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URBAN THOUGHT COLLECTIVE: Check the Tech-Nique
Hello from Everyone at urban Thought Collective.com!
*Well, folks, the other shoe has finally dropped. Google has entered the mobile phone space. The iPhone has its first serious competitor. Allow me to introduce you to the HTC G1.
What’s that you say? You haven’t seen or heard anything about it? Not surprising, as Google is easing into this market. If the iPhone was the shot heard ’round the world, the G1 release was the equivalent of a BB-Gun.
First of all, they launched with T-Mobile, the bastard red-headed adopted and later abandoned step-child of the mobile phone industry. Second, they partnered with handset manufacturer HTC, which is not exactly a household name these days.
And finally, Google itself is not really promoting the phone. If there is such a thing as under-hyping a product, that’s what Google is doing.
Critical error or clever tactic? To understand Google’s angle, we first need to look at what Google has invested. Unlike Apple, who branded their entire phone as an Apple product, Google is clearly okay with T-Mobile and HTC having branding rights. And in reality, Google didn’t have the kind of creative influence over the G1 that Apple had over the iPhone. That’s not Google’s game. The search giant doesn’t want it’s own phone. What it really wants is to *be* on EVERY phone. That’s why it bought the Android Operating System in the first place.
Hmmm, I guess some background is in order for those non-geeks among us. The operating system of a phone is essentially its brain. It controls the all-important user-interface. You know, that menu structure and application list that you either hate or are in-love with? That’s the operating system, or O/S in geek-speak. Google, in its never-ending quest for new strategic directions, decided to pursue ad-revenue via mobile phones. And to that end, it figured the most efficient course of action was to own an operating system that could be deployed on ANY mobile phone.
Thus, a couple of years ago it purchased Android, a small company with a slick mobile phone O/S. And in the meantime while the O/S was marinating, Google perfected a suite of mobile applications that can be accessed from ANY mobile phone. Seriously. Any mobile phone. Point your mobile browser at http://m.google.com. Go there right now. I can wait. No, really, go right now. You’ll thank me later ...
TO FINISH THE THOUGHT, VISIT: http://urbanthoughtcollective.com/2008/10/09/the-g-phone-cometh/
Urban Thought Collective is a new digital community exploring everything from pop culture to politics from an African-American perspective. Jaxon Lee works on the bleeding-edge of the tech market in what he considers to be his dream job. He wakes up every morning, and gets to talk to people about the latest and greatest gadgets! During his downtime, he blogs about new technology and media convergence over at um-reloaded.blogspot.com. Jaxon is happily married and living in Atlanta. His “Check The Tech-Nique” column is exclusive to Urban Thought Collective.
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