Being a man, I naturally like to see two enemies squaring up to have a massive fight. It’s especially funny when it’s two big names from the world of mobile phones. We’ve seen it before with Modu having a pop at Nokia, Microsoft having a pop at Google Android, and Apple yelling that they could ‘ave everyone with one hand tied behind their back, rah, rah, bring it on, etc…
Today’s prize fight is between the two names looking to making it big in the world of open source mobile phone software. The two companies are Google and Symbian, and it’s fair to say that at the recent Open Mobile Summit, the claws were out, according to MoCoNews.
It all started when Google’s Rich Miner had a jibe about security on Symbian mobile phones, saying that, basically, there wasn’t any, and that any third party software could access any pat of the operating system. Which basically isn’t true, and it’s why Symbian rep Jerry Panagrossi saw red, and had a bite back, saying that, in fact, Symbian’s security was even tighter than that on Android mobile phones.
Then it got really heated, when they started talking about free operating systems versus licensed models. Miner once again jumped up, but this time, the target was Microsoft, with their Windows Mobile platform. To quote Miner: “I wouldn’t want to be in the business today of charging for the OS. But they [Microsoft] aren’t in a position to flip it to open because they don’t have another economic model. But going forward, there’s going to be pressure on trying to add $10 to a handset.”
Ah, but then, it seems everyone in the panel on stage spit the dummy out, with panel member Larry Berkin asking how much it had actually cost T-Mobile to get the T-Mobile G1 out there, and whether, in the long run, it would have been cheaper on a licensed system. Miner’s reply was that T-Mobile were happy with the end result. Berkin didn’t seem to want to let it lie, though, as he then asked if there was anyone in the audience from T-Mobile to vouch for that.
Yep, dollies are definitely being thrown out of prams at this point…
Panagrossi’s turn to have a go at Android mobile phones next, as he went on to say, “There’s a huge market, and both models will survive. Just because Linux is free, doesn’t mean it’s the best or that it will be pervasive. It’s license vs. labor,” effectively labelling Google Android as nothing more than a niche product.
Ouch.
Anyway, that pretty much shows what’s going to happen in the larger mobile phone world. Like I’ve said all along, there’s a huge scrap brewing, between Google Android and Symbian Foundation. Once we get a whole range of their respective mobile phones on the shelves… well, expect the sparks to fly!
Meanwhile, if you want to get in on the Android game early, grab yourself the T-Mobile G1 today!
