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I do not own a Blackberry or an iPhone, but I still dish out a fair sum of money every month for my cell phone service and I would not say the device itself was too cheap either. So, is it too much to ask for a decent interface on my phone? The Open Handset Alliance does not think so.

According to them, it is estimated that there are close to 1.5 billion televisions in this world, and 1 billion people using the internet. Still the most successful consumer product is clearly the mobile phone with around 3 billion users [Source]. So why aren�??t cell phones easier to navigate and customize to our needs, the way our computer operating systems are?

Google and others have come up with a way to change all this. Follow me below the fold for more�?�

The Open Handset Alliance is a group of over 30 Mobile Operators, Handset Manufacturers, Semiconductor Companies, Software Companies, and Commercialization Companies [Full list of members]. Some key members of the Open Handset Alliance include:

_____		__	China Mobile (CMCC) the largest telecom operator in the world
_____		__	Telefónica — 212 million clients in Europe, Africa and Latin America
_____		__	T-Mobile — 112 million clients worldwide
_____		__	Sprint Nextel
_____		__	as well as major providers in Italy, and Japan

Popular handset providers LG, Samsung, and Motorola, are also on board. The Open Handset Alliance is trying to increase the openness of the mobile environment with the release of Android.

What is Android?

Android is an open source platform built on the open Linux Kernel.

�??Android is not just a blueprint for the faraway future, but a complete platform that will give mobile operators, handset manufacturers, and developers everything they need in order to build innovative devices, software and services.�?�

Basically, Android will allow developers to create applications for phones similar to the way they create applications for any computer operating system. Any application a developer creates will have full access to the phones�?? core functions calling, text messaging and taking pictures. The developer will also be able to pull all sorts of data from the web so the user would be able to synchronize calendars, contacts, etc. There is also potential for the device to obtain information about the users personal geographic location as well as that of their friends. These are just a few possibilities.

Opportunities for Non-Profits:
This opens the doors for non-profit organizations to create applications that will provide users with news feeds, submit donations, among other things. For example, with this kind of technology, a union could create an application for members�?? phones that would pull legislative alerts off their website and allow members to call their members of Congress with one touch. After they call, the phone could ping back to HQ for an auto-updating tally on the website.

The Evolution and Security Risks:
Up until now cell phone companies have been able to control the evolution of cell phone platforms and the Operating Systems from which they are based, but Android puts the evolution is in the hands of the public, which has its security issues as is the case with all development opportunities open to the public. As with computer operating systems users must add applications at their own risk. Users should be aware of how applications share their personal information over the web and to other users. As with most things created by Google, you can expect there will be some type of information sharing, particularly because they are offering this platform for free.

Will Android Succeed?
The success of Android is primarily in the hands of mobile operators because they decide whether or not to use Android on their phones.Based on the providers in the Open Handset Alliance (see list above), Android can spread across the world. However it is missing the two top providers in the U.S., Verizon and AT&T (Cingular), and the European based Vodafone which provides service to 65 countries.

The Release?
Android will be released as a Software Development Kit and is predicted to be available to developers on November 12th of this year. I wish it luck.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 9th, 2007 at 5:57 pm and is filed under SMS, Tech, Web 2.0. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.