Developers, analysts, have high expectations for Google I/O

Google will hold on Wednesday and Thursday its largest event of the year for external developers, a constituency that it views as critically important for the health of its business and online services.

About 3,500 developers will attend Google I/O at San Francisco's Moscone Center, where speakers from Google and other companies will participate in more than 80 sessions and 100 technical demos.

However, the second annual edition of I/O still finds Google in a weaker position with developers than competitors like Facebook and Microsoft, said Ray Valdes, a Gartner analyst.

Google has been successful in attracting a wide range of developers to a few, very narrow-scope areas, like Google Maps, Valdes said.

There are thousands of small Web applications and Web pages with a Google map on them, but they represent a superficial commitment from developers, he said.

"Google needs to deepen that commitment and really get developers on board. I don't think Google has achieved that in the way that Facebook has or the way that Microsoft historically has," Valdes said in a phone interview.

"When you meet a developer in a social setting some will say 'I'm an iPhone developer' or 'I'm a Facebook developer' or 'I'm a Microsoft .Net developer.' It's rare to hear a developer say 'I'm a Google developer' or 'I'm an OpenSocial developer.' Google needs to get to that level of engagement with developers," Valdes added.

A key to achieving that next level is to have a more cohesive, integrated platform that lets developers reach a wide segment of end users and generate revenue from their applications. "It's a matter of strengthening and broadening their platform offerings," Valdes said.

Al Hilwa, an IDC analyst, said Google should prioritize its Android mobile platform, which currently holds a concrete promise for developers. "While Google has a variety of not-so-well-connected developer-related initiatives -- Google Web Toolkit, Google Gears, Chrome, etc... -- the one likely to get the most attention is Android," he said via e-mail.

There is broad interest among developers regarding the commitment from device manufacturers and the availability of mobile phones based on Android. "Android has the most potential of the variety of smart-phone platforms coming out to compete with the iPhone, but Google needs to execute more decisively and aggressively to line-up device makers," Hilwa added.

Attendees have high expectations for the event.

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