An Overview of the Android Platform

For many years, the Google search engine and its corresponding services and applications have been predominant in the webosphere. However, this web dominance has previously only extended to PCs, which are quickly being supplemented by mobile devices, with over three times more mobile devices than desktops being sold each year. With its open-source Android operating system, Google has shown that it is cognizant of and interested in participating in the mobile marketplace to a greater degree than many other companies.

Its open source attitude has made Android a unique entity within the mobile market space. Google recognised that the mobile experience at the time was inferior to the desktop experience due to restrictions placed on mobile application developers.

The previous domaintor in the mobile market - Apple, with its iPhone - has been particularly controlling, refusing to approve applications that offered alternative (and at times improved) options to the Apple-created programs on their devices. Android is a completely open platform that permits developers to create applications that utlilize any of a handset's core features. The Android platform also provides extensibility to programmers, allowing their apps to share data from a number of sources including other apps, the web, and other mobile device users.

Google's Android platform ultimately aims to re-create the familiar rich experience familiar to desktop PC users on mobile devices running Android. Many mobile devices operate on a closed system where only applications approved by the manufacturer can be installed on them. Mobile application developers are often forced to obtain code-signing certificates from the manufacturers, which cost both time and money.

With Google's Android operating system, mobile developers are free to install their program's without such draconian requirements.This approach leads to reduced development costs and cycles, and in turn opens up the mobile market to many new developers. The Android platform's success will be directly tied to its adoption by developers, so the more third party programmers using the platform, the better its adoption rate, and in turn the better results for Google - and for the user community.

Google's marketing empire is estimated to be in the billions in value and revenue, and Android is a natural expansion to that empire. The nature of mobile devices suffers some limitations - for example, their smaller displays - but they also offer tremendous opportunities such as geo-targetted marketing and awareness. Because Android mobile handsets are always connected to the web, they can use location-based modules and applications.

Despite the many pluses Android has in its toolkit, it also faces some disadvantages that may slow or even stall is success. An initial barrier to the growth of the Android environment was reluctance by many network carriers to adopt the platform and its mobile devices. In its initial incarnation, Android devices were only available on the T-Mobile carrier network. Their early failure to do this resulted in a slow uptake of Android devices by consumers, as T-Mobile is only the fourth largest carrier in the US.

Since then, though, Android devices have expanded to be offered by other carriers, such as Verizon, AT&T, and Sprint.

The Android platform has lived up - and even exceeded - many of the hopes and dreams its user base initially had for it. It has led to new and innovative programs being developed and allowed more programmers to enter the market.

Late in 2009, Verizon released new models of their phones that use the Android environment, marking a huge step forward. Google has the staying power, influence and vision to revamp the mobile market and with creative assistance from their hardware partners, they are likely to succeed.