It’s Official: Google Announces Open-Source Mobile Phone OS,
Android
“The Google Phone has arrived, sort of, but not in the
long-rumored embodiment that many had expected. Google announced
this morning that it has developed a new mobile OS called
‘Android’–a result of its acquisition of a mobile software company
of the same name in 2005–that will allow the company to get
Google’s mobile apps into as many hands as possible starting in
mid-2008. Android is Linux-based and open source, and will be made
available to handset manufacturers for free under the Apache
license.“Google’s handset partners upon launch will include Motorola,
HTC, Samsung, and LG, confirming many of the recent rumors that
Google would not be developing the hardware on its own…”
Rumors from earlier in the day/this weekend:
USA Today: Google Enlists Help for Google Phone
“Google today plans to announce the formation of an ‘open phone’
coalition, with the goal of developing an operating system for the
so-called Google Phone.“The new operating system, geared specifically for cellphones,
will be used to showcase and promote Google’s ever-growing panoply
of services, much like Microsoft has done for decades with its
Windows operating system…”
The Wall Street Journal: Ring-Ring… Google to Announce Phone
Plans Monday
“The U.S. carriers likely to be part of the announcement are
T-Mobile and Sprint, according to our sources, but there could be
others by the time Google says its piece. While Sprint appears to
be agreeing to work with Google to put the Web giant’s new
Linux-based open operating system into phones, T-Mobile will
probably go even further: the company has worked with Google for
months on plans to build Google-powered phones with a variety of
Google software and applications. As far as handset partners for
Google, Taiwan’s HTC is a likely bet, our sources say. Samsung, LG,
and SonyEricsson are also possible, but we’ll wait and see the full
roster. Equally interesting will be who isn’t on the list…”
CNET News: Google to Unveil ‘Android’ Phone Software
“The company is expected to hold a press conference on Monday to
unveil the project, which is expected to incorporate software from
the Linux world into a mobile platform code-named Android that’s
designed to run on phones, according to sources familiar with
Google’s plans. A software development kit for what’s being called
‘a complete mobile-phone software stack’ is believed to be in the
works and will be released relatively soon thereafter, the sources
said. It’s not exactly clear what kind of software will come as
part of that stack, but it’s said to include everything you need to
run a phone…”