14 DAY TRIAL // Apple and Google are two companies on very friendly terms, often seen as likely allies against other companies such as Microsoft. With the recent release of the Android SDK, and the development platform getting plenty of media coverage, people are starting to notice how much it resembles Apple's iPhone.
Android is undoubtedly good news, both for developers and the health of the industry at large, but many are looking at it and seeing something that comes in direct competition with Apple's hit device. Between the Dock and Cover Flow like interface elements, to the way webpages look and are interacted with, everything is very reminiscent of the first iPhone glimpses. Does Google have an iPhone killer?
While Android comes pretty close to the iPhone, it does not actually match it. Key elements such as multi touch are missing because Apple has the heavily protected by patents. While Android does offer everything developers need to make iPhone like applications, Apple's control of both the hardware and software results in a very consistent product that looks and behaves the same throughout. Furthermore, devices that make use of the platform will ship in little over a year, by which time the iPhone will be at its second, if not third iteration.
So Google does not really have an iPhone killer, but it does have everything but iPhone killer. While Apple still sleeps sound at night, Microsoft, Nokia and everybody else with a software platform for mobile devices is having nightmares. It is interesting to note that Google went with WebKit, the same technology that Apple's Safari uses, different from what Internet Explorer and Firefox employ. Also, much like the iPhone, there was no mention of Java or Flash, and it even supports playback of AAC/MP3 songs and H.264/MPEG-4 video.
What at a first glance looks like Google competing with Apple is in fact Google silently working with Apple to undermine proprietary technologies that are still Internet standards, and establish new ones.