Android mobile platform may suit Asia
, , , , January 7th, 2008
Google’s familiar brand name may make its Android mobile platform the system of choice across the sophisticated Asia-Pacific region. On the other hand the illustrations make it look like something my mother threatened me with if I did not behave.
In Japan and probably in China — mobile devices have become the way you get on to the Internet. And thus it may be Google’s upcoming mobile phone OS may be perfectly suited to users in this region.
Aloysius Choong, IDC Asia-Pacific senior analyst for personal systems, said, quite logically, the the main attraction Android holds for Asia could initially be the Google brand name.
But is if it is as ‘open, flexible and extensible’ as we are promised it may prove to be very attractive to an increasingly-sophisticated mobile audience in the region.
Aloysius Choong said, ‘Asian users typically have higher demands. As we move toward 3.5G, especially with fixed-rate data service plans, more will get onboard the mobile Internet platform. The more you use your phone to access the Internet, the more you expect in terms of extensibility, power and customizability.’
He actually quite possibly speaks like that. Analysts get into the way of it. Note also he did not mention that China does not even have 3G as yet although it should be by April next year.
Google’s extensive network of developers through the Open Handset Alliance — established by Google build and support the platform — may therefore, to use an analyst term, ‘maximize the experience.’
Google’s mobile platforms director Andy Rubin, one of the first few who worked on Android, said in a previous report that he expects the first Android devices to be mid- to high-end phones ‘because of the data access capabilities of the platform’.
In which case there might be a slight problem because the massive growth area at the moment it in the low cost phones.
Consumers are expected to receive the first Android-enabled device by the middle of this year. HTC, one of four handset developers in the Open Handset Alliance, is likely to be the first developer to ship an Android device.
Source: Business Week
