Why should you care? MONEY! Your money if you are in an industry that requires a mobile application that sells or promotes your business. Say for example you sell real estate and you want your customers to be able to search for houses while driving around. Unless your web development company writes a version of the application that works with the GPS systems for the Blackberry, Google Droid, iPhone and Nokia, some of your customers will not be able to use the website. So instead of paying for one application, you will quadruple your cost!

Adobe Air may be part of the answer. They are working on a mobile version of Adobe Air that would allow web developers to deliver mobile applications that work across multiple operating systems. Hardware manufacturers such as Samsung and Sony Ericsson are supporting the community effort as well. With more than 3 billion application downloaded from Apple stores in the last 18 months, they can't afford not to support initiative.

Libby Lucas llucas@ccpteam.com

www.webdesigncharlotte.org

Poor Harry McCracken of PC World wrote an article comparing the Verizon Droid to the Google Nexus in an attempt to “alert” the rest of the technical junkies on the new Google product.  I didn’t think it was all that bad but the comments that followed the article were priceless! 

Numerous anonymous “experts” showed off their Geek-like technology prowess by one upping Harry with their lists of facts and insider info!  One nameless writer even claimed to be a journalist and a computer technician.  After touting his credentials, he went a step further to offer his services should PC World want to fire Harry.

What happened to constructive criticism?  This kind of drive-by sniping at each other really doesn’t raise the bar for good journalism.

Anyway, if you are trying to decide which phone to buy, my advice is to wait about six months.  Yes, a whole six months!  Because the true difference in the two phones is really more about the carriers.  The Droid runs on Verizon and the Nexus runs on T-Mobile.  The trick to finding a phone that will serve you well is to find the carrier with the best reputation for support.

And by support I don’t just mean coverage and reception; I mean a good 1-800 customer service system that can help you with the features your phone offers.  I wish I had another nickel for every nickel my company has made on teaching Blackberry users and IPhone users on how to get their email.  These new products have the cool factor but are meaningless if you can’t make a phone call or get your email!

If you absolutely have to have the latest bit of technology, stop obsessing on the features, go down to the phone stores and test drive each model.  My advice – select the phone that “feels” right, is easy to use and looks good with your everyday black purse!

Libby Lucas
www.webdesigncharlotte.org
llucas@ccpteam.com

Last weekend Google released "Google-branded" phones to some employees, fueling reports it will sell its own handset directly to consumers by 2010.  Yet Google has been cryptic about its wireless strategy and its motives remain shrouded.

Until now, Google has focused on developing Android, its own mobile software platform for the wireless phones, and licensing it for free to handset makers such as Motorola, Samsun Electronics and HTC Corp.  Just as recently as last month, a senior executive insisted Google had no plans to compete with its handset partners by making its own phone.

Many industry analysts think Google should stick to that pledge.  By producing its own phone and selling it directly, Google could alienate handset partners and actually harm its main goal of getting the company's software onto more mobile devices.

What's more critics say, Google would be entering a lower-margin business in which it has little expertise, as well as fundamentally alter its DNA as one of the most creative software companies in the world.  Success in hardware requires huge economies of scale and massive capital investiment, but much like the computer industry, profits have steadily been squeezed as the handset business is commoditized.  The bigger profits lie in software development, experts say.

Article by:  Jeffry Batash, Wall Street Journal

Edited by:  Libby Lucas, Carolina Computer Partners

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