Google Laughs at the New iPhones

Google's management team is dancing around its new KitKat statue today, having dodged what could have been a competitive bullet or two from Apple -- possibly the new iWatch, iTV or even a new laptop. For heaven's sake, they didn't even announce a new iPad!

There was nothing new from Apple today that could stop Google's market share march forward.

Another company that's having a field day today: Nokia . Apple's new iPhone 5C is seemingly a flawless copy of the Nokia 620 that has already been available for several months.

Oh, and the price of that Nokia 620 is approximately half that of the iPhone 5C.

Fingerprint sensor? You mean the same thing I got on my Dell  laptop in 2007? And on the Motorola Atrix Android smartphone in January 2011? If Apple's latest claim to fame is to having copied a Dell 2007 laptop and a January 2011 Motorola smartphone, then Apple is in trouble.

Which is why Google is celebrating today.

Google's Android and Chrome teams were already nicely ahead of Apple's iOS team in terms of service integration, customization, ease of use and ability to ship a given grade of hardware at a much lower price.

Over the next few months, Google's Android and Chrome teams seek to extend their existing lead over Apple. The company will introduce Android OS version 4.4 KitKat, a slew of new Chromebook laptops starting around $199, a Chromepad (touchscreen Chrome OS tablet) and next summer the first Chromephone (Chrome OS replacing Android on the smartphone). The pace of innovation at Google is simply faster than it is at Apple these days.

Even before Google unveils these new initiatives, look at how far Google is ahead of Apple in the smartphone race: At $549 unlocked for the iPhone 5C, it is $300 more than Google's flagship smartphone, the LG Nexus 4, which sells for $249 SIM-unlocked, contract-free.

And the iPhone 5C only has only a four-inch screen, compared to the Nexus 4.7-inch screen. The Nexus also has a 768x1280 screen resolution, meaningfully higher than the iPhone 5C and 5S alike.