iPad May Be Revolutionary But Ultimately It’s All About "Search"

Awe-Inspiring Apple

Last week's announcement of the Apple iPad is Apple's latest attempt to deliver digital devices that first redefine and then dominate traditional markets. You need only count the three major markets that Apple has redefined so far to get an idea of Apple's awe-inspiring power:

• MP3 Music Players
• Online Media Retailing
• Smartphones

With the new iPad, Apple is set to redefine the publishing market from books to magazines to newspapers. And let's not forget that the company's Macintosh line has also made astonishing market share advances in the PC business against Windows based PCs over the last three years. This is a feat that no one would have predicted given the overwhelming market power of Microsoft.
 
Coming Soon "Augmented Reality" In Your Hand

But even Apple's outstanding track record of productivity enhancing devices will pale in comparison to the awesome power of the next generation Internet Search enabled "Superphones." I'm going to attempt to express this in the form of an equation that sums up the individual elements that make up one of these Superphones.

Superphone = Screen + GPS+ Camera + Wireless 4G+ Instant Search 

Note that most of the components listed are off-the-shelf except for one, Instant Search which right now is dominated by one company, Google. If you subtract Instant Search from the above equation you still have a very capable Superphone but it will be no match for the one that has instant search capability backing it up.
So what's an example of a Superphone that can deliver Augmented Reality (AR) in the palm of your hand? Say you're a real estate agent and want information about a particular home, you simply hold the Superphone in front of the house and you instantly know everything you need to know about the property allowing you to take action right away. You can also visualize what the home may look like with a different color paint or exterior modification. Another example might be holding the Superphone in front of anything you might be considering buying and have instant analysis including product reviews and friends' recommendations appear on the device to guide your decision.





Bing Anyone

Both Microsoft and Apple seem vulnerable as Google invades the operating system and device market. After years of Apple versus Microsoft battles, few could have imagined that the two companies will soon need each other more than ever to compete with Google. Many new multibillion-dollar Augmented Reality markets are at stake. Indeed there's talk that Apple will use Microsoft's Bing search engine instead of Google's for future Apple search enabled devices. It's also worth noting that Steve Jobs in his keynote address at last week's iPad launch didn't once mention the word Google. This is a far cry from the days when Google CEO Eric Schmidt was a member of Apple's Board of Directors and may have been privy to Apple's strategic decision-making. But the die is cast and both Microsoft and Apple get the "vision thing" very well. Both companies' are aware that their futures hinge on competing in the Augmented Reality market that is fast approaching.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/01/20/apple_microsoft_in_talks_to_make_bing_default_iphone_search_report.html