Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Thursday, 06 November 2008 16:51
Opinion and Analysis
Page 1 of 2
With only 200 programs available so far for the G1 Android gPhone,
Google says apps are nevertheless proving popular. Meanwhile, a gPhone
jailbreak gets patched and shock, horror: Steve Ballmer says he’s not a
fan.
Microsoft’s CEO Steve Ballmer, known for thinking the iPhone wouldn’t be successful, gave the Google Android phone a similar dismissal at a Telstra “Investor Relations Day” conference where he was a guest speaker, spruiking a partnership between Telstra and Microsoft on online apps, unified comms and mobile devices.
Telstra is Australia’s dominant telecommunications company, and Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo likewise didn’t sound too impressed by Google’s mobile platform, saying it was only “interesting” but not “compelling”.
Time will tell whether Telstra ever ends up selling an Android based phone, but given Motorola’s push to focus on Android, alongside Windows Mobile, chances are Telstra will sell Android models in the future.
Australian technology importer Kagan, which works with Chinese manufacturers to create technology that Kagan puts its logo onto and sells at attractive prices, is promising to bring its own Android powered phone to Australia from December 15 at a price of AUD $199.
As covered at News.com.au, Ballmer
ridiculed the lack of a revenue model for Google’s phone, saying he “didn’t get it”, that phones weren’t easy to create and that he’d “see how they do”.
Later, at Microsoft’s “Power to Developers”
conference in Sydney, Ballmer said that the iPhone and Android “made it easier to distribute apps” but questioned how much money was really being made by developers creating software for those platforms.
Ballmer also suggested that Windows Mobile 7 would impress upon its arrival, and effectively suggested developers would make real money developing for Microsoft’s platforms, whether they were in the cloud, on phones, on desktops or data centres – but would you expect Microsoft to say otherwise?
Google Android apps, a jailbreak, Windows Mobile 7 and more on page 2 – please read on.
