Google Pixel World

What is the problem?

As smartphones become obsolete, Android's dominant position is at risk

Many sources are predicting the end of the smartphone, a new era of wearable devices and an upcoming fight about the best operating system.

“The Era Of Smartphones Is Ending” The Wallstreet Pit
”A New OS War Is About to Begin” PCMag
”The Battle For VR Is No Longer About Headsets, It’s About OS” UploadVR
”Why 2018 Is the Beginning of the End for Smartphones” Inc.com
”The Real Battle For Wearables Hasn’t even Started Yet” The Kernel

Android is providing new OS to the people, an open source code for third party developers and solutions for every upcoming product sector with operating systems for cars (Android Auto), TVs (Android TV), smart watches (WearOS), notebooks (chrome OS), phones and tablets (Android OS), and the Google Chromecast.

The market share of the different Android OS in 2018/2019 looks as followed:

Android OS: 75%
iOS: 22%
KaiOS: 0,75%
Others: 2,25%

Android TV: 10%
Tizen: 21%
WebOS: 12%
RokuTV: 4%
FireFox OS: 2%
Amazon Fire TV: 0,1%
Others: 50,9%

WearOS: 10%
iOS: 37,9%
FitBit: 24,1&
Tizen: 10%
Garmin: 7%
Others: 11%

Chrome OS: 1%
Windows: 88%
MacOS: 10%
Others: 1%

As soon as smartphones become obsolete, the dominance of Android is at risk. When new technology comes to the market, proprietary OS have the power to displace Android as predominant OS. Other threats to Android's market dominance are operating systems from established corporations such as Microsoft (Continuum), Huawei (Harmony OS) or Apple.

What is the Solution?

The Final Solution

The ultimate vision for the Pixel World is: A personal device-independent OS in the clouds. And whatever new technology is coming up, it is getting access to my OS with all my apps and data entirely and instantly. A fully functional, fully equipped operation system, instantly accessable for any new technology. And for my phone, my TV, my PC and my car at the same time.
An operating system that is running on servers and streaming the output in the correct format on any device. With a touchscreen, mouse, keyboard or any other controller as individual input to navigate through my content.

A primary device like a watch, glasses or smart jewlery would serve as identification device to open the gateway e.g. from my desktop to the server.

Example:

You turn on a Pixel Desks in a co-working space, you get to the log in screen. Your Pixel Watch is your log in device and automatically grants the Pixel Desk access to your Cloud OS. You are now working in the cloud. Even demanding software for 3D modeling or movie rendering are accessible and operating blazing fast on the $280 Pixel Desk.

The Interim Solution

The technology is available, but there are no products and no ecosystem existing to reach this solution in the near future. Plus, users need time to adapt and let go of data on stationary harddrives and backup everything on far away servers. This is why the phone as main device can serve as an interim solution to develop the ecosystem of an all operating system while leaving the data in the user’s hands.

Example:

You are on vacation in an AirBnB apartment in Utrecht. Everything is in Dutch. Your host has a Pixel Hub connected to her 10 year old TV with an old keyboard and mouse. You turn on the TV and get to the log in screen. Your Pixel Phone connects to the hub, streams Android on the TV screen and grants access to all your apps and files. You are now working on your phone with a processor comparable to a notebook and continue working on your presentation for the evening. Everything is in English.

What are the benefits of a centralized OS?

We are using multiple OS every day without much of complaining. Some data is isolated, to a specific device, like text messages on your phone, or tasks can only be done by one specific device, like professional image editing on a desktop computer. Some apps work on a phone and on a computer browser, but not in VR or in the car like most games.

In some cases it can become frustrating. If you want to edit a couple of photos on your computer that you took with your phone, and later post it on Instagram, again, with your phone. This can become a serious syncing problem. Especially if you don’t want to go through several lossfull image compressing routines, e.g. by sending the images via Facebook Messenger or WeChat. With dropbox you can only send 8 images at a time and syncing by cable and finding the images in an Android folder is not the most trivial way. SD cards or respectively a card reader on a notebook are often not available.

Wouldn’t it be much easier to not work with Android on your phone, with Microsoft at home and Mac at work? With Linux in the library and another isolated android on your VR?

Software updates

As an example: If you have a TV with an old Android OS, it might happen that there are no updates available and certain apps will not work on that TV. If your TV is only a transmitter of everything that happens on your phone, you will not have any issues with updated devices.

Apps

Android Auto, WearOS, Android TV and ChromeOS do not have quite as many apps as the Android Phone PlayStore and the ChromeCast is quite limited as well. Many apps work very good on one OS but very limited on another and many apps are not available for Windows or MacOS. The Pixel World would expand the availability and usability of apps dramatically.

Syncing

Home offices and a flexible workspace becomes more and more attractive for many people. Syncing PCs and Notebooks for home and work usage is difficult with multiple devices and OS. But even transferring images from the phone to the PC can be complicated.

Compatibility

There can be compatibility issues by:

1) Operating Systmes regarding proprietary software especially for professional applications
2) Software Versions on different devices
3) Hardware incompatibility for example regarding available ports or a differnet file system.

If you have only one OS for all devices, compatibility becomes obsolete.

Licensing

Many software companies allow users to use their software on only one or two devices. If you work with the same programs at work, on your workstation at home and on your notebook, that can become an issue.

Price

Simple secundary transmitting devices are more reasonable in price than computing devices with their own OS, professional programs, computing power and storage

Simpler access to new markets

No matter what new technology comes up, Android is always ready, since the OS on your phone (or in the cloud) stays the same no matter what the next big thing is.
The Pixel World would also open the market for stationary PCs for Android and probably replace Windows as market leader in no time.

Is this idea unique

The idea is not new at all. Operating systems are very flexible regarding output and input devices since a very long time. The idea of a centralized operating system is not so much different from e.g. a standard Windows system.

Stationary PCs

Windows 10 or MacOS work without a problem with all different types of keyboards, mouses and controllers with different sets of buttons or touch screens, with small and large display and a variety of resolutions. The only thing users need, is a driver. A little piece of programm that tells the OS the different meanings of each button or any other kind of input signal. Windows 10 or MacOS would not work on a tiny screen like a watch, but the idea of a flexible operation system that streams its content through a cable to any kind of screen is already there.

Windows Continuum

Microsoft is following an approach similar to the Pixel World idea and lauched a features called Continuum in Windows Mobile that tranforms your windows phone and a monitor or TV into a PC. Users need an additional device to make it work. Either wireless or via cable, but the idea is the same. The problem with Windows Continuum is prevalently, that it is Windows Mobile, which means, there are not a lot of apps available for these devices.

Nexdock

Nexdock is a notebook that works with Android and a couple of phones from Huawei and Samsung that support a feature called Desktop Mode. Just like Windows Continuum, the desktop mode transforms Android OS into a operating system that works seemlessly on a notebook.

Miraxess

Miraxess is a company that produced the MiraBook. A notebook that works with a couple of operation systems including Samsung‘s Desktop mode, Windows 10 Continuum, Raspberry pie, Windows computer sticks, Ubuntu and others.

Pixel World Products

I designed a couple of products for the Pixel World. The Pixel Phone (Pixel 1 World) as the main device of the interim solution of the Pixel World, keeping up the legacy of Google's design language, the Pixel Hub as interface between the new Pixel World and existing peripheral devices, the Pixel Desk as ultimate desktop solution for AndroidOS content, the Pixel Book showcasing the potential creative freedom of a mobile solution for the Pixel World, and the Pixel VR, a consistent advancement of the Daydream design with regard to technical developments and properties for the pixel world.