No news was bigger than the announcement of Android by Google. It is planned to go up against Windows Mobile and seeing how Google had formed the Open Handset Alliance, it does have some very capable partners by its side, including HTC, Windows Mobile biggest manufacturers. So what does this new operating system bring to the world of smartphones? And more importantly, what does this mean for us?

More Choices

Without a doubt, an addition to the operating system increases the number of choices we have. From Symbian, to Linux, to Palm and BlackBerry, not forgetting Windows Mobile, how does one choose which operating system to use? Each has it’s pros and cons and some have even been ported from one to the other, such as the case of BlackBerry to Windows Mobile.

It’s always good to have a new competitor who brings something new to the table but what exactly is Android going to bring? The Open Handset Alliance promises a ‘richer, less expensive and better mobile experience’ but until we can see it in action, I don’t see how this will be an advantage to the smartphone industry.

Better User-Interface

That being said, I am sure that Android has some plans to put words into a great user-experience. And when that happens, other manufacturers and developers will sit up and take notice of it. And hopefully bring it to their platform of expertise. When the iPhone was launched, the drag and scroll was a very nifty feature that minimized stylus use but at the same time made it much easier for its users. Very soon, software developers such as was bringing such features to Window Mobile.

In the end, everyone wins. You may not get the exact same features of the other platform, but it’s a start that would definitely improve with time. With HTC’s Touch, you can have that feature which works even better due to the hardware behind it. Who knows, maybe in a couple of months, most new devices might just sport this technology and our experience gets elevated.

Better Software

And with a better user-interface, you can defintely create a lot more and better software. But even if you do not have the technologny in your device, that does not mean you are denied the software. With more and more developers coming out of the shadows, it might just be a matter of time before you see a useful software on one platform being used in Windows Mobile.

Slide2Unlock is one such software that started out on Apple’s iPhone and can now be had on Windows Mobile. In my opinion, it is one of the best keylock software out there and wondered why it was never created earlier. But now that we have it, I guess it would not be long before any great software that Android comes up with is ported over to Windows Mobile.

Conclusion

It’s still too early to see how Android will impact Windows Mobile but seeing how a big company (Apple) recently brought a breath of fresh air to the world of smartphones with its iPhone, it could be the same case with Android. Google has been known to make it easier and user-friendly and we might just see those features ported to the Windows Mobile platform. Change is coming and it looks good.

What are your hopes for Windows Mobile?

Tags: opinion