Because less than 8% of Android users use 4.0 and Google is already about to unveil 5.0, we have to compare differently.
Google may have released these features into the wild faster than Apple, but when iOS6 launches this summer and then passes the Android 4.0 install base in what, 2 weeks, there will then be more Apple users using these features than Android users.
I think that will be the future going forward: Apple will take longer to release a feature, but will reach critical mass for the feature much, much faster than Google.
And like Windows and it's hardware partners, I think that there is jack-diddly-squat that Google can do about it. They can whine but they have no say, as their in-house devices sell like crap compared to Samsung's flagships or Apple's phones.
I think hardware will move similarly: Android manufacturer, eager for ANY advantage, will implement brand new technology on their product lines. They can also pull this off because they don't push iPhone-like quantities (minus the rare Samsung flagship launch). It's easier to put brand new tech in a device that is only selling 50,000/mo and will hit maybe 1 million total, because you don't have to have a source for 5,000,000 of that part by launch day...
The bigger worry for Google is if Samsung decides it doesn't need Google anymore, forks and goes it alone in an attempt to match Apple. At that point Google Android is left with a bunch of manufacturers almost all of which are losing money.
Not a great position to be in.
It really wouldn't surprise me if Samsung was looking to assert much more control over Android even to the point of forking it.
They already control their devices, TouchWiz isn't simply a different launcher - what more control could they want (at such great cost)?
That's incorrect. All of the features announced in ios 6 (and ios 5) are catching up with features available to android 2.3 users. Pointing out that ICS only runs on 7% of devices while ios 5 runs on 80% is fun marketing games. But technically, that's like comparing apples to robots.
Google has updated their apps slowly over time, as they're being developed, for devices with old OS version. While apple waits for these big announcements for the big marketing show. So android users will always be getting the fresh new features before ios users. Some of those android users with newer features will be running android 2.3. Why are we even bringing up the OS version when comparing features available to older OS versions?
(For example, you don't need to upgrade to android 4.0 to upgrade the Google Play Store app to the latest version. Which has all these social integration such "your friend has liked this app". Which is a brand new feature on ios, that android 2.3 users have already been enjoying for quite a while.)
How is this fun, marketing games ? It is a fact.
Even if 2.3 was amazingly awesome and way better than anything else available, 20% of Android is still on 2.2.
Maps was a unique case: They were paying the price of having partnered with Google in the beginning. A steep price to pay, but ultimately their solution is quite elegant. The combination of 3d+yelp+inhouse traffic is almost an all-in-one replacement of what Google provides. I guess we saw the beginning of that with Siri + Yelp already.
But you're right, Apple has some catch up to do.
But more so than I ever I feel that owning an Apple device isn't just a device, but it's buying into entire ecosystem. I'm digging their conservative, metered approach to rolling out features. I like the consistent, timely updates that the userbase is adopting in mass, reliably.
No one can deny that this is a good groove they've got: yearly updates with occasional feature updates that 70%+ of their userbase is adopting. It reminds me of the update model that Chrome and now Firefox use.
They both existed years before Android was even a figment in someone's mind.
Also, Google were first to offer free turn-by-turn navigation on Android with a better feature set than established companies like TomTom that charged you a premium price. Google disrupted the market back then.