Last month, Motorola's Xoom tablet launched on the Verizon Wireless network. Soon after, complaints began to surface that the tablet's operating system -- designed by Google -- was prone to crashes when running third party applications. Experts say that while Google's typical strategy of launching new products and then perfecting them according to user feedback might work for Gmail and other online tools, it doesn't translate well to hardware-based devices like smartphones. In fact, they say, Google's penchant for experimentation by introducing so-called "beta" products with frequent updates may become a handicap as the search giant expands into new markets, such as software and set-top boxes for televisions, and tablets like Xoom.
Analysts have dubbed Google's approach "perpetual beta." Under this strategy, Google launches early versions of new products to see what sticks with consumers. The problem is that some of these experiments aren't sticking -- especially when users have to pay for products. For example, last year Google launched Google TV, software designed to bring the Internet to television sets. After an initial splash and product launches with TV makers such as Samsung and Sony, the company stopped actively promoting the project. According to a March 24 statement by Best Buy CEO Brian Dunn, consumers have not yet shown a high interest in being interactive with their televisions. Meanwhile, in light of its problems with Xoom, Google is holding back on releasing its new tablet operating system, called Honeycomb, to open source developers, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reported.
Read More.....
Is Google Stuck in 'Perpetual Beta'?
Deja-Vu Times is the leading information source for technology news, analysis, opinions and case studies on Enterprise IT including applications, infrastructure, security, cloud computing, virtualization, networking and storage for IT decision maker Visit: http://www.dejavutimes.com/
