I just read a very interesting article on OS News about the potential for Safari to be the next IE6.  The author is exploring a future where Apple deliberately holds back on giving Safari certain features, especially on mobile phones and tablets.  Give it a read:

 http://www.osnews.com/story/23378/Will_Apple_Embrace_the_Web_No_

The argument is essentially that the web, being a platform that by its nature encourages platform independence, is a problem for Apple (and for Microsoft too).  Apple’s business model revolves around selling hardware and content, and it does this by making iTunes an exclusive hub.  All applications, music, videos and books that you want as a user has to come through it.  If the browser was allowed to become so fast and so integrated with the native operating system that you could do everything with a great user experience that native apps can do, then suddenly Apple’s content kingdom falls apart.  It’s not difficult to see the truth in this argument, and the implications it has.

I think we’re fortunate to have so much competition in the mobile space at the moment such that Apple can’t easily have an iPhone / iTunes monopoly – if that happened then yeah, Safari probably would be the next IE6 and we’d all be held hostage to the iTunes ecosystem.

The great thing about Google is that its business model ensures that it will continue to push the web as a platform.  With the Chrome browser, Google is pushing javascript to its speed limits (http://asserttrue.blogspot.com/2010/05/chrome-5-aces-browser-benchmarks.html), so much so that it makes IE8 look like an elephant with concrete feet, and thanks to Firefox, Google and Apple, HTML5 and CSS3 are improving the presentation layer radically.  

It’s now the “hooks” into the underlying native OS that future web browsers need (like access to the cameras, motion tracking, 3D graphics acceleration libraries, contacts/phone/sms, etc) to enable the next generation of web applications.  Frameworks like PhoneGap are solving this to some extent and we will no doubt see Google give us the kitchen sink with Chrome and Android.   But will we see Microsoft and Apple step up to the plate on the iPhone or Windows Phone 7?  I tend to doubt it.

It is an interesting time in the world of mobile phones, smartphone use is increasing as numbers of consumers move to a phone capable of browsing the web, email, and of course the now growing desire for apps. Thanks to our friends at Apple the world is now mad keen for next to useless apps on their devices. Now that is probably a bit harsh of course but of all the people I know they use about 2 apps (maps & directories) regularly the rest are cute little apps.

The question I ask is where and when are people going to move on mass to using their mobile phone as a business productivity tool!

Anyhow I digress, the real reason I am writing this is because it was with great pleasure that I received word from our developers that we now have Rype working on Google Android. A few tweaks to our Webkit version initially developed for the iPhone and we have it. 

This has been our biggest challenge at Rype, choosing where to invest. We want to be a native application on any many devices as we can but choosing which ones is hard. The market is changing rapidly and with Rype being a business productivity tool we are watching with interest to see where our market heads.

Our primary markets of trade based business people, tend to be inclined towards the iphone hence why we went there early. However the team at Rype are quietly backing Google Android to make a significant dent in Apple’s market share due to its open nature.

Of course we are still firmly camped in the Windows Mobile sector and find it very interesting that everyone is quietly forgetting about the huge number of Windows Mobile devices in the marketplace. I bet you the team at Microsoft are secretly liking the underdog tag in this space!

So now that we are running on Android we are exciting about watching what Google and the phone manufacturers push to market in the coming months. I for one plan on grabbing an HTC Magic as soon as I can.

Google’s “Android” operating system is certainly getting it’s fair share of rosy coloured predications lately. The latest comes from an analyst at Gartner who predicts that Android will overtake the iPhone, Blackberry and Windows Mobile within 3 years:

http://www.brighthand.com/default.asp?newsID=15744&news=Android+iPhone+Windows+Mobile+BlackBerry+webOS

Overtaking Windows Mobile isn’t hard to imagine, especially if Microsoft can’t make Windows Mobile 7 radically better than what they have at the moment, but overtaking Apple in just 3 years is going to be a pretty big challenge

The iPhone is the bomb as far as consumer space smartphones go. It’s sexy, slick, delivers a fantastic user experience and has a huge and thriving developer base. A testament to this is the fact that even my wife, the most vehement of Apple haters likes “the jesus phone” and wants one.

The iPhone’s market share arrived at where it is today in no small part by Apple exploiting the huge momentum of the iPod – millions of happy iPod users make for a pretty easy upsell target. Not to mention that Apple know a trick or two when it comes to marketing products to consumers.

Google’s strategy is very different – they’re trying to become the Microsoft of the smartphone world by offering an operating system that other companies can license and distribute. The problem is, to overtake Apple they need to have a product that is better than the iPhone in some way that matters. Professor Douglas Rushkoff believes that consumers will see the benefits of the “openness” of Android:

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-10-06/googles-better-iphone/?cid=hp:beastoriginalsR1

but my gut feeling is that the average Joe couldn’t give a rats about openness. Consumers want ease of use, they want fashion, any they want to be connected with their friends. In what way Google can trump Apple in these factors is really hard to say and I’m not convinced they can. However, I think Google can steal market share from Microsoft, Nokia and perhaps RIM, and who knows, maybe that will be enough to trump Apple in marketshare anyway. It’s certainly going to be an interesting next few years.

To finish off this blog entry I’d like to address his royal worshipfulness Steve Jobs personally: Steve, untie the iPhone from the Mac in regards to development already! As a developer I can’t tell you how much it pisses me off that I have to buy a Mac to develop for the iPhone. I love the iPhone but I don’t want a Mac and it’s enough to make me want to buy the Palm Pre instead. Recognise the iPhone as a platform in it’s own right and make it as easy as possible for developers everywhere to write apps for it. Parents have to let go of their children if they are to grow up.

I was very pleased this morning when I read that Palm’s new WebOS platform is selling well (http://www.palminfocenter.com/news/9899/palm-reports-q1-fy-2010-results/).  In comparison to the same quarter last year, Palm has more than doubled their quarterly unit sales to 823k since the Palm Pre went on sale.  When you consider that this next quarter should see Palm selling in the United Kingdom and Europe with both CDMA and GSM versions and that Palm has just began selling the Pre in Canada, these figures may well double again in 3 months, putting Palm well and truly back in the smartphone game and on the way to financial recovery.

Simultaneously there’s a dark cloud hanging over Windows Mobile at the moment, with companies  like Motorola and HTC shifting their emphasis to Android.  It’s not hard to figure out why.  Android is a responsive and cutting edge operating system with a modern web browser, whilst Windows Mobile feels like it hasn’t really improved since 2003.   I wonder if this quote from Bill Gates is haunting Microsoft at the moment:

“In this business, by the time you realize you’re in trouble, it’s too late to save yourself. Unless you’re running scared all the time, you’re gone.”

Microsoft were clearly not running scared before the iPhone was released.  I bet they are now.
I have no doubt that Microsoft will respond to the challenge that Apple, Google, Palm and Nokia are presenting, but it’s probably going to be late 2010 before Microsoft will have had time to react with Windows Mobile 7.

The situation is a bit frustrating to us here at Rype because our key mobile platform at the moment is Windows Mobile.  Windows Mobile will return as a strong contender, of that much I have no doubt, but in the mean time we’ll need to find ways to reach out to users who simply don’t want Windows Mobile on their phone.  We are putting strategies in place so expect some news on this soon.

I’ll end this post with another Bill Gates quote:

“Life is not fair; get used to it.”

Over and out.