Google Android: Spreading beyond phones?

The first phone using Google's Android operating system will debut Tuesday, a model from T-Mobile, and more are set to come. But some Android partners say the software will be used more broadly than just phones.

John Bruggeman, chief marketing officer at Wind River Systems, a Google ally that helps phone makers build and customise Android for their phone hardware, said: "We're starting to see Android get designed in on devices that extend way beyond the phone - things that might go in the automobile or things that might go in the home."

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It's not clear yet whether Google shares this broader Android ambition - the emphasis today is for mobile phones - but extending into new areas could increase both the prominence and competitive threat of the project. However, projects that spread wider also can be stretched thinner, and advantages such as broader developer interest could be offset by incompatibilities and other drawbacks.

Bruggeman declined to share specifics about which internet-connected devices might employ the operating system, but he did mention TVs and set-top boxes as well as cars. And he was confident some will arrive next year.

He said: "I don't want to pre-announce any design wins. I think you'll see them in 2009. I would be shocked if you didn't."

Google didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

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