Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reality Check column. We’ve gathered a group of visionaries and veterans in the mobile industry to give their insights into the marketplace.
Last week, the Android tablet community was rocked by aggressive patent-protection actions taken by Apple Inc. (AAPL) regarding its iPad. While certainly no one can blame Apple for trying to protect its IP, it did send a clear message to OEMs and suppliers playing in the Android tablet space.
OEMs producing Android tablets are on notice: don’t copy the iPad, whether by hardware design, applications or user experience. No more drafting in Apple’s innovation race. Android tablets better be different than iPad, and they better be different enough that a judge won’t stop sales.
Any supplier commercializing a tablet knows they’re fighting on two fronts:
1) How is it going to stack up against iPad? Is there anything we’re doing better, or at least equally as well? (and doing it without Apple sending its legal team after us.)
2) How can we differentiate in the very crowded Android tablet market and set it apart from the other 10 models on retailer shelves this holiday season?
Some may say that Apple feels threatened, while others say it’s ridiculous that Apple could be trying to lay claim to having patented the entire tablet space. Perhaps, but iPad has a long lead in the tablet space for a reason, namely innovation in user experience.
Surely someone can make an Android tablet that truly competes with iPad. OEMs don’t want to be content with trying to copy Apple, but need to balance the drive for short-term market gains with the need to innovate.
For Android tablets, the attempt at differentiation has been a challenge. So far there’s been a race to offer quality tablets at lower prices than the iPad, but products all look fairly similar, they all run Honeycomb, they all run apps from the Android Market. It’s understandable given that the market demand for tablets is still a bit undefined, but it’s disappointing.
Clearly if OEMs are going to differentiate, they need to do more than make changes at the hardware level or throw in a few unique apps. One possibility is that Apple’s legal actions might create opportunities for manufacturers to try some unique form factors. This is a risky proposition though, given that consumer demand for tablets as we have come to know them is on the rise.
If hardware, OS and many of the applications are fairly consistent across Android tablets, then the real opportunity for innovation is in the user experience (UX). Understand how and why users interact with tablets and smartphones (and the applications that run on them), understand what’s possible with the hardware, OS and the apps, and create a truly unique experience. Fortune favors the bold. Be original and do something above and beyond the norm of iOS, make use of Android’s open development platform, try new things. Android tablets need to be – and can be – more than “almost iPads.”
Even bolder, re-imagine the way people use mobile devices completely. The current mobile experience is really more about us being the tools that enable our devices rather than our devices being the tools to make our lives better. Having instant access to all communication at all times is powerful, but it’s also overwhelming. We have all of the information – email, social media, calendar, SMS – coming at us at all times of the day and, despite efforts of some aggregator apps, we still have to go into each program to access our information. There has to be an easier way.
There are some encouraging steps being taken. UX experts are becoming increasingly important to the industry, working to create a new experience for the consumer based on how they live their lives and how technology can enhance it, not adjusting their lives to fit into the technology mold. Social aggregators are a first-gen attempt, but now “mobile life managers” are bringing together all things mobile: calendar, corporate email, Gmail, Facebook, Twitter, SMS, RSS feeds. Everything that’s important to users in one place, envisioned in ways that simplify, not overwhelm.
HTC Corp.’s (HTCXF) purchase of Beats last week is another great example of a new approach to differentiating in the Android smartphone space. If HTC gets into the tablet space and can leverage improved audio capabilities at the hardware level, the move could prove to be brilliant.
Many people may see Apple’s IP claims as somewhat ridiculous or petty, but perhaps understandable given the innovations Apple has brought to mobile communications. I hope this serves as a call to action for OEMs to take new measures and differentiate the user experience, especially if the alternative is a collection of cookie-cutter Android tablets and smartphones. I say let’s be bold.
Baback Elmieh is co-founder of Human Engines, a San Diego-based startup dedicated to redefining user experiences. The company launched its first commercial product, Influx, last week. He can be reached at baback@humanengines.com
