Security troubles, lack of content spur Android disappointment

By Kim Tong-hyung

The impressive sales of devices like the Samsung Electronics Galaxy S are the latest sign that Apple is indeed under an Android attack. However, the quick growth of the Google-backed mobile platform, which is adding drama to the intensifying smartphone wars, appears to be a cosmetic cover for serious problems related to security and consistency in content, according to critics here.

Android, an open mobile operating system that is powering a new generation of devices from Samsung, Motorola, HTC, Sony Ericsson and other major vendors, represents the technology industry’s best bet to challenge the supremacy of Apple’s iPhone in the consumer smartphone market.

And the sales of Android-powered devices in South Korea have been picking up rapidly in past months, driven by the Herculean marketing efforts of Samsung and SK Telecom, the top mobile-phone carrier, which have been aggressively targeting business users as much as tech geeks and fashionistas.

Samsung was beaming after announcing it has sold more than 1 million Galaxy S handsets, which debuted this summer, exploiting an enlarged market for premium devices opened up by the iPhone, which was released by runner-up carrier KT last November.

And Android appears to be a threat to Microsoft as much as it is to Apple, as the operating system continues to be increasingly used in non-phone portable devices such as laptop computers, tablets and multimedia players, evidenced by the latest products launched by mid-sized makers Cowon and iStation.

However, the competition in smartphones, which work more like handheld computers than conventional phones, is increasingly delivering a differentiated user experience based on the wealth of software and effectiveness of content ecosystems. And at least in Korea, Android has clearly been a disappointment on the content end, and it wouldn’t be too harsh to say that the growth of the mobile platform was a mere reflection of Samsung’s hardware sexiness.

Most Korean application developers seem to consider Apple’s iOS as the top mobile platform, with their expectations for Android compromised with Google Korea dragging its foot in allowing Korean developers to sell paid mobile applications (apps). This has Android developers relying on the content platforms independently operated by KT and SK Telecom, but complaint is growing over the supposedly slow and unpredictable approval process of the carriers.

Google had allowed a payment method for Korean Android users in July, but developers here haven’t been allowed to submit paid apps yet, a delay believed to be caused by conflicts over revenue share with local mobile carriers.

``You normally have to wait a week for the carriers to test and stamp an updated version of an app, which is no shorter than what it took for them when they first approved the programs. The alternative is to submit free apps to the Android Market and look to profit through mobile advertising services, like AdMob, but it’s hard to imagine this ever becoming a reliable income source for Korean developers,’’ said an application developer, who preferred not to be named.

Openness is considered Android’s biggest strength in terms of innovation, compared to the approach of Apple, which chooses to carefully control the experience of its iPhone users by dictating the software they use.

However, openness could prove to be a double-edge sword for the Android backers should they fail to prevent security from becoming an issue, especially at a time when people are increasingly using their handsets for encrypted communication like banking, stock trading and electronic commerce.

Prosecutors in Seoul have recently raided the offices of Tomato TV, a cable business news channel, after the company’s Android app was found to be collecting international mobile equipment identity (IMEI) and universal subscriber identity module (USIM) serial numbers of user handsets.

컨텐츠, 보안문제 안드로이드의 발목 잡나

삼성전자 주력 스마트폰 갤럭시S의 높은 판매량은 애플이 모바일 시장에서 안드로이드 기반 제품들의 거센 공격에 직면하고 있음을 반증한다. 그러나 구글의 지원을 받고 있는 이 모바일 플랫폼의 외형적 성장의 뒤엔 보안과 컨텐츠 수급과 관련된 중대한 문제들이 도사리고 있다고 국내 전문가들은 지적한다.

안드로이드는 개방형 모바일 운영체제로서 삼성전자를 비롯한 모토로라, HTC, 소니에릭슨 등 대형 휴대폰 제조업체의 최신제품들에 채택되고 있다. 즉 애플이 아이폰을 통해서 지배하고 있는 일반소비자용 스마트폰 시장에서 가장 위협적인 도전자로 떠오른 셈이다.

한국에서도 지난 몇 달 간 안드로이드 기반 스마트폰의 판매량이 급증했는데 이는 일반 소비자와 비즈니스 고객들을 모두 적극적으로 공략하고 있는 삼성과 이동통신사 SK텔레콤의 어마어마한 마케팅 파워를 반증한다.

삼성은 갤럭시S의 국내 판매량이 1백만 대를 넘었다고 최근 밝혔다. 이는 2위 이동통신업체 KT가 지난 11월 아이폰을 출시한 이후 개화했던 국내 스마트폰 시장에서 삼성의 힘이 본격적으로 발휘되기 시작했음을 보여준다.

안드로이드는 애플뿐 아니라 컴퓨터 운영체제 시장을 지배해왔던 마이크로소프트에게도 위협적인 존재인 듯하다. 중견업체 코원과 아이스테이션의 최근 제품들을 통해서도 볼 수 있지만 안드로이드는 스마트폰을 넘어서 노트북 컴퓨터, 태블릿 그리고 휴대 멀티미디어 재생기 등에 까지 폭넓게 채택되고 있는 중이다.