Google Android market now has 10,000 apps in their app store !

It seems like just yesterday that Google introduced Android, the open source OS for the handheld market, and so it came as quite a surprise to read that Android has over 10,000 apps available in the Android App store. In actual fact, Google Android became available to the general public for commercial use on October 28, 2008, less then 1 year ago, which makes 10,000 seem remarkable.

I did some small investigative work, and if you can judge the success of a handheld OS by the number of apps available in their store, it seems like Apple still has the lead followed by Google as follows:

Apple – 70,000 apps
Google – 10,000 apps
RIM – 2,000 apps
Palm Pre – 40 apps

It seems that the reason the Palm Pre has so few apps available is because Palm has limited who has access to it’s webOS SDK. By comparison, Apple after the same length of time in the market had about 500 apps available.

Google is certainly a formidable force in the IT space, and will continue their dominance in the handheld space as manufacturers adopt the Android OS in increasing number. In many respects it seems that Google’s dominance across the web and IT space, and the consumer reliance on a single brand, will position them in the similar anti-competitive spot that Microsoft found themselves in not that long ago.

Written by: Jeff Wiener. www.digitcom.ca. Follow TheTelecomBlog.com by: RSS, Twitter, Identi.ca, or Friendfeed

RIM acquires Torch Mobile. Should put the RIM browser on par with iPhone’s

Some good news for RIM mobile users.

Torch Mobile announced on Monday that it has been acquired by RIM. Torch Mobile, according to their web site, makes the Iris Browser which is an advanced, high-performance and versatile Web browser application for mobile and embedded devices. Based on the WebKit rendering engine, it is specifically designed to function in resource-constrained environments. It brings the full Web experience to mobile phones, set-top boxes, mobile Internet devices, portable media players, Ultra-Mobile PCs and other embedded devices – in a fast and user-friendly manner.

WebKit is open source, fast, easy to use, and offers an amazing user experience. iPhone, Safari, Pre, Symbian, and Android all use the WebKit open source browser. Now that RIM owns WebKit it should put them in an interesting competitive position. The browser will certainly be on par with the iPhone browser. Now we just need to find out when this will become available ?

Google Android – You’re hired !

It seems that we are all becoming slaves to our cell phones, which got me thinking about what kind of boss each particular operating system might be, be it Symbian, iPhone, Windows Mobile, or Google’s Android. Are you indentured to your phone, or do you work together to get things done?

Symbian is an old school, powerful workhorse. It does what it says it’s going to do, but not much more. The tricks that it knows, it knows well – but getting this OS to do new tricks can be a bit onerous.

iPhone is the new kid on the block, all sparkle and charm. Everyone is loving the iPhone…well, almost everyone. Apparently Microsoft doesn’t think too highly of it. The iPhone is the kind of boss that loves to hear your ideas, as long as they fit into a preplanned concept that fits the structure determined by this boss. Anything outside the norms will be disregarded and/or ignored. Most people love to work with this kind of boss – see groupthink.

Ahh, Windows Mobile. It would be too easy to go into detail as to what is wrong with the mobile OS from MS… but as a boss, Windows Mobile isn’t thaaaaat bad – it does some things well ( I especially like the reference that it is the best at integrating with other MS products – wow, who would have thought?) People say that the Windows Mobile OS is good because they think that the Windows desktop OS is good (yes – there are already enough blogs on this topic, I don’t need to touch this J ). It’s a fine example of nepotism – people like this boss because they liked the grandfather of this boss.

Now, here comes Google Android. This is a new type of boss, forward thinking and open to options. The Android is willing and able to work in many different environments and is not going to hose you at every chance it gets. In contrast to the iPhone business model, the Android boss is willing to work with you to develop new and exciting apps, all using an open source model. Experts working with experts = awesomeness. These guys say it best (albeit a while ago). As slaves consumers, we want the ability to do what we want, in the environment we want. Google is able to deliver this to us, and we will remain their humble servant for as long as they take care of us.

As AT&T, Apple, and Google battle it out the Canadian consumer is asleep

Google, Apple, and AT&T have been feuding over the last couple of weeks over what seems like Apple’s denying Google Voice Apps on the Apple App store. The US Government’s FCC has gotten involved, the press, consumers … and both Apple and AT&T have been forced into explaining their positions on the issue. With AT&T’s recent statement claiming they had no involvement in the matter it now looks like Apple is being pressured to explain.

AT&T released a statement yesterday stating:
“To that end, let me state unequivocally, AT&T had no role in any decision by Apple to not accept the Google Voice application for inclusion in the Apple App Store. AT&T was not asked about the matter by Apple at any time, nor did we offer any view one way or the other.

“AT&T does not block consumers from accessing any lawful website on the Internet. Consumers can download or launch a multitude of compatible applications directly from the Internet, including Google Voice, through any web-enabled wireless device.

Now it’s Apple’s turn to explain. Consumers are upset and something’s getting done about it.

What’s got me frustrated is Roger’s denying the Skype app on the Apple Canada App store. Rogers is the only jurisdiction in the world that doesn’t allow the Skype app on the Apple App store. It’s uncompetitive, monopolistic, and non consumer friendly. Rogers has a monopoly on the iPhone in Canada, and isn’t giving consumers the choice of where and how they should spend their dollars. Rogers and Bell should be regulated like the utilities that they are. Maybe the Canadian government should hold a hearing on breaking up Rogers and Bell. In actual fact, Rogers controls both the pipeline and the content on that pipeline. And when that happens, these uncompetitive moves are the end result.

The US government recognizes the problem and has acted accordingly. Why isn’t the Canadian government or CRTC doing anything about it ? People – it’s time to speak up.