The More, the Merrier: Google, Microsoft and Palm Join Apple's Party
Interesting news from some key industry players. Caught from Reuters that Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Palm Inc. are boosting their smartphone lineups to challenge Apple's iPhone.
Despite only having the third largest share in the global smartphone market, at 12% in early-2009 (RIM's Blackberry comes in at second with 20% and the world leader... Nokia at 47%), these tech giants are positioning their lineups against trend-setting innovations from Apple.
- Multi-touch screen
- Third party application softwares
- Voice application (still in its infancy)
So what's down the mill?
Google teamed with Verizon Wireless to develop and introduce several phones based on the Android operating system. This includes two phones by Motorola Inc., Cliq and HTC's Hero, both set to launch in the U.S. next week.
Microsoft unveiled a new version of its smartphone operating system, Windows Mobile 6.5, and "promised more than 30 new devices with the software" to be out in more than 20 countries by the end of 2009.
And of course, Palm just launched its Palm Pre - a cute (it looks and feels like a pebble!) beta version that is about 1/2 an inch smaller (and several milligrams lighter) than the iPhone.
In terms of apps, all three are just starting to catch up to iPhone's category-leading, 85,000-strong applications (Google apparently has about 10,000 for Android phones ready).
This is gonna be a very busy Holiday season.
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Remember two to three years ago when choosing a smartphone was simpler? (i.e.: When we only looked for calendar, e-mail and web browsing capabilities.) Take a peek at Family Tech's hilarious retro-comparisonbetween the iPhone and Blackberry. (Source: TIME Video)
