Android - Googlization of mobile cloud...?

I’ve read many reviews of Android, the Google-led mobile software developer platform. But Paul Grim’s takes the cake.

So far the reactions to Android have been mixed. The first is that it’s all hype, that mobile platforms are too hard to get right (e.g. Microsoft and Symbian still haven’t succeeded in making a great user interface with their mobile operating systems). Some are even saying that Android is not open enough. The second reaction is that Android will be the mobile operating system of the future, and that a Facebook-style development frenzy is about to kick off.

Android’s opportunity is also WiMAX’s opportunity, Grim thinks. WiMAX technology lets users access broadband internet from the phones and Sprint has championed it. Sprint recently lost its chief executive, Gary Forsee, and its WiMAX plans are uncertain (see this WSJ article for more). According to Grim, Sprint could work with Google as well as Intel, Cisco and the other Silicon Valley companies that have invested hundreds of millions into WiMAX technology.

Grim has previously held a dimmer view of the technology’s chances of succeeding, here.

The vision, according to Barry West, CTO of Sprint is to completely move away from the telco model of selling minutes of airtime and kilobytes of data. Who better than Google to develop an ad-supported mobile revenue model...?

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