17-08-2012, 11:24 AM
A study on present and future of Google's Android Dot Com
A study on present and future of Google\'s Android Dot Com.pdf (Size: 338.39 KB / Downloads: 81)
Android: Breaking the "Walled Garden":
Like Apple'a Appstore, Google opened its Android market, allowing the apps developers to publish
their apps without any restrictions. Unlike Apple's Appstore, Google Android market will not have any
restrictions for third party development and will not run an apps approval systems.
And Android will be breaking another 'Walled garden', that's the mobile carrier support. In US, AT&T
had acquired the rights to sell Apple's iPhones for the next five years from the date of its release. And
in case of the Blackberrys, it is not a fully carrier-independent handset, since the major part of the sale
happens through its different carriers, worldwide. This approach had left people frustrated, on sticking
to a monopolistic mobile carrier, irrespective of their wish to select a different carrier. Since, Android
is a open source operating system, it could leverage the advantages of device-independency and
service provider-independency.
What's so different inAndroid?
The good news is for both the consumers and developers. While consumers could enjoy a low-cost
Smart phones running Android, developers were given an unrestricted customization rights. From a
developer's point of view, Android has several advantages, as listed below:
Market Predictions:
Very few but strong predictions about Android are spreading, worldwide.
Firstly, Android is going to be bigger in
terms of consumer reach than its rival,
the iPhone OS. Its just because of a true
fact that it will be developed and
marketed by all the 50 members of OHA,
which includes companies like Google,
Samsung, HTC, Sony Ericsson, T-Mobile,
Motorola, Vodafone, Sprint, China mobile
and other world leaders in
telecommunication industry.
Secondly, Google's support will make
everything possible in this Internet era,
but up to now, they hadn't started making
money from their Android-based
activities.
On the other hand, by 2012, apart from Symbian and Android, iPhone will target its businesses
development towards its rival, the Blackberry in their segment. But predictions say that, Android is
completely made for mass market, and its lack of business features (Unlike, Winslow Mobile and
Blackberry, while both them has business exchange compatibility and PC-Synchronization features)
will create new chances for its rivals.
According to Gartner, Android’s
smartphone market share will grow to 14
percent from less than 2 percent by 2012,
and the Symbian’s slide will continue,
giving way to Android. That kind of
historical performance by Android would
mirror the Apple iPhone's rule. The firstgeneration
iPhone was launched in 2007,
in the U.S. and immediately, it took the
world by storm. On its release, the
iPhones grabbed a good 11% of the
smartphone market share in the first
quarter of 2009 and continued to expand
day by day. But the predictions about
Android’s gathering momentum, will
overtake Apple in just 2 years.
Final Comments:
• Giants like Nokia and Microsoft are not the part of the OHA, so Android won’t become so
powerful for now. It depends on the stability and continuous support for the platform.
• Microsoft’s ‘windows mobile’ has a big selling point in the form of , its integrity with
Microsoft Office and other Microsoft-owned tools, So, Android has to concentrate on
developing PC compatibility apps using the Google Office Apps.
• We are not talking about the very success of Android, since it has its own challenges, like its
development task. Though, Android is a complete mobile handset platform, encompassing a
mobile operating system, a browser , some middle ware, and other application environment,
that all depends upon the future investments, and innovations upon the development of an allencompassing
new technology.
Apart from Google, Apps developers and vendors are predicted to be the major beneficiaries, since
they would make most out of the Android with its wider market structure backed by all the members of
OHA, developing different versions of Android, and driving the Android's apps market to a new edge,
defeating all the others.