Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 06 November 2007 01:15
IT Industry -
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Details of Google's assault on the cellphone market are finally out, and it has garnered an impressive array of big name players - carrier, handset manufacturers, chip makers and others - that, combined with Google's own massive presence in the market seems certain to ensure a big impact.
Google has announced a software operating system and application development platform for cellphones, dubbed Android and billed as "the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices." It is described as "a fully integrated mobile 'software stack' that consists of an operating system, middleware, user-friendly interface and applications."
Google promises that the Android platform will be made available "under one of the most progressive, developer-friendly open-source licenses, which gives mobile operators and device manufacturers significant freedom and flexibility to design products." To manage Android's assault on the market and co-ordinate the efforts of the many partners, Google has formed the Open Handset Alliance.
Prominent members include the number two and three handset makers, Samsung and Motorola (but not number one Nokia) as well as LG and HTC of Taiwan which makes around 80 percent of the Microsoft based Smartphones sold worldwide, many under other brand names; leading chipmakers for the cellphone industry Broadcom, Qualcomm, Intel and Texas instruments; and carriers, Telefónica, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel, NTT-DoCoMo, KDDI and China Mobile. Microsoft is conspicuous by its absence as is Sony Ericsson.
In the announcement, Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, said: "This partnership will help unleash the potential of mobile technology for billions of users around the world. 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."
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