Google, always one to take the high road to “do no evil,” has once again shaken up the world of information delivery by announcing a new mobile application platform. From their blog:
“What we are announcing — the Open Handset Alliance and Android — is more significant and ambitious…In fact, through the joint efforts of the members of the Open Handset Alliance, we hope Android will be the foundation for many new phones and will create an entirely new mobile experience for users, with new applications and new capabilities we can’t imagine today.
I don’t know about you, but the entry of Google into the phone device space is even more disruptive than Apple’s iPhone introduction. Where Apple tries to move the market forward, Google tries to create new markets with revolutionary and innovative approaches. They build the foundation for others to build upon, while Apple strongly controls external development.
Although you might think they’re entering from the ground level, that’s not necessarily true. Google has several mobile-ready apps up and running (Gmail, Google Maps) that might surprise you.
More about Android:
Android is the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, user-interface and applications — all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation. We have developed Android in cooperation with the Open Handset Alliance, which consists of more than 30 technology and mobile leaders including Motorola, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile. Through deep partnerships with carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and others, we hope to enable an open ecosystem for the mobile world by creating a standard, open mobile software platform. We think the result will ultimately be a better and faster pace for innovation that will give mobile customers unforeseen applications and capabilities.
Recent trends indicate that the mobile device is becoming the new PC. Optimizing content delivery over mobile devices is the next challenge, although content creation over mobile devices is the holy grail (books, photos, videos, etc). We’ve already had mobile book published through Lulu, and that’s happening more and more.
Google is well-suited to be a player in both, and we’re in for some excitement in this space.
