HTC and Google making waves with Android

Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 04 November 2008 10:51

Opinion and Analysis

Developers on Android are also free to develop what they like, without the restrictions that Apple is placing on the iPhone development process.

Given that the G1 gPhone has only been out for a few weeks, truly innovative apps are yet to appear, but as the G1 and its successors roll out across the world next year, the potential is clearly there to seriously challenge Apple, Microsoft and Nokia for the smartphone crown.

Microsoft is busily working away on Windows Mobile 7, but it looks like upcoming Windows Mobile phones will be based on WM 6.5.

This was first previewed back in February this year, when the Sony Xperia was being reported as coming with the OS.

ZDNet in the US also reported late last month that Windows Mobile 6.5 will come before Windows 7 hits.

The world is also wondering what plans Apple has for any iPhone OS 3.0 and is no doubt watching the Android and Windows Mobile developments carefully, even as reports quote an analyst from Friedman, Billings Ramsey & Co predicts Apple cutting iPhone product by 40% in the current quarter.

The G1 gPhone is but the first of many Google Android phones to come, and for brave souls wishing to buy one and use it in Australia, eBay sellers already have them for sale.

I personally look forward to Android making an official appearance in Australia, and am keen to see how Motorola handles the OS, and whether Android can help to restore some of Motorola’s lost shine.

But even more so, I look forward to smartphones that can faultlessly project an image onto a wall, turn speech into text even when walking through a noisy street, come pre-loaded with a terabyte of flash storage the size of a postage stamp, and have super-high-speed broadband anywhere, able to replace my desktop, notebook and netbook forever.

Yes, today’s BlackBerries, iPhones, WM phones and the Android can easily replace a notebook when travelling, and while “real” computer-based work still requires a real computer, the gap is narrowing faster than ever.