Telstra wants you to know more about Android and has created an interactive, in-store experience that’s all about the green robot. The interactive store-within-a-store is called Androidland and is located in the Bourke Street Telstra store in Melbourne.
Inside Androidland, you can play with wall-sized versions of Google Maps, play games like Angry Birds (which ironically started as an iOS game), and learn about other features of Android. Incredibly, the store even has the scent of Gingerbread in some areas. Sales associates inside the 154 square meter store will be Android experts who can answer all the tough questions about Google’s mobile platform.
I think the idea is ingenious and people will enjoy the Androidland store while they are there. It may also may entice some people to get an Android handset, but will it make them stay with the platform? The problem with Android isn’t the in-store presentation, which is usually pretty nice. It’s the out-of-the-box experience when you have the phone at home that needs some improvement. I’ve returned many Android phones because they were glitchy or slow. Hopefully, Ice cream sandwich can give Android some of the polish that it needs.