Technology Nomad

Google's innovations may have bud heads with the likes of Microsoft and Yahoo! with such flagship products like Gmail and Google Docs (GDocs). But it should come as no surprise that Google is challenging many others just the same. For example, with the Google's Android mobile platform & OS and their phone, Nexus One, the company may well be changing the face of mobile communications as we know it. Who and how many companies it's challenging is yet to be sized up. With Google Voice, the company is taking on companies like Skype, Vonage, could easily be taking on Verizon with its FiOS/IP phone, and may even be taking on some Executive Assistants. Google's Chrome browser is challenging ... well ... browsers. Browsers like Internet Explorer (IE), although that's not much of a challenge; Opera, Firefox and many others. As you can imagine, the list goes on to cover several industries and markets.

Google's CEO, Eric Schmidt, up until July, 2009, was on Apple's Board of Directors. With Google's advancement into the OS and mobile-phone spaces, both parties, I'm sure, saw the writing on the wall.

This last week, Apple unveiled its much anticipated iPad. Jokes aside, and in my opinion, the iPad was a flop. There are at least 10 things missing in the iPad, which made the device more for the non-computer-savvy, and possibly for the older generation (for mothers, aunts, grandparents, etc.) and not "all that" for the geeks amongst us. Within hours of its launch, Twitter was filled with mixed emotions about it. Not exactly a good sign. And within a couple of days, I saw such tweets as "iPad, no thank you. I'll wait for Google Android tablet" (paraphrasing).

Wouldn't you know it? The open source project behind Google's Chrome browser and the Chrome OS, Chromium, today delivered pictures of what the Chrome OS table might look like.