In-depth

Apple vs Google: Tale of the tape

Apple and Google are moving into each other's markets - but who will come out ahead?

23 Jul 2010

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Apple and Google are increasingly going head to head in similar markets we run down the tale of the tape to predict a winner.

Mobile

Pretty much before Android was even a glint in its father's eye, Apple was dominating the mobile scene with its iconic and very shiny iPhone. But, while most of us loved the first generation device, it lacked some pretty key features. The 3G device came along and bettered things and then the 3GS took things a step further and made us even more smiley. That said, it still lacked true multitasking ability and some key enterprise features. Until the recent arrival of the iPhone 4, that is.

The new OS boasts the business features you need such as mobile device management tools, enhanced security and a unified inbox, as well as letting users those with a 3GS rather than a 3G, that is multi task and arrange their plentiful apps collection into neat little folders.

Google's Android, on the other hand, is an amazing operating system, with a great deal of developer and industry support behind it. But, in the main, some of the devices it has been placed on have lacked the pizzazz of the iPhone. The Hero tried to change all that and did quite well. Then came along the Legend and Desire, which are starting to get users excited even as we type. Google has even got in on the hardware act itself by launching its own handset, the Nexus One, although it has recently said there won't be a follow-up.

That said, the latest version of Android, version 2.2 can handle multiple Exchange accounts and boasts other business-friendly features.

Operator support is on a par for the two companies, though Android casts its net slightly wider than Apple, but not wide enough for it to be a deal breaker. Once O2's exclusive hold over the iPhone ended, Vodafone, Orange and Tesco Mobile customers as well as O2, too were able to get their hands on the iPhone without switching operators.

It's a tough choice. Apple's iPhone now has both substance and style and is still a device to make you drool, whereas Google's Android appears on a wider range of handsets. That is, more than one. But both have a rich heritage of innovation and enthusiastic support slag off Apple and the fan bois bay for your blood and say bad things about Android and you still better watch your back and a hell of a lot of potential going forward.

Because of all that's gone before and the exciting stuff on the horizon, it's too close to call and we're declaring it a tie.