When Google unveiled its mighty weapon almost two years ago, it was considered as an extremely versatile open-source mobile phone platform that will be freely available to all handset makers. Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, labeled Android as the most liberal licenses in the world.
But with the release of Google’s Android a couple of years back, a lot of speculations and questions emerged. Will the Android change the mobile landscape as much as iPhone did? How will the iPhone market respond to this new rival? How will iPhone suffer and will it survive the competition?
At the moment, Android is (still) just a software. That means that when you compare it to iPhone’s complete package, it is still relatively junior. There is no actual Google hardware for the Android – no, there is no “gPhone” yet – like what some people speculated that Google will soon build. However, that does not mean that Google came unprepared.
Rather, Google has teamed up with 34 telecommunications companies such as Motorola, T-Mobile, and the chip maker Qualcomm under what has been rumored to become the Open Handset Alliance. The Open Handset Alliance will be the one responsible in manufacturing a number of different phones that will run the Android operating system.
The main catch of Android is its very affordable price. While the mighty iPhone is priced at a whopping $400, Google is eyeing to reach a more mainstream market by pegging the Android-powered mobile devices at around $200 only. That is very exciting news, given that some of the high-end features of Google developers have plugged for Android phones, particularly about its 3G data speeds, accelerated 3D graphics and a touchscreen feature.
Another thing that sets Android apart from iPhones is the openness of its platform, in terms of its licensing approach and its accessibility to third party developers as well. Google will license Android to any willing company, making handset makers and wireless carriers to get and adapt the software, whenever they want, according to their needs.
Just imagine how viral the Android will become if any company can make a device compatible with it, and any wireless carrier can support it – while the iPhone in the US still remains exclusive to AT&T for another five years. Five years is more than a plenty of time for Google to sweep up the market with its humble baby. Now, that is one major concern that Apple should think about.
Not only that, developers are also allowed to build as many applications for Android, with very minimal restrictions from Google. In fact, Google has already released a software development kit (or SDK) for the platform and at the same time is encouraging third party development by giving away $10 million worth of prizes to those who will be able to make the best Android apps.
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