Google, Apple and Facebook: a battle for our hearts and minds

Some people have always known this, but it's recently become crystal clear to me that there is a gigantic battle taking place between Google, Apple and Facebook - a battle for our hearts and minds. This realization came about after I recently switched from the iPhone to Android.

Switching from iPhone to Android gave me a second perspective on the world of mobile technology. With Android, Google has integrated other services into the mobile OS in a way that is eye-popping. For example:

• My contact list on my phone is the same as my contact list on my GMail
• When I take a photo, I can instantly upload it to Picassa web albums
• Search is front and center - with a dedicated button and on screen widget for doing web searches.

Suddenly, Google's vast array of services are in my every day life - and easily accessible.

In contrast, Apple's devices - such the iPhone and PCs have begun working themselves into our lives, but they do not hold the massive stores of data on us that Google does - through email, search history, docs etc. The other company that does hold a gigantic store of data - Facebook - is releasing its own phone, reportedly integrated into its platform in a way in which Android integrates with the rest of Google. In the past few month, Apple has reported that they're getting into the massive online data game themselves - iCould.

All there of these companies are positioning themselves to be the integrated platform - from devices to data - for all our Internet needs.