Never one to miss a good soundbite (nor mince his words), Steve Jobs took some time out of his post-Keynote euphoria to voice his doubts about Google’s Android project to the New York Times.  When asked whether he believed the open-source OS would save Google from being “left behind” in the age of the mobile internet-enabled device, Jobs appeared to gently chide the search company for developing their own platform rather than concentrate on enabling their online applications for existing devices such as the iPhone:

“I actually think Google has achieved their goal without Android, and I now think Android hurts them more than it helps them. It’s just going to divide them and people who want to be their partners” Steve Jobs, Apple CEO

Of course, the proof of the pudding is how much of it the public clamour to eat, and Apple is well aware that they’ve had a market success - in the US, at least - with the iPhone.   

“Having created a phone its a lot harder than it looks.  We’ll see how good their software is and we’ll see how consumers like it and how quickly it is adopted” Steve Jobs

It remains to be seen as to how much the iPhone and Android-powered handsets compete in the same market segment, with the latter expected, for the most part, to be mid-range and entry-level smartphones.  However, Google could feasibly steal the growing Asia market from Apple, with Android fingered as the next-big-thing in countries, such as China, which analysts believe are set to explode with new users.

New York Times [via Google-Phone]