Google application for iPhone points toward potent alliance
Almost lost in yesterday’s tech news was Google’s announcement that it has released an application for the iPhone that consolidates several of its Web services such as e-mail, search and calendar functions into a single interface.
Owners of an iPhone (or an iPod Touch) need only visit Google.com to access the new goodies; no download is required. A single Google software engineer, Steve Kanefsky, envisioned the feature after being impressed with the iPhone’s large touch screen as well as the inclusion of the full Safari Web browser.
“I set out to create an application that would preload my favorite Google products and allow me to switch between them instantly,” Kanefsky wrote in the Google Mobile Blog, a group blog for the Google Mobile development team.
After sharing a prototype with others at Google, “things started moving pretty quickly,” Kanefsky said. Within weeks they had the software ready for release.
This move should put to rest any suspicions that Google’s recent ventures into the mobile phone space threaten Apple. In particular, some wondered what Android, Google’s in-development platform for “smart phones,” will mean for the iPhone.
The purpose of Android is to move Google’s Web services to mobile phones. The iPhone already is a great platform to achieve that. Google’s strategy is to include all agreeable parties. Apple and Google already have demonstrated a willingness to work together by including Google Maps on the iPhone.
“Google’s overall goal is to provide users with access to information, wherever they are,” the company stated in its press release announcing the iPhone application. “This commitment is device-independent, and we are working to develop new mobile technologies that are faster, easier to use, and available on more devices.”
So Android itself will not compete against the iPhone, although rival handsets that use it will. That essentially leaves Apple where it is today, going against the likes of Samsung and Nokia, but retaining the advantage of its legendary hardware design savvy.
Though the iPhone won’t run the Android software, given Google’s strategy I would expect many Android features to be ported to the iPhone. As Android is based on the Linux operating system, a cousin to the BSD Unix at the heart of Mac OS X (which the iPhone runs), such a feat should prove a trivial for Mr. Kanefsky and his cohorts. That task will get even easier after Apple releases the iPhone SDK to developers next year.
Add to all this the natural synergy between Apple and Google -- the companies share an overall philosophy of making the world a better place through technology -- and you get a formidable alliance. It also doesn’t hurt that Google CEO Eric Schmidt sits on Apple’s board of directors. Or that fellow Apple board member Al Gore is a Google advisor.
Yesterday’s announcement strengthens further the nascent Apple-Google alliance. That could mean headaches for the old guard in the cellular industry, but good things for mobile phone customers in 2008 and beyond.
UPDATE: As if we needed any more evidence of this ever-more-cozy relationship, Google today unveiled its "Mac Developer Playground." According to a company blog post, the Web site is a place "where the Mac community can look for new and interesting open source projects and demos from our Mac team."
Comments
think how powerful the iphone will be when an avalanch of third party apps also become available in the new year.
the next few years will be exciting ones for the mobile industry.
in fact you could actually call it the third wave for the internet.
Posted by: steve | December 6, 2007 5:34 PM
Once the iPhone is out for about a year, it will probably become an indispensable handset for users all around the world.
Everyone says that Apple should rush apps and open the iPhone, but being a new platform I think Apple is right in having full control over the device while Apple can get a feel of how much potential the iPhone has and how it is being used.
I think a stable platform is essential for a new device so as not to add in so many variables to troubleshoot.
So far the iPhone is outselling devices with many more hardware features and open OS's from companies that have been around much longer. And that's just within a half a year of sales.
With Google's help and that SDK coming, the iPhone will be totally overwhelming it's competitors.
Now if the iPhone could just get into the corporate realm by hooking up with Exchange Servers and maybe some push e-mail it's dominance would be guaranteed for a number of years.
Posted by: Constable Odo | December 6, 2007 7:46 PM
Apple has done a tremendous job of producing, marketing and selling there products and services.
The iPhone along with the iPod, the Mac and even the new keyboard are all best in class products and excel in both performance and engineering.
Apple will roll through 2008 as it has in 2007 with more gains, a NEW micro computer and more!
Leopard, Apple's new operating system is the icing on the cake.
It's really quite impressive -oops and those Apple stores - WOW !
Posted by: Sammy Carr | December 6, 2007 7:59 PM
It's not just the iPhone.
Google says they're also creating pages for other mobile phones as well.
It's about time, too, since touchscreen friendly pages have been needed for YEARS.
Posted by: Kev | December 7, 2007 2:03 PM
I think this post is a bit misleading and assumes a lot.
I'll post some quotes and responses:
"The purpose of Android is to move Google’s Web services to mobile phones."
No, it's not. Android's purpose is to offer an open, smart OS platform to all willing cell phone manufacturers in an effort to centralize the wireless industry a bit. Right now there are 32 flavors of ice cream; the industry can't handle more than 3. Google has included local versions of their popular web apps, but that's more icing on the cake than anything else. The really important part of Android is the back end.
"So Android itself will not compete against the iPhone, although rival handsets that use it will."
I don't think any OS could ever compete with a physical device :)
"I would expect many Android features to be ported to the iPhone. As Android is based on the Linux operating system, a cousin to the BSD Unix at the heart of Mac OS X"
Sorry, not that easy. A ham sandwich and a peanut butter sandwich both need bread. That doesn't mean they're the same. There will be no way to "port" an app to the iPhone without operating under the strict guidelines of the SDK. Even then, the apps will be coded in Objective-C. Android apps are Java.
Posted by: Mykel | December 17, 2007 4:34 PM