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Google got a little more buying from Samsung for a next-generation text messaging standard it has long advocated.
L & # 39; s Android The hope that the Rich Communication Services (RCS), which is upgrading SMS communications and content exchange, can offer its fragmented Android ecosystem a way to deliver rich native messaging. iMessage from Apple on iOS.
But this is a major task, given the number of Android devices available. And Google needs the entire industry to support RCS (not only device manufacturers, but also operators) if it wants to achieve something other than bypassing boundaries.
Zooming a moment, the even bigger problem is that the mail ship has sailed, with very popular platforms like WhatsApp and Telegram had already unloaded billions of users in their respective walled gardens, moving away from the center of gravity of SMS.
This did not stop Google from trying, even though it was confusing in its strategy – spreading its messaging efforts (with false starts like Allo).
Google doubled on RCS In April, he pulled resources from the standalone Allo Messaging app to try to find more support for next-generation SMS.
He also managed to create a minimum of dynamism behind RCS. At this year's Mobile World Congress, he announced that more than 40 operators now support RCS – up from 27 the year before. The last support figure indicates the operator number at 55.
But, three years after the acquisition of RCS specialist Jibe Mobile – and an ambitious speech on "the future of messaging" – this is not obvious.
An additional factor is that operators must also have actively deployed RCS support, not just intend to do so. And we do not know exactly how many have.
It is also unclear how many RCS users exist at this stage. (In 2016, operators were simply talking about creating "a way" for a billion users, at a time when SMS had billions of users, suggesting that they were not likely to create ubiquity via the norm).
The latest Google-supported RCS development, announced by press release, is an "extended collaboration" between Mountain View and Samsung – claiming that their respective message clients "will work seamlessly with each company's RCS technology, including business and cloud messaging.
The pair has already added RCS support to "Samsung devices," but now claims that some of Samsung's existing features will be available, including the Galaxy S8 and S8 +, as well as the S8 Active, S9, and S9 +. , Note8, Note9, and select the A and J series on Android 9.0 or later.
What looks like a few devices. But it's also more incomprehensible than that – because again, the support remains subject to the availability of the carrier and the market. So, this is not the case for all Samsung Android handsets.
They also claim that (select) the new Samsung Galaxy smartphones will natively support RCS messaging. But again, that's only where operators support the standard.
"This means that consumers and brands can enjoy richer conversations with Android messages and Samsung Messages users," they add after their series of warnings.
Although the PR ended on an optimistic note – both companies talked about an "improved messaging experience across the entire Android ecosystem" – there is clearly no chance for that. An obvious consequence of the rich "biodiversity" of the Android ecosystem is the reduction of the omnipresence of inter-device standardization games like this one.
However, if Google can choose enough peripherals and flagship markets to support RCS support, it may have thought that the mass of critical messaging was sufficient to compare itself to Apple's iMessage. The additional takeover of Samsung – which high-end devices are most often competing with iPhones for consumer money – is certainly useful for its strategy.
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