At the Apple Event today, Steve Jobs slipped some jabs Google’s way but also lauded AppleTV’s ability to play YouTube.
There is not much news for Google watchers at Apple events these days and what there is is usually bad. Steve Jobs started off the presentation today saying that Apple was activating 230,000 devices a day. Google’s Eric Schmidt last month said that Google was activating over 200,000 devices a day and growing. But Steve Jobs can’t believe those numbers are legit. He told the event audience that:
“We think some of our friends are counting upgrades in their numbers”
That’s obviously a direct accusation aimed at Google. He added, ” we think we are ahead of everyone”.
Updated: A Google Spokesperson told me: “The Android activation numbers do not include upgrades and are, in fact, only a portion of the Android devices in the market since we only include devices that have Google services.” –meaning that Jobs’ assertions were wrong.
On AppleTV, he took a less direct hit at Google’s Google TV. He said that consumers want Hollywood blockbusters and high-end TV shows, but not “amateur hour.” GoogleTV will allow you to pull content from anywhere, including amateur video sites.
Jobs added it is hard for technology companies to understand that consumers “don’t want a computer in their living room”. GoogleTV is operated with Google’s familiar browser search bar as the main navigation interface.
On the positive side for Google, he did mention that AppleTV would still play YouTube movies (which some would consider amateur hour and professional at the same time) and mentioned that HD YouTubes would play on the AppleTV as well.
Google’s Android OS will be well represented at this week’s ITA conference in Germany and GoogleTV will be released later this summer.
