Wednesday
Oct282009
Android No Longer Has The Competitive Advantage, GPS App On iPhone As Well
Wednesday, October 28, 2009 at 2:37PM
AppleInsider | Google says its navigation will come to iPhone, if Apple approves.
Well, this is kinda depressing, Google has announced that as long as Apple approves (which they will, Apple can't risk denying any more Google Apps) the GPS App will be coming to the iPhone.
Why is this depressing?
Because Google had an exciting, competitive advantage over the iPhone that us Android users (or future ones, like me) could finally gloat over the Apple fanboys. Sadly, we no longer have that and Android has once again, lost a little of its luster.
But, Google would have had to do this inevitably anyhow, many people are shouting that Google is being anti-competitive. By providing the GPS app on as many devices as possible this secures the fact that they are not giving preference to their own OS and lessens the anti-trust cases that could be pursued.
Would've been nice if we could have gloated for a LITTLE while though, *sighs*
Well, this is kinda depressing, Google has announced that as long as Apple approves (which they will, Apple can't risk denying any more Google Apps) the GPS App will be coming to the iPhone.
Why is this depressing?
Because Google had an exciting, competitive advantage over the iPhone that us Android users (or future ones, like me) could finally gloat over the Apple fanboys. Sadly, we no longer have that and Android has once again, lost a little of its luster.
But, Google would have had to do this inevitably anyhow, many people are shouting that Google is being anti-competitive. By providing the GPS app on as many devices as possible this secures the fact that they are not giving preference to their own OS and lessens the anti-trust cases that could be pursued.
Would've been nice if we could have gloated for a LITTLE while though, *sighs*
Reader Comments (8)
Google has no special interest in Android. Their interest is in the data and ad revenue.
"Because Google had an exciting, competitive advantage over the iPhone that us Android users (or future ones, like me) could finally gloat over the Apple fanboys. Sadly, we no longer have that and Android has once again, lost a little of its luster."
And that's the difference between iPhone users and Android fans. It's not about gloating, it's about the best all-around experience, and that's the iPhone hands down. As an iPhone user I'm happy to see the ball get moved forward in any court - Apple's or Google's. Hoping the other platform sucks doesn't make your platform any better.
Bla.
The iPhone does not have the best experience all around compared to Android. They are both comparable to each other in many ways. It is hard to argue which is better in terms of the UI and what they offer. I am going for Android not because the UI, but because it is open and the App Store does not have draconian restrictions.
As for me wanting to gloat, that is just me being self-centered to be quite honest, I am sure other Android users don't feel this way :)
You have to admit though, it was a nice competitive advantage while it lasted.
Google business is mainly advertisement. The new Google Maps Navigator is basically its new advertisement channel, focused on mobile device. Putting it on every mobile device possible make all sense to me. Imagine Local business advertisement on nearby restaurant query!!
You see, we talk about local business advertisement but no one has been able to do it well.
I'll believe it when I see it, and so far there is a lot of talk but very little show.
When it does happen though, it will definitely be neat and then it makes perfect sense as to why they are expanding across multiple platforms.
The Google Giveth, and the Google Taketh away. It's sad to see a feature that was unique to Droid going away, however this is good for cell phone users in general. Competition is always good for the consumer.
http://www.droidforums.net" rel="nofollow">http://www.droidforums.net
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Any Android vs. iPhone battle that's won based on apps is meaningless: apps can, as you point out here, be ported. Any app that gives Android a major advantage of the iPhone, Apple is going to make sure ends up on the iPhone in some way, shape, or form.
The only meaningful advantage(s) that Android can have over the iPhone have to be fundamental differences in the OS/philsophy. It's essentially the same battle as Linux vs. OS X. Apple, with the iPhone as well as the Mac, provides an exceptionally well designed, tightly integrated, and simply pleasant user experience. Android, especially now with 2.0, is probably the closest I've ever seen to Linux approaching an Apple-esque interface. Let's just call them equal for the sake of argument (I haven't had a chance to play with Android 2.0 yet, so I really can't say), then the only real differences come about when you look at how people can and do use each operating system / device family. Google clearly wins in terms of openness here, which is the reason I'm considering going Android when I finally replace my iPhone 2G, but, at least for the time being, iPhone still wins in terms of the number and quality of apps available which is what appeals to the majority of users who aren't really interested in doing anything more with their phone than they do with their computers (browsing and email... ok, obviously making phone calls too).
If you really want Android to win, it's going to have to be for reasons that the Apple simply can't beat. And honestly, I'm not sure there are any. Most people aren't going to care that they can (kinda) write apps for their phone in Python. Nor are they going to even be aware that there's a difference between Objective-C and Java (and, from their perspective, there isn't really).