Jonathan Watson of Reactor on Android

Jonathan is CEO of mobile marketing specialists, Reactor. I was rather interested to see what he’d make of the Android launch. Here we go:

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At last the first phone based on Google’s Android platform is here but will it be enough to capture consumer enthusiasm?

The promise of an open platform and an unrestricted marketplace for applications bodes well for the continued growth in demand for new, exciting smartphone applications and widgets but the G1 seems to be a follower rather than a leader.

Inevitably the G1 is going to be compared to the iPhone and the interface on this new handset from HTC is hauntingly reminiscent of the much lauded Apple device. The Music Store powered by Amazon looks and feels like the iTunes experience on the iPhone and the web browser has zooming and scrolling features similar to the mobile version of Safari but the lack of multi-touch means it is not quite as slick. While it is hard to find much that is new apart from tighter integration with Google’s services, the addition of a full pull-out qwerty keypad is bound to appeal to the North American market.

The Sidekick was a success for T-Mobile in the USA because of it’s pull out keypad and messaging features but this did not translate into sales in Europe, it will be interesting to see if European consumers are tempted off their iPhones when it launches in the UK in November.

Android is a welcome addition to the smartphone operating system market but while the G1 will certainly be a success it is unlikely to achieve the iconic status that the iPhone has enjoyed. With a raft of new devices planned this new OS will no doubt capture market share, especially with the full open source version of Symbian not planned until 2010. However unless Google and their partners are able to come up with a device that truly rivals the iPhone, it is unlikely to put much of a dent in Apple’s sales figures much less make them re-think the closed platform model they have adopted with both their OS and App Store.

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Thanks very much for that, Jonathan!