Microsoft, watch out. Google is entering the OS (operating system) business. Not the desktop/laptop type OS that Microsoft virtually controls more than 90% market share, but the mobile phone OS. Mobile phone is huge. Over a billion handsets were sold in 2006 and the market keeps growing. Unlike computer OS monopoly by Microsoft, there is no mobile phone OS consolidation by a single company. Symbian and Microsoft are vying for the leadership position in smartphone OS.
Image Credit GPhone
Google has hit the street with Android, a smart phone opensource OS for handsets. Android has support for touchscreen, 3G, threaded text messaging, MPEG-4, GSM technology, camera, GPS, and much more. The core (system services, process and memory management, security, networking) of Android is the Linux kernel.
There is a sweet deal for software developers. Google has put $10 million in awards (Android Developer Challenge) for the cool applications that surprise and delight mobile users.
Related posts: