Fear is a great motivator

Wow..have you checked out the news lately? If you have, you've undoubtedly heard or read about the on going lawsuit against HTC and thus Google's Android. Apple's alleging that HTC had violated several iPhone patents. I'm sure these include the gimmicky pinch-zoom gesture and the iconic tablet like look of the current gen smartphones among other things.

This particular spat has awakened the curiosity in me: why now, Apple? Make no mistake, its their right of course to pursue the lawsuit if they think that's really what's happening. I for one though, don't think its gonna fly. I mean, all other mobile makers have been using touch and the like on their phones since the iPhone and the iPod Touch made their debut. And why not? The iPhone et al have been selling like hotcakes. Its only natural everyone wants a piece of that cake. The Koreans, notably, LG and Samsung have embraced the touch technology with open arms. Nokia has ported its beloved Symbian equipped phones to the touch model and have even used a new more touch-friendly OS called Maemo. But is Apple suing them? No. Why?

I have a hunch that its because Apple's afraid for the first time. Yes, the behemoth that is Apple Corp, is afraid that its baby is gonna be eclipsed. The Android has been getting better with each iteration and Apple's taking pre-emptive action, HTC being an example (if it falls through).

If you ask me the Android and iPhone OS caters to different types of people. Yes, they're both conceptually very similar and are natural competitors, but spend at least a day with either, you'll realise what I mean.

The iPhone is an excellent multimedia device. Its tightly integrated iPod player takes very good care of the music department. Better than the Android's crude music player. Its also extremely user-friendly being one of the more idiot-proof devices. And then there's the App Store which is loaded to the max with cool apps, but which whom are we kidding, cater more to games and music more than anything else.

The Android is first and foremost great at multitasking and thus, more apt at social networking and push emailing which should cater very well to the work-on-the-go types. As mentioned before, its multimedia capabilities aren't up to par with the iPhone. Admittedly though this varies depending on which phone its deployed on. However, where it really shines is its embracing of the Open Source nature. Which means its codes are free to anyone who's decent with some programming knowledge. Not to mention if you're a heavy Google apps user (gtalk, gmail, maps).

There you go. iPhone vs Android in a nutshell. Why is Apple really getting riled up? Well an article I read recently kinda confirmed my suspicions. Its no secret Google and Apple were great business partners, maybe still are. But the fact is Apple's CEO is getting personal, thinking that with the Android, Google has stabbed it in the back. Afterall, Apple's iPhone did use a fair bit of Google's applications. I say b*ll*cks to that.

Google has always been about power-to-the-people. And if Google knew that the iPhone would be revolutionary (and it is), why wouldn't it be promoted on it? Apple should really really stop getting emo and just get on with doing what it does best: marketing and innovating expensive, easy-to-use devices. Yes, I said expensive. I guess there's a price to pay if you want user-friendliness.

Well if you really want a direct comparison, then how bout personal tastes? Me, I'm just glad that there's an alternative and a really good one to the iPhone. It was getting a bit ubiquitous and thus, boring. Androids though, come in all shapes and sizes. Can you say that about the iPhone? Well maybe that fat one called the iPad...but nah..don't think so.

I like substance more than style.