Finally, those damn rumors about a Google phone can die. As expected, Google has released a Google branded mobile phone OS. This operating system is called Android, and is based on Linux. They produced this with cooperation from 30 mobile handset partners, and we should see the first phones utilizing it within the next six months.
This approach made the most sense since production of hardware would alienate Google from all of the mobile handset makers they are trying to woo into setting Google as their default search engine. All those crazy screen shots we saw were probably leaked partner phones that were undergoing integration — it’s so obvious in hindsight, huh? Since Google arrived to the personal computing party two decades too late to have a say in operating systems, they are now re-positioning their new operating system to unseat Microsoft. And unlike most potential competitors, Google doesn’t personally care to become Microsoft of mobile phones. Instead, their goal is to unseat Microsoft with a free alternative that could be maintained by anybody.
Because Android is open source, it is entirely possible that in a few years, someone else will come in take over the project. Google’s reasoning is simple: in a completely level playing field, they are the preferred search engine choice.
With the combined functionality of the Google Docs, G-Chat, Google411, GMail, and Google Maps (a staple in mobile phones these days), Google’s plan is to gain even more insight into its users. Just imagine: now they’ll know what you search for, where you’ve been, who you’ve called, what you write about in documents, who you emailed, what restaurants you’re interested in, and with the integration of Google’s new Open Social, get an additional insight into your social life.
Google’s theme this week is to bring together splintered markets under a unified, open standard… for them to harness. Data is easiest to mine when it is in a consistent format.
I don’t know whether that’s cool or scary.