Google hopes Android takes over mobile phones

After months of speculation, Google Inc. has finally spelled out its plans to transform the mobile phone industry, not by putting out its own “Google Phone” necessarily but by releasing a free software development kit that will “unleash the potential of mobile technology”. Google announced Monday the formation of the Open Handset Alliance (www.openhandsetalliance.com), a 34-member multinational alliance of manufacturers, technology companies and wireless carriers. On Nov. 12th, it will release Android, the name given to the operating system platform which Google says will allow large corporations and individual users alike to open up a whole range of web-based services....