During a conference call with investors, Google CEO Eric Schmidt defended Google's open source strategy with Android. Yes, it's giving away the operating system for free, he said, but its operator and handset partners make money by selling the phones and Google, in turn, makes money from having its services on that platform. He believes mobile search will surpass PC search, opening up a huge revenue stream. Display ads, too, are already adding US$2.5 billion a year to Google's ad business.
It's hard to argue with Schmidt's logic as the OS gains impressive traction in the mobile market. Android is already the most popular OS, according to Nielsen. It has watched its share of the mobile phone market grow each month and analysts expect its tablet share to do the same.
Google posted a 32 percent increase in net income from the same quarter last year. And the company added that people accessing Google services through mobile devices are adding $1 billion a year to its revenue.
Analyst house IDC called the user experience "compelling" and said the operating system could appeal to both consumers and enterprises. It's also been dubbed "modern, dynamic, and alive," "polished and thoughtful," "best OS released by Microsoft so far," and "two thumbs up!" (OK, we made up that one.)
But no review has concluded without asking whether WP7 is enough for Microsoft. The question is: Can the company regain market stature as an onslaught of cheap Android phones continues to hit the market? It's devoting all its marketing prowess to proving that it can, but with an expensive price tag, few apps, and an unproven track record, it will be a tough case to make.
Hakulinen also wrote that the future versions of the OS will support dual-booting on the N900 for both MeeGo and Maemo, the current OS on board. The point of the blog post was to let developers know the new OS has 3G audio call functionality, but there's been no official launch date named. At least Nokia knows you can't break a promise if you never make one in the first place.
The group is working out how to tackle the OS -- create a new one, go the app route, work with the WAC, etc. -- and how to make their "coopetitive" arrangement function.
— Sarah Reedy, Senior Reporter, Light Reading Mobile
I too was impressed by the new phones. It made rethink. Maybe MSFT can make it, despite years of blunders. The Android market may not be so formidable. Yes, developers and device makers have swarmed onto it. But Android developers are going nuts with fragmentation in OS, HW, and AppStores.
MSFT needs to more open and more responsive that Apple - and take a smaller % of the sale. MSFT can easily beat Android in 'ease of doing business with'. Question is: Will they do all this?