Spatial Dynamics

…should Apple be paranoid?

Yesterday, the first mobile phone that runs Google’s Android software was unveiled by Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile USA. The new phone, named G1, will be available October 22 at $179 with a two year service contract.

The G1 planned to be the first of many devices to be built around Android; Google has invested tens of millions of dollars in developing the software and is giving it away for free to developers, cellphone makers, and carriers.

While the G1 has many of the same capabilities of the iPhone such as a touchscreen, GPS navigation capabilities, WiFi and Bluetooth, it has several features that the iPhone lacks. Physically, it has both a touch screen and a slide keyboard along with a removable battery.

Unlike the iPhone, it has copy and paste functionality; unfortunately it lacks the capability to change web page orientation by turning the phone. Additionally, the G1 is over 25% thicker and almost 20% heavier than the iPhone.

It appears the biggest difference between the G1 and iPhone is software. Android is intentionally less restrictive, Apple controls the applications that are posted at its “App Store,” any software developer is able to create software and make it available in the “Android Market”.

Compared to the iPhone, the G1 seems better designed to encourage third-party developers to create programs. Google appears to better grasp the power of open-standards software and the future of the mobile Web.

Initially, the G1 will only be available on T-Mobile, a company with a relatively small 3G network compared to AT&T or Verizon.

Android is a comprehensive effort by Google to capitalize in the growing mobile-Web, it’s a calculated endeavor to ensure that their consumer services/advertising systems will be widely available on mobile phones.

It appears Google is off to a good start in its struggle to gain a foothold in the world Apple has occupied alone.

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