Google has launched their open source Android mobile platform to developers. It's a full stack: Linux, with a Java runtime and applications. It goes head-to-head with JavaFx Mobile from Sun (Linux with a Java runtime and applications), Symbian, Microsoft and arguably the forthcoming Apple iPhone development offering. The software is developed under an group of companies working under the Open Handset Alliance banner.
"Google's new alliance includes some big names. But Samsung, the number three handset-maker, always joins everything; Motorola, the number two, is in trouble and could do with a helping hand from Google; the same is true of Sprint, an American wireless operator. The heavyweights—Nokia, Vodafone, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, not to mention Apple and Microsoft—are conspicuous by their absence" (Economist).
The strength of Google as a leader of the alliance, and Google's willingness to spend on the project to get ads onto handsets makes for a promising combination. "Fostering Android under the alliance, [Google CEO] Schmidt said, will give consumers better user experiences than what they get from today's mobile platforms, which include the market-leading Symbian OS and Microsoft Windows Mobile OS. Android, which is expected to appear on handsets in the second half of 2008, will pave the way for Google to optimize applications such Google Maps and Gmail on Web-enabled devices such as smartphones" (eWeek).
"Most important of all, the wireless industry may be ready for a new model, just as the computer industry was 25 years ago. As phones become ever more like computers, consumers are unwilling to stay within "walled gardens" built by mobile operators. They want to pick their own software and services, just as they do on their PCs. Android's aim is to make this possible" (Economist).
"Google's new alliance includes some big names. But Samsung, the number three handset-maker, always joins everything; Motorola, the number two, is in trouble and could do with a helping hand from Google; the same is true of Sprint, an American wireless operator. The heavyweights—Nokia, Vodafone, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, not to mention Apple and Microsoft—are conspicuous by their absence" (Economist).
The strength of Google as a leader of the alliance, and Google's willingness to spend on the project to get ads onto handsets makes for a promising combination. "Fostering Android under the alliance, [Google CEO] Schmidt said, will give consumers better user experiences than what they get from today's mobile platforms, which include the market-leading Symbian OS and Microsoft Windows Mobile OS. Android, which is expected to appear on handsets in the second half of 2008, will pave the way for Google to optimize applications such Google Maps and Gmail on Web-enabled devices such as smartphones" (eWeek).
"Most important of all, the wireless industry may be ready for a new model, just as the computer industry was 25 years ago. As phones become ever more like computers, consumers are unwilling to stay within "walled gardens" built by mobile operators. They want to pick their own software and services, just as they do on their PCs. Android's aim is to make this possible" (Economist).
- Google phone to land second half of 2008, Computing, 6 Nov 2007.
- What, no phone?, Economist, 8 Nov 2007.
- Android - An Open Handset Alliance Project, project home page.
- Google Programs Android as Next Mobile Operating System, EWeek, 5 Nov 2007.
- Google pushes into mobile phones, BBC, 5 Nov 2007.
- Google's gives the world (another) Linux phone OS, The Register, 5 Nov 2007.
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