Interview with Google Android’s Makers

From CNET News.com.

After years of rumors of a Google phone, the search giant a week ago finally unleashed its mobile play: an alliance of handset makers and an open software platform dubbed Android.

On Monday, Google released the software developer kit, or SDK, for Android and announced that it would set aside $10 million to give out as prizes to developers who create programs for the new platform. (Android Developer Challenge)

Android is based on the work of Andy Rubin and several other founders of Danger. Google acquired their newer venture, Android, in 2005.

Q: What does Android look like?
We’ve been building it as a mobile mashup platform. That is a new concept for cell phones. So the developer can now stand on the system platform and take advantage of other developers’ work for the first time. So, that just creates more flexibility for the developers, less work, faster turnaround, rapid prototyping, and all that stuff, and we’re really, really excited about that concept.

..
The platform itself has the ability to be targeted toward all sorts of different screen sizes and input mechanisms–touch devices, trackballs, five-way keypads, portrait displays, landscapes, big displays, small displays, QWERTY keyboards, non-QWERTY keyboards. When the developer writes an app, and that app is on portrait display, the platform also will run that same app on a landscape display.

This platform has been contemplated in different devices, from car navigation systems to set-top boxes to laptop computers and, of course, cell phones.

..
Q: Which is more important to you: the richness of the platform or the affordability of phones the platform runs on?
Rubin: I would say both are equally important, and that is the reason we made this an open-source project. By having a free and open platform, we’re reducing the cost of software, which, in turn, reduces the cost of the cell phone. When we built the platform, we didn’t go for the really expensive $600 smartphones. We went for the mid-market.
..

Related: Wired’s Interview with Google CEO Eric Schmidt.


This entry was written by sky, posted on November 14, 2007 at 12:55 am, filed under Linux, Mobile, Open Source, Technology and tagged , , . Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post. Post a comment or leave a trackback: Trackback URL.

7 Comments

  1. sky
    Posted December 9, 2007 at 9:38 pm | Permalink

    Android Demo.

  2. sky
    Posted December 23, 2007 at 8:38 pm | Permalink

    Developing apps for Google Android: it’s a mixed bag. (ars technica)

  3. sky
    Posted January 8, 2008 at 11:17 pm | Permalink

    OpenMoko FreeRunner: a win for phone freedom. (ars technica)

    The new model, which is called the FreeRunner, includes a 500 Mhz processor rather than the 266 Mhz processor of the Neo 1973. The FreeRunner also adds WiFi, motion sensors, and hardware-accelerated 2D/3D graphics rendering capabilities. The FreeRunner inherits the Neo1973’s ovoid form-factor and 2.8-inch touchscreen.

    OpenMoko’s extensive use of GTK makes it easier to port desktop Linux applications to the handheld. Python bindings, which are already available, will make OpenMoko’s products a fun testbed for rapid mobile application development.

    OpenMoko has also been a lot more responsive than Google and appears to be genuinely interested in creating a product that is truly community-driven. The FreeRunner, which is expected to ship this spring, is a big step forward for OpenMoko and a big win for mobile Linux enthusiasts.

  4. sky
    Posted June 24, 2008 at 10:54 pm | Permalink

    Nokia Buys Rest of Symbian, Will Make Code Open Source. (pcworld)

  5. sky
    Posted July 25, 2008 at 10:13 pm | Permalink

    Symbian open-source strategy explained at OSCON. (arstechnica)

  6. sky
    Posted September 27, 2008 at 10:21 am | Permalink

    T-Mobile’s G1 in Pictures. (PC World)
    This week T-Mobile introduced the first phone to use the open-source Android operating system.

  7. sky
    Posted October 5, 2008 at 12:31 am | Permalink

    Nokia Tube vs Apple iPhone vs Android G1. (techradar.com)

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