Apple has had their week, showing us what it means to make an amazing Laptop. Microsoft has had their week, showing the future of computing and how they plan to make their phones finally competitive. Now it is Google's turn and here is what I think they need to do.
First off they need to fix their tablet problems. The fact is that most Android tablets suck. This doesn't mean that their hardware isn't there it's just that barely any developers write apps for Android Tablet's. The iPad's ecosystem is just too strong when it comes to the quality of apps involved. Also, now Microsoft has introduced one beautiful new tablet that is very promising, if they can deliver on what they showed off then Android Tablet's will have an even bigger problem. If the rumors are true and Google announces a Nexus Table this week then hopefully they will introduce something that will make consumers look away from the iPad. Something needs to be done to make Android Tablet's interesting to consumers.
The second thing they need to do is fix all this fragmentation. Whether or not you agree or disagree that fragmentation is a problem, when you are about to announce your next version of Android and less than 10% of your users are on the current 4.0 platform, that is a problem. Google should put their foot down and force their OEM's to get a better upgrade plan in place. Also, and this is a personal note, I couldn't even tell you what Android 4.0 looks like because almost every android device has some sort of custom UI interface plugged in to what the Phone Manufacturer wanted. Some of them are nice, but honestly I think it is annoying and sometimes makes Android look like crap. Force them to change Google, yes you have a huge ecosystem with your Android operating system but do you really have brand loyalty. Honestly, as annoying as it is that current Windows Phones will not get Windows 8, I think it would be even more annoying never knowing exactly when your phone will get the next version of Android, if it is going to at all. Seriously the new Samsung Galaxy S III is just being released. But in a few weeks, just watch and Samsung will release a new phone even better with Jelly Bean on it. Even though Apple may be slow to update things at least you know that your phone is top notch at least for a whole year, and you know you will get an update even if it's limited (for no reason.) Google can easily fix some of these issues simply by laying down what phone companies must do if they want to continue using the Android operating system. Don't believe me about fragmentation. Just check out this picture below, it is a picture of all the devices that one developer must test their apps on to insure that they work correctly. There are almost 400 devices here. It shouldn't have to be that difficult.
To kind of some these things up, Google can fix their issues to maintain their current position simply by telling Phone companies what they can and cannot do, and get a regular updating system going for these phones. Yes that might mean some of these custom skins of Manufactures would have to go, but seriously plain old Android is not ugly, it looks really nice I promise. They also need to push their tablet market and make it relevant. If they can show us this week that they can do some of these things or better then maybe they can deflate some of the steam that Microsoft has built for themselves this week. Microsoft is gunning for them and they have the cash to throw around to make things happen, and even though they have been a sleeping giant in the past both Google and Apple need to not rest on their marketshares. I am interested to see what Google shows us this week, hopefully it is enough to wow us.
