Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, iPhone, App Store, iPod touch
Do Android & WebOS need iPod touch clones?
Dan Frommer's post this morning over at Silicon Alley Insider suggests that one of the missing pieces from the competitive pie, as far as Google and Palm's mobile OS offerings are concerned, is a 3G-free & contractless device. Something, perhaps, like the iPod touch. Absent a way for consumers and developers to buy into the platform without the burden of a monthly cellphone contract, he argues, the two players are unlikely to build the critical mass of apps and app purchasers that would grant vitality and staying power in the face of the Apple/App Store ecosystem.
It's easy to see that the touch provides a great boost to the App Store juggernaut; about one-third of the 50 million-plus iPhone OS devices are estimated to be iPod touch units, and all those owners are potential app and music customers. Certainly there's an audience for Android (if not WebOS, which is more telephony-centric to my mind) on a disconnected gadget?
Unfortunately, Frommer's analysis is missing two key pieces of market data. Number one, as was adroitly pointed out by Joachim on Sunday's talkcast, there already is a contract-free developer handheld for Android, available for $399 from the Android Market... exactly what he proposes in the last paragraph of his story. There's also the new Archos 5 Internet Tablet, a consumer-grade, contract-free and phoneless Android tablet, ready for the eager Android personal media player buyers to snap up. (The equivalent contract-free Pre is a stark $899, and there is no 3G-less WebOS device that I can find.) Update: A commenter notes the Creative Zii Egg, another impending Android PMP that looks astonishingly like an Apple product.
That's where we come to the second market truth that Frommer missed, and it's a harsh one: Nobody knows, and nobody cares. Even a guy writing about this precise topic had no idea -- and apparently couldn't quickly discover from a casual search -- that these devices were already out in the field, despite frequent coverage of the Archos device on Engadget and elsewhere over the past few months. If there's any starker evidence that the market for non-phone Android and WebOS devices simply doesn't exist yet, I can't imagine what it would be.
Part of the reason for the iPod touch's success is that it clearly combined two already-successful products: the iPhone and the iPod. The 'elevator pitch' for the device ("It's an iPhone but with Wi-Fi instead of the phone") is simple and straightforward. Unfortunately for Android, there really isn't a dynamic personal media player market anymore that supports a phoneless entrant... it got eaten by the iPod.
I do think it would be healthy for the iPhone and for the portable OS market in general if developers and customers had more contract-free options on the other platforms. Still, the retroactive wish-fulfillment of Frommer's post doesn't bode well. "Oh, they already have that? Gosh."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Xyg said 1:39PM on 11-25-2009
Michael,
To be fair, the German Pre on O2 is the only one that's sold contract free, and even then it has to be activated on the O2 network in order to fully function (read: get past the profile creation/log in screen). As of the publishing of this article, Palm does not sell a "developer" handset that's *really* unlocked and can be activated on any network.
Cheers!
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mechdrew said 1:57PM on 11-25-2009
The problem with Android and WebOS is that the hardware is not standardized at all. With the iPhone/iPod Touch combo, the hardware is similar, the software is cross-compatible (with a few small exceptions) and the price is right for Touch. Android handsets are all over the place with screen sizes, multi-touch/no multi-touch, buttons/no buttons, etc. I had hopes for WebOS to be more iPhone-like, but then they released the Pixi with a different screen size.
Although the processing speed and graphics capabilities may vary, the iPhone and iPod Touch are similar, and that's a huge win for both developers and consumers. Plus there's the name; I bet more people have heard of the iPhone and iPod Touch but wouldn't have a clue that Android is a mobile operating system.
The Zune HD may be able to come closer, but that's only if Microsoft doesn't mess it up like everyone else has. And I don't have high hopes on that one.
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macserv said 2:11PM on 11-25-2009
You can't describe the Android developer device as "available", as far as most end users are concerned. It's simply not consumable by the masses.
For one thing, it's $200 more than an iPod Touch, and has only one-eigth the storage capacity out of the box. You can upgrade that to 16GB, but the iPod touch is available with up to 64GB.
Second, there's no support for it. This isn't always a problem for geeks like us, but for the people described in the article, it's a deal breaker.
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Michael Rose said 2:27PM on 11-25-2009
I'm not describing it as available for end users, I'm describing it as available for developers, which is exactly what the SAI piece suggested.
ahmed said 2:14PM on 11-25-2009
umm does the zii egg ring a bell
its by creative and it has android its not aphone
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Dan Woods said 2:22PM on 11-25-2009
The iPod Touch fills the niche for people who can't get an iPhone.
People in the US who can't access AT&T can get an iPod Touch instead.
Young people who can't be trusted with a Mobile Service Contact can get an iPod Touch instead.
People with a work phone which can't be replaced can get an iPod Touch instead.
iPod Touches cannibalise iPhone sales. WebOS and Android Phones can't afford that sort of cannibalisation because they are still behind the ball compared to the iPhone. Android's technology is sound, but marketing fails. Palm's hype-machine is great, but it can't even run native Apps!
The Android, WebOS, WiMo devices aren't must-have enough to create that sort of demand.
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Dan Woods said 2:34PM on 11-25-2009
Also, Android devices are likely to reach end-of-life quickly because they are both cheaply manufactured and not upgradable. Then they can be handed down with the phone software disabled as a "Media Device"
A 1st Gen iPhone or iPod Touch can still run iPhoneOS 3.0.1 with not artificial restrictions on functionality.
There are still Android phones being released running AndroidOS 1.5, which will never be upgradable to AndroidOS 2.0 due to technical restrictions.
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Larry D said 4:54PM on 11-25-2009
There are hardware restrictions which directly impact apps, though - lack of camera, GPS, etc.
Dan Woods said 5:28PM on 11-25-2009
On Android it is more prominent.
One manufacturer might add the "Killer Feature" and create their own proprietary way of implementing it. (Think Bluetooth on Windows).
When Google finally get around to implementing it natively, there are already dozens of unique ways of doing the Killer Feature, all incompatible.
At least Apple's inconsistencies between Hardware Versions have practical reasons. (slower processor, crippled chipset, lack of hardware)
Teslanaut said 2:52PM on 11-25-2009
A resounding heck yes from me.
I'm still waiting for that mysterious Zii Egg device thing. To be honest, I've had my 1st Gen iPod touch since about a few weeks before the 2nd generation came out. Its getting quite boring and old. I need something new, something refreshing to play with.
Now if the iPod touch just had a Camera, I'd be feeling a bit different.
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Charbax said 5:24PM on 11-25-2009
You can make phone calls on Archos 5 Internet Tablet with Android over WiFi and over 3G using Bluetooth tethering to any cheap phone in your other pocket with a 3G data access. On the Archos Android Tablet you can use any of Fring, SIPdroid, Gizmo with Google Voice to make FREE CALLS.
So discarding Archos as "not a phone" is not the truth.
I would argue that Archos at 249 dollars for the 8GB model without a contract, is better than a phone because it doesn't require a contract yet it lets you make FREE CALLS.
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Michael Rose said 10:04PM on 11-25-2009
That's a reasonable stance, but by that logic the iPod touch is also a phone -- paired with a MiFi 3G router. I think, despite the option of free calls, the point here is that the Archos is a contract-free device.
JAQ said 10:45PM on 11-25-2009
The "elevator pitch" for a 3Gless Android device would be "Like an iPod Touch, but from Google". Just as the pitch for the Touch (which is usually described more ironically as "Like an iPhone without the phone") refers to another better-known product, referring to this wifi-only Android in terms of the Touch would make it more instantly understandable.
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Norman said 2:04PM on 11-26-2009
I'm not looking for an iPod Touch or a Personal Media Player. I want a PDA to replace my Palm T|X. But the best alternative I can find so far is the iPod Touch. I'm not willing to change carriers and spend the extra for a data plan that I probably won't use and definitely don't need. I depend on my Palm to keep me organized. I already have a phone.
What keeps me from the Archos 5 or the Zii Egg is the lack of access to the Android Market Place. Well, that and the fact that the Zii isn't ready as a consumer device. They both have killer hardware features (assuming they work reliably) but if I can't get software to actually use the hardware, I'm stuck with a paperweight that plays video.
Apple has built up an ecosystem into which the iPod Touch fits well. For Android or Palm to compete against this, there needs to be a sufficient ecosystem for that OS. Until that time, Apple will be the only game in town for replacing a PDA.
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