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Will Google's Android rock the mobile world?
News analysis: If not now then when?

By Marguerite Reardon

Published: Tuesday 06 November 2007

Consumers shouldn't expect Google's new mobile phone software to revolutionise their mobile experience overnight - or anytime soon.

This week, Google announced Android, a new software platform designed to provide open access to mobile phones for application developers.

The company also announced the Open Handset Alliance, a multinational alliance of 34 companies - including several chipmakers, handset manufacturers and mobile operators - which will be working together to develop handsets and services that leverage the new software.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt said a software development kit will be introduced next week and consumers can expect to see the first Android handsets on the market in the second half of 2008.

Google's plans for the mobile market have been talked about for months. And now it's here, it is clear Google has greater ambitions than simply building a new phone.

Instead, the company is looking to transform the mobile industry by making it easy to develop new applications that can be pushed out to hundreds of handsets on many carrier networks using free, open source technology.

Google hopes to do to the mobile market what it has helped do to the traditional internet, which is bring people closer to content on the web in a easy and organised way. At a basic level, this means making web surfing on a mobile look and feel like it does on a PC at home.

But Android faces many obstacles. For one, mobile operators must be willing to allow the new, open devices on their networks. Android must also compete with a long list of mobile operating systems already in the market.

Forrester Research analyst, Charles Golvin, said: "Even if there is a tidal wave of new devices using the Android platform, they will still represent a relatively small portion of the overall market."

Also, for the most part, mobile operators control what applications and features operate on the handsets their networks use. This is completely different from the traditional internet, where it doesn't matter if you access the web from a Dell or HP PC, you'll have a similar surfing experience.

Google is trying to overcome this hurdle by getting carriers around the world involved in the Open Handset Alliance. So far, KDDI and NTT Docomo, two of the largest carriers in Japan, are on board.

European carriers Telecom Italia, Telefonica and T-Mobile are also signed up to be among the first carriers to offer Android phones. In the US Google has managed to sign up two of the top four wireless operators: Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA.

Notably missing from the alliance are AT&T and Verizon Wireless - the largest operators in the US - which together account for about 52 per cent of all mobile phone subscribers in the country.

A spokesman for Verizon Wireless said: "We haven't ruled out joining this group".

Marguerite Reardon writes for CNET News.com