Now that we know Android is coming, does this mean the game is on between Apple and Google's camp? After all, Apple has no camp.
In the short-term, appetite for the iPhone will not diminish because of any moves from Apple competitors but to be sure, Jobs is keeping an eye on the ball. What does that mean? Innovation and keeping the pressure on competitors to keep up.
That may be easier, if there is such a thing, if Apple was facing only the entrenched phone makers and OS developers like Microsoft. But Google is unlike any competitor Apple has faced in the past.
We'll know is about a year's time if Android can gain traction.
There will be those who believe that iPhone's partnership with iTunes will give it an advantage. True, but it is not as if Apple's competitors are not learning. Take the app store. Just about everyone is developing its own app store. T-Mobile, Blackberry, and Microsoft have all said their own app store is forthcoming.
And then there's Dell renewed effort to get back into the music play. So far, there is not a lot of details about it. What little there is sounds another conspiratorial effort by the music industry to wrestle control away from iTunes.
But suppose this is incorporated with Android phones? Again, this is no guarantee this will make Google's Android an instant success but easy access to un-DRM'd mp3 music may be just the thing to shake up iTunes a bit.
In this scenario, would Apple have to worry? Maybe a bit. It's my belief that Apple has already foreseen the day when there is a strong competitor to the iPhone-iTunes combo. It's also my belief that Apple will finally show its cards on how to deal with this eventuality.
So, lots of changes are ahead as more Android phones become available. Google and its partners will be playing catch-up for a while and they are not worried about an Blackberry or iPhone killers given the specs we've seen so far. Still Apple will have to push pretty hard to stay ahead of its competitors.
For that, I'm glad.
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