Definitions: Android

Definition

Android is a Linux-based mobile software platform and operating system developed by Google and the Open Handset Alliance. It's based on open standards and is open source.

T-Mobile released the first commercially available Android-based phone in the last quarter of 2008. The handset, which supports T-Mobile's 3G network, received FCC approval in August 2008.

Samsung, HTC and LG also plan to release phones on the Android platform.

Business Applications

Android will ship with the typical smartphone applications,  including an e-mail client, SMS program, calendar, maps, browser and phone  book.

Applications for Android platform will be developed in the Java programming language, so theoretically, companies could develop their own applications for mobile  phones. Again, theoretically, these applications could run on other devices as well, though some experts warn this would be harder to do in practice.

In May 2008, Google offered $25,000 to programmers who created the 50 best applications in its Android Developer Challenge, however,  only a few of the applications had tangible business use (http://www.itbusinessedge.com/blogs/cip/?p=352).

Deployment Concerns

Because the Android framework is open source, some experts have  raised concerns about security. Others believe it will be more secure than the iPhone.

To address security concerns, Google publicly asked the mobile security community for help in identifying bugs when releasing its Android software Development kit.

Technical details

Android includes an operating system, middleware and key applications. It's based on a Linux kernel, version 2.6. The platform is being released under Apache2 license, even though the underlying Linux kernel is licensed under the General Public License version 2 (GPLv2).

Android will run on Windows, Linux and Mac systems. It also will support variety of connectivity technologies, including Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, EDGE and 3G.

Applications will be developed in Java using the Android Development Kit, which is available for free download (http://code.google.com/android/intro/installing.html).  Android also includes the Dalvik virtual machine and a set of C/C++ libraries used by various components of the Android system, according to Google's online Android documentation.

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