Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, has given an interview to the Guardian in which he claims that 160,000 Android mobile devices are being activated each day. That's up 60% in a month. Schmidt also claimed that because Android is free, it might become more ubiquitous than Microsoft on computers .But it's hard to know whether this means Android will eventually be the go-to OS in the mobile world, or whether this is just Schmidt indulging in some diversionary tactics on the day of the iPhone 4 was release.�
It's been long acknowledged that Android is the number three OS in the North American market, behind BlackBerry's RIM and the iPhone's iOS. Google, however, disputes these figures and almost two months ago, claimed that, according to an NPD survey, Android enjoyed 28%, compared to Apple's 21%. However, according to a survey of app developers, over 50% of them think that Android is far and away the OS most likely to win the long-term war between Apple and Google. (RIM's share is mainly down to the fact that it's the go-to product for businesses, and that it's been around for years now, but all signs point to trouble at the top.) There are now 65,000 Android apps available for download, up from 50,000 last month.
Although Android 2.2, aka Froyo, is barely five weeks old, it is due to be updated to 2.3, nicknamed Gingerbread, in Q4 of this year. It offers support for the Google-developed (and slightly contentious WebM video playback and has better copy-paste functions than earlier Android editions and, rumor has it, will allow media streaming from your home computer library, a revamped UI, Bluetooth voice commands, and an Android Market music store.
The Android effect is boosting many previously struggling handset makers. Motorola, long thought to be on its way out, has seen its market share rocket up from 2.1% to 12.4%, thanks to its Droid smartphones. The figures came on the day that Motorola's Motorola's�Droid was unveiled ahead of its July 15 release next month on Verizon. With its 8-megapixel camera, HD camcorder and super-fast processor, it may not be an iPhone 4-killer, though--certainly not if you've read the reviews on Apple's newest product.
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However, what may harm Android's long-term development is, ironically, its dependence on various handset makers. Sure, they'll be selling shedloads of phones--with Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson and Garmin all have handsets that use the Android OS--so many platforms may dilute its brand. This is, one assumes, what Google tried to do with its own-brand (-ish, it was developed alongside HTC) and what Apple has done all along. Steve Jobs keeps tight control on Apple hardware and Apple's various OSes. And that's for a reason.
COMMENTARY:� I was dead-on when�my prediction that Google's Nexus One smartphone would bomb came true.� However, I am humbled and�wish to apologize to Eric Schmidt for thinking the Android OS would never make it.�
From all indications, Android OS is quickly becoming a possible standard for smartphone operating systems.� If Eric Schmidt�estimate that�160,000 Android equipped smartphones are being sold each day, this would amount to nearly 5 million Android phones per month.� That's impressive.���The number of apps has gone from 50,000 to 60,000 in a single month.� Also impressive.��Apps are the key to smartphone success, driving growth in both the Apple iPhone and�Android equipped phones.�
Apple's new iPhone 4�appears to be breaking all previous iPhone sales records, judging from the number of online orders, and subsequent overload of AT&T's website and customer service call lines,�when it was released for pre-order last week.��According to some estimates,�the majority of those orders are upgrades from existing iPhone users.��
However, Apple only has�about 50 million iPhone subscribers, and�although this is an impressive number, still pales when compared to the�rest of the smartphone market, which is still dominated by Nokia, RIM (Blackberry) and Android OS phones.��
Apple�realizes that the smartphone market is becoming quite competitive, since Android OS was introduced, and this is part of the reason why�the iPhone is no longer being sold exclusively through AT&T, but soon through Amazon.com, Wal-Mart and Verizon Wireless.
Courtesy of an article dated June 24, 2010 appearing in Fast Company�
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