Anders Norström is the first of our executives that we’ve invited to comment on the G1 launch this week, here in the UK. Anders knows a thing or two about mobile and is now heading up the European market for MobiTV. Indeed whilst working along side Ericsson, Anders was instrumental in delivering the very first 3G broadcast so I’m rather interested to see what he has to say.
Over to you, Anders.
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Some reviews Google/HTC G1 phone have commented that it adopts the best features of the iPhone and Blackberry, but is not neccessarily as innovative as it could be. And while it is true that the first Android phone doesn’t really bring any unique new features to the party that other platforms don’t, that’s not what makes the concept – and the phone – so interesting.
What is so exciting about the G1 as a phone is the fact that it is open source, and the impact that will have on its apps store and how that will raise consumer expectations of what a mobile phone is capable of. The iPhone set new standards and many voices in the industry are now speculating whether or not we have reached a Moore’s Law of the mobile phone world, where phones themselves just can’t be improved any more. But whatever your opinion on that, the iPhone proved that the mobile phone is no longer just about voice calls and texting, it’s about the phone being your first port of call to any kind of connectivity.
The G1 is building on and developing this concept thanks to its open source roots. So the fact that its apps store opened with just sixty two apps compared to the iPhone AppStore that launched with ten times that amount is relatively unimportant. It’s the fact that now practivally anyone can develop new applications which will get even more people online, using search and advertising services that Google, operators and handset manufacturers can make their money from.
The other intriguing element of course is the association with Google and what that will bring to the table. Because all the ‘basic’ Google applications come preloaded and are default applications, a number of blogs have already questiond the extent to which Google will control the OS, and raised concerns about Google trying to lock in the end-user.
Whether or not this is the case the G1 is still a phone and if it is going to sell, it needs to work out of the box, so it needs to ship with the basic applications. If the open source works the way it should, there will soon be alternative applications and the British market, if anything, is renowned for its demand for choice, so the market is ripe for a phone developed in this fashion.
From a technical MobiTV perspective, Android is just one more of the 350 different devices and platfroms we support. From a strategic MobiTV perspective, the development of open source and mobile applications can only be a positive thing as it moves the industry forward to realise the full potential of the mobile phone.
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Anders, thank you very much for taking the time!