One of the hardest things for me to do as a technology guy is to be patient when a new product comes out.  When the iPhone was announced, I was torn between my greed to have the latest, and my grown up awareness that the price would drop and the second version would be much better.  So on my Treo I remain.  As predicted, Apple has a 3G version of the iPhone coming out in the summer and it will cost much less.  Actually, that is not true, but appears to be on the surface.  When you look at the actual contract, we will now be paying an extra fee of $10 for the data plan so over time, it is actually more expensive.  But for those that only look at the purchase price, it will seem attractive, and Apple will easily sell the 10 million they predicted.  So here is my dilemma… I have been reading about a gPhone from Google for almost a year now, and in the back of my mind, I have been thinking that I would rather have a gPhone than an iPhone.

I love Apple products, but somehow feel more of a kinship with Google because they are edgy software people that love open source and free things.  In my minds eye, I can see exactly what Google is working towards with their Android mobile phone software, and the bidding they did on the open spectrum.  They see billions of dollars that will be made advertising on mobile devices.  They have access to billions of dollars in ad buyers.  It makes sense for them to actually own a line of phones, the software they run on, and the access to advertise on them.  If Google stays in their model, they will try and provide a phone that has lots of cool software applications built on the Android standards, and will price it for free, or at least a very low cost.  Their software will connect the plumbing between people, other important services like storage, and search and will adhere to all the eCommunity standards they are driving with Open Social.

So I was already to buy a 3G iPhone this summer, and then Google announce formally yesterday that there will be phones running the Android software coming out in the second half of this year.  They are coy about whether the phone will be a branded gPhone, or just running their applications.  Either way, now I feel I must hold onto the Treo a bit longer.  Google is a powerful force and maybe the only company that can compete with Microsoft and Apple on their own turf.  In the end, I cannot make myself sign a two year deal with AT&T for a $199 iPhone, before I see what the gPhone looks like. The mobile phone space is a very interesting case study in shifting dynamics.  Nokia bought the rest of Symbian yesterday as well.  Most people do not know that 60% of all mobile phones run the Symbian operating system today.  Nokia is going to take Symbian open source.  That will mean lots of cool applications will be written in the next few months I suppose.  Hold on to your hats on this market because the next five years are going to deliver a massive shake up in the players, and a huge step forward in functionality for the average Joe user…

Scott

Interesting site of the day: Styky.com –  Styky backs up and updates contacts on your mobile phonebook. Styky let’s you can access, manage, message, and update contacts from any phone, styky.com, and even Facebook, while Styky keeps everything in sync.  Apps like this will become more powerful as the phones they are on ramp up the computing power as well.