code.google.com/android/

A place to discuss a mobile platform that very well may change the face cell phone use in the near and distant future. More about this below:

Android is a software platform and operating system for mobile devices based on the Linux operating system and developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance.[1] It allows developers to write managed code in a Java-like language that utilizes Google-developed Java libraries,[2] but does not support programs developed in native code.
The unveiling of the Android platform on 5 November 2007 was announced with the founding of the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 34 hardware, software and telecom companies devoted to advancing open standards for mobile devices.[3]. Google has pledged to make most of the Android platform available under the Apache free-software and open-source license, once it is released in 2008 .[4]
Hardware

Google has unveiled at least three prototypes for Android, at the Mobile World Congress on February 12, 2008. One prototype at the ARM booth displayed several basic Google applications. A 'd-pad' controls zooming of items in the dock with a relatively quick response.
Several manufacturers have expressed interest in implementing the Android platform; Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics said they would unveil devices based on the platform by the end of 2008 in the United States.[citation needed]
A prototype at the Google IO conference on May 28, 2008 had a 528 MHz Qualcomm processor and a Synaptics capacitive touchscreen, and used the UMTS cellular standard. It had 128 MB of RAM and 256 MB of flash. The demo was carried out using a 3.6 Mbit/s HSDPA connection.
[edit]Software development

Early Android device.
The feedback on developing applications for the Android platform has been mixed.[8] Issues cited include bugs, lack of documentation, inadequate QA infrastructure, and no public issue-tracking system. (Google announced an Issue Tracker on January 18th 2008.)[9] MergeLab mobile startup founder Adam MacBeth stated, "Functionality is not there, is poorly documented or just doesn't work... It's clearly not ready for prime time."[10] Despite this, Android-targeted applications began to appear already the week after the platform was announced. The first publicly available application was the Snake game.[11][12]
[edit]Software development kit
A preview release of the Android software development kit (SDK) has been available since 12 November 2007. It includes development and debugging tools, a set of libraries, a device emulator, documentation, sample projects, tutorials, and FAQs.[4] Developers are required to download the SDK to an x86-based computer running Linux (any Linux Distribution), Mac OS X 10.4.8 or later or Windows XP or Vista. Requirements also include Java Development Kit, Apache Ant, and Python 2.2 or later. The only officially supported integrated development environment (IDE) is Eclipse 3.2 or later, through the Android Development Tools Plugin, but programmers can use command line tools to create, build and debug Android applications.
[edit]Android Developer Challenges
Android Developer Challenge is a competition for the most innovative application for Android. Google offers prizes totaling 10 million US dollars, to be distributed equally between two phases of the competition.[13][14] The first phase accepted submissions from January 2 to April 14, 2008. The 50 most promising entries, announced on 12 May 2008, each received a $25,000 award to fund further development.[15][16] Those winners are now eligible for ten $275,000 awards and ten $100,000 awards. The second phase is to launch after the first handsets built on the platform become available in the second half of 2008.
[edit]History

[edit]Google acquires Android Inc.


Alternate logo.
In July 2005, Google acquired Android Inc., a small startup company based in Palo Alto, CA.[17] Android's co-founders who went to work at Google included Andy Rubin (co-founder of Danger), Rich Miner (co-founder of Wildfire Communications, Inc), Nick Sears (once VP at T-Mobile), and Chris White (one of the first engineers at WebTV). At the time, little was known about the functions of Android Inc. other than they made software for mobile phones.[17] This began rumors that Google was planning to enter the mobile phone market, although it was unclear what function it might perform in that market.
At Google, the team, led by Rubin, developed a Linux-based mobile device OS which they marketed to handset makers and carriers on the premise of providing a flexible, upgradeable system.[citation needed] It was reported that Google had already lined up a series of hardware component and software partners and signaled to carriers that it was open to various degrees of cooperation on their part.[18][19][20]
More speculation that Google would be entering the mobile phone market came in December 2006.[21] Reports from the BBC and The Wall Street Journal noted that Google wanted its search and applications on mobile phones, and it was working hard to deliver that. Print and online media outlets soon reported rumors that Google was developing a Google-branded handset.[22] More speculation followed reporting that as Google was defining technical specifications, it was showing prototypes to cellphone manufacturers and network operators. As many as 30 prototype phones are reported to be operating "in the wild".[23] Phoronix had reported that Google was looking to team up on the GPhone with OpenMoko,[24] a project to create a smartphone platform using free software, including the Linux kernel. But Network World reported that Google’s phone was actually a mobile operating system, rather than a specific hardware device like the iPhone.[23]
[edit]Patents, patent applications filed

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In September 2007, InformationWeek covered an Evalueserve study reporting that Google has filed several patent applications in the area of mobile telephony, hinting at the arrival of the gPhone in the (then) near future.[25][26] Notable US patents and patent applications include:[25]
U.S. Patent 6,785,566 : Cellular Telephone Case
U.S. Patent 6,982,945 : Baseband Direct Sequence Spread Spectrum Transceiver
U.S. Patent 6,829,289 : Application of a Pseudo-randomly Shuffled Hadamard Function in a Wireless CDMA System
US patent application 20070067329 : Overloaded Communication Session
US patent application 20070159522 : Image-based Contextual Advertisement Method and Branded Barcodes
US patent application 20060004627 : Advertisements for Devices with Call Functionality Such as Mobile Phones
US patent application 20050185060 : Image Base Inquiry System for Search Engines for Mobile Telephones with Integrated Cameras
US patent application 20070066364 : Customized Data Retrieval Applications for Mobile Devices Providing Interpretation of Markup Language Data
Google applied for a patent for a mobile payment system to complement its plans to launch what was thought to be a Google phone.[20][27] Known as GPay,[28] it covered a system that would let the user send a text message to Google giving the details of a payment to a specified recipient. GPay would then debit the user's bank account, crediting the money to the payee. (This patent may be invalid in light of prior art.[29])
[edit]Open Handset Alliance founded
Main article: Open Handset Alliance
"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."
-Eric Schmidt, Google Chairman/CEO[30]
On 5 November 2007, the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of several companies which include Google, HTC, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, Sprint Nextel and NVIDIA, was unveiled with the goal to develop open standards for mobile devices.[1]. Along with the formation of the Open Handset Alliance, the OHA also unveiled their first product, Android, an mobile device platform built upon Linuxkernel [1].
Google Chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt took a moment in the official press release to dispel all previous rumors and speculation of a stand-alone Google phone existing.
[edit]Criticism

Android has been criticized for not being all open-source software despite what was announced by Google. Parts of the SDK are proprietary and closed source, and some believe this is so that Google can control the platform.[31][32][33][34] The Android Software Development Kit License Agreement[35] states that:
3.2 You agree that Google (or Google's licensors) own all legal right, title and interest in and to the SDK, including any intellectual property rights which subsist in the SDK. Use, reproduction and distribution of components of the SDK licensed under an open source software license are governed solely by the terms of that open source software license and not by this License Agreement. Until the SDK is released under an open source license, you may not extract the source code or create a derivative work of the SDK.
However, Google has since announced that all parts of the OS will be released under the Apache License where applicable and under the GPL elsewhere. Google's applications that interact with Google's systems, such as their email service, are not open source.
Also, at least for now, software installed by end-users must be written in Java, and will not have access to lower level device APIs.[36] This provides end-users with less control over their phone's functionality than other free and open source phone platforms, such as OpenMoko.
Another issue is related to Android's disregard of established Java standards, i.e. Java SE and ME. This prevents compatibility between Java applications written for those platforms and those for the Android platform. Android only reuses the Java language syntax but does not provide the full class libraries and APIs bundled with Java SE or ME.[37]
[edit]See also

http://tribes.tribe.net/androidmobileosofthefuture