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The iPhone/gPhone/Android contest aside, this strikes me as a strange move on Google's part. Suppose you are Motorola. You just developed the "Droid" and partn
by marcell 17y ago
The iPhone/gPhone/Android contest aside, this strikes me as a strange move on Google's part.
Suppose you are Motorola. You just developed the "Droid" and partnered with Verizon for a well funded marketing campaign. You dumped Windows Mobile in favor of Android, and tied yourself closely to Android OS by calling your phone the "Droid." The Droid is your flagship product.
So, as Motorola, how do you feel about Google developing an official "Google Phone"? How do you feel about the fact that they are doing this with your competitor, HTC? How do you feel about plastering Google logos all over your phone and it's software? How do you feel about the fact that the Droid runs Android 2.0, and the Google Phone will run Android 2.1?
Moreover, if you are LG, or Samsung, will this affect whether you want to partner with Google? If you are Nokia, will you start taking a closer look at Symbian again?
And finally, if you are an average consumer that doesn't read TechCrunch or HN, do you have the faintest idea of the difference between the Droid running Android with Google, the Droid Eris running Android with Google, and the Google Phone running Android?
- coderdude 17y agoMy Droid just updated it's firmware to 2.1 a few days ago.
- jsz0 17y agoGoogle should stay away from subsidized carrier agreements and there won't be much conflict. Samsung, LG, HTC, etc don't seem to have any interest in selling unsubsidized/unlocked phones on their own.
- joezydeco 17y agoWell, Motorola can just go back to writing their own operating systems for mobile pho....um, never mind.
- josefresco 17y agoWell put, Moto both earned and lost the ability to do battle in this arena. The big cell phone providers of the early 00's were caught sleeping by the iPhone and now have to play catch up. A well played move by Apple, and now Google.
- joezydeco 17y agoAnd it's a shame, too. I know a lot of Motorolans, and they're depressed at how a company that makes great hardware (I'm talking the RF stuff inside) missed the boat on software and design. But Moto needs Google more than Google needs Motorola. And that's why they can pull a move like this and nobody can say boo.