Beats Audio Exclusively in HTC Rezound. But iTunes isn't.

Beats Audio has been a tremendous story. They have done for headphones and device sound what Intel did years ago for computing. And they leveraged celebrity endorsers and users to become ultra popular: Dre, Lady Gaga, Bieber, Lebron, etc. But the below advertisement really struck me. The HTC Android phone exclusively comes with Beats audio. It's powerful marketing because those red headphones and their logo stand out - particularly as you compare other devices on a store's shelves.

However, in this example, the 'hardware' is unfortunately less important and compelling than the software. As Intel made famous: it's what's inside that counts. And in that case: iTunes wins. And iTunes made the original iPhone so popular (before the app store).

For this to be very compelling, they would need to partner with a major music source in addition to the sound. That means that Google Music would need to ramp quickly or they work with Pandora, Spotify, Turntable.fm, etc... because sound without a great library and UI is just not that useful. Apple knows that.

As AT&T Improves, Google Nexus One Arrives on Verizon

I have been eagerly awaiting Google's Nexus One arrival on Verizon - which were initially announced as "Spring 2010". And according to BoyGeniusReport - it has passed through the FCC.

That raises a couple questions - even for someone who glowed so positively about Android and the Nexus One:

1. AT&T is improving. While I complained about AT&T alongside other vocal folks, I do give them credit for addressing the problem and making improvements. PC world tests showed significant improvlement and rated AT&T as the fastest network (read here - seriously). Anecdotally, I have experienced significant improvements in San Francisco, the valley and Los Angeles. The real test will be when I am in New York this week... which was the worst.

2. The HTC Incredible is launching and is apparently also weeks away.... and it is supposedly a formidable competitor to the Nexus One: '3.5″ to 3.7″ WVGA capacitive display (believed to be AMOLED), 5 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, optical trackpad (death to trackballs!), Snapdragon processor and 256MB RAM topped off with Android 2.1 with Sense UI'

I still contend that I will move to Android - not just for Verizon's network, but because I think it is important to be on Droid's platform (learning, experimentation, etc) - just as it has been so valuable and educational to be on the iPhone.