They have a pretty disappointing track record when it comes to consumer hardware. I bet it is not in their DNA.
For building Google's search engine, you need people who know search and sorting algorithms backwards, forwards, inside-out, and upside down. You need hardcore A/B testing based on statistical significance, and rigorous respect of the data you collect.
To make the iPhone and the iPad, you need neither of those.
You need one guy who will walk around like an idiot for months pretending that a deck of cards is his telephone, and writing down every observation and thought that he has on usability. You need a master craftsman who can direct the entire experience, without losing his head in the tech specs.
Google doesn't hire people like that. Decisions are made by committee, backed by data and research, which gives them their edge in technical excellence, but also cripples them in hardware and marketing.
It kills me. I really want Google to succeed here; Apple has effectively zero competition in the smartphone and tablet market other than Google.
Ok, what follows is a bit of a rant. :)
Personally, the first thing I'd do with Android is revamp the market and distribution model to standardize the OS across platforms and vendors, so that an Android works the same no matter where you got it. Vendors can add in custom content (wallpapers, extra apps, ringtones, etc), but the interface (icons, look-and-feel) needs to be the same.
The vendors will go with this. They're getting their asses handed to them by Apple, and Google is their lifeline, because they're saving a ton on development costs.
Second, I'd market the hell out of the areas that Apple cant match, but that matter to the consumer, namely voice search, and maybe being able to hold the phone in the human hand without losing reception.
And whatever you do, don't play the celebrity card. Apple's iPhone and iPad ads make it look like you're using the device. Google could steal a page from that, but with Android devices being used in the real world, not in the Apple cleanroom.
Another area that AFAIK Apple can't currently match is turn by turn navigation, I no longer use my GPS device in my car but rely completely on my Droid.
"By Gingerbread (Android 3.0) they intend to squeeze out all vendor-specific add ons, like Motorola Blur or HTC Sense. This is a big mistake that will end in a lose-lose situation."
the opposite of
"Personally, the first thing I'd do with Android is revamp the market and distribution model to standardize the OS across platforms and vendors, so that an Android works the same no matter where you got it. Vendors can add in custom content (wallpapers, extra apps, ringtones, etc), but the interface (icons, look-and-feel) needs to be the same." ?
"We let you root your phone" is not a marketing strategy, and that's the base of Android so far. They let you customize, Apple gives you something kick ass that just works.
Note that I said nothing about being able to install Linux on your phone, or about the open development platform.
If Google grows a marketing brain and decides to create an experience, they need to do one based around their core strength -- finding stuff. Which is where leveraging their voice-search technology would be a good start.
Especially because vocal interfaces are socially inclusive. If I want to find a Thai restaurant on an iPhone, I usually sit there in silence and poke at it a bit. If I want to do it on a Droid, I can just ask it. Which one of these fits more naturally into a social setting without breaking the flow?
That's not all, obviously, but it's a good start towards framing Google/Android as the 'personal robot butler' to Apple's 'computer for the rest of us'.
Just as hardware and marketing is not in Google's DNA, so to the race to the bottom commodity pricing is not in Apple's DNA. Apple simply cannot compete on price.
We geeks get caught up in the tech side of things and don't even blink at paying upwards $2,500 for the total cost of a contract-locked smart phone for two years. But give the average non-tech person a choice between a $2500 iPhone, or a $200 unlocked Android that they can use on any carrier. It's obvious which choice the majority of consumers will make.