Ten years ago, Sergey Brin and Larry Page founded Google, Inc. while they were students at Stanford University. Initially being based around just a search engine that examined relationships between Web sites to more accurately rank search results, the company now exists as much more than that.
Throughout the last decade, the company has ventured off in many directions with the introduction or acquisitions of several new services such as Gmail, YouTube, and Google Earth. A few weeks ago, Google unveiled yet another offering, named Google Chrome. Similar to Mozilla's Firefox, but mostly a combination of Microsoft's Internet Explorer and Apple's Safari browsers, Google has taken aim at rival software companies and has increased its influence across the computer software spectrum.
Now, the company that started so small is moving into yet another area of software development with the introduction of Android, a mobile phone operating system and software platform that the company hopes will revolutionize the mobile phone industry.
In contrary to previous rumors, Google did not release a "Google phone" similar to that of Apple. Instead, Google allied with several major corporations such as Intel, Samsung, LG, and Motorola to help develop and utilize Android. That is where Google made its smartest move. Instead of trying to directly compete with Apple, Google wanted its products and software to be available across the world, on wide variety of handsets, not just on some exclusive phone. As that is the case, you can expect many Android phones in the future, on various manufacturers' handsets.
For now, the only way to get your hands on an Android-powered phone would be to pick up the G1, which is being released exclusively on the T-Mobile network within the next month. Although not advertised as a Google phone, as it is manufactured by Taiwanese handset maker HTC, the company's software and name is all over the phone, literally. On the back of the handset, the words "with Google" are written, and accessibility to all Google applications is made as easy as possible. If this isn't a "Google phone," then I don't know what is.
The phone definitely does not look as appealing as other smart phones, but with the best features taken from both the Blackberry and the iPhone, the G1 does offer users the best of both worlds. It has a trackball, along with a touch screen, as well as a full slide out QWERTY keyboard. The phone works on all network types, and even is WiFi capable, just like the iPhone. Google applications are at the user's fingertips, such as Gmail, Google Maps (which also has the ability to offer a 360 degree street view), and YouTube. In addition to this, "Android Market" provides subscribers with a way to download new applications, similar to Apple's application store. Fortunately, Google will not attempt to oversee this store, and thus anyone can create programs and anyone can download them, unlike Apple.
Thus, what the G1 currently lacks, such as the inability to record video, can be provided: third-party developers can create video recording software for release on the Android platform.
If that was not enough of a stab at Apple, Amazon recently announced that Amazon MP3, their online music store, will be available on Android compatible phones, with its entire music catalog ready for purchase. Since Android will be on many different phones, Amazon MP3 will most likely increase its market share as a result from its partnership with Google.
At $179 (with a two-year contract), the G1 is $20 cheaper than the current 3G iPhone. T-Mobile's 3G network isn't as great as AT&T's, but it will definitely suffice. The G1 will surely be appealing to many buyers looking to pick up a smartphone. It won't be this phone that makes the biggest splash however; the phones coming out later that really capitalize on Android's software capabilities will really start turning heads.
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