游戏邦注：本文作者为Mike Blake，原文发布于2011年4月7日，文章涉及时间、数据以当时为准。

1年前，我很讨厌阅读科技“新闻”网站，因为大家似乎都被“收买”，评论和观点都有所倾斜，新闻媒体开始成为最佳品牌的竞争地，而不再以用户利益为出发点。所以我推出了自己的网站TechHog.com，这个网站将会覆盖整个科技领域，但侧重手机技术。我希望能够毫无保留地发表自己的观点，如果我真的很讨厌某事，我会大声说出来，而不会担心“投资者”怎么看。但同时我也决定以开放心态对待苹果、Android、微软和惠普。

Tech Hog自成立后便发展迅速，获得某些独家专访（游戏邦注：如采访《愤怒的小鸟》开发商Rovio），以及从HTC员工及其他公司获得第一手资讯。但我仍旧忠于我的原则，一视同仁。我用苹果MacBook Pro和iPad，同时也有HTC EVO 4G。我甚至在购买iPhone 4 29天后退货，目的就是买HTC EVO 4G。老实讲，我公平看待Android和苹果产品，我想这是少有的情况，但我就是这样。我希望两家公司都能够蓬勃发展。

现在我想谈谈摩托罗拉XOOM当前的处境，或者说是“困境”。我想很多都有看过或者读过：有人认为XOOM是个失败之作，而有人则不这么认为。总的来说，销量很不理想。如果将其同苹果iPad销量比较，简直就是个大失败，即便是就摩托罗拉公司自身预期而言，它也不尽如人意。

但我在这里想说的并不是iPad销量更好；我想说的是谷歌需要采取措施以“真正”击败苹果。当然Android是美国排名第一的OS，若这个OS入驻所有运营商10个以上不同设备时，它就能够轻松超越iPhone。目前在美国，iPhone由两家公司运营，但其仍旧拥有25%的市场份额（游戏邦注：Android拥有33%）。

XOOM Ad from soso.com

那么，谷歌应该采取什么措施让Android成为用户首选，而非退而求其次。他们需要自己推广Android。这里我想举摩托罗拉作为例子，因为XOOM销量不佳，而iPad却抢购一空。我们常在电视上看到iPad广告，所以即便你不喜欢苹果或者iPad，通过电视广告，你也会对iPad有所了解。你会知道它有什么应用，有什么功能，能够兼容什么辅助程序（游戏邦注：如Smart Covers），获悉其便捷性。这就是苹果成功的原因所在。当任何非技术人士看到广告，他们就会立马知道制作公司、产品信息、使用方式和购买地点。现在让我们来看看XOOM的商业广告，首先来看看它的超级碗广告。这则广告旨在嘲讽苹果，将苹果当作老大哥，而它自己则像糟糕科幻小说里的情节那样大获成功，这让很多人摸不着头脑，除非你事前就知道XOOM是什么东西。第二则广告则是某人走向漂浮的XOOM，将其拾起，然后被外星飞船团团围住，这会使你忍不住感慨“哇，这艘船看起来真是酷毙啦，”而非：哇，他在玩什么东西。这个设备主打更高规格，更大屏幕等，而非用户能够从中获得什么，其使用便捷性，应用数量及购买地点。广告并未阐明用户为何需要购买该产品。

Motorola XOOM Ad from hk-android.info

另一例子是HTC Thunderbolt广告：主人公奔走在充满电线的城市，将电线连接至设备以便获得电源和BOOM，然后用户可在最后1.5秒看见Thunderbolt，广告便结束。这是另一则糟糕的广告。虽然如此，Thunderbolt在Verizon（游戏邦注：美国无线运营商）卖得很好，但其中部分原因是这是首款LTE手机，产品室内广告满天飞，广告激起大众好奇心。但开发商慎用用户的好奇心心理，若信息过于含糊不清，最终只会失去用户。

HTC Thunderbolt Ad.from zhaiol.com

回到我的观点，谷歌需要自己制作广告，让用户明白Android究竟是什么产品。他们需要告知观众产品功能、应用数量、产品开放性以及用户能够自己定制界面，他们需要展示具备无线同步功能的Market Website，及其他促使Android成为强大OS的功能。

这样一来，观众就会熟悉ANDROID，获悉其功能，然后产生购买欲，当他们走进运营商商店时就会知道自己想要什么，当看到标有“谷歌Android”的手机时，他们就会心中有数，因为广告已传递充足信息。

谷歌Android广告无需光鲜靓丽；他们只需像其搜索页面那样，简单、干净和清新。他们只需传递必要信息，排除XOOM广告的浮夸元素。

作为HTC EVO 4G用户，以及未来的EVO 3D用户，我希望Android能够大获成功。我欣赏良性竞争，这能够促进产品进步。（本文为游戏邦/gamerboom.com编译，如需转载请联系：游戏邦）

Why Android Will Fail if Google Doesn’t Change

This is an introduction post by Mike Blake of TechHog.com. You’ll be seeing more of his writing here as he finds an escape for his Android rants. Get ready for some intense discussions!

About a year ago I got tired of reading certain tech “news” sites because people seemed to be “paid off.” Reviews and opinions became slanted and it became a tug of war over what’s the best brand instead of what’s best for us as a consumer. So about 9 months ago I launched my own site, TechHog.com, a site that was going to cover the tech industry with a focus on mobile tech. I wanted to give my opinions without holding back, if I genuinely hated something, I was going to say it and not worry about what a “sponsor” might say.  But I also decided to keep an open mind to Apple, Android, Microsoft (with the occasional jab), and HP/Palm. The only company I did not give a break was RIM and I have my reasons, but that’s for a later discussion.

In the end, Tech Hog has grown rapidly and scored exclusive interviews, like with ROVIO, makers of the Angry Birds franchise and gotten scoops on stuff from an HTC employee and more. But I’ve remained true to my roots, being fair to both sides of the camp. I use an Apple MacBook Pro and an iPad, but I also own an HTC EVO 4G. I even returned my iPhone 4 after 29 days, just to get it. I honestly do have a 50/50 relationship with Android and Apple, which I guess in the circle, is an odd thing, but it works for me. In the end, I want to see both companies succeed.

That all being said I wanted to talk about the current situation or “debacle” surrounding the XOOM, from Motorola. As I am sure many of you have either seen or read, some people think the XOOM has become a flop while other say it’s not. I’ve expressed my opinions before on my site and even flamed someone on other site about the issue. In short, the sales are a bad any way you measure it. If you dare to compare them to Apple’s iPad sales it is a MASSIVE flop, even to Motorola’s own expectations, it is a minor flop.

But I’m not here to just talk about the iPad selling better; I’m here to talk about what Google needs to do in order to “actually” beat Apple. Sure Android is the number one OS in the US, but that “idea” is skewed. If a person doesn’t want an iPhone the next best thing is Android for an OS and when that OS is on at least 10 different devices per carrier it’s easy to see how it’s out selling the iPhone. The iPhone is ONE device on two carriers in the US and still it has 25% market share compared to Android’s 33%.

So, what does Google need to do to make Android number one by “choice” and not by default. They need to market Android themselves, period. I’m going to use Motorola as a quick example here since the XOOM isn’t selling well and the iPad is flying off the shelves. No doubt all of you have seen the iPad commercials running on TV, now even if you don’t like Apple or the iPad, when that commercial is done, you know exactly what that iPad (or even iPhone) can do. You know what apps it has, what functions it can perform, what accessories it works with (i.e. Smart Covers) and you can see how easy it is to use. This is why Apple is successful. When any non-technical person sees this commercial they immediately can identify who is selling it, what it is, how to use it and where to buy it. Now, let’s look at the XOOM commercial, first the super bowl ad. This commercial was made to taunt Apple and make them look like big brother and yet it came off more like a bad sci-fi flick that left most people scratching their heads unless you knew before hand what the XOOM was. The next commercial features a man walking up to a floating XOOM and picking it up and then is encased in some type of alien ship that makes you the viewer say “wow that ship is cool looking,” not wow what is he using. The device touts better specs, bigger screen, this and that, but not what you can do with it (surfing the web doesn’t count), how easy it is to use, how many apps it has and where you can get it. There is nothing showing the user WHY they need it.

Another example is the HTC Thunderbolt commercial that shows a guy running around a city gathering electrical cable and hooking it to a device to gather electricity and then BOOM, you see the Thunderbolt for 1.5 seconds at the end and the ad is over. This is another example of horrible advertising. Granted, the Thunderbolt is selling well on Verizon but some of that is partially because it is their first LTE phone and they are pushing it when you walk in the door and the commercial has people slightly curious. But you need to be careful with that line of drawing in curiosity and alienating people because it’s too vague.

So back to my point, Google needs to step in and make commercials themselves that show people what Android really is about. They needs to show what it can do, the amount of apps it has, the freedom of being open and being able to customize your interface, they need to show the Market Website that allow wireless syncing and all the great features that makes Android such a great OS.

This way people will think ANDROID and know what it is and want Android and when they walk into a carrier store they will know what they are looking for and when they see a phone that says “with Google Android” it immediately speaks to them and they will feel a sense of connection because the commercial made them aware of what they needed to know.

The Google commercials for Android don’t need to be flashy; they need to be like their search page, simple, clean and fresh. They just need to show off the essentials and leave out the glitz and glamour like these XOOM commercials.

As an owner of an HTC EVO 4G and soon to be owner of the EVO 3D (when they finally give us a release date) I want Android to succeed. I love healthy competition it makes for better products for the end users, US.

What do you all think? Do you agree with me that Google needs to step in and make commercials about Android? What are your thoughts on the XOOM commercials, effective or not? I’m open to your opinions?

I hope you all enjoyed my first “rant” here at TheDroidDemos and I look forward to hearing from you all. Also, remember you can find me over at TechHog.com where I try to give unbiased news, reviews and opinions (with the exception being RIM, I just can’t stand those guys), on Twitter, or through our contact form.（Source：thedroiddemos）