Travel Savvy: Google Phone concept gets Good Reception
Travel Savvy: Google Phone concept gets Good Reception
Google's entry into wireless last week failed to spark the intense hype of the iPhone, but its impact could be even bigger. . .
Forget everything you know about the cellular phone market. As the recent arrival of Apple and Google suggest, everything is about to change.
Apple awed the already-hot market in January when it announced the iPhone, a sleek touch-screen handset that plays music, scrolls pictures, surfs the Web and -- lest users forget -- makes phone calls. Analysts say the device is boosting demand for premium smart phones, which account for just 10 per cent of cell phone unit sales now.
Google's entry into wireless last week failed to spark the intense hype of the iPhone, but its impact could be even bigger, analysts say. Rather than unveil a Google phone as many expected, Google unwrapped a wide-reaching software initiative that aims to make cell phones much more powerful and easy to use -- and perhaps loosen carriers' grip on consumers. Google's plans include an Open Handset Alliance and Android platform.
"It's a deliberate effort by Google to rewrite the rules for mobile voice and wireless applications," said Bill Whyman, technology analyst at ISI Group. "It's more significant and ambitious than a single Google phone and seeks to create an entirely new mobile experience."
However, it didn't take long for the sour grapes to start issuing forth. Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer has said that so far Google's phone plans are just "a press release."
Speaking at a new conference in Tokyo, he noted Microsoft's success with its Windows Mobile Platform, adding that Google's efforts "are just some words on paper right now [so] it's hard to do a very clear comparison [with Windows Mobile]".
The Google platform will allow developers to create software for a variety of mobile devices and is intended to lower the cost of mobile handsets for both customers and businesses.
Mr Ballmer stated that his company's mobile platform is already on 150 handset mobiles and is available from over 100 separate mobile operators. Microsoft is also likely to licence 20 million Windows Mobile phones this year, he continued.
He told reporters: "We have great momentum, we've brought our Windows Mobile 6 software to market, we're driving forward on our future releases and we'll have to see what Google does.
"Right now they have a press release, we have many, many millions of customers, great software, many hardware devices and they're welcome in our world."
Prior to Mr Ballmer's comments, Symbian, another rival to Google in the mobile phone market, also stated that it is not concerned about a potential threat from the Google platform.
Google named its software effort Android and announced that industry heavyweights such as Qualcomm, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Deutsche Telekom's DT T-Mobile unit and 29 other tech firms would partake in the alliance. Google offered up an open software platform to be used for developing all kinds of software applications to run on cell phones.
"Our vision is that the powerful platform we're unveiling will power thousands of different phone models," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt in a statement.
All this should be music to the ears of companies that provide wireless equipment infrastructure, such as cellular towers, radio base stations, software, cable and power supply units. They are part of the diverse telecom wireless equipment industry group, which ranks No. 26 out of IBD's 197 groups, up from 72 six months ago. Some of the largest players in the group are Nokia, Research in Motion, Qualcomm, Garmin and Motorola. Google and Apple are not part of the group, but their influence on it is assured.
Lots of technologies come into play in the wireless business. Almost two dozen individual electronic devices go into making a cellular base station alone.
"It's a big and complex market that's been growing rapidly," said Amadee Bender, president of research firm Amadee & Co.
More than 210,350 cellular tower sites are spread across the U.S., almost double the number from six years ago, according to CTIA, a national cellular industry association.
According to Amadee, more than $15 billion will be spent this year on wireless capital equipment. Spending growth has averaged 19 per cent over the past four years, largely a result of the transition to digital from analog communications.
The transition to digital has made possible a cellular system able to handle the multitude of new subscribers jumping into cellular. For handset makers, the move to digital allowed them to pack an ever-growing array of features into phones.
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion paved the way as one of the first devices to deliver e-mail on the go. Other data services such as instant messaging have since exploded onto the scene, giving road warriors all the data they need in the palm of their hand.
But more is on the way. New phones on the market are equipped to handle local Wi-Fi wireless data communications. Wi-Fi hot spots, which provide free and paid links to the Internet, are becoming ubiquitous in coffee shops, hotels, city centers and parks. Users can even make long-distance calls for pennies a minute using voice-over-Internet services such as eBay-owned Skype. The market is also moving from standard digital to broadband digital service, bringing much greater utilities to the phone.
Name Of The Game: Call it Cellular 2.0. While the market is 20 years old, it's on the verge of a new phase. Tapping the fortunes that lay ahead will require astute marketing decisions and the delivery of high-quality products and services on schedule.
At the dawn of the cellular industry in 1987, cell phones were the size of bricks -- and almost as heavy. Service was spotty, and per-minute usage rates were sky high. In the 20 years since, it's gone from a product for the elite to a common staple of everyone from children, teens and everyone else. Some road warriors are using more than 7,000 minutes a month.
About 234 million people in the U.S. subscribe to wireless services, up 88 per cent from five years ago.
The explosion of cell phone usage is the result of many factors. The industry has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to plant cell towers everywhere from major cities to cow pastures.
For some, cell phones are just a lifeline for emergency service or family matters. For others, the cell phone is also their music player, camera, instant message service and a mobile connection to the Internet and e-mail.
In addition to Wi-Fi equipped phones, another popular feature being added in are location-based services using the U.S. satellite global positioning system.
Nokia, in a recent demonstration of its GPS-equipped N95 phone, showed how the phone could be used to quickly locate nearby restaurants or popular points of interest. These location-based services are destined to be a hit with consumers, says Bill Hughes, research analyst at In-Stat.
"It's a big application that's starting to take off," he said.
But end-users aren't the industry's only customers. In addition to buying network equipment, the major phone carriers act as gateways for handsets. Because they subsidize much of the cost of handsets, carriers have a big influence over what phones make it to market and they can dictate what features they want from manufacturers.
While the wireless industry has come a long way, it remains a wild-west environment in many ways, with little standardization and a constant onslaught of change.
Some are pushing an open, Linux-based software platform like the kind Google has proposed. Google's is the fifth such attempt, albeit one with the highest profile. Others include the Mobile Linux Initiative, the Linux Phone Standards Forum and the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum.
Like most other battles to create industry standards, intense competition to be the cellular software application winner often causes delays and confusion over which standard to support.
Moreover, these initiatives will butt heads with big players in the market that have been pushing their own cell phone operating systems. RIM has its own version, as does Nokia. Microsoft has a big play in the market with Windows Mobile. Qualcomm is pushing its version, called Brew, and Apple is playing its own tune.
The goal for all is to draw in the largest number of software programmers as possible to create applications and features to their respective phones, making them more valuable to users.
The lack of must-have software applications for cell phones is one factor holding back stronger sales of smart phones, analysts believe.
"We're just crossing about 10 per cent of the cellular market for smart phones," said ISI's Whyman. "None of these efforts have attained any dominance, and customers really haven't spoken yet. This is where the applications will come into play."
Overseas growth -- especially in emerging economies such as China, Brazil, India and Russia -- is another bright spot for equipment makers. A growing number of middle-class consumers in those areas are driving demand for handsets and the infrastructure to support them.
Wireless communications technology in the U.S. is gradually shifting into so-called third-generation, or 3G, networks.
The fast networks promise to enable a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity, including high-speed Internet access and video telephony. They'll also force carriers to invest heavily into network upgrades.
Qualcomm is a key player in this field with its W-CDMA technology. And Sprint is pushing a "4G" technology called Wi-Max, also known as Wi-Fi on steroids.
Turf battles are also occurring in the 3G and 4G market. But experts say the market will eventually settle on a set of standards.
Spending on 3G networks will top $37 billion by 2012, says research firm Ovum. And carriers could spend billions more on the deployment of Wi-Max.
Says Shiv Bakhshi, director of mobility research at IDC: "A large generation of young consumers will come into play," he said. "For older folk, doing things like mobile data is an acquired taste, but for our children these phones and technologies are a natural condition."
In addition, innovators such as Apple and Google, Nokia and RIM are pushing new technologies and services that will help make the cell phone that all-in-one handheld device the industry has touted for more than a decade. On the downside, industry squabbles over formats and standards could slow the market's progression. Remember 8-Tracks?
Travel Savvy Google Phone concept gets Good Reception - To learn more about this author, visit Anne Garber's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
by Anne Garber
Google's entry into wireless last week failed to spark the intense hype of the iPhone, but its impact could be even bigger. . .
Forget everything you know about the cellular phone market. As the recent arrival of Apple and Google suggest, everything is about to change.
Apple awed the already-hot market in January when it announced the iPhone, a sleek touch-screen handset that plays music, scrolls pictures, surfs the Web and -- lest users forget -- makes phone calls. Analysts say the device is boosting demand for premium smart phones, which account for just 10 per cent of cell phone unit sales now.
Google's entry into wireless last week failed to spark the intense hype of the iPhone, but its impact could be even bigger, analysts say. Rather than unveil a Google phone as many expected, Google unwrapped a wide-reaching software initiative that aims to make cell phones much more powerful and easy to use -- and perhaps loosen carriers' grip on consumers. Google's plans include an Open Handset Alliance and Android platform.
"It's a deliberate effort by Google to rewrite the rules for mobile voice and wireless applications," said Bill Whyman, technology analyst at ISI Group. "It's more significant and ambitious than a single Google phone and seeks to create an entirely new mobile experience."
However, it didn't take long for the sour grapes to start issuing forth. Microsoft's CEO Steve Ballmer has said that so far Google's phone plans are just "a press release."
Speaking at a new conference in Tokyo, he noted Microsoft's success with its Windows Mobile Platform, adding that Google's efforts "are just some words on paper right now [so] it's hard to do a very clear comparison [with Windows Mobile]".
The Google platform will allow developers to create software for a variety of mobile devices and is intended to lower the cost of mobile handsets for both customers and businesses.
Mr Ballmer stated that his company's mobile platform is already on 150 handset mobiles and is available from over 100 separate mobile operators. Microsoft is also likely to licence 20 million Windows Mobile phones this year, he continued.
He told reporters: "We have great momentum, we've brought our Windows Mobile 6 software to market, we're driving forward on our future releases and we'll have to see what Google does.
"Right now they have a press release, we have many, many millions of customers, great software, many hardware devices and they're welcome in our world."
Prior to Mr Ballmer's comments, Symbian, another rival to Google in the mobile phone market, also stated that it is not concerned about a potential threat from the Google platform.
Google named its software effort Android and announced that industry heavyweights such as Qualcomm, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Deutsche Telekom's DT T-Mobile unit and 29 other tech firms would partake in the alliance. Google offered up an open software platform to be used for developing all kinds of software applications to run on cell phones.
"Our vision is that the powerful platform we're unveiling will power thousands of different phone models," said Google CEO Eric Schmidt in a statement.
All this should be music to the ears of companies that provide wireless equipment infrastructure, such as cellular towers, radio base stations, software, cable and power supply units. They are part of the diverse telecom wireless equipment industry group, which ranks No. 26 out of IBD's 197 groups, up from 72 six months ago. Some of the largest players in the group are Nokia, Research in Motion, Qualcomm, Garmin and Motorola. Google and Apple are not part of the group, but their influence on it is assured.
Lots of technologies come into play in the wireless business. Almost two dozen individual electronic devices go into making a cellular base station alone.
"It's a big and complex market that's been growing rapidly," said Amadee Bender, president of research firm Amadee & Co.
More than 210,350 cellular tower sites are spread across the U.S., almost double the number from six years ago, according to CTIA, a national cellular industry association.
According to Amadee, more than $15 billion will be spent this year on wireless capital equipment. Spending growth has averaged 19 per cent over the past four years, largely a result of the transition to digital from analog communications.
The transition to digital has made possible a cellular system able to handle the multitude of new subscribers jumping into cellular. For handset makers, the move to digital allowed them to pack an ever-growing array of features into phones.
BlackBerry maker Research in Motion paved the way as one of the first devices to deliver e-mail on the go. Other data services such as instant messaging have since exploded onto the scene, giving road warriors all the data they need in the palm of their hand.
But more is on the way. New phones on the market are equipped to handle local Wi-Fi wireless data communications. Wi-Fi hot spots, which provide free and paid links to the Internet, are becoming ubiquitous in coffee shops, hotels, city centers and parks. Users can even make long-distance calls for pennies a minute using voice-over-Internet services such as eBay-owned Skype. The market is also moving from standard digital to broadband digital service, bringing much greater utilities to the phone.
Name Of The Game: Call it Cellular 2.0. While the market is 20 years old, it's on the verge of a new phase. Tapping the fortunes that lay ahead will require astute marketing decisions and the delivery of high-quality products and services on schedule.
At the dawn of the cellular industry in 1987, cell phones were the size of bricks -- and almost as heavy. Service was spotty, and per-minute usage rates were sky high. In the 20 years since, it's gone from a product for the elite to a common staple of everyone from children, teens and everyone else. Some road warriors are using more than 7,000 minutes a month.
About 234 million people in the U.S. subscribe to wireless services, up 88 per cent from five years ago.
The explosion of cell phone usage is the result of many factors. The industry has spent hundreds of billions of dollars to plant cell towers everywhere from major cities to cow pastures.
For some, cell phones are just a lifeline for emergency service or family matters. For others, the cell phone is also their music player, camera, instant message service and a mobile connection to the Internet and e-mail.
In addition to Wi-Fi equipped phones, another popular feature being added in are location-based services using the U.S. satellite global positioning system.
Nokia, in a recent demonstration of its GPS-equipped N95 phone, showed how the phone could be used to quickly locate nearby restaurants or popular points of interest. These location-based services are destined to be a hit with consumers, says Bill Hughes, research analyst at In-Stat.
"It's a big application that's starting to take off," he said.
But end-users aren't the industry's only customers. In addition to buying network equipment, the major phone carriers act as gateways for handsets. Because they subsidize much of the cost of handsets, carriers have a big influence over what phones make it to market and they can dictate what features they want from manufacturers.
While the wireless industry has come a long way, it remains a wild-west environment in many ways, with little standardization and a constant onslaught of change.
Some are pushing an open, Linux-based software platform like the kind Google has proposed. Google's is the fifth such attempt, albeit one with the highest profile. Others include the Mobile Linux Initiative, the Linux Phone Standards Forum and the Consumer Electronics Linux Forum.
Like most other battles to create industry standards, intense competition to be the cellular software application winner often causes delays and confusion over which standard to support.
Moreover, these initiatives will butt heads with big players in the market that have been pushing their own cell phone operating systems. RIM has its own version, as does Nokia. Microsoft has a big play in the market with Windows Mobile. Qualcomm is pushing its version, called Brew, and Apple is playing its own tune.
The goal for all is to draw in the largest number of software programmers as possible to create applications and features to their respective phones, making them more valuable to users.
The lack of must-have software applications for cell phones is one factor holding back stronger sales of smart phones, analysts believe.
"We're just crossing about 10 per cent of the cellular market for smart phones," said ISI's Whyman. "None of these efforts have attained any dominance, and customers really haven't spoken yet. This is where the applications will come into play."
Overseas growth -- especially in emerging economies such as China, Brazil, India and Russia -- is another bright spot for equipment makers. A growing number of middle-class consumers in those areas are driving demand for handsets and the infrastructure to support them.
Wireless communications technology in the U.S. is gradually shifting into so-called third-generation, or 3G, networks.
The fast networks promise to enable a wider range of more advanced services while achieving greater network capacity, including high-speed Internet access and video telephony. They'll also force carriers to invest heavily into network upgrades.
Qualcomm is a key player in this field with its W-CDMA technology. And Sprint is pushing a "4G" technology called Wi-Max, also known as Wi-Fi on steroids.
Turf battles are also occurring in the 3G and 4G market. But experts say the market will eventually settle on a set of standards.
Spending on 3G networks will top $37 billion by 2012, says research firm Ovum. And carriers could spend billions more on the deployment of Wi-Max.
Says Shiv Bakhshi, director of mobility research at IDC: "A large generation of young consumers will come into play," he said. "For older folk, doing things like mobile data is an acquired taste, but for our children these phones and technologies are a natural condition."
In addition, innovators such as Apple and Google, Nokia and RIM are pushing new technologies and services that will help make the cell phone that all-in-one handheld device the industry has touted for more than a decade. On the downside, industry squabbles over formats and standards could slow the market's progression. Remember 8-Tracks?
Travel Savvy Google Phone concept gets Good Reception - To learn more about this author, visit Anne Garber's Website.
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