Question 1
Compare the business models and areas of strength of Apple, Google, and Microsoft.

Answer
Apple: It has the basis of creating a very strong hardware base for the internet future and thus logically they play their role in this battle by laying emphasis on the hardware that facilitates mobile computing. Apple has gone into the stance that applications, one of the major earners for tablet and phone manufacturers, should be device restricted. For example, one application should be unique to the brand of the device and should be allowed to function in another device from another separate brand. They even stopped Google in its plans to allow Google applications to work on Apple products. Thus by doing this Apple is trying to capitalize on their loyal customer base and create a Apple weds Apple scenario.

Google: Google is the believer in the concept that in the future the devices used to run the applications and other internet options should be a fraction of what they are being charged now and instead the revenues generated should be from the in-app advertisements. Google even bought AdMob, an application advertisements development company, to work on such a concept. This future, Google and Microsoft have tried their hand at going hardware friendly but they still do not put the same emphasis on the hardware as Apple.

Microsoft: Microsoft has laid its bet on the operating system on which the mobile computing devices shall run. Microsoft also has announced plans to develop the hardware for mobile computing, something it has not done so far, and thus has entered into the field of both Google and Apple. By integrating the hardware and software deal Microsoft has actually change the dynamics of the whole market. And this can be problem some for Google and Apple as they shall have to change their own perspective and outlook towards the level of competition that they shall have to face in the coming years in mobile computing.

Question 2
Why is mobile computing so important to these three firms? Evaluate the mobile platform offerings of each firm.

Answer
Mobile computing is basically doing the activities which involve internet without being fixed to a particular place. The importance of mobile computing for all the three mentioned firms which is Apple , Google and Microsoft as it is the future of the internet technology and for these firms to flourish and expand they need to be very effective with mobile computing.

APPLE: The mobile platform that Apple provides with its products is “iOS” (Kevin K, 2012). This mobile platform is the closed platform that is it is applicable for apple products and only apple apps could work on this. Some of the remarkable features amongst them are:
 There is an option over which you can reply later on the calls which you can’t take immediately.
 Integration with the facebook over which you can share all you iphone activities
 There is a passbook app through which you can use you iphone as a credit card.
 There is also an upgradation of the apple maps app which is very impressive.

GOOGLE: The mobile platform that Google provides is “Android”. This mobile platform is a universal platform or you can say it’s an open platform when compared to the mobile platform offered by Apple. The latest version provided by the Android software is the version 4.1 “jelly bean” (Android, 2012). Some of the notable features of this version are:
 A simple screen swipe would provide you with search results related to Google.
 The voice recognition tool in this version would rub offline.
 Another of the new feature is GOOGLE NOW in which the preferences are chosen based on the data like the time location and personal history and over this the search results are provided

MICROSOFT
Microsoft is entering this market recently by launching the tablet named “Surface tablet”. The mobile platform that Microsoft is offering is the Windows Phone 8(Kevin K, 2012). This operating system will be compatible with the laptops and the desktops.
Some of the unique features of this operating system are:
 Support dual core chips
 Support multiple screen resolution
 Provides advanced map technology
 Offers Passbook wallet.

Question 3
What is the significance of mobile application, app stores, and closed versus open app standards to the success or failure of mobile computing?

Answer
Any computer software that performs specific tasks is called Applications (Bovee 2012, p 256). They can range from large business computer programs such as “Sun Systems” for processing large accounting problems to a simple program that can be used to order something as simple as a pizza, in today’s world applications have become a part and parcel of the day today.
Today’s mobile and tablet users are becoming more and more inclined towards a product which has more number of application than the other product option. Although it can be said that such a thing has happened because of the fact that the devices today have become so specified that a certain range of products shall have the same specs regardless of their make. This change can be determined as a major shift in the consumer psyche and even the big three have not underestimated this change. The development of applications and software’s to match these expectations is a task that all the companies in the fray to be the leader in the mobile computing market, wither it be Apple, Google, Microsoft or any other new player, shall have to look into great detail and precision.
The importance of mobile applications can be justified on this basis itself that Google has based their future growth prediction on the very same. Mobile applications have such a great scope of growth in the future that they can one day eclipse the sales of the hardware part of mobile computing and form a major market themselves here players like Google and apple shall have tough competition even from small fray players if a common platform for application usage is formed, the very same reason why Apple is resisting Google’s repeated efforts for a common mobile platform.
According to experts(Kevin, Timothy et.al) mobile applications are even today a big part of the on the go access market. Finish mobile giant Nokia too has a say in the application future as it still has the lion’s share in the applications that are used in its mobile phones, which in spite of the recent drop are a very big number. Applications and app stores are also being viewed as a source of major entertainment by many users of mobile computing devices, with games like angry birds and temple run taking the market by storm it is very evident that applications and app stores are a thing for the future.
Lastly it can be said that although all three firms have great opportunity in the market which is still young and in its infancy, the first mover shall have very definitive advantage to take control of this veritable goldmine.

Question 4
Which company and business model do you think will prevail in this epic struggle? Explain your answer.

Answer
Google: The search engine giant has a lot of positives going for it rather than the negatives. The clear positives that can make it a winner are: 1. A well-established name is something which not a lot of players can boast of but Google is one of them, although Apple and Microsoft have chartered territories of their own but Google can fight them out both as an equal if not better. 2. The Company has entered into all the three basic markets of mobile computing including hardware, operating system and the application stores. Their hardware is something which a few competitors can best , however the Android operating system has taken the market by storm and the app store which comes with it is a mean bully in itself (Android 2012) 3. Google has also bet on of the most time relevant feature of the mobile computing market, the App store, and this is the biggest advantage which the Google business model gives it and makes it the prime contender for the number one position. With hundreds of applications already online and hundreds more in the development stage Google has started to take a sort of lead on the other players in the race to be number one. And this may not be decisive right now but with Google’s recent acquisition of application developers and their heavy R&D expenditure on the same, it is just a matter of time before it will take out companies like Apple and Microsoft. (Android 2012)
Although the Google bandwagon is on its way there are certain roadblocks that it can face that can halt its march and some of them are: 1. The Google brand is big but it still lacks the appeal of an Apple product and this many say is one of the most major difference between the two. 2. The Android system although perfected to a large extent still has a few errors in the new versions that can hamper the growth of the operating system and this where a competitor like Microsoft can prevail over the Company 3. Lastly it can be said that Google’s move towards a common mobile application platform can itself backfire and could increase competition from local app players which can affect the overall profitability from this step.
Thus it can be said that Google does have a lot of positives that can help it in the market and if it can take care of the negatives and maybe tweak the one platform stance, it can just pull ahead of Apple and Microsoft in this battle of the behemoths.

Question 5
What difference would it make to a business or to an individual consumer if Apple, Google, or Microsoft dominated the Internet experience? Explain your answer.

Answer
Consumers would be forced to buy only one product and use only one service. They would create a monopoly and the positive would be they would create a standard. This would affect quality; prices would be as high as possible because they would have no competition. No competition means nobody could force a monopolist from the outside to improve products, diversify rang or products and lower price. Right now it is too early to tell who would dominate the internet experience but it is good to have competition than just one market leader