Software titans enter the physical world

Their brands may look more familiar on a website or a software package, but the names and logos of Amazon, Google and Microsoft are appearing increasingly on hardware as they pursue their mobile ambitions.

Not content with providing just the media, services and software for today’s smartphones, tablets and laptops, all three are defining such devices themselves with models like the Nexus smartphone, Kindle Fire and Surface tablets. The imperative is to claim a greater a degree of control and influence over an exploding category – one where, unlike during the PC era, users’ experience of web-based services are shaped not just by the layout of a website but also the weight, size and design of the mobile device they hold in their hands. Internet companies are having to rethink their place in the world, which in turn has led to a revision in how they view hardware.