When Google announced the Android operating system and established the Open Handset Alliance to support it, the plan was always to release the mobile operating system as open-source code. Today, on the eve of the first Android phone hitting the market, it finally did that. Developers can find the entire codebase for Android here. That includes the linux kernel, the application platform, the system library, graphics and speech-recognition libraries, a media codex, and applications such as the browser, dialer, and contacts manager. Google’s Rich Miner, who helps head up the Android team there, tells me:
This is probably the largest repository of open source code that has been released at any one time. We have worked on the things we thought were important. But there is still a lot of work to do in all aspects of the platform, from tying it into different carrier networks. multimedia, speech recognition, and the graphic subsystems.
Android is already an extremely powerful mobile operating system. Now that it is open-source, Google hopes to spark an entire movement around it. As exciting as all the apps and features of Android are already, we haven’t seen nothing yet.
Here’s a video explaining what is being made available that asks: What would you do with Android? Tell us in comments.
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so we will see an interesting app soon, because the phone itself sucks!
So is it linux based OS? In that case there will be many developers, but a gloomy history..
Can someone please start working on figuring out how to get this stuff on my Nokia E61? Or maybe on my cable box? That would be a lot more useful than the onslaught of postings about newly discovered security holes I assume we will be hearing about in the next few days (as with every FOSS’d project.)
I am going to have to agree with you on the Nokia bit. These new touchscreen phones are certainly a point of interest; but advancements for duel mode mobile phones should be a greater focus
I’d rather see a version for all the Windows Mobile handsets that are out there. Hopefully we will soon.
I’ll settle for that with you
anything to reapply cellphone technology to communication instead of trends
This sound interesting.
I think its cute that iphone ads have been pointing out the app store in preparation for this. My money is certainly still on Android
I can’t wait for someone to port this to the iPhone.
So can’t wait for this to start hitting the developer channels hard.
I’m hoping in the next couple of weeks to have a flashable generic HTC (or Vogue/Touch specific) Android ROM so I can finally ditch WinMo for something truly usable.
what is wrong with the camera man who shot this video?
wow
What would I do with Android?
Throw it away.
Because there’s NO WAY I will ever support Google becoming the Microsoft of the Mobile Internet. They won’t control a license sales monopoly, but they want to control your data. All your data.
Awesome. Will I be able to mod the platform on my G1 without voiding the warranty?
It seems like a decent app, but I’ll tell you what “I Won’t Do With Android”. I won’t try and install it in me, cause Batman doesn’t trust anything with a name that reminds him of Brainiac. I’m sure Google has also installed some kryptonite somewhere in that OS.
-Batman’s Utility Belt
http://twitter.com/batmansbelt
OS communication with the radio and the carrier network interface software stack is missing from Open Source Android - that makes it WiFi only, like the iPod Touch.
Does anyone know how to get those funky extensions on the people’s phones?
And please someone out there: Add Open GL ES 1.1 or even 1.2.
1.0 just is hell, you can wait for another 100 years to see any advanced 3D games with only that. What about the G1 hardware, is it even capable of 3D acceleration?
great so the OS is open and I’m sure there will be plenty of apps. Can they do anything about the carriers supporting this? The fact that t-mobile is the first sucks cause their network coverage is horrible. what other carriers will let me use an android phone without giving up first born, etc.?
-Robb
your site site is very informative and helpful thanks.
Does anyone know whether or not it’s compatible with x86 platform? Since it’s Linux, I imagine it should, right?
So how excited are people about Android? The hype has been there for so long that I don’t feel it’ll ever live up to expectations.
http://kreuzer33.wordpress.com.....-invasion/
I have research project which requires the source down to kernel level. This was my first opportunity to get a smart phone with all its source code available.
Would I get the source code for the kernel also and will it be possible for me to make changes to the kernel of Android and reinstall it on the phone?
WARNING: Android devices are NOT open
With the free source code you can design your own Android version, but you will never get it on your precious T-Mobile G1. Because you cannot change it’s ROM, Google’s Rich Miner told me. So if you want to run your own fork of the Android operating system on a cell phone, you have to get a rare developer device or become a handset producer like Motorola or HTC. That sucks! Also: The marvellous G1 is locked to T-Mobile’s network in the US and doesn’t work with German SIM cards. My take: It won’t take long until we see a flourishing jailbreak and unlock scene, as we already know it from the iPhone. The Android system is not really open before I can bake my own kernel for the device and use it on every network.
Google revolutionized and democratized information by becoming THE portal that allows users to find and connect to the websites that they need. Google would not be Google if it restricted our access to only certain websites with specific products and services. Yet, in today’s mobile landscape of fragmented and incomplete cell phone products, application services, and communication servers, this is exactly what is happening.
We at TeleSynergy believes that Google, with its GrandCentral and Android play, is uniquely positioned to revolutionize the mobile communication industry with built-in VoIP infrastructure and servers (at home, in the office, and in the cloud) that make Android as the end device and GrandCentral as the portal that allow consumers to freely choose which services and servers they want in their life. When the end users can access a wide range of open source products (mobile phones offered by chip set vendors which leverages the great R&D effort Android has already invested,) open source services (applications built onto Android’s platform, fully integrated and working flawlessly with the services from mobile phone operators in the cloud or service rendering servers at home and in the office,) and open source service rendering severs (small home server, the modern-day answering machine, and office phone system that take the place of the expensive “Class 5” switch of the Phone Companies,) then Android’s smart phone will truly be THE phone that we all must have.
For a simple analogy, let’s say that the mobile phone is the iPOD, the services are like the iTunes’, and the servers are like the PCs.
In real life, we choose our iPOD (our cell phone) because it allows us to easily access the iTunes (the service that connects iPOD to a wide variety of content) that we enjoy. The iPOD would be useless without music, movies, pictures, and other applications to use it with! We also love iTunes because it sits easily on our own PC (server) so we have a full control of when and how we connect with the iTunes (services).
However, in the current mobile landscape, the iTunes (services) sits on old traditional mainframes (servers) that only the big companies can build and own. There is only one supplier of the service, and there is no server (PC) that you can easily work with. Can you imagine how annoying it would be if you had to take your iPOD to the mall and wait in line with thousands of other people while they downloaded a limited music selection from a restricted iTunes? (Of course, today’s iTune is not open enough, but that is another story…)
Yet, that is exactly what our mobile phone system is like. We are under the control of the big servers that control the end-services we access. Thus, the innovations in the services are also slowed down because it is difficult for the server to create different services to serve all the unique customer demands. So we are still forced to choose from pre-made packages that never quite meet our needs.
But, just like personal computer became smaller, cheaper, and even better than the best of the old, large, and expensive main-frames, so too have home and office phone servers become more affordable, scalable, and customizable than traditional large servers that sits in telecommunications’ companies’ infrastructure. The time has come for all people to have a home and office server that they can control with rich features such as one number follow me, advance voicemail, and other applications that are still not available on services from the dominant player of the mobile services.
When people have this home and office server, they need a phone with built-in VoIP SIP standards and well architect application program interface that can connect with their service rendering servers. People make the majority of their mobile phone calls at home and at office, so it only makes sense to use the VoIP phone to replace our current, outdated analog phone systems and cordless phones that sits our own home or office. What this means is that people can have only one phone that they can use for any situation, anytime, anywhere, and with anyone. They will save thousands in their phone bills by using VoIP for phone communications at home and at office. With functionalities like One Phone, Many Numbers and ReachMe Control, they can easily control which calls reach them while in the office, out of town, in the car or at home. They can even block numbers. They can also route incoming calls to a series of phone numbers and devices, ensuring they get the message no matter where they are.
We wrote a little article called The Missing Pieces in Android’s Mobile Revolution Play: Service Rendering Servers, VoIP, and Chip Set Vendors.
We would love to hear your thoughts on our suggestions.
http://androidmobilerevolution.blogspot.com/