Gartner Inc. recently
released a report predicting that Android would be the No. 2 cellphone platform by the end of this year. But with a growing number of Android flavors across a variety of cellphones and providers, will fragmentation begin to spoil that success and confuse consumers? The answer depends on whom you ask.
One observer, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes writing for ZDNet in June, thought the problem was very real. For Kingsley-Hughes it was about too many versions in too short a time and the fact that several of these versions are still in wide use.
Meanwhile, analyst Michael Gartenberg writing on Engadget Entelligence is concerned with a different angle. As an open-source platform, handset makers can and do customize Android any way they like. According to Gartenberg, they are taking advantage by adding unnecessary applications, while shutting down access to useful features -- like removing Google (Nasdaq: GOOG)'s free WiFi hotspot functionality and replacing it with the carrier's own paid service. In his view (and mine), this is watering down the platform.
When you look at these arguments, it's easy to imagine that, perhaps at some point, these multiple levels of fragmentation could catch up with Android and begin to have an impact on that rosy Gartner forecast.
But Joe “Zonker” Brockmeier, who has been writing about open-source for many years, believes the fragmentation argument is a red herring. "It's a big deal to a lot of hyper-technical folks, but I'm guessing that 70 percent of the mobile market doesn't know or care to know the difference between a Froyo and a Donut, and isn't going to notice or care that their phone isn't getting new features.”
Brockmeier admits Google could do a better job of managing the different versions of Android, but he’s still not convinced it’s a huge problem.
Still, the situation plays into the classic "Apple versus Android" argument. Sure, not every generation of Apple's iOS device will be able to take advantage of the latest and greatest features, but everyone buying a new iOS device will know what to expect.
People buying an Android device, in contrast, may hear about a feature such as free WiFi hotspot functionality, only to find their phone doesn’t have it, and that could lead to consumer anger and frustration and eventually a backlash. While competitor Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL)’s iOS is not an open system, Apple proponents can argue that iOS will always work the same way, regardless of what device it’s on.
Ultimately, for the average consumer, whether Android is open-source or a closed system like Apple’s iOS probably doesn’t matter much. People just want a phone that works as advertised.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of open-source tools, and Android has the potential to offer all the advantages of an open platform, but it also gives the handset and cellphone providers the power to customize and add endlessly to their phones.
This is a double-edged sword that could drive innovation -- or water down the platform with a confusing array of choices that renders the Android label meaningless. The direction this takes in the future will determine just how accurate that Gartner forecast might be.
— Ron Miller is a freelance technology journalist, blogger, FierceContentManagement editor, and contributing editor at EContent magazine.
Seems the iPad's UI isn't that bad... they are outselling the iPhone and the ... DVD player! hehe... might be old news for some, I read them a few weeks ago.
MySpace has always had the support of the music industry - or the other way around. For some reason, all the bands are expected to have a MySpace page and that drives tons of traffic in.
Do they share news? Maybe but the basic thing is being able to share music. Music bands are using Facebook and Twitter (probably more than MySpace) but at least Facebook has avoided, for some reason, integrating a good music player.
That was the point that Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier made in the post, and that's why I included it.
Some people don't believe it will be a problem or that fragmentation is overstated, but if you think about it, Linux hasn't been tremendously successful as a commercial desktop OS either.
There's probably a lot of reasons for that, fragmentation being only one of them, but one could argue if there were only one or two Linux desktops, it might have helped spread it more widely than has happened.
Didn’t Linux also had forks? Aren’t there literally dozens of Linux distributions out there each claiming its own strength over others? Yes that confuses customers. Multiple Androids out there would confuse customers too. But we have to understand these are 80% same, if not 85%. It would end up making Android far richer and far diverse.
Fragmentation of the market is a problem on the consumer side, too. It waters down the "I want one too" purchase habits that retailers need to have for successful viral marketing. It also means that when I pick up a friend's Android, it will work differently than another friend's Android... and that means that customer support lines will get more calls, as the customers can't ask their friends who have similar phones...
Absolutely. The touch interface is a huge change and people are finding new and interesting ways to use it. I saw a very cool iPad case that includes a built-in wireless keyboard that looks very promising for people like me who tend to do more intensive typing.
iPad for conferences? I think Apple might be thinking in term of using the iPad for demonstration and being utilized as a tool for various conference activities. To write note? like you said they must be a better UI solution for the input. But like everything else people would take time to adapt to a new technology. And, someone would have to improve the technology to meet the need of users.
I think that's Apple's hope. I've seen people using iPads with increasing frequency at conferences, but I just don't see how you can take meaningful notes on a touch keyboard. I need a physical keyboard that fits my hands, so it brings me back to a netbook.
I love the iPad, but I don't use it for serious writing (although I've been known to write a blog post on my iPhone in a pinch, so it's possible).
I agree iPhone/iPad for now and the next few years will be a great device for sale and for anyone who has a need of mobile device including medical doctors, inspectors, police, emergency service, and etc. I can see iPad replace laptop when the technology and infrastructure get improve in the near future.
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Recently, the Obama administration has been of two minds where privacy rights are concerned. On one hand, you have an administration that vowed to veto CISPA and mandated open data for government websites. On the other hand, you have an increasingly out-of-control Department of Justice on a fishing expedition at AP and demanding legislation to let the FBI wiretap private, encrypted communications and levy fines if a company fails to comply.
These days, even some usually techno-friendly people have their hackles up about the potential of Google Glass to surreptitiously record video or take pictures. I've heard more than one tech savvy friend bring up "the creep factor," the ability of a weird guy to secretly record you.
Last year as you may recall, the Internet community rallied and prevented the passage of SOPA/PIPA legislation. CISPA, another piece of legislation that targeted Internet freedom, also died. However, one proposed law that failed in 2012 has been revived this year. And it appears forces are not now lining up against CISPA with the same enthusiasm as last time.
You might be surprised to learn that the FBI has generated hundreds of thousands of secret information requests since 2000, many of which go to Internet companies seeking information about individual users. You may be even more surprised to discover that in all those years, only one Internet company has challenged these secret requests.
Late Friday I learned I had been chosen to participate in the Google Glass Explorer's program, a group selected to take the first-generation of Google Glass out in the world and report back on how they're using the devices.
Nicole and Kim have heard the news that Google's new mobile OS, "Jelly Bean," has a voice assistant that's poised to defeat their precious Siri. It's time for another test!
Verizon's one-data-plan-for-all-devices could revolutionize mobile data by making it practical to have multiple devices share a plan, and thus encourage users to cellular-equip all their portable appliances.
To date, smartphone apps have only been able to work with 50Meg chunks of information. Well, recent technical advances have been able to boost that number to 4Gbytes. Consequently, developers will be able to work with more complex data types. But will wireless networks be able to handle the additional traffic?
Apple might end up dominating the pay-for-service online model. That's where the real growth potential lies, and Apple is a greater threat there than Google.
Analysts, writers, and – most recently – Steve Jobs have been condemning cellular phone fragmentation. Alan says, "Phooey! Fragmentation is a good thing!"
Now apparently the mobile platform of choice, the Apple iPhone has benefited from its sound understanding of human factors and ergonomics – but is this reputation threatened by a looming avalanche of advertising?
New York's Metropolitan Transit Authority is conducting a pilot test of digital kiosks to guide subway users to where they want to go more efficiently and at lower cost.
The whole Amazon.reader debate is a double-stupid. It's stupid to think that there's any e-book buyer who doesn't know Amazon's URL, and it was stupider to let ICANN launch the whole free-form TLD initiative to start with.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Edmunds separates customers into segments based on the info it collects on its site and from partners, and uses that to push out custom content, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
The automotive website uses propensity modeling to target ads and customer registration forms, said Brian Baron, director of business analytics for Edmunds.com, at Predictive Analytics Innovation Summit.
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