[mush10]

As anyone who has had an iPhone or even following some of the recent news can attest, there are no shortage of Google Apps on the iPhone. I use an iPhone and Android on a daily basis (9900 had to be retired) and in many instances the Google Apps on the iPhone are as good or better than their Android counterpart. Obviously Google wants data from people for what they do best which is search and advertising. Clearly the iOS market is too big to ignore and they need to continue to support it.

So why help BB10? To me it would be the ultimate way to push Google's biggest rival, Microsoft down. The reason I view Microsoft as such a rival is because they have search, have email, have mobile and desktop OS. All things Google has or wants. If Google can hurt Microsoft in the Enterprise space they have a shot making more headway then if Microsoft puts out a unified Tablet, Phone, Desktop offering that becomes dominant.

BB10 marketshare while small, is similar to Apple in controlling the hardware/software of their devices. Would it not benefit Google to strike a deal with BB to have search and apps run seamlessly on BB10, while leaving Windows Phone out in the dust? To me that is an all around win for Google and BB. BB is not looking to get into search and is not really a threat to Android anytime soon. It is clear Google uses Android as a means to an end. Why not push Microsoft a little farther down and give Blackberry a little boost along the way?

[m1a1mg]

Seems logical to me. I've become part of the Google world after resisting it for a long time. Having all my needs sync through Google on multiple platforms is convenient.

[dbmalloy]

Simple answer.... Apple has tens of millions of users on a relatively new platform.... BB 10 has maybe 1 million right now.... BB 5 6 7 are basically and orphaned phone from a developmental perspective.... so which would you support....

[mush10]

Simple answer.... Apple has tens of millions of users on a relatively new platform.... BB 10 has maybe 1 million right now.... BB 5 6 7 are basically and orphaned phone from a developmental perspective.... so which would you support....

Right, but there is value for Google in helping Blackberry take the 3 spot versus Microsoft. It is understandable why they support iOS and I mention that saying the Apple market is too big to ignore. It is a question if helping BB at the detriment of MS is a viable strategy. If Blackberry goes away and Microsoft solidifies the 3 spot and starts growing they present more of a challenge to Google's goals than Blackberry ever would.

[chrysaurora]

Right, but there is value for Google in helping Blackberry take the 3 spot versus Microsoft. It is understandable why they support iOS and I mention that saying the Apple market is too big to ignore. It is a question if helping BB at the detriment of MS is a viable strategy. If Blackberry goes away and Microsoft solidifies the 3 spot and starts growing they present more of a challenge to Google's goals than Blackberry ever would.

Yeah - I've no idea why Google has so much hate for BlackBerry. It'd make sense to write seamless native apps for BlackBerry. Even when BB had huge marketshare, Google never made amazing apps for BB OS. It made apps, but those apps were underfeatured and didn't get very many updates.

Whereas they supported iOS from the get go.

[GoJaysGo]

Microsoft is already doing a great of hurting Microsoft. They don't need any third party help.

[Tre Lawrence]

Google doesn't have "hate" for anybody LOL. That is silly in business. Google follows the money, and the second it ascertains developing for BB10 is worth the potential profits, you'll find the apps.

As dbmalloy said, its about the numbers. IIRC, Google Currents was released for iOS before Android OS. That gives you an idea of its priorities.

[chrysaurora]

Google doesn't have "hate" for anybody LOL. That is silly in business. Google follows the money, and the second it ascertains developing for BB10 is worth the potential profits, you'll find the apps.

As dbmalloy said, its about the numbers. IIRC, Google Currents was released for iOS before Android OS. That gives you an idea of its priorities.

Not true. Sometimes business leaders do have 'hate' for somethings. Steve Jobs talked about how he'd spend his dying breath fighting Google. (I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go to thermonuclear war on this. They are scared to death, because they know they are guilty. Outside of Search, Google's products—Android, Google Docs—are s**t.)

Don't know what Google has against BB but even when BB had huge marketshare, Google didn't support BB platform much.

[Tre Lawrence]

Not true. Sometimes business leaders do have 'hate' for somethings. Steve Jobs talked about how he'd spend his dying breath fighting Google. (I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple's $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong. I'm going to destroy Android, because it's a stolen product. I'm willing to go to thermonuclear war on this. They are scared to death, because they know they are guilty. Outside of Search, Google's products—Android, Google Docs—are s**t.)

Don't know what Google has against BB but even when BB had huge marketshare, Google didn't support BB platform much.

Fair, but Apple and Google have vastly different business models. Apple is a hardware outfit, while Google is into info and data (Android is a tool towards that end, IMHO).

So, Apple will do whatever is necessary to make money, including destroying Android, which directly affects its profitability. For Google, the more viable mobile solutions that access Google services, the better. And when BB did have the lion's share of the smartphone market, apps were not as prevalent, and Google did not have nearly as many offerings. I do recall thinking that the Google Voice functionality on BB was better than on Android at the time.

I'm sure Apple would love to see Google tank, but not before Google's products (like Google Maps) shore up its own offerings. If Apple really wanted to, it could have blocked it... that or the other Gapps in its app store.

My point is that the love of money trumps philosophical beliefs. Even with the whole Flash thing, I contend that SJ ditched Flash because he could. He gambled (smartly... it wasn't that much of a gamble) and won. Now, if it happened that iOS devices had lost major marketshare as a direct result of that decision, who do you think would have had flash in the NEXT iteration?

Google doesn't care where its money comes from. If the cost of development and maintenance of a BB10 app suite is eclipsed by the potential of profits, Google will be here. Heck, as noted before, if the profit is enough, Google'll do it before (and better than) the Android versions.

There is a joke in Android land I heard: "every app on Android is a beta for another platform."

LOL.

[chrysaurora]

@ trelawrence
I agree. But it is true that sometimes businesses will hate on other businesses for no other reason but just to hate them. Yes, profits matter (and usually trumps philosophical beliefs) but if you hate a particular business, it may take a LOT of profit to sway your mind.

In case of Google, if it hates BB (I don't know for sure that it does, but it looks that way), then it can afford to ignore BB 10 platform for a while. That hurts BB. Sure, if BB still succeeds, Google will eventually have to join the bandwagon but still, it is not supporting BB 10 (right now) as it supported Apple from day 1.

BlackBerry didn't lose all its marketshare when iPhone 2g was launched. BlackBerry still had a good share during the time of iPhone 3GS and yet Google didn't make awesome/native apps for BB. Amazon also never made a native Kindle app for BB7 (Bold 9900). So, I don't know what's going on with them.

It doesn't take much to support BB10, specially if you have got resources of Google and Amazon.

[filmgirl]

@ trelawrence
I agree. But it is true that sometimes businesses will hate on other businesses for no other reason but just to hate them. Yes, profits matter (and usually trumps philosophical beliefs) but if you hate a particular business, it may take a LOT of profit to sway your mind.

In case of Google, if it hates BB (I don't know for sure that it does, but it looks that way), then it can afford to ignore BB 10 platform for a while. That hurts BB. Sure, if BB still succeeds, Google will eventually have to join the bandwagon but still, it is not supporting BB 10 (right now) as it supported Apple from day 1.

Google supported Palm, Windows Phone and BlackBerry before the original iPhone was out -- of course it would support iPhone. But at this juncture, the marketplace for operating systems is very, very, very different than it was. The top two players make up over 90% of the market for new purchases. Google is a very different company today than it was in 2007 (just as BlackBerry is).

If and when Google sees a way to make money off of BlackBerry 10 in mobile, it'll come. But not before. That's not hate, that's smart business.

BlackBerry didn't lose all its marketshare when iPhone 2g was launched. BlackBerry still had a good share during the time of iPhone 3GS and yet Google didn't make awesome/native apps for BB. Amazon also never made a native Kindle app for BB7 (Bold 9900). So, I don't know what's going on with them.

Again, Google DID make apps and support services for BlackBerry back in the day. I know because I used them. They weren't "awesome native" apps because to be perfectly frank, BlackBerry OS has one of the worst mobile development systems out there. It's a mess and was especially a mess when BB's marketshare was its highest.

Amazon didn't do a Kindle app for BB7 because a) BlackBerry signed a deal with a competitor, Kobu and b) the number of Kindle owners with BB 7 devices was not enough to maintain support.

It doesn't take much to support BB10, specially if you have got resources of Google and Amazon.

You clearly have no idea what supporting a platform entails, especially for a huge company. It's actually easier in some ways for smaller places to support multiple OSes than large companies such as Google or Amazon because the number of customers is less and the number of support requests, tech challenges and device issues are smaller. Supporting multiple systems is never easy but if I'm Google, I don't want to have to exert resources and engineers to be dedicated to a platform with only a small number of users. And throwing people at the problem isn't the solution.

[sam_b77]

I don't know about this. Someone needs to cut Google down a few notches. They have a huge Web presence and they are using that to form a monopoly of sorts. They are basically forcing people to use the Android eco system if they want full access to Google services. Microsoft was hauled up for far less. I was hoping that the US anti trust laws would cut them down to size but they failed in their first attempt.
Out of the two I support apple over Google. Apple still uses normal business underhand tricks to undercut the competition. Google is using sheer might.

Posted via CB10

[chrysaurora]

Google supported Palm, Windows Phone and BlackBerry before the original iPhone was out -- of course it would support iPhone. But at this juncture, the marketplace for operating systems is very, very, very different than it was. The top two players make up over 90% of the market for new purchases. Google is a very different company today than it was in 2007 (just as BlackBerry is).

If and when Google sees a way to make money off of BlackBerry 10 in mobile, it'll come. But not before. That's not hate, that's smart business.

Again, Google DID make apps and support services for BlackBerry back in the day. I know because I used them. They weren't "awesome native" apps because to be perfectly frank, BlackBerry OS has one of the worst mobile development systems out there. It's a mess and was especially a mess when BB's marketshare was its highest.

Amazon didn't do a Kindle app for BB7 because a) BlackBerry signed a deal with a competitor, Kobu and b) the number of Kindle owners with BB 7 devices was not enough to maintain support.

You clearly have no idea what supporting a platform entails, especially for a huge company. It's actually easier in some ways for smaller places to support multiple OSes than large companies such as Google or Amazon because the number of customers is less and the number of support requests, tech challenges and device issues are smaller. Supporting multiple systems is never easy but if I'm Google, I don't want to have to exert resources and engineers to be dedicated to a platform with only a small number of users. And throwing people at the problem isn't the solution.

1. Yeah, Google of today is different from Google of past. It doesn't seem to adhere to 'Do No Evil' motto. But then that's a separate discussion.

2. That was my point. Google DID support BlackBerry, but NOT as well as it could have (despite BB having a HUGE marketshare at that time). Apps were ok-ok. There are lots of apps on BB6/7 devices that look better/function better. Google just didn't invest enough in BB OS even when BB had huge marketshare. It made apps for the sake of having apps. Not awesome apps.

3. Yeah, Amazon may have had any number of reasons for not supporting BB 7. But that's complete speculation on your part that there were NOT enough Kindle customers that were also BB 7 users. There are quite a few threads about BB7 users requesting Amazon for kindle.

4. Actually, I do have an idea about what it takes to support a platform. Even for a huge company. Why don't you stick to the topic at hand instead of taking potshots at me? Google has engineers dedicated to working on random (non commercial) projects. Google has never been shy of investing in platforms or been shy of investing in things that may be unprofitable *right now*.

My point is this: Maybe Google has some HATE for BlackBerry; maybe it doesn't. We don't know. But we simply can't rule out 'HATE' as one of the possible reasons because it's not really unheard of in business world. It is truly, genuinely possible for a CEO to hate something about something else and hence deciding not to do business with that something-else.

If and when Google sees a way to make money off of BlackBerry 10 in mobile, it'll come. But not before. That's not hate, that's smart business.

Google supported iPhone on day 1. Did not wait for it to become successful first. Google is generally not shy of supporting a new platform. So, sure, it may be a smart business move on Google's part to wait and see. But it could also be HATE (given that they have, in the past, supported platforms even BEFORE waiting for them to become successful and figuring out how to profit from them )

[Thunderbuck]

I think there's one reason to believe Google might just wind up supporting BB10: fear of the DoJ. If antitrust action was ever filed against them, it would make for a great defense for Google to be able to point to BB10 and say "See? There's a platform we didn't have to support! We're not a monopoly!".

Supporting BB10 would also be extremely irritating to Microsoft, though that would only be a side benefit.

[Thunderbuck]

And BTW, all this talk of "hate"? I doubt it's much of a motivation. There's definitely some strategy involved in these platform support decisions, though.

Companies haven't just randomly decided not to support BB10. In some cases, the decision is due to genuine skepticism that the platform will succeed. Of course that's the wrong call, but it happens. In other cases, there may be more subtle pressures involved. Interesting that Netflix announced support for ChromeBook, for instance, when it's not likely to have much reach at all for the foreseeable future; I can imagine Google offering money and resources to help establish that, too, on the condition that they have the "full attention" of Netflix' developer team (wink, wink).

[brmiller1976]

Helping BlackBerry won't help Google at all.

Microsoft and BB are major partners for enterprise, and Microsoft optimized Office 365 for BB handsets. If BB sells more phones, Microsoft sells more servers, Office licenses, etc. If Microsoft sells more phones, BB sells more Enterprise Servers. Neither outcome helps Google.

Google wants to own the entire enchilada now. They don't share.

[brmiller1976]

Interesting that Netflix announced support for ChromeBook

Netflix is a typical Bay Area tech company. They don't do much productive research, they just see "what everyone else around us uses" and that drives development. Lots of SV people use ChromeBooks, so it's "important." Nobody in SV uses BB, so it's "not important."

Their history with research is pretty spotty. They launched in Canada without realizing that most Canadian ISPs have broadband caps in place -- which cramped adoption and usage significantly.

They'll only make a change when Carl Icahn buys up more shares and says "get on BB10 or else."

[Skeevecr]

Helping BlackBerry won't help Google at all.

Microsoft and BB are major partners for enterprise, and Microsoft optimized Office 365 for BB handsets. If BB sells more phones, Microsoft sells more servers, Office licenses, etc. If Microsoft sells more phones, BB sells more Enterprise Servers. Neither outcome helps Google.

Google wants to own the entire enchilada now. They don't share.

The thing is though, by ignoring bb10 it pushes BB towards MS that much more and particularly in the enterprise market where google still has to make real inroads that isn't a smart move compared with bringing out all their main apps on bb10 because realistically unless you are already locked into software it is a lot easier to get used to what you do have available than to change all your hardware.

[tjseaman]

Not much of a Google user but it would be nice just to shove it in Marissa Mayer and Yahoos face. Stupid Yahoo.

Posted via CB10

[brmiller1976]

The thing is though, by ignoring bb10 it pushes BB towards MS that much more and particularly in the enterprise market

If you're oriented towards enterprise, as BlackBerry clearly is (both in business volume and strategic intent, as Thorsten keeps pointing out), a relationship with Microsoft is essential. Google has no relevance in enterprise and is unlikely to.

Not much of a Google user but it would be nice just to shove it in Marissa Mayer and Yahoos face.

Why not use Microsoft's services instead? SkyDrive, Outlook.com, Microsoft Calendar, and Microsoft Contacts are all awesome and supported in BB10 from day one.

They're also the only provider who is truly cross-platform. If you use BB10 or Windows Phone or iOS or Android or Mac OS or Windows or what have you, it will ALWAYS work.

[Skeevecr]

If you're oriented towards enterprise, as BlackBerry clearly is (both in business volume and strategic intent, as Thorsten keeps pointing out), a relationship with Microsoft is essential. Google has no relevance in enterprise and is unlikely to.

That is why it would benefit Google to support BB, they want to move more into the enterprise side of things so supporting BB would be a win win, they get another step into that market and BB10 gets more apps that people find important.

[JAGWIRE]

Great thread

I can see the OP's point. "The Enemy of my Enemy is my Friend." this mentality can and does work in business. The question is whether or not Google has it or not.

As stated by another post Apple has become very much known for hardware while Google, well its a verb now so that is its own point.

I dont think that Google is "afraid" enough of BBRY to have the friend/enemy mentality just yet. when BBRY comes out with all the rest of their Mobile Computing Platform gizmos and software i think we will have to revisit this issue though.

[m1a1mg]

I'm not sure how you could push anti-trust against Google. They make products for their biggest competitors (Apple and M$) but not for all the smaller ones.

[Thunderbuck]

I'm not sure how you could push anti-trust against Google. They make products for their biggest competitors (Apple and M$) but not for all the smaller ones.

They're actually pulling Microsoft support.

Posted via CB10

[m1a1mg]

I know they are doing away with some things, but it's misleading to say they are pulling M$ support.

EDIT: Just had the thought that you were only talking about Windows Phone. To which I completely agree with you.