Category: Google

Being built by Google, it’s no surprise that Android integrates with Google’s suite of online services seamlessly. Gmail, Google Contacts and Google Calendar are synced over-the-air to Android handsets with little setup. On the other end, Google’s web apps can be used from any computer, regardless of OS, giving users their data anytime, anywhere.

Apple offers MobileMe as a similar service, but with an emphasis on syncing with rich desktop applications, not web-based services. MobileMe works well, but at $100/year, is pricey for what it does. Like Google Sync, MobileMe pushes customers’ data over the air.

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Reuters:

“We have significantly cut our investment in Android platform, just like … many others,” Gameloft finance director Alexandre de Rochefort said at an investor conference.

Rochefort said the company has cut back on investment mostly due to weaknesses of Android’s application store.

“It is not as neatly done as on the iPhone. Google has not been very good to entice customers to actually buy products. On Android nobody is making significant revenue,” Rochefort said.

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Apple Insider:

Google has purposely broken compatibility with Java ME to introduce Android’s Dalvik alternative as a new development platform that leverages all the developer experience and familiarity of Java, without allowing or intending Android software to run on BlackBerry or Symbian phones. The hope is that Android’s single, standardized implementation of Java technology will do what Sun’s broadly licensed Java ME failed to do: deliver a viable mobile software market across hardware vendors’ offerings.

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Joshua Topolsky:

If you must compare the DROID to the iPhone, then know that the Android platform still has a ways to go before the experience of using the phone is as seamless as the one Apple has created — but also know that Apple has a long way to go before its messaging, email, and customization can match what Google is offering. Both products have very distinct strengths and weaknesses.

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Boy Genius Report:

The Motorola CLIQ was a pretty big disappointment for me personally, but oh man does the Droid make up for it. Sure, there’s a little hype sprinkled in because this is the first Android 2.0 device I’ve had the pleasure of using, but once you move past the initial “wow” factor, the Droid really delivers. Whether it’s Verizon’s ad campaign or Motorola’s that pits the Droid against the iPhone it doesn’t matter. The Droid isn’t an iPhone competitor because nothing at this point in time is an iPhone competitor besides the new iPhone. And things don’t have to be right now. Everyone can eat. So will the Motorola Droid be successful? Absolutely, we think. It will eat in to BlackBerry sales, Windows Mobile sales, and positively murder any lingering Palm Pre sales. It’s that good.

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While Verizon’s network is no doubt the best in the US, it’s array of handsets has always been disappointing — Blackberrys make the high-end, with random Motorola, Nokia and Samsung devices rounding out the low-end.

Today Verizon announced a new partnership with Google, promising new Android phones by the end of the year:

Verizon Wireless and Google plan to co-develop several Android-based devices that will be pre-loaded with innovative applications from both parties as well as third-party developers. The family of Android phones on the Verizon Wireless network will come from leading handset manufacturers.

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Apple PR:

Apple today announced that Dr. Eric Schmidt, chief executive officer of Google, is resigning from Apple’s Board of Directors, a position he has held since August 2006.

“Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple’s Board.”

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From an open letter written by CNET’s Tom Krazit:

When Google announced plans to develop Android, a smartphone operating system that competes with Apple’s iPhone OS for consumer and developer attention, you said you would recuse yourself from any discussions about the iPhone during meetings of Apple’s board. You reiterated that stance in May after reports emerged that the Federal Trade Commission had raised an eyebrow at your presence on both boards, and when asked if you recuse yourself from any other topics at Apple meetings, you answered, “Not that I recall.”

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As popular as netbooks are, they have some fundamental flaws (small keyboards, etc), but one of the biggest problems is their operating system.

Most netbooks come with Windows XP, which is fine for most users, but there are not a lot of good alternatives. Of course, Microsoft requires XP-powered netbooks to be limited to 1GB of RAM, which irks many users, Vista is pretty much out of the question due to the under-powered nature of netbooks - even with 2GB of RAM. Windows 7 looks promising, but is still in beta.

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PC World:

According to the latest smartphone sales numbers from Gartner and Display Search’s netbook sales numbers, 4.7 million iPhones were shipped in Q3 2008 while a whopping 5.6 million netbooks were sold in the same period.

The obvious question: Why this comparison was even made? Every netbook model out there made by dozens of companies outsold two models of the same smartphone- by one company.

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