The Open Handset Alliance today said it has added 14 new members to its group in a move that will bolster support for Google's new Android operating system. The new roster includes phone manufacturers such as ASUS, Sony Ericsson and Toshiba as well as prominent chipmakers like ARM and Atheros as well as carriers Softbank and Vodafone. GPS device maker Garmin is also included in the list.
Japanese cell carrier NTT DoCoMo and Korean carrier KTF are working together on an Android-based phone for 2009, the Nikkei Business Daily said in a report today. The two are allegedly hoping to undercut the prices of smartphones by about 20 percent by using the free mobile operating system on a jointly-developed device. Other features haven't yet been discussed for the handset, which would be either provider's first Android phone.
Google's Android software -- intended to provide a universal platform for cellphone development, while promoting Google services -- is now an open-source project, the company has announced. The move has been planned for some time, as it has long been the stated intention of the Open Handset Alliance, the industry organization backing Android. The platform's website now allows developers to explore and modify code at all levels, ranging from the bootloader to applications. The results can be shared and repurposed for use in future Android hardware.
Google's Android platform could be the cause of a major concept shift in the smartphone market, not because subscribers call for features, but because wireless operators and phone makers see the value of standard platforms, argues ABI Research. The firm predicts that the success of Android rests with the ability to first convince phone builders that they need to replace the operating systems shipping in today's phones, and second, convince wireless operators that having numerous phones in a line-up, with each running a standardized operating system, is the best business model. For wireless carriers, the positive side of a standard operating system is simplified technical support and marketing.
Verizon today took further steps to promote its image as an open carrier by announcing it would join the LiMo Foundation, an industry group dedicated to developing and promoting Linux on cellphones. The US cell provider takes the last seat on the Foundation's board of directors alongside handset makers such as Motorola and Samsung as well as NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone, and claims to be a "champion" of openness in the process.
The prototype phone Google has been using to demonstrate its Android mobile operating system has been spotted and reveals positive early developments for the Linux-based OS, according to a leak sent to Gizmodo. Virtually identical to the photo shown in official videos outside of its dark gray color, the full-keyboard smartphone's version of the OS is reportedly very quick due to its light, Linux-based code; Windows Mobile by contrast is overly complex, the report says.
Verizon today made a surprise move today and joined the recently established Open Handset Alliance, Google's organization for promoting open software development for cellphones and other handhelds. The move will see Verizon use Google's Linux-based, open-source Android operating system on some phones. The software is an "enabler" that will let Verizon move towards an open platform, says company chief Lowell McAdam.
