Your business can benefit from the effective development of the right rumors. Just take a look at the history behind Google?s Android and you?ll see how a company can blend just the right amount of hype and mystery to create a stir that gets some serious attention. From the time that rumors about this open source mobile phone platform were first leaked, Google?s little-by-little approach to providing information about the product has kept people interested in its release. Google is keeping that approach going to this day with the current VoIP-on-Android rumors that are going around.
Here?s a little bit of history about Android to catch you up to speed:
Back in 2005, Google acquired Android, a small company known for developing software for mobile phones. This sparked some rumors in the media that Google was actively working on entering the mobile phone market. However, since Google has been known to acquire more than one business that it seems to be doing little with and no developments were seen, the rumors started to die off.
Then, about a year ago, the media got hold of some news that Google was again looking into the mobile phone market. This sparked a series of rumors about the possible Google phone. (Alternatively it was called a Googlephone or Gphone but changing the name didn?t prod Google to give out any more details.) Investigative reporters did some digging and came up with information that Google had filed some patents in this area but that?s all that remained known at the time.
Then, in November of this year, Google officially announced what it was doing. Google hadn?t created a phone, per se. Instead, the company had created an open source mobile phone platform that could be used on different phones by multiple carriers. At the same time, it announced a challenge to developers to create applications for the operating system. The idea behind the phone is that it will be able to allow for more creativity and innovation in the types of applications that it uses. Phones using this OS are expected out next year.
But that?s not the end of the story.
Google wouldn?t be too good at using developing rumors to maintain consumer interest if they let things die off there. Enter the VoIP rumor. It was noticed by savvy people in the tech industry that Google?s Android is lacking the SIP and IMS stacks that phones traditionally use to bring VoIP to mobile phones. This got the speculation mill churning again. People began discussing whether this meant that Google had no interest in VoIP for its mobile phones or it meant that they had some other sort of approach to mobile VoIP planned. This speculation continues as people try to guess what Google?s phone is going to look like when it?s released.
You can learn something from Google?s approach to releasing information about Android. The secret seems to lie in announcing big plans in advance of their release date and then providing bits of information in staggered format to ensure that loss of interest doesn?t occur. Of course, you?ll also have to make sure that you provide an end product that is worthy of the hype that you have built up. So far, Google?s Android seems to be meeting that criteria. Its open source approach is innovative enough to potentially shake up the wireless world.
VoIP-on-Android
What those of us watching VoIP growth and development are hoping is that Google can surprise us again when it puts VoIP on Android. Up until now, mobile VoIP has been a fairly simple phone function that not many carriers assist you in utilizing. Although it is growing in use, it remains a simple technology. If Google?s developers are able to create an innovative way to alter mobile VoIP, we could start seeing some changes that we currently can?t even imagine. Hopefully the hype about Google isn?t giving us more hope about the system than we should be counting on.
Question of the Day: What do you think is behind Android?s notable absence of SIP/IMS stacks?
