MattSnodBlog

Can you smell it? A storm's a brewin'. You can almost see on the horizon that something ugly is headed our way. It's an all-out, knock-down brawl between Apple and Google.

Business Week ran a great article last week on this, and it's evident that something's gotta give. Let's face it, as the years progress, each is encroaching on the other's sandbox.

• Apple comes out with a phone OS, Google comes out with Android.
• Apple releases the iPhone, Google releases the Nexus One.
• Apple develops their Safari Web browser, Google comes out with Chrome.
• Google acquires mobile advertising company AdMob, Apple goes after Quattro Wireless.
• Apple works with TomTom on a for-pay GPS app, Google offers their turn-by-turn directions for free.
• Google CEO Eric Schmidt stepped down as Apple board member last year.

Expect more tough back and forth between these two as the phone carrier wars heat up later this year when Apple's exclusive contract with AT&T expires.

Just as I was about to write a scathing post about AT&T's ever-worsening service -- seriously, it's getting awful -- I heard about "Operation Chokehold" the other day. The popular FakeSteve (Jobs) blog is leading this charge for all disgruntled iPhone users to overwhelm AT&T's capacity by running data-intensive services on their iPhones for one hour starting at 12:00n PT / 3:00p ET today.

Will this immediately improve our horrid service? No. However, as a stunt, this should further shine the spotlight on AT&T's shortcomings. Look to hear about this in the news tonight.

There's an app for that? There's a map for that? How about, there's a word for that ... regret. If you've spent any time in front of a TV or computer over the last month, you've by now seen Verizon's anti-AT&T ads, "There's a map for that." It's actually very well done, to-the-point, and effective in highlighting AT&T's 3G coverage shortcomings.

However, an unintended result of this may be angering AT&T to the point that they bend Apple's ear (and wallet) next year into maintaining their exclusivity deal. Let's face it, Verizon has the better network (both data and voice), but what they don't have is the better device, namely the iPhone. Since they couldn't (and presumably can't) win on the device front, they decided to attack their competitor on the service front. In doing so, they may be sabotaging any plans they have to get the iPhone on their network in Q3 of 2010 when AT&T's exclusivity with Apple is up.

AT&T is already angry enough at the (very effective) ads that they're suing Verizon. (Excerpt: How dare you point out that our network sucks!) I think they might become so put off by these ads that they'll back up a couple of truckloads of cash to 1 Infinite Loop to ensure Apple retains its exclusivity with them.

Seemingly, Verizon -- who never before went all-out with attack ads -- is banking on the Droid being an iPhone killer (or denter?). But while initial reports are pretty good on the Droid, the latest ones have been pointing more towards flaws in its design. An iPhone killer it ain't. I believe the iPhone killer will be ... an iPhone. Verizon will need to be sure it doesn't just win this battle but make headway in the war.