Out of the Box

At Mobile World Congress, Nokia and Microsoft joined  Apple, RIM, Google and Palm in announcing that they’ll be supporting application stores or marketplaces for their operating systems or handsets. This should result in easier discoverabiliy of functionality for consumers and could further reward developers who have been lured by development funds. While the verdict is still out on whether the horse will pay to drink, Apple has brought the water to it..

However, there’s also an opportunity to build upon what Apple has done with its iPhone-based App Store, which started as a clean experience and still provides good exposure for popular and highlighted software. But many applications have gotten lost in the crowd.

To be fair, Apple has done a better job of providing exposure for these other programs in the iTunes software, but there’s also more that Apple could be doing with personalization. This isn’t like the iTunes music store which was hampered in its “Just For You” recommendation by relying only on paid downloads. Also, several of these new stores provided by RIM, Nokia and Microsoft could hit the ground running with an existing library of hundreds or thousands of applications and the fewer restrictions placed upon applications for many of these other operating systems should open the doors to a wider array of application types.

Having spent several days with the T-Mobile G1, it  is clearly a strong new entrant in the smartphone space that should satisfy many T-Mobile consumers that have looked longingly at the iPhone, particularly those that want a great mobile Web experience. It’s especially impressive that Google has been able to create such a competitive experience with an operating system designed to run on many different kinds of smartphones.

Those who covet the iPhone’s svelte shell will be disappointed, but the G1 counters with a full QWERTY keyboard, higher-resolution auto-focus camera, and a microSD slot. The slot is oddly placed on the device, but HTC notes that the G1 mounts as a mass storage device, minimizing card removal. A more disadvantageous design choice, though, is the lack of a standard 3.5mm headphone jack

Its 3.2″ screen, while smaller than the iPhone’s, offers the same resolution, and never has to compromise its available real estate to accommodate an on-screen keyboard. However, the need to open the keyboard, like on many side-sliders, can sometimes feel disruptive.

The arc slider mechanism of the G1 is somewhat novel,  but its hinge can emit an unpleasant creak when pressure is applied to it. Moreover, the overall look of the device is dated, with four buttons lining the bottom in a layout that is reminiscent of PDAs of yore. While the Home and Back buttons are essential, the Menu button could probably be replaced with a gesture.

The iPhone is better optimized for a touch experience in general, its multitouch screen makes zooming and other tasks easier, and it also takes better advantage of its accelerometer, with more applications taking advantage of dynamic screen orientation. The G1, in contrast, will automatically change to horizontal orientation for nearly all applications — including e-mail — when its screen is slid open.

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I’ve often described the iPod touch as “the iPhone for the rest of us,” meaning those who, for whatever reason, would rather not sign an AT&T contract.

Granted, the touch is subject to all the constraints of the Apple App Store that Ryan Block deftly delved into in his““Engadget Cares” column this week. However, also like the iPhone, it seems to beat the G1 in a few key areas such as games and media playback capabilities. If the G1 lives up to its promise of affording a strong Internet experience, friendly UI, relaxed development rules, and an abundance of programs, having the two on hand (or in hand) could provide the best of both touchscreen worlds.

And if T-Mobile permits something like TapRoot Systems’ Walking Hotspot to be developed for Android, then the iPod touch could even piggyback onto the G1 for Internet access, including Microsoft Exchange compatibility.

Last week, TechCrunch picked up a New Yorker story that notes that Eric Schmidt now recuses himself from the segments of Apple board meetings that discuss the iPhone due to a conflict of interest with Google’s Android operating system, about which Chairman Jobs is none too keen. I wonder if he uses that time off to field calls from his fellow Google executives imploring him to get in there and remember the part about organizing the world’s information.

Erick Schonfeld asks what good is a board member who cannot talk about a company’s hottest product, going so far as to suggest whether Schmidt should be on Apple’s board at all? At least for now, Schmidt is benefiting Apple according to the old adage about “the enemy of my enemy.” But I also wonder about the slippery slope. Can Schmidt be there when they talk about being able to access Flickr albums from Apple TV?