A lot of people talk of splintering as if it doesn't exist on the iPhone.
1. different devices have different hardware capabilities: my 1G doesn't have bluetooth, early iPods don't have a camera, etc. Apps have to deal with that on every platform and it'll only get worse as Apple ads more hardware features.
2. different screen resolutions: Android is simply ahead of the game on this one, the iPhone isn't going to stay at 480x320 forever (I'm willing to bet a lot of money next year's iteration will not have that resolution)
The challenge that Android faces is that multiple versions of software/hardware are available to purchase at the same time. While Apple only has one version of the iPhone in stores.
I hope Android succeeds to keep Apple innovating and honest.
Android's challenge vis-a-vis the iPhone will be that Google doesn't know a lot about consumer electronic devices, and the wireless carriers don't know a lot about consumer software. Apple is among the best at both.
1. different devices have different hardware capabilities: my 1G doesn't have bluetooth, early iPods don't have a camera, etc. Apps have to deal with that on every platform and it'll only get worse as Apple ads more hardware features.
2. different screen resolutions: Android is simply ahead of the game on this one, the iPhone isn't going to stay at 480x320 forever (I'm willing to bet a lot of money next year's iteration will not have that resolution)