14 DAY TRIAL // Some iPhone fans would think Google's upcoming handset, the Android, will have a fierce competitor once it's out. Google thinks otherwise. In fact, according to the company's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, Apple's success with the iPhone spells success for their own (upcoming) device as well.
Speaking to Fortune's senior writer David Kirkpatrick in an interview at Brainstorm Tech on Wednesday, Schmidt outlined a few aspects regarding the new iPhone 3G and its success as a positive sign towards the future of the Android platform. According to Fortune, the success of the iPhone 3G has the Google top exec quite excited about his company's own mobile efforts. "It shows you the power of a device that is a step forward," said Schmidt in the interview. "The iPhone has a fully functional browser. We can show desktop ads, not mobile ads. That's a huge change from our perspective."
Schmidt suggested that the innovation and power of the iPhone ultimately spells good news for Google, through better applications and web browsing for consumers. "The iPhone's competitors all have devices or devices coming out. It's really simple. A phone is a GPS, a camera, a computer, and a browser," he said, adding that "the combination of those four means more market opportunities for Google."
Google's exec, who is a director on Apple's board as well, also cast his predictions regarding the best applications for social media. Google has found that these apps, found on networking sites like Facebook and MySpace (NWS), will mostly be leveraged on mobile phones. The Fortune report mentions an upcoming application for Android handsets, said to be able to tell you where you are, what buildings are around you and what businesses are inside, as a location-based service.
Growing a bit tired of talking about Apple's iPhone, Schmidt shifted the emphasis on Google's own device and on how it would be making great use of social apps. "The most interesting social applications will be mobile-based because people are always moving," Schmidt said, probably suggesting the Android itself will present Apple's iPhone with some serious competition.