Worldwide the iPhone has proved the viability of an easy-to-use mobile applications market. But will the cheaper Android bring the experience to India?
Rajeev Prasad is hardly a techie. Employed as a financial analyst in a Bangalore firm, his iPhone nevertheless has a few interesting applications on it.
 |
“This one’s for my son, when I want him to surrender the remote control to me at home,” he says, demonstrating a freely downloaded paint-with-your-finger application on his phone.
Utilitarian considerations aside, iPhone users like Rajeev who download applications from the iPhone App Store are warming the hearts of developers. Many users have phones that allow downloaded applications to be installed on them. However, most users, except for those that use iPhones, don’t bother.
“It is the delivery mechanism,” says Vibhore Goyal, CTO to a few startups and a Microsoft veteran. Vibhore and his friends, while at IIT Bombay, had tried to design a Linux-based operating system for cell phones four years ago. He is currently working on bringing one of his projects, direct hiring service, Cocubes, onto the mobile platform.
“The crucial question for a developer is, how to reach out to the end consumer,” he says. “That is what is different about iPhone applications. It’s already there on the phone, at their fingertips. So, people can just click on an icon and browse through the different applications and if they like something, download and install it with another click,” he points out.
 |
Under the traditional model – for example, of installing an instant messaging application on a Nokia phone – one would have to know the application provider’s website, go there using the phone-browser, download and install it. If your phone does not have Internet connection, that means downloading the application to your PC and then using some other software to install the application on your phone through a cable. “The problem with this model is that the adoption rates drop dramatically,” says Amit Doshi of Mumbai-based Webodrome Arise Technologies, a company that provides consulting and development services for the mobile and Web platforms, and other solutions to operators, product companies, etc.
The iPhone model also gives developers a lot of wriggle room, adds Vibhore: “If you just want to test out an idea you have, this one gives you an easy access to the market. Write a basic application and publish it on the store. If people like [and] many people download it, I can work more on it. With two to three million people coming to browse the App Store everyday, some will definitely give it a try. I don’t need to worry about hosting, up-times etc.”
 |
The second factor favoring the iPhone model has been the relative simplicity of the development and testing process. Currently, applications can be developed that talk directly to the phone’s OS, like Symbian, Linux, OS X, Windows, etc., or through middleware like Java. However, even within a single OS like Symbian, used by Nokia and Sony Ericsson phones, there are three to four different versions, and testing and modifications have to be done on each.
To get over the fragmentation of the market, Java was developed. However, its success in easing the pains of mobile application development is also mixed. Java is present on most mid- to high-end phones, and, theoretically, all these phones should be able to run Java applications out of the box.
“However, the way Java is implemented on the handsets varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and model to model,” says Navin Thangiah, director for market development at Bangalore-based mChek, one of India’s most prominent mobile application developers. “Even though the promise was to write once and run anywhere, in practice, we have to make sure that the application works in each handset – the keys match, the screen-sizes are properly resolved, etc. That means checking your application on hundreds of handsets and modifying it to run on each of them if needed.”
The need to tailor programs for each handset is not just a developer hassle. For consumers trying to install a program, it means selecting the right version for the phone from a big list of models. “We have completely stopped developing Java applications for this reason,” says Amit.
 |
| The Android is so open that not just Google, but anyone can come up with an app-store; with payments and all that taken care of. Google has [promised] 55 handsets on Android by next year. Amit Doshi Webodrome Arise Technologies |
Not all Good News
It is therefore perhaps not that surprising that within three days of the launch of the App Store in July this year, iPhone users downloaded nearly 10 million applications. In the first two months, the number climbed to 100 million. The number of applications climbed from 800 to 3,000 during the same time period.
However, not everything about the App Store is developer-friendly, especially for India. Apart from the low iPhone penetration in the country, Apple’s tight control over the store is another reason for concern. Under the terms of usage, developers of iPhone applications are not supposed to duplicate (read compete with) ‘official’ applications released by Apple, like the iTunes music management suite. The iPhone also allows only one third-party application to run at a time, making things like instant messaging impractical. In addition, any application on the App Store has to be approved by Apple. Besides, it is not possible to install applications on an iPhone from any other source. In addition to all this, Apple keeps 30% of the revenues from the applications on the iPhone.
“There is concern among some that Apple can hold you to ransom, there’s some fear of being completely shut out,” says Navin of mChek. Yet, for all the misgivings, Navin believes that the pros outweigh the cons. “In the software product business, time-to-market is everything,” he adds, “If you have to conduct tests with 100 different handset models and modify to suit all of them before launching your product, it takes too much time. With the iPhone, you don’t have to worry about that. In addition, you are getting a market of 10 million consumers at one go, with no investment in delivery channels or billing. For all this, 30% is a steal.”
Android – Best of Both Worlds?
It is at this juncture that Google and its Open Handset Alliance have announced the release of the Android operating system for phones. At a glance, it seems to combine the best of both worlds – no portability issues and no gatekeepers into the applications world. In addition, Google is also giving out $10 million to developers for the Android platform.
 |
| The crucial question for a developer is, how to reach out to the end consumer. That is what is different about iPhone applications. It’s already there on the phone, at their fingertips. Vibhore Goyal |
“The Android is so open that not just Google, but anyone can come up with an app-store; with payments and all that taken care of,” says Amit of Webodrome Arise. The key, he agrees, will be adoption rates. “Google has [promised] 55 handsets on Android by next year.” he adds.
Another advantage for Android is that unlike for the iPhone, application development is similar to Java, with the coding language being almost the same. Also, unlike for the iPhone, developers do not have to work on a Mac platform.
Perhaps none is more qualified to speculate about the future of mobile applications than Shig Sando, the former managing director for global i-mode business at the Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. DoCoMo is recognized as one of the pioneers in bringing applications to the mobile platform.
“The issue is, can Android become popular without J2ME?” he asks. Coming from a market where phone models are chosen and retailed by the operator, unlike in India, Shig points to the aspect of operator-friendliness for the OS. In such markets, he points, Android has to be prove its attractiveness to the operator before it gets a chance with the consumer.
“More importantly, how and why are telecom operators going to introduce it into their market? If a large brand seriously drives the Android with good reason, competing against Apple, etc., then it would be a start to the race,” he points out.
Subscribe to this comment's feed
written by Timberland boots sale, August 20, 2010
written by MBT shoes clearance, August 20, 2010
written by Aarzu, July 30, 2010
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
