DLMeyer
Don’t forget that by February 2008 there will be an SDK for the iPhone. That means more developers will be in developing for the iPhone, so Apple will have the lead still, or kind of equal on software level, but they will beat the rest on hardware level, with functional and beautiful designs.
JOKE OF THE DAY
Competition from Google’s phone software will only help Apple’s iPhone be better. Yay! Go Google! Go Apple!
People you forget one thing…
The browser offered for these Google phones, is based on Web Kit.
So the ties with Apple are closer than you think.
I believe the real reason here, is screwing Microsoft from behind. Apple and Google are just working their way to make Internet Explorer irrelevant.
Think of it, sum all the Safari for iPod Touch/iPhones, Macs, Windows and to some extent, the Google Phones……….
Suddenly the market share for Safari/Web Kit grows exponentially, we are talking about millions a year!
Making web applications in AJAX, makes them stick to standards, something that Explorer is not good at. Then Internet Explorer is not as lean and flexible as Web Kit/Safari, and even Firefox.
Things are moving amazingly fast below Microsoft feet, and really they don’t really know what the hell is hitting them.
I predict these next two years we will see a big shift away from internet explorer.
So there will be a mobile-OS in constant beta like all other Google software…
I am not sure that Google are interested in a mobile handset OS. I think they are looking for web enabled and delivered apps like the current Google Apps, which will run on all genuinely Web enabled cell phones. I am sure they will work with current suppliers to mod their browser offerings to support proper web standards. As Apple already supports those standards and already has support for Ajax and web enabled and delivered apps, why does it need to be there – it already is.
Think of it, all the major cell phone manufacturers get together and start telling M$ what functionality the cell phone browser must support or they will go to a different browser. The ball has been taken away from M$ guys and the dancing monkey does not even know it yet. I think this could be the best fake out in any game that we have ever seen – and Apple showed it could be done.
Isn’t there an obvious conflict of interest here?
The head honcho of Google sitting on Apple’s Board with access to Apple’s future plans, products and direction?
Google creating it’s own “OS” to compete with the iPhone-versioned OS X?
Unless, have some have suggested, there’s more here than meets the eye and Google and Apple have other “stealth” plans in the works.
…