Ampers & Dot

PREFACE: This post was written a month ago for a different blog I’m working on, but was never published. I’m posting it today because I want to do a follow up on it tomorrow. So jump back in time a few weeks like you don’t know where this is going… and enjoy!

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After countless rumors and speculation, Google finally held their press conference to announce its future in the Mobile Phone Industry. And no, this was not an announcement of the fabled gPhone, but instead of the new mobile development platform: Android.

Fundamentally, Android as an open source development platform for mobile phones, which allows developers a simpler way to create software that can be easily ported from one phone to another. Giving developers an opportunity to build applications that can be downloaded easily and used by millions is a big draw for the talented pool, similar to Google’s Open Social initiative. This is a huge step towards a future of feature packed cell-phones that do far more than the devices of today, but unfortunately, it’s also a blow to the Windows Mobile community.

As smart-phones have been increasing in sales, variety, and popularity over the past year, the application platforms have already been fairly segmented: Windows Mobile and Palm have been fighting for developers to build applications for years, Symbian OS has always been around and somewhat viable, and Blackberry has recently emerged as a worthy competitor.

The problem with having so many platforms is that developers must choose one to create for. Similar to the Windows/Mac battle of the last few decades, there’s no simple way to create one program and have it work on multiple phones. The concept behind Android is that the development will be open source, allowing anyone to work on the platform, for any device that runs it, weeding down the development community even more.

The biggest blow to the Windows Mobile community came when HTC, makers of almost every great WinMo gadget out there, announced they would sign on to be part of Google’s OHA (Open Handset Alliance). This means that Android is guaranteed to have impressive hardware to back it up, so even more users will be jumping ship for the newer, cooler phones.

In a recent interview with the BoyGeniusReport, US VP of HTC, Jason Mackenzie, said that “Windows Mobile will always be a big part of HTC. We have a significant share of 75% worldwide and expect that to grow. Android will be complimentary to Windows Mobile and we’ll focus on a new market share with the Android platform.” Although it’s somewhat reassuring to hear they are remaining the leaders in Windows Mobile phones, there’s no denying that their work on Android will detract from their WM phone efforts.

Microsoft could be short sited enough to think that their OS comes with everything a user might need pre-bundled and that they don’t need the underground development community (seeing as how they still haven’t built a way to actually close programs, leave that up to countless independent developers). They may not see this assault coming over the horizon at all.

But that’s exactly what this will be to the Windows Mobile community: an assault. When the iPhone came around, there were numerous Windows Mobile refugees who jumped ship for a new device. Android will provide the next wave of hits to Windows Mobile users.

The only shred of positive potential is that (and I can only assume) Microsoft knows exactly what they’re doing and can counter Android with a whole new realm of appealing applications to compete. A little friendly competition could push MS into building a stronger, cooler WM7, or even open up their devices to more developers.

After all, when the iPhone was announced in January of this year, it gave MS developers six months to come up with a rival… less than two months later came the announcement of Touch FLO and the Touch Cube for WM6. Now it’s Android’s turn to scare developers into making something even cooler to put Windows Mobile back in the news.