Full FeedGPhone vs iPhone: Google playing favorites?
Two things happened to me yesterday that I believe are related: I read tons about T-Mobile’s GPhone and I searched in vain for a decent Blogger iPhone App. The GPhone is looking pretty slick: touchscreen and a slide out screen revealing a qwerty keypad and rumors say it will be here next month. So how are these two related?
Google’s got a stake in the GPhone (obviously) and is betting on serving mobile advertising. Most likely, all those enhancements Google made to Google services for the iPhone will work on Android, things like a special Google search, a special Gmail, special calendar, etc. Then the question becomes, will Google (or *gulp* has Google) cut back on improving things for iPhone users in anticipation of fostering their own platform?
What first spurred this thought was Blogger. I use Blogger often and not having an iPhone App specifically so I can muck around with it is driving me nuts. Sure, I can use the email adds but it doesn’t give me any kind of warm and fuzzys that Google is known for. It looks like a couple of Apps will do it, but it feels wrong to pay to use a free service, but that’s me.
But then, Google drops an upgrade for everyone else but the iPhone yesterday bringing more functionality to include walking directions and street view (hot!). The download already had transit directions which is still absent on the iPhone version. The Google Maps for Mobile runs on BlackBerry and most other Java-equipped phones. Not the iPhone.
Further, I’ve been betting (you can bet on anything in Vegas) that Google is going to get into GPS navigation at some point. News came yesterday that Google Maps is making its way into BMWs. The advertising possibilities are far too rich with this concept to ignore. Could it be that Google is saving the intro for the GPhone? Surely, in the name of making the most out of the advertising profit potential they’ll port it over the iPhone, right? Please?
As of late I’ve been navigating with the iPhone 3G and Google Maps as it is. It works well if you’ve got someone helping you out, a bit tougher if you are rocking it solo as reading stuff takes away from, you know, your thousands of pounds of metal hurtling down a country road. But overall, it is a usable solution for me anyway.
As it stands now, T-Mobile will show the phone off September 23rd in NYC. The Wall Street Journal says the phone will sell at $199 (same as the iPhone 3G). Interesting huh?
Will Google foresake the iPhone to add more benefits to their platform? Or will they be the slave to ad dollars and continue to enrich both platforms?
Read [Reuters] and [TechCrunch]
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lets talk about all the g-Phone buzz, i think it shouldn’t be called an iPhone competitor because it looks like any other phone that slides to reveal a key pad and has a touch screen, on the other hand you have the iPhones MULTI touch screen and 3D accelerometer, an amazing design that distinct it from the rest and many amazing SECURE applications, not to mention that its made by apple so you know that its easy to use and you wont go crazy trying to figure out how to use half the things it has. Now don’t get me wrong, i do think that the g-Phone is a really cool phone but as far as being a worthy competitor of the iphone? nahhh far from it
on October 24, 2008 at 11:07 PM - LINKPersonally I think the GPhone was a huge disappointment. It was created way too thick like the sidekick and isn’t comfortable to carry around. At the same time the touch screen doesn’t function as well as the screen on the iPhone 3G. I was really rooting for Google and the GPhone but they let me down.
-Jason
on November 6, 2008 at 12:00 AM - LINK