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. Google calls it “the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices”.
The first version will be available under the Apache open-source licence, which Google says will give mobile operators and device manufacturers significant freedom and flexibility to design products.
Handset manufacturers and wireless operators will be free to customize Android, the company said, and developers will have complete access to handset capabilities and tools. And consumers, it said, will have access to less expensive mobile devices that feature more compelling services, rich Internet applications and easier-to-use interfaces.
“This partnership will help unleash the potential of mobile technology for billions of users around the world,” said Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt in a statement. “A fresh approach to fostering innovation in the mobile industry will help shape a new computing environment that will change the way people access and share information in the future.
“Today’s announcement is more ambitious than any single ‘Google Phone’ that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we’re unveiling will power thousands of different phone models,” Schmidt said.
The Alliance includes U.S. carriers Sprint Nextel Corp. and Deutsche Telekom’s T-Mobile. But the top two U.S. wireless companies, AT & T Inc and Verizon Communications, have not yet signed on, nor have any Canadian providers.
The Android platform is expected to compete with RIM’s BlackBerry OS, as well as Apple’s OS X on the iPhone and Microsoft’s Windows Mobile.
One reason some companies have not joined the Alliance yet is because of concern that the open-software standards could expose users to software attacks or security breaches.
The first phones based on Android should be available in the second half of 2008.
www.google.com
www.openhandsetalliance.com
