Gales Network • Brand building from the inside out

27 February 2008

Android, Phone Home

Big Ideas Topic: Google’s Android “phone”

The Big Idea behind Android is that it’s not a phone at all (yet) but rather Google’s new mobile platform. Save for Google’s involvement, Android might be an arcane concept that hid in the guts of a cellphone and made it work. But the big G’s interest in Android is further evidence that mobile is the next battleground for market share in the hardware, software and content businesses.

At Issue: Will consumers and content holders in the mobile arena benefit or lose if big media conglomerates such as Google control cellphone formats (think operating systems like Windows Vista or Mac OSX)?

Last fall, Android, Google’s open-source mobile platform was introduced to encourage rapid development of applications for mobile phones that would be available to all handset manufacturers. Backed by Google’s elephantine footprint, Android will compete with a number of platforms that already serve the cell handset industry. They include Blackberry, Palm OS, Windows Mobile, iPhone, Symbian and others.

Big Ideas View: Google’s entry into mobile further raises questions about how content will be used, and who will benefit from its use on cellphones. That the mobile space is a big opportunity for entertainment content owners is clear. The nearly four million iPhones sold since introduction demonstrates the emerging, but robust appetite for audio, video, search and contact information on portable devices. But who will control those platforms and, more importantly, the content made available on them. In short, what will be the gatekeeper effect on content access and how will content be protected?

Google is not the only platform provider with an agenda. Both Apple and Blackberry have closed aspects to their systems. These three entities have vested interests in the content you receive on your phone, principally search for Google, multimedia for Apple and email for Blackberry. All three need content to fuel the functionality that their platforms provide. But the well being of the fuel (content) is not their first concern. The benefit or peril to content at their hands is unclear. As Googled handsets reach the market, what limitations might be created by the search giant, now phone platform provider? I bet it’s going to be tough to get MapQuest maps on that G-phone.

Any innovation in an emerging market is a good thing if it leads to growth. Content owners need more distribution channels that compensate them for their work. On balance, Google brings great resources to the mobile market as a provider of search. It has the potential to impact this market across many aspects. But the possibility always exists that today’s innovator might be tomorrow’s gatekeeper. Content owners need to engage these platform sponsors to ensure the proper exposure, protection and compensation for their products. Whether artist, author, label, publisher, songwriter, producer, screenwriter, or filmmaker that may be your future calling on Line 1.

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The Big Ideas Report separates the real issues (Big Ideas) from the noise, so that it’s possible to move forward with confidence or simply converse intelligently with others. We identify issues that have a material impact on your business, define them succinctly and suggest a position, so you can get going. Part fact, part opinion, part alchemy, that’s The Big Ideas Report.