Research firm Gartner this month published reports which indicated that the Android platform has overtaken Apple’s iPhone as the world’s 3rd most popular smartphone operating system (OS) with 17.2% of the global smartphone market behind BlackBerry and Symbian (Nokia).  In the US the Android OS was the number 1 smartphone OS in the US for the last quarter (Q2 2010).  Worldwide sales of Android cell phones passed 10.5 million in the last quarter – that’s an astonishing 1300% increase over last year when sales were below 1 million. In 2 months, Android sales have risen from 100K per day to 200K per day, according to Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt.

5 reasons for Android’s phenomenal growth

If you are like me you may be wondering what’s driving this growth. Well there are several reasons behind this, but here are my top 5 reasons for Android’s phenomenal growth:

1. Multiple Corporate Interests – While Google may be credited with anything Android, the truth is that Android is being developed by an Open Handset Alliance made up of a business alliance of 78 firms that came together to create open standards for mobile handsets. Some of the key members include Google, HTC, Dell, Intel, Motorola, Samsung, LG, T-Mobile, Sony Ericsson and eBay to name a few.  Many of these firms have a financial interest to see Android succeed and together they are making this happen.
2. Open source means lower cost – The fact that Android is open source based (Linux OS) means that there are no licensing fees to pay to any one company (e.g. Microsoft) and in return Android based smartphones are cheaper to build and can be more affordable for customers.
3. iPhone exclusivity – When Apple decided to take the exclusivity route with carriers, it created a major imbalance in the market for the other carriers. Take Verizon for example, with no iPhone to sell to customers it must find an iPhone alternative for its 90+ million subscribers. And that alternative is……you guessed it….Android. Android has been successfully marketed as an iPhone replacement/killer and pushed by all the other carriers that didn’t have it. Here in Canada Bell and Telus were forced to adopt the same strategy when the iPhone was exclusive to Rogers over the last 2 years.
4. Google support – All things web and online related goes through Google or so they would like. So in order to support this initiative Google has made sure that its most popular applications integrate seamlessly into the Android operating system. I am talking about Gmail, Google Maps, Google Search, Google Calender and Google talk to name a few. It has also supported the apps ecosystem to ensure that there is an endless supply of good applications for Android based devices. So much so that Android apps are now rivaling the iPhone.  Only time will tell who will end up with the top application environment. Given Android’s rapid growth, guess where I’m placing my bet.
5. It includes Flash Support – Have you tried to surf the web without flash? Its a horrible experience. Froyo, Android’s latest version is integrating Flash 10 support. Apple’s position not support Flash is helping Android in this department. This means that Android mobile users will be able to experience a very similar experience on there mobile devices as they on their desktop computers.

Conclusion

While Android has shot through the stratosphere, I don’t expect it continue,  because the same reasons that made Android great will cause  it  to return to  ground. Google’s support and apps will be made available to all mobile operating systems, the iPhone exclusivity will eventually disappear and Verizon will get the iPhone. In addition, Apple will eventually embrace Flash and Microsoft will innovate and include enough incentives to allow some of the manufacturers that are part of the Open Handset Alliance  movement to also adopt Windows operating systems. So while nothing lasts forever, Android is on a nice high right now and will likely milk this for all its worth!

Looking for the best Android cell phones then get it on your terms.

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This is not meant to be a features based comparison between the iPhone and one of Blackberry’s leading devices, the Bold. And its not meant to describe which unit has the coolest games or nicest apps or any of those items. Cause if it was, then hands down the iPhone would win out (well maybe not hands down).

Its simply about getting stuff done and in a simple and convenient way.  No smartphone out there can compare with the blackberry smartphones for email functionality, the BIS and BES toolkit takes email with its push technology to another level.  It always amazes me that I get the email first on my Blackberry device before I receive it on my desktop computer.  Now that’s efficient.

Let’s get down to why the Bold is a superior productivity device:

• full QWERTY key pad, much better than Apple’s touch screen keypad
• SureType technology even completes your sentences for you and learns as you use it
• easy to keep track of multiple email accounts
• a dream if you are a talk and text fan; if you are a heavy texter then you need your keypad
• speed on the go, single key speed dial functionality

And the best secret out there is the blackberry messenger which allows blackberry users to “PIN” other blackberry users, free of any network charges! Now that’s cool.

I also love the quick icon downloads feature which allows my favorite website links to be placed on my mobile desktop for quick access. So I can easily bookmark and access my key websites with one click. No fancy tech here, just quick and easy access.

Not to mention the ease of cut and pasting (the new updates for the iPhone has finally included cut and paste functionality).

So in short, while the iPhone is an iconic device and many live and die by it, give me my blackberry any day, I just would like to be productive and get my stuff done.

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