Jobs hits out at Android in fresh tirade

Wednesday 20 October

Looks the iPad will be staying 10-inch only

Apple boss Steve Jobs has ruled out a 7in version of the iPad and slammed Google’s mobile rival Android for painting itself as an open standard when if fact it’s far from it.

Speaking to analysts after his company posted another set of record quarterly earnings, Jobs was on rare form, hitting out at Android on various levels and claiming Apple’s tablet and mobile phone rivals “just don’t get it”.

On the tablet front he scotched rumours that a smaller 7in iPad may be in the works, saying the form factor was too big for a smartphone and too small for a tablet. He predicted that the current crop of smaller-screened tablets starting to emerge would be “dead on arrival”.

But he saved his best for Android, Responding to the ongoing claim that Android’s infrastructure is “open” and Apple’s “closed”, Jobs hit out: “Google loves to characterize Android as open and iOS and iPhone as closed. “We find this a bit disingenous and clouding the real differences between our two approaches.”

“Android is very fragmented. Many Android OEMs, including the two largest, HTC and Motorola install proprietary user interfaces to differentiate themselves from the commodity Android experience. The users will have to figure it all out. Compare this with iPhone, where every handset works the same.”

Jobs also predicted that the likely emergence of a number of different third-party marketplaces all selling Android apps and services would create “a real mess” for both developers and consumers.

“When selling to users who want things to just work, we believe that integrated will trump fragmented every time.”