Andriod vs iPhone
Most of the recent phone buzz has been around Google’s “gPhone” and Apple iPhone (much to Nokia’s and Sony Ericsson’s demay). Google’s “gPhone” is really Andriod, a mobile phone stack.
Though no Andriod devices are available right now (publicly), that doesn’t stop people from comparing Google’s offering with Apple’s. Maybe it is because both Google and Apple have brands that create fans.
Both devices offer innovation but in very different ways.
iPhone’s Innovation
I think we can all agree that the iPhone greatest innovation is its UI. Hopefully this is the kick in the pants that the mobile phone industry needed. Because, in general, the industry had been doing a pretty poor job. Someday all phones will have as slick of a UI.
Android’s Innovation
I believe Android’s innovation is its redefinition of the OS/Application model. For most “smart” devices, such as those running PalmOS, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Symbian, J2ME, etc, the OS/Application model is essentially the same as that on a desktop. You launch an application and the application handles all of its state and deals with the user. This is fine on the desktop because we have plenty of memory and CPU. And we also have large displays and can run multiple apps at the sametime. The problem this poses on a limited device is that applications are responsible for the state and the quality of the implementation will vary depending on the developers.
For instance, with the iPhone: You get an email, click on a link that takes you to a webpage, and then you click on an address that takes you to Google Maps. You can’t go back. The iPhone’s main button takes you home instead. The iPhone just kind of avoids this.
On Windows Mobile, you can keep on clicking the OK button which closes screens until you get back to where you wanted to be. Of course that only works until you run out of memory, then it will need to start closing applications. And where you are when you relanch an application depends on the application’s developer.
With Andriod, applications are broken down into Activities, Intents, and Services. Activities represents the UI screens and Andriod automatically manages those screens for the developer. This ability to go back across applications is an OS provided function.
This I believe is Andriod’s real innovation. Not just Activities, but the entire thing is an evolution of the OS/Application relationship. I think it is a better fit for more limited devices. Of course I am more technically progressive, so maybe the world will not agree.
The iPhone cannot adopt this innovation easily (unless they layer this on top of their UI right now, but then this would create a division between first class native apps and Andriod-type apps), but Andriod can slowly adopt a nicer UI.
The iPhone will probably have a more noticeable impact because its innovation is more visible. Andriod’s innovation is a little more radical technically, and others will probably be slow in adopting. It is a little more radical, and competitors will probably take a wait-and-see approach.
And I really don’t want to read anymore about how Andriod is J2ME.