所谓的“Google 情结”(Google envy)应该正袭卷整个科技产业吧！在谷歌(Google)成立14年后，这家市值380亿美元的网络搜寻引擎巨擘与线上广告公司，仍然展现像一家新创公司的积极与活力。以市值来看，Google已经超越微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)跃居全球第二大，而其主要的竞争对手──苹果公司(Apple Inc.)虽然是全球最大的科技企业，但Google实际上才是一家真正推动实质与渐进式创新的公司。
苹果iPhone 5在该公司高度成功的智能手机传奇基础上推出，才第一周就已经全数售磬。因此，这一点儿也不令人感到惊讶；它已经成为苹果惯用的一种模式了，而这种神秘色彩也正逐渐消逝中。此外，普遍的看法认为 iPhone 5 并没多大的创新变化。该公司最近推出的产品大多都非常成功，但从iPod到iPhone再到iPad ，没有一项产品堪称带来任何突破，他们都只是就现有产品再进化发展而来。
Google的策略看来也有些类似──例如开发出 Android操作系统，以及收购摩托罗拉移动(Motorola Mobility)公司，但Google的产品显现出该公司愿意为下一代产品与想法投入重大研发资源的精神。微软公司(Microsoft Corp.)在线上广告、操作系统、平板电脑以及与合作伙伴Nokia共同在手机方面，也发展出类似的成功故事。这两家公司的业务模式几乎是相似的。
根据Google公司网站上所述，“Google的使命在于汇整全球信息，供大众使用，使人人受惠，”而在现实中，该公司更致力于无国界投资，资金赞助计划也远远超出其核心的网络搜索业务，例如该公司积极推动无人驾驶车计划，而今在美国有三个州都得到了立法支持，加州州长Jerry Brown最近签署了一项授权合法使用车辆的相关法规，当然就是在Google总部签署这项立法的。
Google也开发新颖的产品。如该公司推出的“智能眼镜”配备一个头戴式摄影镜头和显示器吸引了众多的关注，它采用语音指令来拍照、录制视频短片与显示信息，而只需向上或向下倾斜头部即可进行控制。Google的智能眼镜虽仍未量产，但产品原型已经可在公开场合展示。
本文授权编译自EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载
本文下一页：Google是最足以与苹果抗衡的公司
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如果Google可在2014年如期推出这种智能眼镜的商用化版本，很多消费者都会想要拥有一副。因此，在这款智能眼镜开卖后，预计零售商店外大排长笼的购 买人潮可能比我们看到苹果每次推出新款iPhone后排队抢购的队伍更壮观。这就是为什么我认为Google是最足以与苹果抗衡的公司之一，因为该公司已经清楚地显示它愿意也有能力在其传统的线上广告、移动操作系统与手机市场稳定地争取更多市占率，甚至透过投资于非传统的市场，在更多新领域异军突起。
因此，我想在此大瞻预测 2013年及以后的市场。苹果公司将继续在平板电脑市场占主导地位，但却将逐渐失去在智能手机市场的优势，甚至市占率可能开始下滑。苹果的故事也越来越了无新意：营收、利润与股价持续飙高，推出新款 iPhone ，当然，大家都想买一支……但是，除了这些以外，苹果还拿得出什么令人振奋的新鲜事儿呢？除非苹果能再造一些非凡的记录──例如开发出一款全新的产品或对现有产品带来一些能让人惊奇的重大改善──否则，2013年令人振奋的新闻焦点将不再是苹果。我猜想我们应该会对于两大软件巨擘──Google与微软 ──转型成为硬件制造商的跨界对决新闻感到更有兴趣。
Google和微软以软件公司之姿扩展至硬件领域。这两家公司都寻求透过非主流的方式，一方面实现多元化的业务策略，又能保持公司的良好经营与活力。他们也为旧有产品增加更多附加价值以取得巨额营收，并用于收购与研发新产 品；他们也都愿意走出自己眼前的市场，尝试新事物与跨足新领域。不可避免地，双方除了在线上广告与操作系统市场发生冲突外，很快地也将在平板电脑、手机和 其它更多未来产品市场直接竞争。而这将会是值得我们关注的大事。
编译：Susan Hong
本文授权编译自EBN Online，版权所有，谢绝转载
参考英文原文：Google vs. Microsoft: The Making of an Epic Rivalry，by Bolaji Ojo, Editor in Chief
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• 科技巨头们的第三季财报关键词：疲弱、下滑、亏损QFYesmc
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Google vs. Microsoft: The Making of an Epic Rivalry
Bolaji Ojo
Google (Nasdaq: GOOG) envy should be sweeping across the technology world. Fourteen years after it was founded, the $38 billion Web search engine giant and online advertising company is still acting like a startup, and although rival Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) is the world's biggest enterprise by market value, Google is actually the one that's pushing what I call real vs. incremental innovation.
Apple's iPhone 5 built on the company's legacy of highly successful smartphones and sold out in its first weekend. That was not really surprising; it's become a pattern with Apple and the mystique is wearing thin. Plus, few people see the iPhone 5 as revolutionary. The company's more recent products have mostly been very successful, but not one of them can be said to have indeed broken any new grounds -- from the iPod to the iPhone and the iPad, they've all been evolutionary developments on existing products.
Google's strategy has been somewhat similar (for example, the Android operating system and the purchase of Motorola Mobility) but the company has stuff in the works that point to its willingness to devote significant R&D resources to next-generation products and ideas. There are parallels to the Google story at Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT), which is also in online advertising, operating systems, tablets, and via its partnership with Nokia, in mobile handsets. Their business models are almost similar, but more on this below.
"Google's mission is to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," according to a statement on its Website, but in reality it recognizes no investment boundaries and has financed projects far removed from its core Web search business. It funded the driverless car, which has now received legislative support in three US states, including California, where governor Jerry Brown recently signed a bill authorizing the use of the vehicles following the establishment of specific rules and regulations. Naturally, Brown signed the legislation at Google's headquarters.
Google has even niftier products in development. The company's "smart glasses," featuring a head-mounted camera and display have wowed celebrities and fascinated ordinary consumers attracted by the idea of using voice command to take pictures, record video, pull up information, and display and control all these simply by tilting the head up or down. The Google smart glasses are not in production yet but prototypes have been seen in public and a few lucky folks have been able to test them.
If Google rolls out commercial versions of the smart glasses in 2014 as promised, many consumers will want them. The queue at retail outlets on its debut might be even longer than any of the extraordinarily long ones we've seen each time Apple launched an iPhone. That's why I believe Google is one of the companies best positioned to take on Apple, because it has clearly shown willingness and ability to compete strongly for market share in its traditional online advertising, mobile operating system and handset markets even while breaking away from the pack by investing in non-traditional markets. Watch the video below for a demonstration of Google smart glasses.
So, here's my prediction for 2013 and beyond. Apple will continue to rule in the tablet PC market but it will be less dominant in smartphones and may even lose market share here. Its story is also getting stale: revenue, profits, and stock price soared again this year and it released a ho hum iPhone, which everybody naturally wants, but what else is new and exciting about Apple? Unless it does something extraordinary -- introduce a completely new product or surprise us with a major improvement on an existing device -- the more exciting story of 2013 won't be about Apple. I suspect we'll all be more interested in the growing rivalry between two software-giants-turned hardware manufacturers: Google and Microsoft.
Google and Microsoft started out as software companies before branching into hardware. They are direct rivals seeking unorthodox ways to diversify operations and remain vibrant. They've also got legacy products spinning off huge cash they can tap for acquisitions and R&D, and have been willing to step outside their immediate markets to try new things. Inevitably, they have clashed in online advertising and operating systems, and will butt heads in tablets, mobile, and other futuristic products. That's a story worth watching.
责编：Quentin
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