Mobile operating system encounters innovation bottlenecks

Recently, both Android and iOS have launched their respective operating systems for the next iteration. When I saw the conference between Apple and Google, a picture emerged in my mind: Both of these leading operating systems focused on the competition with their opponents, and they used similar methods to solve the same problems. .

First, let's review the Google I/O Developers Conference and Apple's WWDC Global Developer Conference to see what your next mobile device will have.

Next generation Android

With the fragmentation of the Android operating system intensifying, and corporate partners do not seem to be as fast as Google hopes to upgrade the Android operating system, Google said that it will not release the operating system this year. The lock-chain prediction method of the new operating system version was broken. Android4.2 will not be replaced by Android 4.3 in the short term.

However, not introducing a new operating system does not mean that Google will stop developing more new features to shorten its distance from Apple. From the perspective of consumers, Google introduced:

• GooglePlay game service, which competes with the Apple Game Center. This is a "hard goods" for game developers, but the iOS game center has been available for several years, and now Apple even integrates the game center's expected OSX operating system.

• Google cloud messaging service, more and more like Apple's push alert service. These improvements allow users to have a better experience, but are similar to Apple iOS.

• Ensure that notification services are updated and synchronized across devices to eliminate the nuisance of repeated notifications from multiple devices. This is a new contact experience for the user, but it is difficult to define it as a revolutionary improvement.

• Launched streaming music subscription service GooglePlayMusicAll-Access, competing with streaming media services such as Pandora and Spotify. This is very good for Google, so that it has a new source of revenue. However, the service does not have a big impact on the competitive landscape because Google’s competitors in this field have laid a foundation for many years.

• Google Hangout, a cross-platform chat system. The system can run on platforms such as Android, iOS, and Chrome. The goal is to target iMessage information services on Apple's iOS and OS X platforms.

• Compatible with the new Google Maps for iOS and Android platforms, improving the performance of route changing services and increasing traffic information. For those users who use mobile phones in the car, these performances are crucial. However, the simultaneous launch of these features on the iOS and Android platforms means that this service ends with the differentiation of the two platforms.

All of these features are excellent, and the experience and fun of the Android system will also be improved. All of these features can be pushed to existing Android users, reducing the chance of new operating systems may be fragmented.

However, none of these features can be said to be innovative products. Each improvement is invariably coincided with some of the existing service features, and Google no longer has jumping innovation in this area.

Next generation iOS

Since the introduction of the first iPhone, Apple has been regarded as a thought leader in the mobile space. Therefore, the Apple WWDC Assembly has become a place where early users, developers, and even Apple competitors aspire to learn how Apple will change the industry. At past WWDC conferences, Apple introduced concepts such as touch interfaces, applications, and app stores.

Although iOS 7's new look and feel is the most noticeable place, Apple has introduced other features for consumers:

• Stereo multitasking system, narrowing the gap between iOS and Android.

• Control Center allows users to quickly turn on or off Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and other core features. This feature is very good, but the Android operating system has had this performance early on, and has even been abused by some of its partners (such as Samsung).

• A new way of organizing tags in web browsers. People can not help but think of Google Chrome mobile browser.

• AirDrop function allows users to “send” multiple content (photos, videos, etc.) to nearby users. This is a very good concept, but it is not the first one. Samsung has introduced a similar function a year ago, and Palm launched this concept as early as 20 years ago.

• New photo mode, similar to Instagram. When it comes to taking pictures, Apple also introduced iCloud photo sharing, which is similar to the Google Google+ photo sharing feature.

• iTunesRadio, similar to music streaming subscription services such as Pandora, Spotify, and GooglePlayMusicAll-Access. (It can be seen that Apple is better than Google in product naming.)

• Siri's default search turned to Microsoft Bing, competing with Google's own voice search feature. Moving Siri's default search to Bing’s approach further widened the gap between Google and Apple, but Google’s and Apple’s “acceptance” has caused the two companies to come close again.

• Car iOS allows the iOS operating system to better integrate with the car. This is similar to the Samsung Android flagship device.

• Push notifications are synchronized across devices, similar to Google’s recently announced push system update.

To illustrate, all of these features are excellent for iOS users, and improve the overall operating experience of the iOS operating system. But is there any revolutionary improvement in this? not at all. Google recently seemed to be exhausted by sources of ideas and started "iOS for Android." Apple seems to have encountered an innovation bottleneck and started "Android iOS."

Who will be the next innovation concept in the mobile field?

It seems that the operating system does not appear to have greater innovation in 2013. There will be improvements, but these mobile-sector leaders seem to have decided on their 2013 competition themes:

• For Google, this is an anti-fragmentation war. Google is working hard to develop it. It does not rely on the power of partners to ensure the launch of new features.

• For Apple, the acceptance of new user interfaces and further attempts to eliminate chrome visualizations.

• For Microsoft, its main concern is to use social networking as the center of its mobile operating system, trying to attract developers and fill in gaps in functionality.

• For BlackBerry, it must strive to catch up with the pace of development of the industry, keep the third position of the operating system, not to be taken away by Microsoft.

It seems that the difference between the mobile systems at the key level is disappearing. This may indicate that we are approaching a new stage of maturity of the mobile operating system and that it has less requirements for the original innovative free architecture, but this may also indicate that the future The update of the mobile operating system will lack new ideas.