A Tablet A Day?

It may be starting to rain tablets as manufactures line up to take on Apple and its iPad. The game may be more about getting to market quickly than getting all the bells and whistles into the devices. The Android platform has clearly shown that Apple is not without strong competitors and its adoption onto the tablet market may be interesting to watch. So who is bring what to the tablet wars?

Google / Verizon
The week that Google pulled out of direct retailing its Nesus One and admitted that others can do it better is one aspect to consider. The other is that Google let HTC design its Nexus One and anyone with a HTC Android will tell you it’s a HTC phone.
However Google has some great things to build into the tablet; email, search, maps, office and an apps store and well as a cloud approach and that is without YouTube, Google Editions etc.

Acer
Acer is rumoured to be almost ready to launch and they have the channel distribution and technology competency to make a good splash. There are questions as to whether they will use Google’s Android or Chrome platforms but you can see a trend developing in the Google versus Apple wars.

RIM Blackberry
We like the name BlackPad or BlackSlate and it certainly would be interesting to see RIM move up to compete outside their comfort zone. They did make the transition from email to smartphone and from keypad to touch but this will seriously take them into the PC world and it will be very interesting to watch whether their corporate base continues to remain loyal or as some have already started ditches them for generic safety. It is rumoured that the tablet will not be 3G network connected and will be a 8.9” screen and will not be on the market till the end of the year.

Dell
Dell appear to have interestingly chosen to take on the iPad in Europe first with their 5 inch Mini 5 tablet running on Android. The real question is whether a 5” screen is big enough to differentiate it from a phone and to compete with the larger screens. Dell again has marketing clout and and a very strong distribution and sales operation.It will be interesting if they also can apply some of their good design concepts to the Mini 5.

HP
HP announce their intentions early and also announced their changes early too! It is unclear what operating system they intend to use but they surely can’t afford to be late to the party and will certainly throw money at their sales and marketing operation.

MSI
Micro-Star International is launching a tablet powered by the powerful Nvidia Tegra chip. It appears they are caught between operating systems and have both an 8.9” and 10” models and the user can then chose between Android and Windows 7. We would suggest that if they can’t make up their minds its not always wise to leave it to the consumer. It also demonstrates that Microsoft is loosing the plot.

BT
Apparently it is reported in The Telegraph that BT has announced it will be releasing a touchscreen tablet PC that can apparently make and receive phone calls via built in speaker/ microphone or bluetooth. What operating system it will be based on is unclear but the logical move to integrate telephony makes sense and will wake others up to what their offers should be. It doesn’t make any sense to have to pay twice for the internet service as in the Apple model and either loose tethering could have strong financial appeal. However BT is not strong in this market and although it does have distribution and channels its brand is somewhat unaligned.

The tablet, which will be launched later this year, will be offered as part of a BT package and targeted at the family and home users market. This narrow perspective could make it an also ran before it even gets to market.

Trends

Industry analysts Gartner and IDC are now making a distinction between tablet PCs and tablet Pad devices The tablet PC use an x86-based processor and a full operating system, such as Windows, whilst the tablet Pad devices use ARM-based cell-phone and smart-phone chips and mobile operating systems such as Android, Web OS or the iPhone’s OS. This is a significant step change in the market and starts to confirm that Microsoft is on the decline and seriously threatened as computing starts to converge on the mobile.

IDC project that 6 million tablet devices will ship this year and that 4 million will be iPads. Interestingly they also see HP as the main threat to Apple. Our money would be on sitting tight and waiting till its time to do the Christmas shopping when things may be a bit clearer!

Is Google's Nexus One About to Take Off?

So what are Google going to unveil next Tuesday at their big Android press gathering? Many believe that they will launch the Google Nexus One mobile phone, the first mobile handset designed by Google running Google’s Android operating system and designed in collaboration with HTC.

Watch this You Tube video to see what all the fuss is about.



In choosing the Jan. 5 date, Google will be ahead of the storm of technology news expected to come out of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas later in the week.

The strong rumour is that the phone be sold unlocked and will therefore work on any network, allowing users to simply insert their SIM and start using the phone. Google plan to sell the phone direct to consumers which again will break with the norm in the market and could upset both the other manufacturers and carriers.

The price remains a key element. If Google chooses to subsidize the cost in order to capture share then we could be in for interesting times. If the price remains high then it will be down to carriers and their adoption. Whatever the outcome Google is serious about Android and having a flagship phone under their control.

One starts to wonder what Google wants to be when it grows up?

So Which Mobile would You Choose Today?

So as we deliberate our next mobile we find ourselves torn between today and tomorrow. We have to double guess what will be the situation of operating systems, applications, market adoption and much more. The mobile market is changing fast, the life of devices reduces fast and double predicting the winners getting harder.

Today Android-focused website, Androlib say that the number of applications in the Google Android Marketplace has jumped to over 20,000. Nearly a third of the applications are paid for and recently there was a spike when more than 350 applications and games were published on a single day. The Android app store may still be only 20% that of the iPhone, but the App store has doubled in size in five months it is expected that the app store will reach 50,000 apps before the end of the first quarter 2010.

With more Android phones coming from all directions it would appear that it may be a serious iPhone threat. Now we read that Google plans to release its own handset in 2010. Until now, the company has concentrated on launching its Android operating system on mobile devices made by a number of companies, such as Motorola, Sony Ericsson, HTC and LG.

The device is called the ‘Nexus One’, a reference to the line of 'replicants' in the influential sci-fi film Bladerunner, and an echo of the ‘Android’ brand. The OLED touch-screen device, made by the Taiwanese handset manufacturer HTC, supports quad-band GSM/Edge and UMTS/HSDPA networks, as well as tri-band 850/1700/1900 networks and is based on the Snapdragon chip developed by Qualcomm,. The device could be sold unlocked in the US directly through its site or via a carrier.



As recently as October 30, Google had denied that it was "making hardware" or that it would "compete with its customers" by offering its own phone. Google has not described the handset in detail, however, and it has not confirmed that it plans to sell the device.

So watch this space as we decide on our next mobile and carrier.

Google Spreads Its Reach

So what does Google want to be when it grows up, or should that be what doesn’t it want to be when it grows up?

Last week we had the announcement of Google Editions at Frankfurt which made Google ebook wholesaler and retailer. We already have them as a potential book orphan works custodian and of course librarian to all. We now read that they want to be the digital music service prodiver and maybe return to the much expected gmobile provider. It’s sometimes hard tracking a company that is spreading its net so fast in so many directions but what is clear, irrespective of what materialises, the Google we know today will not be the Google we will see tomorrow.

TechCrunch website was first to raise the potential and imminent news of the launch of a new "Google Music" or "Google Audio" service. They even has screen shots which may or may not be accurate and it was unclear whether Google saw themselves as a universal Spotify streaming service or a iTunes wholesare and retailer of music downloads, or both. Of course as you would expect of any company in its position Google’s response when approached was, "We don't comment on rumour and speculation." Cnet claim Google are woring towards a ‘one box’ service that on searches will provide a thumbnail with the picture of the artist, some background information and listings of the music that can be previewed and also claims that all four major record companies are on board. The speculation is also linked to the ‘one box’ concept used by Google for other services such as video, financial information and weather search results. Techcrunch also claim in a later article ‘Google Music Service the Screenshots’, that Google is partnering its music offer with the LaLa and iLike services. We can only wait until next week when it is claimed they will officiually announcement the service at Capitol Studios in Los Angeles.

Google versus iTunes makes sense for smartphones and Chrome OS based notebooks and importantly will tether users to Google and its vision of keeping everything in their cloud.

Amid the Andriod announcements on its new version 2 release on Sony Eriksonn, the bundling of Spotify on HTC Hero by 3 Mobile, Spring Design’s Alex ereader and B&N’s Nook and the imminent Dell Android phone we read in The Street that Google is claimed to be working with HTC to produce a Google-branded phone or phones available to sell in their thousands through retailers. It would obviously remove the carrier influence and give Google tight controls over the features and applications on phones even offering user configurable phones. More interestingly it starts to position Google head to head with Apple as a provider of integrated hardware and software offerings, similar to Apple's iPhone and iTunes Music Store.

So we return to the question we started with and wonder what Google will be in the next few months and years.

More Mobile Releases

The mobile world is buzzing with new sets and launches:

The Pulse Android ‘pay as you go’ handset by Huawei will hit the market in October and have a 3.5in touch-screen, a 3.2-megapixel camera, GPS and comes pre-installed with Google applications like Google Maps and Gmail. Users will also be able to download applications from the Android Marketplace. The price is £179.99 and for an extra £5 per month, or a £1 a day, you can have unlimited internet access with T-Mobile. The device will also be available to contract customers.

Interestingly, Nicola Shenton, T-Mobile's head of handset marketing states, “With Android, we don't need the iPhone.” A somewhat brave statement but in today’s iPhone exclusive world he has little choice.

LG BL40, or new LG Chocolate, will be available on Orange and the Carphone Warehouse from this month. The original Chocolate sold more than 21 million units worldwide.



The new Chocolate features; a 4-inch, 21:9, 345 x 800 WVGA capacitive touchscreen capable of displaying 16 million colours and even has a split screen dual functionality, which means you can have two applications running literally side by side. There is a 5-megapixel camera with LED flash and Scheider-Kruznach glassware and a micro USB port plus a 3.5mm jack.

Then we have the latest revision of Microsoft's mobile operating system,Windows Mobile 6.5. which boasts a new user interface, the revamped OS, the Windows Marketplace for Mobile app store and offers users a hosted backup service called My Phone. The LG GM570, will go on sale on 6 October, the official release date for Windows Mobile 6.5. In the UK and will be exclusive to Vodafone.
LG have claimed its intention to launch 13 new Windows Mobile handsets worldwide by the end of 2010, which in any world is aggressive.

So in one month we must choose our new handset, or wait. This may mean changing carrier and may even mean giving up cherished features like free skype. We are undecided but eagerly waiting to be tempted.Which would you choose?

Android Moves

The G1 was the first Google Android phone to launch in the UK through T-Mobile and sales are reported to have exceeded their expectations with 100,000 UK sales in the first 6 months and in the US the G1 device has sold 1 million units. Android was designed by Google and a host of partners to make it easier to surf the web and carry out complex computing tasks on mobile devices.



During May, T-Mobile users will be able to update their G1 handsets with the latest Android 1.5 ‘Cupcake’ update. The ‘Cupcake’ software update offers G1 owners enables users to use the 3.2magapixel camera to film videos and upload them straight to YouTube. Photos can similarly be uploaded straight to a user's personal Picasa web album. There are new widgets for the calendar and the music player, new zoom functions on the G1’s camera, a speedier acquisition of GPS location and improvements to the email client and web browser. The update to the G1's Android platform includes an on-screen touch keyboard, giving users a choice of input methods.


Now Vodaphone have launch the new HTC Magic Adroid phone in the UK with no keyboard just a touchscreen. It comes with Gmail and Google Search support and a range of other bundled applications, widgets and access to the Android Market for further applications.




T-Mobile has also announced it will launch another Android phone later this year and Samsung has unveiled its first Android phone, the I7500, which is due to launch in June. So unlike Apple, Google have clearly spread their reach to use multiple manufacturers and carrier networks, whilst retaining the operating system and application marketplace.

At the end of the day its going to be down to the fickle consumer to choose or the killer application to seduce.

It's All About Mobile Applications

When it comes to a playground fight its always best to have some big hitters alongside you and even better if you have more numbers on your side. Today the playground battle is over the mobile application. Realising that the battle of operating systems is all about applications Nokia with Symbian having just recruited 14 more companies has 78 members. Amongst the new Sybian members are Bank of America, HP, News Corp, GPS vendor SiRF, WiFi vendor Nanoradio, MySpace, chip manufacturer Qualcomm and memory card giant SanDisk and there are rumours of a strategic partnership between Nokia and Facebook.

The full list of Sybian competitors now include; Google's open-source Android OS, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, and Palm's webOS. In the membership battle, Google with Android has 47, the LiMo Foundation has 55 and Apple interestingly has only one member –itself. Also some are edging their bets and like Qualcomm, SiRF and Omron belong to both the Android and Symbian camps.

In other news Android Market have announced that they are now accepting priced
applications from US and UK developers and that they will extend this to Germany, Austria, Netherlands, France and Spain later this quarter. Google Checkout will serve as the payment and billing mechanism for Android Market.

Android May Not Just be For Mobiles?

Whilst much focus is on Google’s content grab they continue to move forward on other fronts. Last week, VentureBeat’s Matthäus Krzykowski and Daniel Hartmann loaded Google’s Android operating system onto an EeePC10000H netbook. This not only proved the concept but when loaded Android was able to use the onboard graphics, sound, and wireless capabilities of the netbook.

Last month the system was ported to Nokia N810. So while Android is a new mobile operating system it now appears that it is capable on running on many PCs, laptops and netbooks. Although Android is developed on Linux it does not use Linux X Server graphic drivers, which means that standard Linux applications that use the X Server, must be first be ported to the Android system in order to work. However most Linux drivers are reported to work under Android so the port to netbooks is relatively easy.

So where is this all going? Tech Republic suggests that the combination of Chrome, Android and Google Desktop could result is a full operating system push, ZDNet speculate that Google could effectively create new revenues from selling Android application on PCs.

We can’t say where this will go but with more Linux based devices it looks probable that Google is aiming for a bigger slice of the market than just mobiles.

Another Android has landed

A second Android phone has landed and is making its debut in Australia. It is from Kogan and comes as two models, the Agora Pro and Agora which retail at approximately $256 US and $192 US respectively. Unlike the Pro version the vanilla Agora won't include a camera, Wi-Fi, or GPS. Both have a 624 MHz processor, 128 MB RAM, a microSD slot, 3G network, a touch-sensitive 320×240 2.5" screen, Bluetooth, central navigation key, and a backlit full QWERTY keyboard.

So it offers the Blackberry look and feel and the iPhone application promise and is yet another player in this crowed space. The big question is not its appeal to Blackberry users but what it offers over the new Blackberry’s who have already moved into this centre ground?

What it does do however is give Google another vehicle to push in the application wars but with all due respect, Australia is hardly today’s mobile battleground!

Amazon to Sell Online Mobile Rentals??

Last week literary agent, broadcaster and industry insider Peter Cox questioned whether Google would introduce an ebook reader to further monopolize its new position at the center of the emerging digital book world. Our response was that they had this covered already in their Android and could easily make Google Book Search a standard Android feature.

So what of Amazon with its Kindle 2 sitting on the launch pad and expecting to fly in the New Year? Has the Kindle 2 release been delayed for commercial, technical or strategic reasons? Why would Amazon miss out on the Christmas season sales?

Perhaps the answer is down to a change in strategy. Perhaps the explosion of smartphone applications has fired a shot across their bow and woken them up to the fact that maybe; just maybe, the kindle isn’t and never will be sexy or cover all the bases. No matter how many Ophra endorsements are given it’s still a clunky device which will find it hard justify the consumer investment. Maybe Amazon has realized that if there is a significant mobile swing and the world goes online as opposed to offline they are in a better position than anybody to take that market, or at least go head to head with the potentially biggest ebook retailer – Google.

Let’s step back and look at potential Amazonian moves. These may be far from the reality of what happens but they could happen:

Amazon introduces a Kindle mobile application for the major mobile platforms.
Amazon promotes an online book service based on their mobi format.
Amazon smartens up the Kindle reader and make it interoperable with the online service.
Amazon offers online rentals for both kindle and mobiles.

Amazon has the largest digital content outside of Google which is in their mobi or derivative format and serviced direct to devices not through the mothership PC. They don’t have a DRM issue as they own the Kindle / mobi offline DRM and online can be secured a lot easier. They also have reflow with their format so moving onto a mobile platform is easy.

We know what we would do if we were Amazon!

Google's Digital Book Jigsaw

First we had Amazon’s Search Inside, then the explosion of widgets in every shape, colour and format. Now we have the mobile phone application. Being able to search discover and qualify, or ‘browse before you buy’ is clearly here. So where is it going and who are the potential winners and the also ran’s? As with any venture, who pays and what is the return on the investment? Finally, are we now seeing the blurring of digital content and digital context (the metadata that helps you qualify and value content)?

Google has announced an Android search tool called the Barcode Scanner that recognises through the phone’s camera a book's barcode. According to Jeff Breidenbach, Engineer, Google Book Search, "it will automatically zoom, focus and scan the ISBN - without you even needing to click the shutter...You'll then have the option to search the full text of the book on Google Book Search right away"

There are limitations on the bar codes being post the mid 90s and of course the books being in Google Book Search. But then what? Some would argue that you already have the book in your hand so why do you need Book Search? Others may point out that the next question is that of price and availability and although you may have it in your hand would you transfer the sale to someone else if it where cheaper and delivered to your home? Some say that it provides additional digital services to explore external links, reviews, and perform keyword searches.

The arguments are immaterial, what is important is that the technology to link a mobile camera application, a bar code and Google Book Search is now a given. Why Google developed it and what they intend to do with it is subjective, the fact is they have.

Will there now be an iPhone, Blackberry or Symbian follower and will they link to Google or some other repository? It’s almost certain. Is it an application for librarys, retailers or consumers, remains unclear. The questions to ask are what can be achieved through this mobile linkage, where is the value and its potential within the Google world.

Publishers Weekly report that Borders has also stepped into the Google contexural world and have enabled Google Preview on their site. Borders joins Books-A-Million and the Blackwell Bookshop in using the service. The enhanced version of the Preview software enables the retailer to offer Google Preview to books they stock and that are within Google whilst effectively locking them into the retailer’s site. The interesting aside is that the majority of retailers promote non stocked inventory, so this feature could potentially obviate the publisher’s own widgets and also those supplied by others such as wholesalers.

If we step back and look at the various pieces of the Google Book World jigsaw we see many that could easy fit together and offer not just a solution that covers digital content but digital context and digital rights. Interesting times!

So Who Would You Place Your Money On?

So how many Kindles, Iliads, Sony and ereader devices have been sold?

Today we read in Cnet.com that Canalys has released market share figures on smartphones that state that 39.9 million were shipped in the third quarter of this year. It certainly put the ereader shipments into perspective and coupled with the earlier statistics on games and gaming devices shows that the ereaders not only have a long way to go but that they may well have nowhere to go in their current form.

Regarding the smartphones the battle has clearly started and although Nokia still lead the race with 38.9 % market share this has fallen 12.5 %, compared to last year. The winners are surprise Apple who are now second with 6.9 million shipments (17.3%). But RIM with its new Blackberry Storm and Lewis Hamilton promotion, plus their new Pearl clamshell, look to make it a tight forth quarter. It truly is becoming as interesting a race as the Brazilian Grand Prix.

On the operating system front Sumbian remains in front, but again Apple and RIM are the second with Microsoft also increasing the number of Windows Mobile handsets shipped by 42%. Then we have the dark horse that is Google and its Android yet to make its mark.

Another Day at the Races

Microsoft and LG have signed a strategic collaboration agreement in R&D, marketing, applications, and services in mobile devices. Samsung Electronics announced on the same day the launch of the domestic version of the Omnia touch screen handset model. This is also based on Microsoft's Windows Mobile 6.1 operating system and will be available under an exclusive deal later this year.

Both these moves are clearly focused on helping Microsoft’s Windows Mobile operating system defend itself against Nokia’s Symbian a platform and which is used in two-thirds of smartphones. As we have already reported the remaining contenders are RIM’s Blackberry, Apple's iPhone and Google's Android.

In the same way that DOS versus Windows defined and help shape the PC era and Explora versus Netscape the Web browser initial battles the this ongoing smartphone battle will shape the smartphone market and have a significant impact on digital content and presentation in the digital content era. What will be the key is hard to say but Google certainly has been given a significant boost by its recent settlement.

Aligning digital search and discovery, content delivery and synergy with PCs in an online offer that is unique by its nature is something others will struggle to match. It’s a pity the price was so cheap.

Under Starters Orders

James Lichtenberg yet again hits the nail on the head when he says that ,’the iPhone is not a "phone", it is a computer, a very compact computer, and telephony is a convenient but rather small percentage of its value.’

We have to wake up and realise that what we refer to as mobiles, cellphones, smartphones are computers that are permenantly connected and have signigificantly more to offer than text, calls and even email.

The real game is starting to manifest as the players all start to unlock their technology in a play to capture the potentially huge applications market. It like the Yukon gold rush as all the major players scramble for that killer application that will make theirs the must have device.

Nokia hopes giving away the Symbian technology. "Collaboration is the key. Creating a bigger pie together creates a bigger share for all of us," Nokia's Executive Vice President for Devices Kai Oistamo told a conference of Symbian partners and developers in London. Only last June Nokia bought out its partners in Sybian for $410 million. They have sold over 180 million Symbian smartphones.

Blackberry owners RIM have announced the new BlackBerry store front, planned for March next year but plan to begin accepting applications in December and and are working with PayPal to build a payment system for the store. Developers will set their own application fees and retain 80% of revenue.

Next comes the Gorilla Google who in announcing Android, its software platform for mobile devices, released a kit for developers to work with, and now with its partners in the Open Handset Alliance have release open source code for developers. The source code has been released under the Apache 2.0 license and consists of the complete codebase of Android, including all the libraries and applications. The License allows developers to distribute and modify the source code in any way they want, and developers are not required to distribute the new code under the same license and can opt to develop their own, proprietary platforms on the basis of Android.

Then we have Apple and the huge take up of their iPhone application development platform.

So the race is on an what is certain is that there will be winners and the future of the ebook reader probably emerge from somewhere in this battle.

Google Wants to be Everything

Today Engadget post some blurred pictures of still awaited Google’s Andriod phone. The phone is built around a large LCD and is clearly is designed to compete with iPhone. The screen slides to unveil a QWERTY keyboard.


Just as we await the phone Google is now planning to launch a web browser called Google Chrome aimed at challenging the Microsoft's Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari alternatives. The Wall Street Journal reported on its website that the browser is likely to be announced soon. Google Chrome is designed to make it easier and faster to browse the Web. The product will be open-sourced and offer enhanced address-bar and other features that they believe are different from the pack.

What next? We now have the big technology companies lining up to fight each other on many levels. This should be god for business and consumers as it should lead to keener pricing and less monopoly but more options can also cause confusion whilst the dust settles. As always the big question is interoperability.

Jobs says No to an iBook

Steve Jobs the man who gave us iTunes, iPod and iPhone is reported as commenting on the Kindle, "It doesn't matter how good or bad the product is, the fact is that people don't read anymore... The whole conception is flawed at the top because people don't read anymore."
The reality is that his current platforms are converging fast and he is unlikely to make a dedicated anything and the ebook is only one step away from his iWorld. His statements are more about his probable reluctance to produce a dedicated ereader which frankly we would both understand and support.

He also remarked on Google and their reported gPhone ‘Android’, "Having created a phone, it's a lot harder than it looks. We'll see how good their software is and we'll see how consumers like it and how quickly it is adopted. I actually think Google has achieved their goal without Android, and I now think Android hurts them more than it helps them. It's just going to divide them and people who want to be their partners."

What Apple and Google partners!!

Also this week Apple has unveiled their latest ultra thin utra light laptop 'Macbook Air'. It is 1.94cm thin, weighs 1.36kgs a 13.3" screen and incorporates the touch pad technology ofthe iPhone. Would we buy one of those and a iPhone full stop? Probably is the answer and the rest of the hardware becomes mere noise.