“Google phone” is official, introducing Android
November 6, 2007 by Dario Soltani
Imagine walking in a store and finding a product you want, wouldn’t it be great to just capture an image of it using your phone to get price comparisions with stores nearby and some reviews? What if we could upload the image to a server and get it analyzed? This scenario is very possible right now with Symbian phones such as the N95, using the built-in GPS, camera and network access such as 3G or WiFi. With the coming "Google" phones this might be reality very soon.
I would like to make one thing clear. The Google phone which we’ve all heard rumors about for a long time now is not a phone. It’s an opensource OS and a SDK (Software Developer Kit). This will hopefully result in many different phones and applications from many different manufacturers.
Google and and a group of other companies announced "the Open Handset Alliance" (OHA) and their Linux based software platform for mobile devices, Android™. Some of the companies involved in the project are, HTC, LG, Motorola, Samsung, T-Mobile, E-bay, Intel, Nvidia & TAT. The alliance consists of mobile operators, handset manufacturers, semiconductor manufacturers, software companies and commercialization companies.
Android™ claims to be the first complete, open, and free mobile platform. What does this mean? First of all, this means developers can take full advantage of all the features a handset can provide. The SDK makes it possible for developers to make applications that can make calls, send texts, use the camera or the accelerometer. This enables many ways of interaction and opens up thousands of possibilities for developers.
Just like a computer, all applications are created equal. This means you can modify what application to use by default when listening to music, watching your images or browsing the internet. Freedom for developers and many applications for end-users will signify the OHA-devices.
The SDK will be available for download on November 12, 2007. The first devices based on Android™ are scheduled to be available in the second half of 2008.
More information on OHA’s official website.
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