The Google, Motorola deal, and webOS’ death show how quickly the mobile industry can move
August is supposed to be the month where a lot of people are on vacation-and the tech news kind of slows down. That wasn’t the case this week: the Google, Motorola deal may have changed the landscape for Android and HP essentially killing off webOS. These are just the latest signs of how quickly the mobile landscape changes.
Google started off in the mobile industry with Android a few years ago with simple, bold ambitions: bring the open Internet ethos to the typically closed mobile industry-and bring its advertising juggernaut with it. Many questioned if it could be successful because the entrenched players weren’t going to let this upstart muscle its way in.
Roughly three years later, Android is the dominant smartphone operating system and Google is one of the most important players in the mobile game. The fact that it could open up its wallet to buy the company that basically invented the cell phone should tell you how important it is and will continue to be with mobile.
While there’s a bit of sadness to see Motorola fade from its own independent existence, some were actually shedding some tears to see Palm finally fade out of existence. For those of you too young to remember: Palm and the Treo lineup essentially kicked off this whole smartphone craze by bringing a web-enabled computer to your pocket.
When HP spent $1.2 billion to buy Palm last year, we all thought this would finally be webOS’ chance to reach glory. HP constantly said it would be aggressive with the platform on smartphones, tablets, and nearly anything that plugged into a wall. A year later, we see two subpar phones and a tablet that’s a joke-it’s no wonder that HP pulled the plug.
Motorola and Palm were once titans of the industry; this isn’t like the New York Knicks clinging to championships from 40 years ago-these companies were at the top of their games about six years ago. This just shows how rapidly the mobile landscape is evolving.
It’s not just Motorola and Palm; Nokia and Research In Motion used to be kings of the coop just five years ago but now both are facing the very real possibility that they may be acquired by the new difference makers in the space.
Source: Know Your Cell – Cell Phone News, Reviews, Features and More