Google-Microsoft rivalry can be considered as the biggest in the web world and taking the rivalry to another step, Google had been working on an alliance with Intel’s Android. This teaming up could spell trouble for not just Microsoft, but even MeeGo and every other Anti-Android patent.
Microsoft with its Windows 8’s preview recently had main eyeballs rolling with its attractiveness and maybe even had an impact to be in the biggie news section. But the announcement of Google’s Android entering the Intel world makes the former news a minnow.
For the winner tag, ZDNet writer James Kendrick says that the Google-Intel deal would include “OEMs already fluently speaking Intel yet not already on the Android team.” This can be understood for those companies like Dell which have shown their loyalty for Windows for the last couple of decades. Of course, this cannot be assumed that Android would be in to post a challenge for Windows on the desktop.
For the patents, Google is now well-equipped to handle the proceedings. One can even presume that the Android patent enemies are going to have a tough time winning the cases. Basically, patent wars has nothing to do with who copied what, as software patents have been broadly constructed, which makes everyone a violator of some patent or the other. The main point is, who can win it in the court by outlasting their opponents, and Google wont have any real problems in that case. Agreed, Google has lost many a cases earlier, but it would work hard to ensure that it does not lose out on any Android related patent war.
Google made a mistake by dumping their own patent ammo, but Google is now on a recovery track as it has started owning many patents to its name and the big fish everyone thought was the Motorola deal, which came in for a pretty overvalued kind off price. But there might be something much bigger and better happening for Google with Intel’s rich patent profile. This addition would mean that Google is now actually strong enough to fight the patent wars without a bluff.
Microsoft would now have to worry more than ever as its rich patent claim might go out of its hands and the search engine giant is even lethal with its search engine to give out further more share to other search engines. But the worst is that Microsoft’s planned tablet launch is under threat with the step Intel has opted for.
Here it can be said that Microsoft might have delayed not only its smartphone and tablet, but even its entry in the mobile world. Reason being that no doubt it rules on the desktops and laptops, but for the mobile world, Android has eaten up a good market share and Apple even is nothing less that one in the biggest competitor for anyone in the mobile world. May it be the high-end of the smartphone or the low-end, there seems to be no real place for a Windows phone as future looks like Apple will earn the biggest share of the high-end ones, while Android will rule the low-end of the smartphones.
Talking about MeeGo, the Linux-based mobile operating system might be on its way to join HP’s WebOS in the operating system junkyard. Even though Doug Fisher, general manager of Intel’s Systems Software Division, said just the other week that Intel was “fully committed” to MeeGo, but with Intel partnering Google, MeeGo’s future looks bleak.