As previous post [cref 36], there are many rumors about the gPhone. No Google phone exists yet, but the search giant’s announcement of an open platform for mobile-phone apps is a step in the right direction. So when will we see the so-called Android phones from members of the newly founded Open Handset Alliance?

We have answers to some of these questions!

1. Will a Google Phone ever be made?
2. So what is this Android?
3. When will I be able to buy a Google-powered phone?
4. How will Android phones differ from today’s coolest smart phones?
5. Why is a Google mobile platform any better than an existing mobile OS from Palm or Microsoft?

1. Will a Google Phone ever be made?

Google’s chair and CEO Eric Schmidt won’t officially say. But Schmidt does say that if all goes as planned, we’ll likely see many “Google phones” from a variety of wireless carriers. He also says that once software developers create a mature Android OS, it would be a prime time for Google to release a gPhone.

2. So what is this Android?

Android is a Linux-based mobile software platform that Google hopes will be the operating system of mobile phones in the future. It will compete with platforms such as Apple’s OS X on the iPhone, the BlackBerry OS, Microsoft’s Windows Mobile, and the Palm OS.

Google announced the Android platform along with other members of the Open Handset Alliance, a group of 34 hardware and software companies plus wireless carriers committed to creating open standards for mobile devices.

The Android platform, according to OHA, is free software available under the Apache open-source license. On November 12, a software developer’s kit (SDK) will release to developers. This will be the first chance for people to see an early incarnation of the OS.

3. When will I be able to buy a Google-powered phone?

The first Android phones are expected to be available to consumers in the second half of 2008. The most likely candidates to release Google-powered phones here in the United States are the wireless carriers–Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile–that are part of OHA.

HTC and Motorola, both members of OHA, will build phones for the Android platform. Forbes is reporting on an HTC-built OHA reference design code-named Dream featuring a touch screen that swivels to reveal a full keyboard. Apparently HTC is considering a commercial version of the phone and could release such a device as soon as the second half of 2008.

4. How will Android phones differ from today’s coolest smart phones?

Google says Android will have a browser capable of handling any type of Web content that a desktop computer’s Web browser can handle. That design opens up a treasure trove of possible browser-based services already available to PC users, including contact management, document creation, GPS direction services, and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) services.

Many of these services could be implemented today but aren’t, largely due to the fact that wireless carriers currently offer basic browsers that restrict users to a walled garden of services.

5. Why is a Google mobile platform any better than an existing mobile OS from Palm or Microsoft?

In theory, software developers will be inspired to create mobile applications for Android, for two reasons. First, an open software architecture will allow software developers more flexibility in creating features.

Second, Android will break the stranglehold that wireless carriers have on bringing new and free applications to customers. Now smaller companies will have more of an incentive to build innovative mobile applications that otherwise might not have reached consumers because the companies lacked the clout to broker deals with wireless carriers.

(1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)

 Loading ...

 Email This Post