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HTC Sensation vs iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S2

Mark Raby — Fri, 06 May 2011 18:57:29 +0000

Would we care about Android if it weren’t for HTC? Perhaps not. The HTC Desire was an early poster boy for Android, a genuinely great design that squared up to Apple’s all-conquering iPhone and suggested it step outside.

The HTC Desire remains at the top of our Best Mobile Phones in the World Today list despite younger, prettier competition, and it still represents exceptional value for money.

So what happens when HTC takes the Desire and makes it even better?

There are two answers to that. The first is the HTC Desire HD, which suffers from a few niggling issues, and the second is the brand spanking new HTC Sensation.

Our colleagues at T3.com grabbed some HTC Sensation video footage which you can watch below.

HTC says it sets “a new multimedia high for smartphones”, and it’s certainly an impressive and desirable bit of kit. But how does it compare against the other two big hitters of the smartphone market, Apple’s iPhone 4 and the Samsung Galaxy S2? Let’s find out.

HTC Sensation vs iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S2: Operating system

The HTC Sensation ships with Android 2.3 Gingerbread, although HTC has also stuck the latest generation of its Sense user interface on top – just like Samsung, whose handset also runs Gingerbread but with TouchWiz 4.0 on top. The iPhone currently runs iOS 4.3.

MORE SENSE: The latest iteration of HTC’s Sense UI is a lovely thing, although it was a bit juddery on the prototype we tested

HTC Sensation vs iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S2: Processor

The heart of the HTC Sensation is a nippy, dual-core Snapdragon processor with a rated speed of 1.2GHz. The Samsung rocks a 1.2GHz dual-core chip too, but Apple’s A4 is a 1GHz model (although we suspect it’s underclocked to preserve battery life after Apple refused to give out the exact speed).

PRETTY GOOD: The HTC Sensation’s got the power to match its striking good looks: it has a dual-core heart beating inside

HTC Sensation vs iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S2: Touchscreen

Both the HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy S2 boast 4.3-inch touchscreens, displaying 960×540 resolutions, but they’re different display technologies: the HTC uses an S-LCD, while Samsung has plumped for an extremely bright Super AMOLED Plus display. The iPhone 4 screen is smaller but more densely packed: its Retina Display means the 3.5-inch screen has a resolution of 960×640.

HTC Sensation vs iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S2: Storage

The Sensation comes with 1GB (or 4GB according to Vodafone) of on-board storage, expandable via MicroSD memory cards, while the iPhone 4 and Samsung Galaxy S2 come with two larger choices of internal storage: 16GB and 32GB. The Galaxy S2 also has a MicroSD slot, but the iPhone 4 doesn’t.

HTC Sensation vs iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S2: Memory

The iPhone is the worst off here, with just 512MB of RAM compared to the HTC’s 768MB and the Samsung’s 1GB.

PAPER TIGER: On paper the Samsung Galaxy S2 has the edge: it’s got more of everything

HTC Sensation vs iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S2: Camera

The iPhone’s 5 megapixel camera looks fairly crummy in this context: both the HTC Sensation and Galaxy S2 offer 8 megapixels and can shoot 1080p HD video, compared to the iPhone’s 720p. All three phones can geotag your pictures, include LED flashes (dual in the case of the Sensation and Galaxy S2) and have front-facing cameras for video chat.

HTC Sensation vs iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S2: Connectivity

All three phones are quad-band phones with 3G/HSDPA and Wi-Fi, and all three support Bluetooth A2DP for wireless stereo. There are different versions of Bluetooth here, however: both HTC and Samsung offer Bluetooth 3.0, while Apple is still on Bluetooth 2.1.

All three phones support HDMI output – the HTC and Samsung via their MicroUSB ports, the Apple via its 32-pin Dock connector – via adapters, and both the HTC Sensation and Samsung Galaxy S2 are DLNA compatible for wireless streaming of video to compatible TVs and computers.

The iPhone has Apple’s own AirPlay streaming system, which enables wireless audio and video streaming to Apple TVs and a growing number of AirPlay-compatible home entertainment devices.

HTC Sensation vs iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S2: Dimensions and weight

The iPhone 4 is the smallest phone here by some margin: it’s 115mm x 59mm compared to 125mm x 66mm for the Samsung Galaxy S2 and 126mm x 65mm for the HTC Sensation.

That all-glass body means its small size doesn’t mean to light weight, however: the Galaxy S2 is the lightest handset here at a positively titchy 119g, with the iPhone 4 weighing in at 137g and the HTC Sensation 148g.

HEART OF GLASS: The iPhone 4’s glass body looks great, but adds weight: the smallest phone here isn’t the lightest

HTC Sensation vs iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S2: Talk and standby times

As with all smartphones you should take official battery times with a pinch of salt – hours of talk time are all very well until you switch to a location-aware app and watch the battery indicator vanish like sands in an hourglass – but all three handsets promise ridiculously long standby times and decent talktime too.

The iPhone 4 promises 420 minutes of chat or 300 hours on standby; the Samsung Galaxy S2 540 minutes or 576 hours on standby; and the HTC Sensation offers 400 minutes of talk time or 400 hours on standby.

HTC Sensation vs iPhone 4 vs Samsung Galaxy S2: Which is best?

We don’t know the price of the HTC Sensation yet – we’re assuming it’ll be close to the HTC Desire’s – so we’re missing a key bit of information here: if there’s a significant price difference between it and the Samsung Galaxy S2 it could seriously skew the results.

For the sake of argument, though, let’s assume that the two Android handsets will match one another pound for pound. On that basis, the Samsung has the edge: it’s lighter, brighter, lasts longer, has more RAM and has more internal storage.

The only area where we think it falls down is in the looks department: it’s a bit blocky next to the sleeker Sensation, and to our eyes TouchWiz is a bit chunkier than HTC Sense 3.0.

And the iPhone? A straight comparison doesn’t really work, because there’s a different operating system, a different ecosystem and a different philosophy here. In purely hardware terms the HTC and Samsung devices are better phones, but the iPhone’s edge has always been about the software, not the hardware. For many Apple fans, that means the iPhone will still be the winner here.

Tags: HTC Sensation, iPhone 4, Samsung Galaxy S2, smartphones

Samsung Galaxy S2 full review

Mark Raby — Tue, 03 May 2011 09:56:42 +0000

The Samsung Galaxy S2 is the phone the Korean firm deems a worthy successor to its best smartphone so far – with a 1.2GHz processor, super-slim chassis and feather-light innards, it’s easy to see why.

The Samsung Galaxy S was an award-winning smartphone for many reasons – but now we’re ready for a new version, and when we first saw the Galaxy S2 at Mobile World Congress it felt like we were in its presence.

The dual-core race is set to heat up massively over the next few months, with the LG Optimus 2X already released, and the Motorola Atrix, HTC Sensation and iPhone 5 all set to bring the tech to market too.

Coming in at £35 a month and £519.99 SIM-free, the Galaxy S2 isn’t the cheapest phone out there by a long chalk – so let’s see if it can match up to that larger price tag.

Our colleagues at T3.com grabbed some Samsung Galaxy S2 footage that you can watch below:

The phone is almost impossibly thin when you pick it up – dimensions of 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.5mm mean it’s one of the thinnest smartphones on the market at the moment, rivalling the likes of the iPhone 4 and Sony Ericsson Xperia Arc for the title.

It’s crazy-light too – when we show you what tech is rammed under the hood, you’ll be amazed that it all goes in a device that weighs only a shade over 100g (116g, to be precise).

Samsung clearly traded the premium feel an all-metal chassis might have brought to keep the grams off the Galaxy S2 – pop the battery cover off and you’ll find you’re holding a piece of pretty flimsy plastic.

However, most of the time you won’t be removing this and it fits nicely into the contoured chassis – the mesh feel on the rear also helps keep your hand from getting warm during extended holding.

The other thing you’ll notice when you first pick up the Galaxy S2 is the screen – at 4.3 inches it’s hard to miss, and when you turn it on the Super AMOLED plus technology hits you square in the eyeballs (once it’s got through the toughened Gorilla Glass).

We called the Samsung Galaxy S “the best phone on the market for media” when we reviewed it, thanks to its first-gen Super AMOLED screen. Now the Galaxy S2 has definitely improved on that, with a superbly crisp and vibrant screen.

In the hand, the Galaxy S2 sits much better than we’d have expected, given the whopping screen on offer, and that’s mostly down to its slim depth.

The front of the phone is pretty sparse, with the home key the only piece of furniture on offer. This rectangular button flanks two touch-sensitive buttons – Menu and Back – so there’s no room for contextual search here.

The volume keys are located on the left-hand side, and the power/lock key is on the opposite flank; both are easy enough to hit without error, and crucially the travel on the power key is softer so that it’s much easier to hit when you’re juggling it in the palm – compare that to its predecessor, where you could accidentally drop it trying to shut off the screen.

The 3.5mm headphone jack lives on the top of the phone, bucking the lower placement on other 4.3-inch screen phones, and the microUSB slot (which also doubles as an HDMI out port) lives on the bottom.

The only other element of note is the 8.1MP camera with single LED flash on the rear – it’s slightly raised, but not so much that it disrupts the Galaxy S2 when you’re placing it on a table, thanks to a rear lip to help you hold the phone.

We actually (foolishly, in hindsight) unboxed the phone while bouncing about on a powerboat on the Thames – and luckily, there was a camera rolling the whole time:

Tags: Android 2.3, Android 2.3.3, dual-core, Gingerbread, Samsung Galaxy S2, Samsung Galaxy S2 review, TouchWiz 4.0

Is “unauthorized” tethering illegal?

Mark Raby — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:09:47 +0000

Unauthorized” tethering remains a popular, albeit controversial practice in the United States.

While several mobile phone carriers clearly consider “unauthorized” tethering illegal in their Terms of Service (TOS), many users beg to differ.

Tethering (also known as mobile hotspot service) is the use of a mobile phone to indirectly connect another device – such as a tablet or laptop – to the Internet.

The connection between the phone and the connected device may be achieved via a USB cable, Bluetooth or Wi-Fi. Multiple devices can also be connected to the Internet using the same phone.

Most carriers in the US require that tethering be paid for separately as a distinct service, with costs ranging from $20-$30 for tethering up to 8 devices at a go.

Of course, numerous smartphones can also have their settings modified to allow tethering outside the paid service.

Smartphone users who see no problem with unauthorized tethering argue they are already on a paid data plan and so are free to use the data plan as they wish.

While smartphone owners have, to a large extent, managed to get away with non-paid tethering, the good times are unlikely to last much longer.

If the carrier’s TOS clearly prohibits unauthorized tethering, the provider effectively has the law on their side. As such, it is only a matter of time before providers crack the whip.

Obviously, cracking down on the practice doesn’t necessarily mean taking “disobedient” customers to court or terminating their plans.   Carriers are more likely to employ a less confrontational approach to avoid angering their subscribers.

AT&T has provided a hint of the path other carriers are likely to follow. The company recently announced that iPhone users who have been tethering for free will be automatically moved to the paid service.

Tags: ATT, carriers, Mobility Features, terms of service, unauthorized tethering

Google Autocomplete is libelous, rules Italian court

Mark Raby — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 10:45:50 +0000

On April 1, Google announced that it was hiring ‘autocompleters’ to make helpful suggestions to users making searches. That was a joke: this isn’t.

The company yesterday lost a legal case from an Italian man who claimed that the company’s autocomplete function was libelous.

“Typing in the Google search field ‘Name Surname’ of my client, the autocompletion and the ’suggested searches’ (now ‘related searches’) offered to complete it with ‘con man’ (‘truffatore’) and ‘fraud’ (‘truffa’), which caused a lot of trouble to the client, who has a pulic image both as an entrepreneur and provider of educational services in the field of personal finance,” says the unnamed man’s lawyer, Carlo Piana.

Google’s in the past been able to sidestep similar accusations because they related to the actual sites being thrown up by the search; the company’s successfully argued that it’s acted merely as a hosting provider rather than a content producer.

In this case, though, it’s the suggested searches that are at issue – and this is content that’s produced by Google itself.

Google has a different take on the matter. It claims it’s not actually responsible for the terms that appear in autocomplete, as they’re produced by algorithms on the basis of searches by previous users.

In other words, if there’s any libel actually taking place, it’s from those pesky users who have previosuly searched for the complainant’s name along with the term ‘con man’.

Piana argues that the decision does not amount to censorship, as Google was given plenty of notice, and that the take-down request related to only two terms.

“All cases are different, therefore there is no assurance that similar cases would see the same outcome,” he says.

Nevertheless, it’s a rather nasty little precedent from Google’s point of view – and one that might be an argument for hiring autocompleters for real, just to make sure nobody gets too offended.

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Tags: Business and Law Features autocomplete con man google Italy libel

Lenovo To Launch LePad 2 To Catch Up Apple iPad 2

Mark Raby — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 18:06:17 +0000

Lenovo Group, a Chinese computer maker said they are planning to launch 2nd version LePad by the end of this year as to show their efforts to catch up Apple iPad 2.

The chief executive of Lenovo, Yang Yuanqing said Apple has set new level for the others computer makers to catch up. But anyway, they felt “fully confident” that surpass Apple’s iPad in the China’s market. As a domestic brand, they do have the ability to do better than a foreign brand in its homeland.

Yang told ChinaDaily that the upcoming LePad has many unique features such as the support for dual 3G technology (EV-DO and WCDMA), Adobe Flash and multiple video formats. The device is built with 10.1-inch screen that runs the Android 2.2 OS on a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor.

He noted that they do have a closer relationship with Chinese Internet companies such as Baidu and Tencent, which will make LePad more suitable for Chinese consumers.

While Lenovo is planning for the device to be sold internationally in June, company spokesman Jay Chen couldn’t say which markets will be targeted.

Tags: android, apple, Gadgets, Industry, ipad 2, lenovo, lepad, Lepad 2, Life in China, photos, tablet

Didn’t get an iPad 2 yet? Some tips for would-be buyers

Mark Raby — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:48:16 +0000

I don’t know how long the lines were at your local Apple Store yesterday, but TUAW is getting word that a lot of locations sold out of the most popular models very quickly. Taking a look at the online Apple Store, shipping dates for current purchases are now in the 3-4 week range. So, what do you do if you want an iPad 2 now but a) didn’t get to the Apple Store soon enough, or b) thought you’d wait on ordering one online? Here are some tips that can either speed your acquisition of the latest shiny thing or at least calm your soul while you wait…

Tip 1: Haunt your Apple Store

Crazy as it sounds, this sometimes works. If you happen to live or work near an Apple Store and you visit on a regular (several times a day) basis, you might be lucky enough to be in the store when a delivery of iPad 2s arrives. I’ve heard through the grapevine that the trip from truck to your hand can be rather quick if you’re in the right place at the right time. It should also help if the Apple Store staff becomes familiar with your smiling face through your frequent visits — they might go out of their way to get an iPad 2 for you just to stop you from being in the store all of the time.

Tip 2: Visit the other iPad 2 outlets

Although we were initially thrilled to hear that other retail outlets would be carrying the iPad 2 (including Best Buy, Target, Walmart, a few select Sam’s Club stores and AT&T and Verizon stores), many of our readers reported seeing only a few iPad 2s at each location. Once again, make the rounds of your local big box stores that are carrying the iPad 2 on a regular basis, and you may just luck out.

Tip 3: Check eBay and Craigslist

Many of the Apple Stores were limiting purchases of iPad 2s to two per person, and I talked to several buyers yesterday who said they were specifically buying one for personal use and another to sell on eBay. Although you’ll pay a premium to get the latest and greatest iPad a bit sooner, these outlets may be your best bet for a quick purchase.

Tip 4: Be flexible

If you want your iPad 2 now and have your heart set on a specific model, you may need to be more flexible in your choice to get one immediately. For example, one TUAW reader told me that he went to a local Apple Store this morning only to find that the only version available was the black 16 GB Verizon 3G model (he wanted a white 64 GB AT&T 3G version). Rather than not have an iPad 2 available for the enterprise development work he’s doing, he decided to go with a model that was less desirable to him.

Tip 5: Be patient

Perhaps the best thing to do, unless you really need an iPad 2 for work (development, writing a book, etc…) is to wait. Let’s face it, is waiting three to four weeks going to really ruin your life, especially if you already own an original iPad? Even if you were waiting for an iPad 2 before joining the tablet world, is a month too long to wait? Sure, a lot of us stood in lines yesterday for these wonderful devices, but the events in Japan sure make our desire for a shiny new thing seem stupid and insignificant. @maccruzin on Twitter donated $500 to the Red Cross for the people of Japan instead of buying an iPad 2.

The iPad 2 will be around for at least a year, and within a few weeks, you’ll be able to walk into any Apple Store, Target, AT&T or Verizon Store, Best Buy or Walmart (or the equivalent in other countries) and pick one up off the shelf with no wait. Be patient, and that patience will be rewarded.

Do you have any other ideas on how to get an iPad 2 a bit faster? If you have (legal) ideas that we haven’t discussed here, be sure to leave ‘em in the comments.

Tags: features, iPad, ipad 2, Ipad2

70 percent of iPad 2 buyers are new customers

Mark Raby — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 17:58:28 +0000

Did you buy an iPad 2 at launch? Is this your first iPad? If you answered yes to both those questions, then you are similar to most people buying the iPad 2 according to Piper Jaffray analysts. Results from an informal survey of 236 people waiting in line suggests 70% of those customers purchasing the iPad 2 were first-time iPad buyers. This group of consumers bypassed the first generation model and waited for the new and improved version to hit retail shelves.

The survey also revealed about 41% of those buying an iPad 2 opted for the 32 GB model, a figure that is higher than the 32% reported for the original 32 GB iPad. The 64 GB model and the 3G models also gained in popularity, a trend that suggests the iPad 2 will have a higher average selling price than the iPad.

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster estimates Apple sold about 500,000 iPad 2 units over the weekend. iPad 2s are reportedly hard to find in retail stores and the estimated ship dates from Apple’s online store are now three to four weeks. Based on these early iPad 2 sales, Munster considers his projection of 5.5 million units sold in the March quarter to be on the conservative side.

Tags: analyst, gene-munster, GeneMunster, iPad, ipad 2, Ipad2, Sales, sales figures, SalesFigures

Unplugging: Trent Reznor wears a suit for the Oscars

Mark Raby — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:00:04 +0000

Time to wrap up this week in music news with the help of mxdwn.com!

This week’s column features an exicting first-time Oscar win, a surprising yet anticipated tribute album en route, a series of upcoming tour dates, some live performance footage, and more.

First things first – here’s an ode to two Oscar newbies: Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails) and Attitcus Ross were awarded Best Orignal Score for their 2010 film, The Social Network.

Their win was personally tweeted about almost immediately – surprised? Reznor’s next film-scoring project will be for the upcoming adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which is ironically enough directed by The Social Network’s David Fincher, scheduled for a winter release this year.

An impressive tribute album to The Smiths is underway. The album features a multitude of artists including The Wedding Present and Doug Marsch of Built To Spill (just to name a few). Please, Please, Please: A Tribute To The Smiths, is expected to drop in fall 2011. The full-length has a total of 18 tracks covered by 18 diverse and amazing artists. Small town record label American Laundromat Records is producing the album and also offering a bunch of exclusive packages to celebrate.

Viewers got a blast from the past this week on Late Night with Jimmy Fallon when 90s R&B boy band Bell Biv DeVoe made an appearance. The crowd went wild when the group showed up in matching green leather vests and sunglasses. Performing their hit classics, “Poison” and “Do Me”, the audience sang along to the entire set.

Okkervil River is celebrating their new album, I Am Very Far, very appropriately with a headlining tour. Joining them are Future Islands, Julianna Barwick, and NewVillager. Their new album is due to drop May 10, and the tour kicks off May 31 in Atlanta. The band’s also showcasing at SXSW March 16-19, followed by a show in Texas with Arcade Fire, and finally making their way to the start of their tour, which hits major cities throughout the entire nation until the end of June.

For a taste of classic Armenian rock, System of a Down are setting forth on a small North American tour over a spam of a dozen days. With fellow rockers, gypsy punk band Gogol Bordello, the tour kicks off May 10 in Edmonton, with a finale in no other the city of sin; Las Vegas.

Brooklyn-based indie group TV on the Radio is planning some spring and summer tour dates, kicking off close to home, in Philadelphia, then up and down the coast, and a few more US cities before hitting Europe for various music festivals. The tour and performances celebrates the revealing of a new TV on the Radio LP underway.

Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross Take Home Oscar – Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross were more than honored to accept the award for Best Orignal Score for The Social Network at the Oscars. Both are first-time winners, so it was more than a big deal.

New Smiths Tribute Album Announced – Fall 2011 marks the expected release date for Please, Please, Please: A Tribute To The Smiths, which features an array of talented musicians, including The Wedding Present, Doug Martsch (Built To Spill) and more.

Bell Biv DeVoe Play Late Night with Jimmy Fallon – Jimmy Fallon’s audience got a bit of 90s nostalgia when no other than R&B originals Bell Biv DeVoe took over the stage, rocking the crowd with some of their best songs. Check out the footage from Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.

Okkervil River Confirm Headlining Tour – American rockers Okkervil River are due for another tour, this time in celebration of their newest album, I Am Very Far. They’re also making an appearance in their hometown, Austin, at SXSW as well as making another pit stop in Texas with Arcade Fire.

System of a Down Announces US Tour with Gogol Bordello – SOAD and Gogol Bordello set out for a small US tour this April, also hitting a few cities in Canada.

TV on the Radio Announce Spring and Summer Tour Dates - Check out TV on the Radio’s tour dates for US and Europe in April through July in celebration of their upcoming LP.

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Microsoft and Nokia team up to fight Apple and Android

Mark Raby — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 09:48:01 +0000

Nokia has thrown in with Windows Phone 7 to try and have some impact in the smartphone universe. Steven Elop, a former Microsoft executive and now CEO of Nokia, made the announcement today in London.

Reactions are mixed, of course, but Nokia stock has taken a beating, and about 1,000 Nokia employees have reportedly walked out in protest. Nokia has long been a leader in cell phones around the world, but has had vanishingly small sales in the US. This partnership is generally believed to be mainly a benefit for the Windows 7 Phone OS, since sales of devices using it have been disappointing.

Nokia had looked at the Google Android OS as a possibility, but ultimately threw in the boys from Redmond. A Google exec has tweeted that “Two Turkeys do not make an Eagle,” a reference to Nokia and Microsoft. Elop tweeted back “Two bicycle makers from Dayton, Ohio, one day decided to fly.” It would be interesting to know what the folks at Apple think about all this reshuffling of the competition. Historically, these kinds of partnerships often come to nothing. We’ll all be watching, but competition is good if it makes all our phones better. What do you think? Will Nokia-Microsoft be a powerful iPhone competitor? Or just two turkeys?

Update: A funny footnote — Nokia released a little video about the announcement, and if you use iMovie often, you might recognize the music. That’s right: to celebrate their deal with Microsoft, Nokia used an Apple app. We wish the new couple well — they’ll probably need it.

Tags: employees, ios, iPhone, microsoft, Nokia, Windows Phone 7, windowsphone7

What Does Google’s New Boss Mean For You?

Mark Raby — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 17:19:04 +0000

When I joined Google in 2001 I never imagined—even in my wildest dreams—that we would get as far, as fast as we have today. Search has quite literally changed people’s lives—increasing the collective sum of the world’s knowledge and revolutionizing advertising in the process. And our emerging businesses—display, Android, YouTube and Chrome—are on fire. Of course, like any successful organization we’ve had our fair share of good luck, but the entire team—now over 24,000 Googlers globally—deserves most of the credit.

And as our results today show, the outlook is bright. But as Google has grown, managing the business has become more complicated. So Larry, Sergey and I have been talking for a long time about how best to simplify our management structure and speed up decision making—and over the holidays we decided now was the right moment to make some changes to the way we are structured.

For the last 10 years, we have all been equally involved in making decisions. This triumvirate approach has real benefits in terms of shared wisdom, and we will continue to discuss the big decisions among the three of us. But we have also agreed to clarify our individual roles so there’s clear responsibility and accountability at the top of the company.

Larry will now lead product development and technology strategy, his greatest strengths, and starting from April 4 he will take charge of our day-to-day operations as Google’s Chief Executive Officer. In this new role I know he will merge Google’s technology and business vision brilliantly. I am enormously proud of my last decade as CEO, and I am certain that the next 10 years under Larry will be even better! Larry, in my clear opinion, is ready to lead.

Sergey has decided to devote his time and energy to strategic projects, in particular working on new products. His title will be Co-Founder. He’s an innovator and entrepreneur to the core, and this role suits him perfectly.

As Executive Chairman, I will focus wherever I can add the greatest value: externally, on the deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership that are increasingly important given Google’s global reach; and internally as an advisor to Larry and Sergey.

We are confident that this focus will serve Google and our users well in the future. Larry, Sergey and I have worked exceptionally closely together for over a decade—and we anticipate working together for a long time to come. As friends, co-workers and computer scientists we have a lot in common, most important of all a profound belief in the potential for technology to make the world a better place. We love Google—our people, our products and most of all the opportunity we have to improve the lives of millions of people around the world.

In a wholly unexpected move, Eric Schmidt is stepping away from his position as Google CEO to make room for co-founder Larry Page. Schmidt will move into an Executive Chairman role. But why? And what does it mean for you?

According to Schmidt:

Larry will now lead product development and technology strategy, his greatest strengths, and starting from April 4 he will take charge of our day-to-day operations as Google’s Chief Executive Officer. In this new role I know he will merge Google’s technology and business vision brilliantly.

The third leg of the triumvirate, Sergey Brin, will take the title of Co-Founder, focusing on new products.

That’s the official statement. But Schmidt hinted at what’s really going on in his tweet announcing the news:

Day-to-day adult supervision no longer needed! http://goo.gl/zC89p Thu Jan 20 21:07:30 via webEric Schmidt
ericschmidt

It’s hard to imagine that Schmidt ever saw himself as just a placeholder, particularly having been with Google for a decade. And Schmidt will actually continue fulfilling most of his “adult” duties in his new capacity, focusing “on the deals, partnerships, customers and broader business relationships, government outreach and technology thought leadership that are increasingly important given Google’s global reach.” You know, grown-up stuff.

That’s increasingly been Schmidt’s primary function anyway; now it’s his sole obligation. And in today’s earnings call, Schmidt explicitly said he didn’t expect “any material change in any of [Google's] strategies.”

If anything, it could really be that Page has outgrown some of his immaturity—he once famously brushed off Barry Diller in a meeting in favor of playing with phone—and is ready to be more forward-facing. But by all accounts, Page has always been deeply involved in the direction of the company. The new title shouldn’t make him any more or less so. It’s just that: a title.

Remember, too, that Page was Google’s original CEO, having served in that position from 1998-2001. Growing the company is something he’s intimately familiar with and capable of; if anything, Google’s engineers should have even more freedom to innovate. Whether that means improved Gmail or more Buzz-type busts, though, is a lingering question.

The bigger loss might be Brin’s seemingly diminished role. Brin is often thought of as the conscience of Google, its moral center, and while he’ll still be involved with the company he explicitly cited a desire “to work more on [his] personal passions.” Some of those will probably come through as Google products, others won’t. But the more detached Brin becomes, the more potential there is for Google to lose its compass.

Ultimately, here’s what you can expect: in the short term, nothing. Your searches will still deliver highly relevant results and ads, your Gmail IMAP will still bug out on you sometimes, you’ll still have your silly doodles. But in the long-run? More products, probably in key Google soft spots like search. More risks—with bigger successes and failures. And a Google juggernaut that moves faster than ever before. [Google]

Tags: #googleceo, ericschmidt, gawker, Google, googlemanagementchange, larrypage, lifehacker, sergeybrin, top

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Tip 5: Be patient

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