The iPhone Apps Look Good: Spend Some Money Google!
by Sam Dean - Jun. 10, 2008Comments (3)- Related Blog Posts
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At yesterday's Apple Worldwide Developer Conference, where Steve Jobs unveiled the iPhone 3G and numerous other initiatives, it became very clear that the coming battle among smartphones will be largely decided on the basis of who gets the best applications. Applications built with the upcoming iPhone 2.0 SDK looked very mature, and there were many demonstrations showing how easy they were to create. What does this mean for Google's Linux-based Android mobile platform and the wave of Linux-based phones expected later this year?
At the Worldwide Developer Conference, guests invited on stage showed numerous very impressive applications built with the iPhone 2.0 SDK, which will be officially released in July. These included:
- Auctions for eBay
- Super Monkey Ball (game from Sega)
- Loopt (location-based social mapping app)
- Cow Music (for playing grand piano, drums and more on the iPhone)
- MLB--Major League Baseball stats and videos
- Associated Press--an application for accessing AP news and videos
- Medical applications from Modality
It certainly looks like there will be active application building going on for the iPhone, which already has 20 percent of the U.S. smartphone market, according to NPD Research. However, there is also active application building going on for Google's Android platform, as evidenced by the impressive applications that won cash prizes in Google's Android Developer Challenge.
Furthermore, a wave of Linux-based phones, along with applications built for them, will arrive later this year. Can these alternative platforms carve out market share, given the smartphone dominance of players like Nokia and Apple?
I think the key to the answer there lies in financing good applications. Google was smart to offer cash prizes to the best developers in the Android Developer Challenge, and should continue to fund open source efforts to make good applications for its mobile platform. Apple has more than $100 million dollars in its fund to seed iPhone applications, and RIM--which makes the Blackberry--has more than that in a similar fund. Check out some of the applications that won cash prizes in Google's Android Developer Challenge:
- AndroidScan: This application allows users to find prices and reviews for anything with a bar code. It also searches stores for available products.
- BioWallet: This app is a biometric authentication system for Android. It scans a user's iris for recognition.
- Commandro: This app uses GPS data to display on maps location-based information about where your friends are relative to you.
- PedNav: PedNav creates a personal itinerary based on information you input about what you plan to do today.
- Eco2Go: Eco2Go is an application designed to let you track your carbon footprint and do a better job of going green.
- Teradesk: Teradesk is a file virtualization platform for online file storage, remote access and collaboration. It presents you with folders for images, music, backups, and more.
- Social Monster: This app is an ad-hoc social planning tool. It lets you send invitations to others and share your plans.
- Multiple Facets Instant Messenger: This is a slick-looking location-aware IM client.
- Mobeedo: Look out Google. Mobeedo is a very impressive looking mobile search platform.
- LReady Emergency Manager: This application tracks disaster alerts and lets you communicate with others in multichannel ways during a disaster.
Given the quality of next-generation iPhone applications shown this week, it appears essential for Google and other big backers to spend money on the Linux- and open source-based mobile efforts that are going on. For a very interesting interview on the implications of the 3G iPhone with AT&T's mobility chief (AT&T is the service provider for the iPhone), see GigaOm.
