(News Focus) Android smartphone makers strive to stand out

By Lee Youkyung
SEOUL, Feb. 22 (Yonhap) -- With Apple Inc.'s absence and the alliance between
Nokia Corp. and Microsoft Corp. in the fledgling stage, a recent global mobile
fair in Barcelona highlighted one of the biggest challenges mobile hardware
vendors face these days: how to stand out among a flurry of Android smartphones.
All new smartphones announced during the Mobile World Congress last week were
based on Google Inc.'s Android platform, with an identical home screen and short
cuts to Google's map, search, Android market and voice services.
That means new smartphones hitting shelves in the next two months or so will all
run on a similar Android platform.
But so-called commoditization, a term that hearkens back to the personal computer
industry where a fierce price competition among Windows-based hardware vendors
made PCs cheap and undifferentiated commodities, has yet to befall Android
smartphones, according to Google officials and the company's mobile phone
partners.
"There is an incredible amount of differentiation going on," Andy Rubin, a vice
president for engineering at Google, told reporters last week in Barcelona.
"Each of our partners has the area they excel at, and they are showing devices
that highlight their strength," said Jongyeong Lee, a manager at Google who gave
guided tours at Google's Android booth during the mobile fair. "Samsung has
displays, LG has 3-D, HTC has smartphones and Sony has games."
Samsung Electronics Co., among the world's largest vendors of Android mobile
devices, announced the second generation of its flagship Galaxy S smartphone last
week with an updated screen, sporting vivid and bright colors on a wider display.

"What do consumers want? They want a big screen. All manufacturers are scaling up
the size of the screen," said an official at Samsung's mobile division. "But they
also want something thin and light."
The screen was one of the three elements that Samsung Electronics -- which
started out as a TV maker in the 1970s -- thinks will distinguish the next
generation of smartphones, along with speed and content.
LG Electronics Inc., the world's third-largest mobile phone maker after Nokia and
Samsung, added 3-D features to its new Android smartphone and tablet computer,
hoping to add a premium price to its high-end lineup.
LG said its Optimus 3D smartphone can record, play back and share 3-D videos
without the user wearing a pair of special glasses to view the content. Visitors
to LG Electronics' booth at the mobile fair were seen playing 3-D games, such as
car racing, on the Optimus 3D.
"In 2009 and 2010, a lot of companies made a big push into 3-D and produced 3-D
content," Park Jong-seok, president and chief executive of LG's mobile
communications division, told reporters in Barcelona. "The cost we invest in 3-D
is a good cost. We can get higher prices (from buyers)."
But it was the gaming smartphone from Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB that
was probably the most successful in singling itself out in the sea of Android.
Many consumers are likely to view the Xperia Play as the smartphone version of
Sony's famed PlayStation before they even notice its affiliation with Google's
Android.
The Xperia Play has a control pad that slides out from the square body akin to a
touch-based smartphone. The game pad reveals touch pads, buttons and PlayStation
icons, which enable complex manipulations that enthuse users of Sony's console
games.
"On top of the touch-based user interface that absorbs all basic, casual games
from the Android marketplace, this gaming pad allows playing difficult, hard-core
console games as well," said Park Sang-tae, a senior marketing manager at Sony
Ericsson.



Google's top management touted such a trend in Android smartphones as the result
of the open, adaptable nature of their platform.
"Android is well-suited because it is an OS that somebody can take and adapt to a
local market," said Google's Rubin.
"You have the base platform, and you have the ability to add value and let the
customers decide if they like that value added or not," said Eric Schmidt,
Google's chief executive officer.
But the wealth of choices within Android devices demonstrated during the mobile
trade show does not mean that Android is the sole option for consumers.
Despite all the buzz and fanfare new Android smartphones generated on the stage,
the winner of the 16th Annual Global Mobile Awards announced during the mobile
fair went to Android's biggest rival -- the iPhone.
"Great screen, sharp design, fantastic materials and phenomenal ecosystem for app
developers. In a tight race, the iPhone 4 built on the success of its
predecessors to set the pace for smartphones," the jury said of the winner of the
best mobile device award. Nominees included Samsung's Galaxy S and HTC's Desire,
both built on the Android platform.



ylee@yna.co.kr
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