June 23rd, 2008
Carriers delay Google Android launch
It would be nice if The Wall Street Journal at least got the headline right.
The full quarter delay in the launch of Google’s Android phone is entirely the fault, and desire, of the carriers involved.
- T-Mobile is sucking all the oxygen out of the room with its demands for proprietary advantages in the phone it will launch in the fourth quarter.
- Sprint can’t decide whether to launch the phone on its own network or the WiMax system it’s building with Clearwire and Google.
- China Mobile won’t launch without full Chinese character support.
- No one else can build applications because Google has to keep changing the design for the carriers.
I may be wasting electrons here, but let me just point out (again) that these problems would not exist if the government simply set standards for hardware and opened up the spectrum to competition.
Instead of waiting on i’s to be dotted, t’s to be crossed, and marketers to be soothed, companies in the 802.11 market often send out gear before the details are even finalized.
It’s this private regulation of the market which is slowing growth. Monopolists are far worse regulators than government.
“This is where the pain happens,” is the quote offered by Andy Rubin, Google’s director of mobile platforms. Through clenched teeth, no doubt.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a business journalist for 30 years, a tech freelancer since 1983. You can follow Dana on Twitter. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
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| 06/23/08
