Google and ‘Android’
Having watched Apple put its stamp on cellphone design, Google is now trying to make its mark on cellphone software. The company, joined by 33 manufacturers and network operators, is creating a standard set of mobile phone programs -- including the operating system and the user interface -- that other companies can easily enhance with their own applications. The goal of the Open Handset Alliance is to spur innovation by giving independent engineers the chance to write programs for phones, with no need for permission from mobile network operators or phone manufacturers.
Unfortunately, the alliance won’t force operators or manufacturers to keep the software open. Carriers and phone makers are free to add proprietary features to the alliance’s “Android” software, potentially turning its open platform into a closed one. What the group’s work will almost certainly do, though, is put Google’s advertiser-supported applications, such as search and e-mail, onto more phones. In other words, it will help Google stay with Internet users as they move from computers to hand-held devices.
All the same, Google and its partners deserve credit on at least two fronts. For starters, they’re adding to the growing momentum for openness in the wireless industry. Many wireless carriers have made it hard to add software to their phones, tightly controlled the menus and even disabled some of their phones’ built-in features. But just as America Online stopped trying to restrict where its users went on the Internet, so are some mobile networks and handset makers starting to loosen their controls. That’s because they want to put independent developers’ ideas and investment to work for their own products, increasing the odds that they’ll come up with a killer app.
These ranks include Nokia, the world’s largest cellphone manufacturer, and Apple, which plans to open the iPhone to developers next year. Nokia and Apple aren’t members of the alliance, but the group does include four of their notable rivals and seven mobile phone networks, including Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile in the United States.
Meanwhile, advertisers have complained that the systems they rely on for broadcast and Internet advertising don’t yet exist for mobile networks, so they’re reluctant to run campaigns there. This is one reason why free, advertiser-supported music and video services are all but nonexistent on the mobile Internet. By extending Google’s powerful advertising sales machine to mobile products, the alliance could open the door to more of these services -- and blaze a trail for similar approaches that don’t involve Google.
Products based on the alliance’s software aren’t expected for a year, so the announcement is little more than a promise today. But its work raises the bar for the mobile industry, challenging carriers and manufacturers to open up or risk missing the next great wave of mobile innovation.
