Where will the next big battle between Apple and Google be?

July 7, 2019: In recent years, the battle lines between Apple and Google have been expanding and the competition has become increasingly fierce. So, what will be the next big battle between the two sides? Tim Bajarin, a well-known analyst in the US technology industry and founder of Creative Strategies, recently wrote that it will be artificial intelligence, which may become the killer of mobile devices. The battle of artificial intelligence has just begun.

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For much of my 35-year career in tech, the operating system war has been the industry's main theme: first MS-DOS versus the original Apple II OS, then Microsoft Windows versus Mac OS, and now Windows, Mac OS X, iOS, Google Android, and Chrome OS.
At the same time, another battlefield is brewing - artificial intelligence.
At this year's I/O developer conference, Google released Now On Tap. It is a new version of Google Now that uses contextual information to make your smartphone more useful. For example, when you receive a text message from a friend about an appointment to a specific place, Now On Tap is smart enough to add the event to your calendar and provide you with directions to the appointment place, presenting local specialties. It will even show the nearest parking area and stores that you may be interested in.
Apple later released a new generation of Siri at the WWDC Global Developer Conference, giving the digital assistant better contextual artificial intelligence and search technology. In May, Microsoft also launched a new version of Cortana on the stage of the developer conference. This voice assistant, which is also based on artificial intelligence, can answer questions and give better answers based on specific situations.


As competition between Google, Apple, and Microsoft in the smartphone market becomes increasingly fierce, the consumerization of artificial intelligence is bound to become the next major battlefield in the mobile field. This battlefield will drive device differentiation, especially mobile devices that need hands-free operation. Fast Company contributor John Brownlee recently wrote an article on "User interface and artificial intelligence, which is more important in the future" to explore.
He pointed out in the article, "Google knows something we don't know. It knows that Apple's design taste is only a temporary advantage. It knows that designing many practical and effectively integrated services is more difficult than designing pixels. In the protracted thermonuclear war with Apple, Google knows that the key to victory or defeat will ultimately be artificial intelligence, not the user interface."
I personally can’t wait for the AI-assisted mobility future. My schedule is so packed with meetings, research, and writing that I tend to forget the little things. For example, I know where I’m going when I’m out for a meeting, but often find myself lost and have no idea where I’m going. Many times, I have to pull over, check my email, and then find my way on Google Maps.
You might think I'm disorganized. That's not entirely true. In fact, I'm overloaded with information, which seriously affects my overall efficiency. I have to admit that my memory bank is overloaded. If there was an AI-based personal assistant that could predict user needs, I would definitely pay for it, and I think others would too. For many people, it would be the killer app.
Smartphone manufacturers can still differentiate around operating systems, design, and user interfaces. But I agree with Brownie: AI-based services will be where the big players in the mobile industry—Google, Apple, etc.—will make huge investments in the coming years. In the next two years, users will start to demand more context-based services. Done well, they could become the killer feature of mobile devices and make people's lives much easier.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.