Apple: "we charge you to make apps." Google: "We'll pay YOU to develop apps."

[SmartAlx]

Google has set aside 10 million dollars to give to the best app developers to encourage them to create apps for their Oprn Source Android Operating Sysyem for mobile phones. It will be available on an HTC device for T-Mobile in October. If any phone can kill the iPhone, this one might. It has a full keyboard, 3G, GPS, and looks like it even had copy/paste. T-Mibile announced it today.

Any of you planning on developing for Android?

[Hawk]

Google has set aside 10 million dollars to give to the best app developers to encourage them to create apps for their Oprn Source Android Operating Sysyem for mobile phones. It will be available on an HTC device for T-Mobile in October. If any phone can kill the iPhone, this one might. It has a full keyboard, 3G, GPS, and looks like it even had copy/paste. T-Mibile announced it today.

Any of you planning on developing for Android?
I would if I had an android phone, but that's not likely any time soon.

[chrismmm]

Not here. But then again I dont plan on developing for apple either. IMHO:Those SDKs and appl development scene is way overrated.

[macgirl]

This is good, but remember Apple did the same thing, though their iFund is 10 times the size of the Google pot at $100 million. Apple does make developers pay $99 to get the SDK to begin with, though...

[Hawk]

This is good, but remember Apple did the same thing, though their iFund is 10 times the size of the Google pot at $100 million. Apple does make developers pay $99 to get the SDK to begin with, though...
Why does everyone keep saying that it's 99 for the SDK? I got it for free. I do remember that there was a Prefered Developer or something, and they paid 99, but to everyone else it was free. You just had to sign up as a developer. AND I AM ON WINDOWS (yeah, lot of use I got of the SDK that requires a Mac to run at all. I can understand that, since they make Macs, but it would have been a bit helpful to mention it BEFORE going through all the motions of signing up and registering as a developer and downloading a file that is 1GB + in size)

[Lincoln]

I'm signed up as a developer and have the SDK; paid nothing for it. It's getting into the actual developer program you have to pay $99 for. And as mentioned above, don't forget the iFund.

[acosmichippo]

the thing that sucks about developing for the iphone is that Apple prohiits you from talking about it. There are no "how-to" books. No Developing forums. No blogs. Nothing ANYWHERE will help you if you have a question.

Something tells me android will be much different...

[eye-Fone]

Apple: "we charge you to make apps." Google: "We'll pay YOU to develop apps."
Apple: People are dying to get their phones. Google: Has not sold a single phone, so they want instant market share.



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[monkeysrock0622]

Apple: People are dying to get their phones. Google: Has not sold a single phone, so they want instant market share.



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Hahahaha exactly

[fury]

Apple is selling millions and millions and millions of phones a year, Google is selling zero phones a year.

I like our strategy. I like it a lot.

[acosmichippo]

"our" strategy?

I'm not taking sides. Apple has the sexiness, but definitely makes it ore difficult to develop... which some could say is an indirect means of quality control.

[fury]

It was a jab at the newcomer Google, taking a line or two from Steve Ballmer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5oGaZIKYvo)

I think the main issue with the Google platform is going to be standards vs. openness. This is going to go on any number of different phones with different pieces of hardware, and I think it's going to become a mirror of the PC market where, sure, you've got lots of choice, and competition has made things dirt cheap, but there's also a lot of confusion, incompatibility, and trouble getting it to work; a chunk of every retail box or app page dedicated to minimum requirements, a trained support staff ready by the phones when people start trying to boot up their device after a messy install, etc...

With iPhone and iPod touch, you pretty much know the lowest common denominator - the 412mhz processor, the 3d chipset, the touchscreen at 480x320, accelerometer, and some sort of internet access. Additional features based on coming up the line from the first generation iPod touch to the latest and greatest are the camera, bluetooth, speaker, mic, vibrator, and GPS. So there's still differentiation, but on commodities, rather than on the very core guts of the device. You might find a gPhone with a lower resolution display, no accelerometer, and a lackluster 3d processor, and that means when developing your app, you either have to account for that by coding in a way for it to scale back, or release it with whatever feature set you've gone ahead with, and define a set of minimum requirements

I don't think Android can be as compelling and attractive a product after all is said and done, due in part to the above, and it seems to be a fifth wheel already. Maybe if it came out before the iPhone... I'll reserve further judgment until after I've gotten my hands on one.

[Lincoln]

While I do think that Android is going to have some bumps along the way, remember that Apple was a newcomer when it launched iPhone, and it look at the enormous success it's had.

[eye-Fone]

In my opinion, the Google phone is basically the same hardware that exists today for the Windows Mobile platform. WM has GPS, accelerometers, touch screens, slide-out keyboards, etc. In fact, HTC (one of the initial hardware manufacturers of the Google phone) is one of the major hardware suppliers for Windows Mobile. Not too much has to change for HTC to cater to both camps.

Having said that, it's the software that's going to make the difference and is what will challenge Windows Mobile and the iPhone. I use the word "challenge" very loosely--Google may challenge them, but I don't think they will make a big dent in the consumer market. They probably will do better in the enterprise space.

Just my $0.02's worth.



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