Google details highly anticipated 'Android' mobile platform
Google on Monday announced a widely expected open-development platform for mobile
devices backed by industry heavyweights like T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm and Motorola
that could shake the wireless market to its core by simplifying and reducing the
cost of developing mobile applications.
The platform, called Android, has been developed by Google and others as part
of the Open Handset Alliance, which has over 30 partners supporting it. The
goal of this ambitious initiative is to spur innovation in the mobile space
and accelerate improvements in how people use the Web via cell phones.
As previously reported by IDG News Service, the open-source platform will have
a complete set of components, including an operating system, middleware stack,
customizable user interface and applications.
The first Android-based phones should hit the market in the second half of
2008. The platform will be made available under an open-source license that
will give a lot of flexibility to those who adopt it to modify its components
and design services and products, Google said.
The alliance will release an "early access" software development
kit next week to provide developers with the tools necessary to create applications
for the platform, Google said.
Other founding members of the alliance include Broadcom, eBay, China Mobile,
Intel, LG Electronics, NTT DoCoMo, Nvidia, Samsung, Sprint Nextel, Telecom Italia,
Telefonica, Texas Instruments and Wind River.
Noticeably absent from the list is traditional Google ally Apple, whose popular
iPhone might see its innovation lead cut sooner than expected thanks to this
Google effort.
In a press conference Monday, Google CEO Eric Schmidt said that Android will
"create a whole new mobile experience for users with new applications and
new capabilities that we couldn't imagine today."
There are about 3 billion mobile users worldwide, so improving their access
to Internet services and applications fits in with Google's core mission, he
said.
Making it easier for people to access Google's search engines and other online
services via mobile devices is key to the company, which must extend its advertising
business to the wireless world.
While a nascent market, mobile advertising is expected to balloon in coming
years. According to Opus Research, mobile advertising spending in North America
and Western Europe will reach a combined US$5.08 billion by 2012, up from an
estimated $106.8 million at the end of this year. This represents a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 116 percent.
Opus Research, which released the
forecast last week, said that improving the mobile user experience will
prompt more people to spend more time using the Internet via their cell phones.
This in turn will fuel ad revenue growth.
Calling Android "the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile
devices," Schmidt said Google hopes it will power "thousands"
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