What is Android?

You've probably heard about Android and thought it was something like a cyborg from a science fiction book or film. The latest Android I'm talking about is the latest wireless technology also knowned as The Open Handset Alliance, developed by a group of more than 30 technology and mobile companies lead by Google Inc, T-Mobile, Intel, HTC, Qualcomm and Motorola. They developed Android: the first complete, open, and free mobile platform.

The Open Handset Alliance's common goal is to foster and develop a new breed of innovation for mobile devices allowing a far better user experience than today's current mobile platforms. The OHA will provide a far greater degree of openess that will enable developers to work and collaborate in ways never before seen, Android will greatly improve and speed up the process in which new and innovative mobile services are development and made available to the end user.

Through the development of Android, developers, manufacturers and operators will be far better positioned to ship out new and innovative products far quicker and far cheaper than todays standards. The Android platform will consist of an operating system, middleware, a user-friendly interface and powerful applications. This fully integrated bundle of software will sgnificantly lower the current costs of developing mobile devices and services.

The Android playform will be licensed under one of the most progressive open-source licenses available giving operators and manufacturers unprecedented freedom to design, build and distribute their own products. The OHA have recently released and early Android Software Development Kit (SDK) which provides current developers with the necessary tools to begin experimenting and creating unique applications for the platform.

Some unique Android features are:

Apps without borders
Apps on Android can access core mobile device functionality through standard APIs. Through intents, apps can announce their capabilities for other apps to use.

Apps are created equal
Any app on the mobile device can be replaced or extended -- even core components such as the dialer or home.

Apps can easily embed the web
Apps can easily embed HTML, Javascript, and style sheets. An app can render web content through a WebView.

Apps can run in parallel
Android is a complete multitasking environment where apps can run in parallel. While running in the background, an app can produce notifications to get attention.

We will feature more Android related news and gadgets here in Technomindz. Do watch out.