Andy Rubin, the software guru who helped create Google’s Android operating system, is going to join me for a fireside chat at Mobilize 09, our mobile Internet conference being held on Sept. 10 in San Francisco. Rubin has helped shape Google’s mobile OS strategy overall and is now vice president of engineering at the search company.

Among the things that Rubin did prior to joining Google was co-found Danger, the company that makes the Sidekick devices. And he sold his last company, Android, which he started in 2003, to Google for an undisclosed amount of money. His presence at the Googleplex is one of the reasons why we were pretty sure that Google would eventually develop a Google Phone. Well, not just one phone, but many different phones!

It’s pretty sweet that Rubin has agreed to be a part of what’s turning out to be the single biggest Android party of 2009. With Motorola co-CEO Sanjay Jha on hand to launch that company’s portfolio of Android phones, T-Mobile USA’s CTO Cole Brodman talking about his company’s mobile Internet strategy and the role Android is going to play in the future, and now Rubin, our event should be on the must-attend list for anyone invested in the Android ecosystem. I hope you can join us as well. To buy tickets to Mobilize 09, please visit our registration page.

Mobile platforms VP Andy Rubin talks about Android, Chrome, and the smartphone.

The second Google (GOOG) phone in the U.S. had a showcase event last week in San Francisco, and afterward I sat down with Andy Rubin, vice president of mobile platforms at Google.

Rubin believes Google helps consumers

I asked him about Google’s vision for the Android smartphone operating system, whether the search giant is sending mixed messages by promoting both Android and its upcoming Chrome OS, and whether Android is really a good fit for netbooks. Below is an edited transcript:

Q. Android is open and free, so anyone can put it in their devices – phones, cars, washing machines, whatever. But what uses is Google actively encouraging? Are you just focused on smartphones, or are you trying to get it on other types of devices?

A. This is kind of where open source meets business. I encourage high-volume things. A million customers? Not that interesting. Ten million? Not that interesting, but heading in the right direction. A hundred million customers starts getting interesting. So what consumer products have the opportunity to affect 100 million, 200 million, 300 million customers? There aren’t that many. What’s the most successful consumer product on the planet? People used to say the DVD. It’s the cell phone. They’re everywhere. That’s why we focused on the cell phone first – it’s the biggest volume opportunity.

Q. What other high-volume opportunities are there for Android?

A. Use your imagination. Whatever it is – it might not be something I know about today – but if it’s high volume, I’m on it.

Q. iPods are pretty high volume.

A. The iPod’s a media player and that’s a pretty high-volume consumer product. The problem with iPods, when it comes to the Internet, is that they’re not connected devices, they’re media players. And so it doesn’t move forward our desire to see a lot of consumers connected to the Internet, getting access to information and having it organized in relevant, interesting ways.

Q. Now we’ve got Pandora and other Internet radio offerings on media players though, and they seem to be taking off in popularity precisely because they’re connected. Does that change your outlook?

A. What I hope it will change is hardware manufacturers’ perspective on what features they build into their products. You’ll see more and more connected media players, media players with WiFi built into them. I think that will become an enabler from a chicken and egg perspective, of having Android in a lot of those devices.

Q. It seems netbooks could be a high-volume device, but we’ve got two messages coming from Google at the moment – Chrome OS and Android. So what do you with Android and netbooks do – do you encourage that, or are you waiting for Chrome OS to come out?

A. I certainly don’t discourage it, right? Why would I want to do that? It’s providing as many consumer products as possible with access to the Internet. I don’t care if they use Chrome, I don’t care if they use Android. As long as we’re giving people access, the engine that is Google can do its job. We’re trying to get more people on the Internet so they’re enabled to use Google services. Honestly, it’s not a religious thing. I don’t care how we do it ,as long as we do it. I truly, deeply believe that we’re helping consumers.

Q. I get the sense that you personally care about Android and its success because your work on it predates your employment with Google. But does Google really care about Android itself, or is it a means to an end – getting more people onto the Internet so they can use Google search and other products and generate revenue by doing commerce through Google? Isn’t Google just as happy about an iPhone or a Palm Pre as it would be about an Android device?

A. I think when we introduced Android, the most telling answer to that question was when [Google co-founder] Sergey Brin did a video. And he basically said, when I was a college student and Larry and I invented Google, we based it off of open source. We used Linux. And he said he feels morally that he wants to give back to the open source community because it was something that enabled Google. So he believes, obviously, in running the business. But he also believes that the business wouldn’t have even existed if it weren’t for this type of technology. So what other businesses can you create on this type of technology? And it changes Google’s role into more of a mentorship role in helping those other businesses get off the ground. I think it’s a very, very broad view, different from your traditional CFO, who’s just focused on bottom line and incrementally doing stuff. It’s not an incremental vision. It’s a many-year, long-term vision. And the fact that the guys inside this company understand that is one of the reasons Google is successful today, and will continue to be successful. And by the way, that’s the reason I agreed to come work with Google. It’s that type of leadership that, for me as an entrepreneur, it enables every one of my visions. I don’t feel blocked at all.

En esta semana se ha comentando en todos los medios el Google Chrome OS para PC. Google Chrome OS no es competencia de Android, es más, son 2 productos distintos. No solo lo digo yo, también lo dice Andy Rubin, vice presidente de Google mobile.

“Se necesitan diferentes tecnologías para diferentes soluciones, yo veo que Chrome funcionará en muchos productos de consumo“

Por si fuera poco Andy Rubin a la pregunta de si Android podrá superar a Apple en base instalada de 40 millones respondió:

“La historia nos ha mostrado que un solo producto tiene limitaciones en la escalabilidad. Imagina: vamos a añadir otro producto, vale ya hemos doblado. Aún así solo son dos productos. Con Android, podrán haber 1.000 productos distintos, y la magia aqui es que todos estos productos comparten el mismo mercado (Android Marketplace)”

Aún así ya hay más de 50.000 aplicaciones en la AppStore, comparado con las 5.000 de Android Market. Andy Rubin dijo que Android está en la fase de early adopter (yo diría innovator).

“Llevamos en el mercado 8 meses, esto nos ha mostrado la capacidad y ahora vamos a escalar el negocio. La tecnología open source, la adopción que hemos visto indica que estamos en el camino para escalar.”

Para acabar, Andy habló de la intención llevar las redes sociales al móvil y puso el ejemplo de recibir una llamada y ver el estatus de esa persona en Facebook, mientras suena la llamada.

Parece que Andy Rubin tiene claro que la escalabilidad de Android es mayor, que solo es cuestión de tiempo y modelos. Además, según Rubin el Android Market será común, cosa que dudo porque todas las operadoras quieren llevarse su parte del pastel. Ahora estamos en una fase temprana de adopción y creo que dentro de un año veremos todas estas predicciones hechas realidad.

Vía | Celularis

At a Google  press event in beautiful San Fran, Andy Rubin, a vice president of engineering, announced today that future Android updates will include the already know Donut update followed by Eclair and Flan. While those sound mouth watering, you better stem the flow of that drooling. We just got Cupcake and there wasn’t a specific time line given. Included in these well-served dished will be a plethora of social centric connectivity. Unfortunately, we have to wait indefinitely to bite into these Google treats.

[qi:gigaom_icon_google-android] Google (s goog) is looking to make future versions of its Android operating system more social, said Andy Rubin, one of its creators and Google’s vice president of engineering (platforms), at an event in San Francisco earlier this morning. The event was held with T-Mobile USA to announce the launch of its newest Android-based phone, the MyTouch.

Frank Meehan, CEO of INQ Mobile, a speaker at our Mobilize 09 conference, must be really proud. He was the first to develop a device that specifically marries social networking to mobiles. And now everyone is doing it — including Google.
When I asked Rubin today why the self-described open platform doesn’t feature a native Facebook app, he said that social networking would be a key feature in future versions of Android. Google recently released Android’s latest version — code-named “Cupcake” — and will soon follow with Donut, Eclair and Flan. (What’s with the pastry fetish?)

Rubin said that Google doesn’t believe that applications should be silos and wants to help develop ones that deeply enmesh various mobile experiences — Internet, voice and location, for example. It’s taking a similar approach to social networking. “We are making a social push and we are looking at a more integrated experience,” he said. He declined to give any more details, including which future release of Android will carry these features, but I suspect we’ll be seeing them sooner than later.

The reasoning is pretty simple — that nature of communications is changing from just voice to many different modes. “Address book needs to be redefined,” Rubin said. Absolutely. As I wrote earlier, “Like email and instant messaging, Facebook (and soon Twitter) are what we use to stay in touch with our friends, colleagues and family.”

Anyway, to make a long story short (or is it too late for that?), someday there will be a Facebook app for Android that is made by the Palo Alto-based social network and it’s going to be as good as the one it has on the iPhone.

T-minus 24 hours until Android arrives. Less than a year after announcing Android, the open-source phone operating system intended to jump-start the mobile Internet, Google began sharing the project’s underlying source code. The Android Open Source Project site includes a project list, a feature description, a guides to the roles people can have in the project and how to contribute, and of course the Android source code itself.

From IDG News Service:

Google planned to announce on Tuesday that the source code for its mobile operating system, Android, is now available for anyone to use free.

The move was expected, although the timing was uncertain.

Developers can find the source code on the Web site for the Android Open Source Project.

“An open-sourced mobile platform, that’s constantly being improved upon by the community and is available for everyone to use, speeds innovation, is an engine of economic opportunity and provides a better mobile experience for users,” said Andy Rubin, senior director of mobile platforms for Google, in a statement.

But Google’s model for Android has some critics. The LiMo Foundation, which publishes specifications for middleware for mobile Linux devices, and of which Google is not a member, says that Google’s model might be too open.

From CNET:

Google has one team of programmers building the software and another professional services group to help support phone makers building Android phones. Now, though, as T-Mobile’s G1 arrives on the market, Google hopes to multiply that by drawing upon the collective energy of outside contributors to the project.

“Our plan is a launching point for a much more vibrant open-source community,” said Rich Miner, vice president of Google’s mobile platforms business. “For the past almost four years, this has been a large effort between Google and our partners. There have been a lot of people working on the code, but that’s going to be multiplied by several orders of magnitude.”

Open-source software can be freely used, modified, and redistributed by anyone, freedoms that make it a daunting competitor to proprietary software companies that charge for the code. Although open-source software rarely has been the sole basis for a thriving company, it can be a powerful tool to aid a broader agenda. Sophisticated technology companies such as IBM, Oracle, and even Apple often subsidize open-source projects for that reason, and Android fits into that category.

The first Google Android phone isn’t yet on the market but the G1 goes on sale in the U.S. from T-Mobile tomorrow. Journalists were first able to publish their reviews of the phone last week.

Here’s the press release from Google:

Google and the Open Handset Alliance Announce Android Open Source Availability

Today, Google and the Open Handset Alliance announced the availability of the Android platform source code to everyone, for free, under the new Android Open Source Project. This represents the first truly open and fully featured mobile platform which will enable people to create a mobile device without restrictions, build applications that run on Android powered devices, and contribute to the core platform.

As an open source project, anyone can contribute to Android and influence its direction. It means that anyone can download, build, and run the code needed to create a complete mobile device. With an open source platform, developers, OEMs, carriers and code contributors are given the opportunity to build faster, cheaper and more innovative devices and services.

Android is a complete, end-to-end software platform that can be adapted to work on any number of hardware configurations. Having an open source mobile platform will dramatically reduce the time and resources required to bring mobile devices to market. Handset manufactures can access a complete, full featured mobile stack without any barriers and get a head-start in creating as contemporary a device that they want to build. Developers for the first time can contribute code, with a full set APIs that allows the platform to host applications written by third-party developers and carriers can offer faster, cheaper and more innovative devices and services.

“Open source allows everyone and anyone equal access to the ideas and innovation that can make good products great,” said Andy Rubin, senior director of mobile platforms, Google. “An open sourced mobile platform, that’s constantly being improved upon by the community and is available for everyone to use, speeds innovation, is an engine of economic opportunity and provides a better mobile experience for users.

With the availability of Android to the open source community, consumers will start to see more applications like location-based travel tools, games and social networking offerings available to them directly; cheaper and faster phones at lower costs; and a better mobile web experience through 3G networks with richer screens.

The code can be found under the Android Open Source Project, the open source initiative for Android now available at source.android.com.

It’s September 23, 2008 and that means the birth of the platform known as Google Android. Welcome to the world. You have survived childbirth, now let’s see what you do with your life. You have been hyped as much as anything in recent history, so we shall soon see what the people really think of you. It’s hard to be judged before you’re even born, huh?

Credit: Gizmodo

Gizmodo has full details of the gPhone:

The long-awaited HTC Dream, the first commercial handset running Google’s Android operating system, will be coming to T-Mobile as the G1 for $179 on October 22nd. Featuring a 3-inch touchscreen, internet navigation buttons and a full QWERTY keypad, the smartphone market has finally broken free of Symbian, Windows Mobile and the sweet clutches of fruit companies. Read on for the details, and you can decide whether or not the competition is a good thing.

Features:

Date and Pricing
$179 on October 22nd. (That’s with a two year contract.) Unlimited internet with “some messaging” will run $25/month. Unlimited internet and messaging is $35/month. Data plans will require voice plans.

Screen
The G1 sports a 3.17″ 65K color touchscreen that runs in HVGA (480×320) resolution.

Battery Life
You can talk for 5 hours, or keep the phone in standby for 130 hours.

Camera
3.1MP, or right around 35mm quality.

Frequency Fun
GSM/GPRS/EDGE/Wi-Fi and UMTS/HSDPA
850/900/1700/1800/1900/2100Mhz

Dimensions
4.60” x 2.16” x 0.62”; Weight: 5.6 ounces. And available in white, black and brown.

Storage
1GB MicroSD card preinstalled. Supports 8GB MicroSD.

GPS
Of course, what would Google Maps be without it?

Google Maps
As we’ve seen in a recent update, the G1’s Maps application will integrate Street View so you can see where you are going. But in an industry first, a built-in compass orients the map to your position. North is always up!

Android Market
Similar to the iPhone’s mobile App Store, the Android Market will allow downloading of various Android apps from the phone, to the phone.

Amazon MP3 Store
Amazon’s MP3 store will be preloaded on every G1, allowing the download of 6 million DRM-free tracks with singles starting at 89 cents. Downloading music requires a Wi-Fi connection, previewing can be done over T-Mobile’s network.

YouTube
Yup, it’s on there.

Other Apps
ShopSavvy: designed to help people do comparative shopping

Ecorio: developed to help people keep track of their daily travels and view what their carbon footprint looks like BreadCrumbz: enables people to create a step-by-step visual map using photos; customers can create their own routes, share them with friends or with the world

Credit: Boy Genius Report

Dan Frommer at Silicon Alley Insider has live coverage from the Google press conference:

We’re here at Guastavino’s under the Queensboro Bridge, where Google (GOOG) and T-Mobile will unveil the first Android-powered ‘GPhone’ in a few minutes. We’ll be covering the announcement live; please refresh this page for live updates. (It looks like T-Mobile is offering live video of the press conference here, too.)

LIVE notes; refresh for the latest.

10:28 Lights dimming, latecomers taking their seats. On today’s agenda: Chats from Cole Brodman, CTO for T-Mobile; Christopher Schläffer, Deutsche Telekom (DT); Andy Rubin, Google’s Android guy; and Peter Chou, CEO of HTC, the company that’s making the G1.

10:29 Silence!

10:30 Eurofunk music. Video showing scenes across Europe and the rest of the world.

10:30 Brodman takes the stage. Welcome, thanks for joining us! “That video cptures the human essence in our need to connect with one another.” Can’t be face to face anymore. Technology has bridged that gap via mobile phone and Internet. Haven’t been able to rely on integration of those two in the past. Here today to change that: New platform, new device, new system, new set of services.

10:31 Introducing the others, who are sitting in the front row. Andy Rubin wearing a suit! Very nice.

10:32 Chris from DT here. Austrian! Not German! Continuing strong tradition of being pioneers of open mobile Internet. Launching the world’s first Android-based phone ,T-Mobile G1, in an exclusive partnership between Google and T-Mobile. For us, this is first because we’re launching the same device on both sides of the Atlantic.

10:33 Come along way with partners and friends at Google in pioneering approach to open up the wireless Internet. Since 2005 first telecom operator to open up, move away from walled gardens/closed portals. Really? We’ll take his word for it. Dress code appears to be suit, no tie today, btw. Think mobile Internet is huge growth opportunity going forward. In Europe, grown mobile data revs without SMS by 43%. Also traffic has grown 250% or so. Needto capitalize further on that opportunitiy.

10:35 Going through history with HTC. Ladies and gentlemen, Deutsche Telekom, T-Mobile is committed to open platforms. T-Mobile G1 is a milestone in bringing the open mobile Internet to the mass market. Thank you. Here comes Andy Rubin.

10:36 Rubin takes the stage. On G1, a dev will be able to use as a platform. Dev will also be able to modify the platform and make it better. Somewhat future proof because it has openness built in. So far this is NOT like a Steve Jobs keynote at all. Lots of “open” …

10:37 Peter Chou, CEO of HTC congratulating team on strategy, execution, etc. Tremendous effort to make this Android Open Handset Alliance happen. Good job!

10:38 A variety of Google services, content, etc. for people to use and enjoy. HTC has worked closely with Google and T-Mobile to develop a unique iconic design unlike anything else in the market that will maximize mobile Internet experience with impressive touch experience and a cool keyboard. Will appeal to a broad variety of people.

10:40 Android is nimble, flexible, and powerful. Contributing to a fundamental shift of how people will use the mobile Internet. Lots of hype, we’ll see…

10:40 Cole back on. Started about three years ago, thanking people for their contribution. Why did we invest in the Android platform with HTC and Google? Mobile broadband networks have been around, but what’s been missing is compelling set of devices and services. US Consumers overconsume everything! Yet mobile Internet penetration lags at dismal 16%. Why? Haven’t been that many compelling experiences.

10:41 Open, open, open! Embrace third parties that have driven the creation of the Internet to create new services for mobile Internet.

10:42 No more fuzzy pictures, no more unsubstantiated blog posts, no more rumors! Here it is.

10:43 Video showing lots of iPhone-like features — touch gestures, video, Amazon MP3 store, etc. Now the four guys are on stage posing with the phones like it’s some sort of Olympics medal ceremony. Wow.

10:44 Photo shoot still going on. Guys posing for at least 20 cameras. And counting…

10:45 We’ll all get to photograph it LIVE! later. And use it.

10:45 Another video — the services. Great touch screen. Swiping gestures. Also “long press” to open options and features. Drop picture on your home screen. Drag and drop any application. Amazon MP3 store.

10:46 “Terrific” music player. Music recommendations? “Powerful communicator” with IM.

10:48 Google maps with Street View. Wonder how fast it’ll load over 3G. Compass mode. Pretty cool.

10:48 Zooming in Web browser doesn’t look as elegant as on iPhone. Lags while dragging on video. Search button on keyboard.

10:49 “Copy Link URL!” COPY AND PASTE!!! Get on it, Apple!

10:50 “Always something new to discover.” So whaddya think? Woo! says the audience. “Trust me, it’s a lot of fun.” Cole says he played Pacman for 30 minutes instead of preparing speech notes. But where is SPORE?

10:51 The beauty and magic of android platform is rich toolkit. One thing as humans we can always count on is change. This platform is going to embrace that change by allowing third parties to write whatever they want. From garages to graduate schools, from small towns to big cities, think third parties will drive innovation. SAPPY!

10:52 Another video. Nerds sitting in a room talking about open source. WHAT IS THIS FOR?! MORE PHONE!

10:53 This video is a little ridiculous. Lots of dudes talking about open source. You’re not missing anything. These guys appear to be sitting on an orange/red leather IKEA Klippan couch talking about open source.

10:54 Applause. Cole back on stage.

10:55 Carbon footprint tracking people here. Shopsavvy people too. I think these are Android developer challenge winners. Yes, these are the barcode scanning people. Not sure they they’re not giving demos.

10:56 15-minute Q&A period led by T-Mobile Flack. $179, existing T-Mobile customers can buy. Can order and have it shipped to their phone. October 22. Two very compelling data and messaging plan options. $25 option with limited messaging, web, etc. $35 with unlimited.

10:58 27 3G markets by mid-November. Europe? Keen to launch in Europe? Is that what he said? UK in November, across europe in Q1 of 2009.

10:59 Rubin: Open sourcing platform. Beyond that, pretty focused road map. Going broader with more features and functionality. LONG TAIL!

11:00 HTC guy talking about mobile Internet innovation. Very proud of it.

11:00 Now Q&A opening up. Tethered modem? On top of voice plan or just data plan? All in one device; mobile device, not a tethered modem. Data plan will require a voice plan on T-Mobile’s network as well.

11:00 Gartenberg: Any support for Office or Exchange? Can read Word docs and PDF docs; Excel docs. Currently no Exchange compatibility but perfect opportunity for third-party developer. SIM Locked to T-Mobile.

11:02 GMAIL IS PUSH, other IMAP is not.

11:02 Missed this one. Something about syncing. Will be available in markets without 3G. Device also includes wifi.

11:03 Digging a little bit deeper into SIM lock question. How locked is it going to be? With iPhone, space race to unlock, etc. Any comments to that? No guarantees in technology, seen a lot happen in the last year and a half “with the device you mentioned”… $179 is cheap compared to T-Mobile’s full cost; hence is reason we’ve locked it to T-Mobile.

11:04 Google will help marketing starting in October, the biggest marketing campaign T-Mobile has ever launched. Very unique business relationship with Google; not worth commenting on at this point.

11:05 No desktop application; what Bluetooth profiles supported? Device syncs to Google services, also Yahoo, Microsoft and AIM, as far as Bluetooth profiles: headsets, handsfree, others coming later.

11:06 Who device aimed at? Business users? Consumers? Corporate market? How broad? This device going to have “mass appeal.” Something for everybody. Set off in beginning to build a device that appeals to young and social segment. Consumer device, not necessarily enterprise device. But you’ll see enterprise workers use it for that as well.

11:07 More about GMail? Rubin: As far as GMail goes, pretty robust Gmail experience. Same threading; ALLOWS YOU TO SEARCH EMAIL. A lot of email services will be integrated via Gmail powered front-end. IM: First implementation of online presence inside the phone book. More powerful communications services built into phone book.

11:08 Will it work with iTunes? Supports AAC, WMA, MP3, etc, but not iTunes-DRM compatible. Content would have to be DRM-unlocked. No Skype. Will work with any GSM network in the world, then bands that Tmobile will operate on in US, other bands around the world.

11:09 LARRY AND SERGEY! Rushed here from Google Transit launch; very exciting to be here today, says Sergey. What really gives me pleasure: I’m a bit of a geek. The way I grew up playing in college and grad school with computers, mess around with Linux, touch all the parts of the system. Get the same pleasure playing with the G1 here. Have been using it for a while now.

11:11 Sergey wrote an app that lets you throw phone up in the air, measure how many seconds until you catch it or it hits the floor. Exciting to me as a computer geek that I can have a phone I can innovate on as I have with computers in the past. Larry page talking about enjoying using it for email, been giving Andy lots and lots of feedback. Excited about possibilities it means.

11:12 As good a computer as we had a few years ago is in this phone. If asked you guys to do a Web search, coudl see how long it takes. Hard to carry your laptop “especially if you’re rollerblading.”

11:14 We now pause for a very special photo session with everyone holding their phones.

11:15 Press conference over, people filing out and heading down to demo stations.

Live blogging also from TechCrunch:

What’s known so far:

• In-store, immediate sales only available in locations within 5 miles of a 3G covered area. If a store is beyond that range, representatives will walk customers through a T-mobile.com purchase
• One touch access to: Search, Maps, Gmail, Youtube, Calendar, and Google Talk
• Gmail account and data plan required
• GPS
• 3.1 mp camera, no video recording
• No stereo bluetooth (A2DP)
• Dimensions: 4.6 x 2.16 x 0.63 in
• Weighs 5.6 ounces
• 480×320 65K color screen
• 5 hour talk time, 130 hour standby time
• Expandable up to 8GB

From Fortune:

If Google plays its cards right, its unveiling of the first Android-powered phone on Tuesday will prove to be more than a distraction from iPhone-mania – it will be the moment the search giant capitalizes on Apple’s control issues.

From InformationWeek:

The feverish readers of TmoNews.com have discovered some images and specifications of the G1 phone from HTC, set to be announced later this morning. What’s surprising is what isn’t included.

It appears that the G1 will only be available in regions covered by T-Mobile’s 3G network. Given that there are only a dozen or so active 3G markets across the U.S., that’s a pretty limiting factor. T-Mobile is set to expand its 3G footprint in the coming months, but to limit the availability of a phone people have a lot of interest in is a weird move.

TmoNews quotes a source as saying, “Available in all stores within 3G boundary area, regardless of whether or not store is in a 3G dead spot. Available in some locations directly outside of the 3G boundary area due to the fact that some customers who live in the 3G boundary area shop within a 2 – 5 mile radius and the store they would go to is outside of the 3G boundary area. For those stores not in 3G markets, a demo unit and merchandising will be in store so rep can show customer what the experience on G1 is like on the 2G network. If customer is ok with experience, Rep can help them purchase a device on T-Mobile.com.”

Other specs that TmoNews was able to snag show that the device will have one-touch access to the Internet, Maps Gmail, YouTube, Calendar andGoogle (NSDQ: GOOG) Talk (Google’s chat program). A Google account is required. You have to have a Google account in order to use the phone. This isn’t overly surprising. Being that the Google faithful are the ones likely to be most interested in this device, that isn’t going to put too many people off.

It will have a 3.1 megapixel camera, but the camera won’t be able to shot video, just as with the iPhone. This makes it a non-starter for me. I really like to be able to shot video. The phone also doesn’t include support for stereo Bluetooth, which is another feature lacking on the iPhone and another disappointment.It will, however, include GPS.

From ZDNet:

There’s a feeling of excitement around today’s expected launch of Android, Google’s long-anticipated mobile operating system. But when I drove past a few electronics stores last night, I didn’t see anyone camping out the way people were lined up for Apple’s iPhone.

I suspect there’s some confusion about what Android is, exactly. Early on, it was dubbed the gPhone – but that’s somewhat misleading if you try to do an Apples-to-apples comparison with the iPhone. In the case of Apple’s iPhone, it was an operating system, too, but for one phone only – Apple’s. Google’s operating system, which also encourages the development of mobile applications, is eventually expected to land on a variety of devices. And now, there’s some buzz that the Google’s open-source operating system might eventually reach beyond phones and land on other products – maybe set-top boxes, TVs or even cars.

For now, the emphasis is on mobile phones. A growing number of mobile phones – beyond the iPhone – are already Web-capable. Google wants to supply those mobile surfers with the information they’re seeking from a mobile Web connection.

To a certain extent, Google is already doing that by enhancing its mobile offerings. Applications like Gmail, Reader and, of course, search are already available through a mobile Web browser. In addition, a number of other operating systems – iPhone, Blackberry, Windows Mobile and others – are supporting Google Apps for Mobile, a much more attractive and user-friendly version of Google’s most popular services. Last week, Google Maps for Mobile was upgraded to include Street View images. In addition, Google has been offering for some time now an SMS version of its search functionality. Send a SMS text message to GOOGL (46645) with a simple search such as “pizza, 94105″ and you’ll receive a text listing of pizza joints in the San Francisco zip code.

I’ve been running Google services on my phone (a Blackberry) for some time now so the excitement around a gPhone – err, Android – just isn’t all that exciting to me. I’ll certainly check out an Android phone as soon as I can – but I don’t think I’ll consider a switch to T-Mobile the way I considered a switch to AT&T for the iPhone.

Why would I? In many ways, I feel like my phone is already a Google phone.

“Your phone is your omnipresent microphone to the world, a way to publish pictures, emails, texts, Twitters, and blog entries.”

Google wireless guru Andy Rubin, on how the Android operating system will enable bad cell-phone behavior in every conceivable medium, Official Google Blog, 19 September 2008

The latest unofficial news/rumors for the HTC Dream phone (aka Android phone & G1) is that it will be coming out September 17th with T-Mobile! Here’s the latest article from PCWorld: http://blogs.pcworld.com/staffblog/archives/007446.html

“Price-wise, T-Mobile is said to start G1’s pre-sales on Sept. 17 for only $150 with a two-year contract (iPhone 3G has a $199 starting price point). The offer will be open only to current T-Mobile customers for just one week. After this period, in early October, you will be able to grab the device for $250 while the full retail price is slated at $399. Further details on the data plans sold with G1 have not emerged yet.”

Which sucks for me, since I’m still stuck with the crappy Sprint just waiting for the phone to get released. I’m afraid if I jump into T-Mobile now that they wouldn’t let me upgrade to the new phone for that price because I would have already recently “upgraded”…I don’t know. I haven’t really looked into it yet. Here’s a video that “leaked” out and is supposed to be the HTC Dream phone…but no one’s 100% sure. It could just be a prototype or something:
http://www.slashgear.com/htc-dream-phone-in-android-video-leak-1013611.php

The video on this site is from a BBC site. It shows Andy Rubin (the “creator of Android”) showing Android off from a phone that looks rather similar to the “leaked HTC Dream phone” video…except it’s black: http://www.google-phone.com/htc-dream-phone-20295.php

Here’s Googles Andy Rubin head of Mobile platforms giving away a demo to BBC’s Darren Waters. And guess what the specs look absolutely cool and I’m just looking forward to its release. Hopefully it beats the expectations of the likes of Tripp Chowdary and et al who’ve hallucinating some sort of delay in the release.

Recently Andy Rubin, the Google engineering director heading up Google's mobile platform Android, likened today's hodge-podge of mobile phone software to the early days of personal computers. I thought the reference to the earlier days of the PC was spot on. In so many ways, mobile computing and as an extension mobile marketing, is a rerun of what we hashed through a decade ago to get the Internet, and as an extension Internet marketing, where it is today. In that context mobile marketing has a ton of promise, but it also has a way to go.

I have to say it’s a bit odd to be writing about mobile marketing, and talking about the ability to do multi-tasking. But it’s a big deal. When Apple released their SDK in March, some say they banned multi-tasking for third party app developers. Others say the ban is a myth. I just know it’s needed as does Andy Rubin. When asked recently where he thought other mobile-phone software fell short, he specifically cited multi-tasking.

Google is taking heat regarding the plausibility of its Android project. Will it be an iPhone killer? Probably not. However, could it move the mobile industry towards a more open, developer friendly environment similar to the Net? Potentially. And if it does, Google sells more ads.

O Google confirmou os rumores de que trabalha no desenvolvimento de um pacote de software gratuito para telefones celulares. A novidade, afirmou a empresa, tem como objetivo levar mais funções aos usuários desses aparelhos, que não precisarão ficar em frente ao PC para acessar diversos tipos de serviços.

O primeiro telefone equipado com o pacote de codinome Android, divulgou a agência de notícias Associated Press, só estará disponível a partir do segundo semestre de 2008. O gigante das buscas só oferecerá o software para os portáteis e não fabricará esses aparelhos – a produção dos portáteis compatíveis com o sistema operacional será delegada às empresas Motorola, Samsung, HTC e LG Electronics.

Entre as operadoras de telefonia móvel que vão oferecer serviço aos telefones com a plataforma do Google nos Estados Unidos estão a Sprint Nextel e a T-Mobile. Fora dos EUA, esse serviço será oferecido pela China Mobile, Telefonica e Telecom Italia. As empresas ligadas ao projeto do Google fazem parte de uma aliança de 34 companhias que formaram a Open Handset Alliance. 

Programadores também poderão criar aplicações compatíveis com o software do Google e, com isso, aumentar muito a quantidade de aplicativos disponíveis para telefones. “Essa abertura é uma grande aposta, mas representa apenas uma etapa daquela que será uma batalha muito longa na próxima fronteira da internet móvel”, afirmou à agência de notícias Associated Press Michael Gartenberg, vice-presidente da Júpiter Research.
Possibilidades

Os engenheiros vêm trabalhando no desenvolvimento desses pacote de softwares por anos, desde que o Google comprou a empresa Android em 2005. “A novidade vai levar a internet para os telefones celulares de uma maneira muito interessante”, afirmou Andy Rubin, co-fundador da Android que hoje trabalha como diretor de plataformas móveis para o Google.

Apesar de o lançamento da novidade ainda estar distante, a plataforma do Google representa uma ameaça para outros sistemas operacionais de portáteis desenvolvidos pela Microsoft, Research in Motion (do Blackberry), Palm e Symbian. Pelo fato de o software do Google ser gratuito, é possível que os smartphones com essa alternativa fiquem mais baratos do que seus concorrentes.

Lot of people who are aware of Android think that they actually write mobile applications using Java. This is only partly correct.

What many people miss out is the fact Google Android uses ONLY Java Syntax. The java code that one develops for Android is converted in to standard Java bytecode. This again is converted in a different bytecode format (which Google claims that is an optimized, minimum memory footprint bytecode).

Basically, Android does not use a standard JVM (it uses a non-standard JVM called Dalvik) . The SDK also contains android.* packages apart from the usual java packages.

I found this post from Stefano Mazzocchi very interesting. He claims that the reason for Google using a non-standard JVM is not really for just optimization sake, but instead to get around any licensing issues with Sun for using J2ME. Wow! I never thought of that.

Its natural. If I were to run the Android project (instead of Andy Rubin), then I would start using J2ME as a preferred virtual machine for obvious reasons that we have a huge group of developers who can be readily moved/attracted to developing applications on Android. And then when it comes to licensing, I would think of someway to circumvent the problem and the one smart way is to make sure the final bytecode is not the same of the one generated by the standard java compiler. Thats exactly what Google engineers have done by developing Dalvik.

Other interesting links:
http://wireless.itworld.com/4269/071116googlesun/page_1.html
http://www.oreillynet.com/onjava/blog/2007/11/dalvik_googles_tweaked_nonstan.html

グーグルが Open Handset Alliance と Android を発表した。

いくつかのすばらしい記事があった。忘れないうちにメモ・・・

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グーグル発表の実況中継

いつもながら Engadget がすばらしい。プレスリリースや大手紙の報道を読むより、こちらの方が臨場感があり、とくに Q&A で問題点が集約されていてずっと分かりやすい。

Engadget: “Live coverage of Google’s Android Gphone mobile OS announcement” by Ryan Block: 05 November 2007
Engadget Japanese: “Googleプレスカンファレンス速報：Android・OHA質疑応答” by Ittousai: 05 November 2007

Android はオープンソースだが、メーカーやキャリアがロックできるかという質問のやり取りで、問いつめられた Andy Rubin が可能だと答えて、それに Eric Schmidt が割って入るところは傑作。

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9:45AM PT - Q: “Does this protect consumers in any way of installing software on their phones? Or can carriers create a completely locked down phone?” Rubin: “Please refer to the Apache software license… when you free something, it’s up to the industry to do something with it.” “So if the industry wants to create totally locked down devices, they CAN do it?” Rubin: “Yes.” Eric: “While it’s feasible, it’s also highly unlikely you’ll see that scenario.”

Q: 好みのソフトウェアをインストールできるようにユーザーを守るものなのか。それともキャリアは完全にロックされた携帯を作れるのか。

Andy Rubin (Google）：。Apacheライセンスを参照してほしい。(…) なにかをフリーにするとは、それで何をするかは業界しだいということだ。(では、完全にロックされた携帯を望む企業はそうできるのか？) Rubin：そのとおり。Eric Schmidt (Google）：可能性としてはありうるが、実際にそのシナリオを目にすることは非常に考えにくい。［Engadget Japanese 訳］

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Steve Jobs  と Eric Schmidt は大違い

結局グーグルの発表とは何だったのか、どの記事を読んでも大同小異でよく分らないが、ニューヨークタイムズの Saul Hansell の記事がとてもおもしろかった。

New York Times: “The GPhone: So Open It Could Be Closed” by Saul Hansell: 05 November 2007

Steve Jobs  と Eric Schmidt を比較した書き出しからがすばらしい。

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グーグルの新しい携帯 OS に関する Eric Schmidt の電話会議は、Steve Jobs の派手なキーノートとはまったく正反対だった。

Eric Schmidt’s conference call about Google’s new cell phone operating system was exactly the opposite of a showy Steve Jobs keynote.

Schmidt はすべてのことについて喋ったが肝心の新製品のクールな特徴については何にも語らなかった。というのもアンドロイドがハードな製品ではなく、オープンソースの電話ソフトに過ぎなかったからだ。

He talked about everything except the cool new features of the product. That’s because Android is not a product. It is open-source phone software.

どういうワケか、グーグルが発表すべきだった肝心のこと、すなわちアンドロイドのユーザーインターフェイスは来週まで公開されないのだ。電話のプロトタイプは確かに多くの記者に見せてはいたけれど・・・

Inexplicably, the one thing that Google does have to show—Android’s user interface—won’t be unveiled until next week. Google did show a phone prototype to a number of reporters.

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Google Phone の背後にいる男

今回のプロジェクトを率いる Andy Rubin について John Markoff がすばらしい記事を書いている。

かつてアップルで Quadra に携わったことがあり、また、Sidekick　を開発した男。ギークで事業家となかなか興味深い存在。

発表の中味だけでなく、その背景を掘り下げてまとめるところはさすが John Markoff・・・

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Google Phone の影響

今回の発表が携帯業界に与える影響、とくに iPhone に与える影響をいちはやく分析したのが Carl Howe だ。

新しい事態に直ちに対応できるのは、常日頃からアップルを追っている成果だろう。まさにアップルウォッチャーの面目躍如！

ほかに Google Phone の目的を分析した記事もおもしろい。

Seeking Alpha: “What’s the Point of Google’s Phone ?” by Carl Howe: 05 November 2007

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グーグルの発表

Android というのは分ったようでよく分らない。

その意味で Andy Rubin 自身のブログは比較的分かりやすい。こういう形をとるのがグーグル流なのか・・・

Official Google Blog: “Where’s my Gphone?” by Andy Rubin: 05 November 2007

Technorati Tags: Android, Andy Rubin, Engadget, Eric Schmidt, Google, Google Phone, gPhone, Open Handset Alliance

Pierwszy wpis i od razu gorący temat. Nie dalej jak wczoraj serwisy informacyjne na całym świecie, te same, które dotąd przemycały przecieki o Googlephonie, uderzyły informacją, że Google szykuje uderzenie na rynek komórek! Internetowa potęga ma zaatakować nasze komórki armią androidów. Dokładniej tylko jednym.Wszystko wskazuje na to, że szykuje się może nie wojna, ale przynajmniej kolejny gracz na rynku komórkowych systemów operacyjnych. Nie tak dawno wszystko było jasne. Nokia to Nokia, a Motorola to Motorola i każda z nich swoje menu miała. Dziś większość producentów ma w swoich portfolio urządzenia pracujące pod kontrola kilku systemów operacyjnych, a to jak widać nie koniec.

Najpierw słowo historii. W ciągu ostatnich lat coraz lepiej ma się wskrzeszony z popiołów EPOCa – Symbian, którego świetne wyniki i wzrost udziału w rynku uciekły wielu mediom w cieniu informacji o Androidzie. Windows Mobile przeszedł kolejną metamorfozę i radzi sobie nienajgorzej. W ciszy praktycznie odszedł PalmOS, ale nadchodzą następcy – z USA maszerują żwawo Blackberry RIM i przedmiot pożądania zwany iPhonem. Czy potrzeba nam jeszcze czegoś? Androida?

Cóż to za Android? Za Androidem stoi organizacja Open Handset Alliance, skupiającą ponad 30 firm telekomunikacyjnych (Telefonica, czy T-Mobile), producentów sprzętu (Motorola, Samsung), czy podzespołów elektronicznych (nVidia, TI). No i oczywiście Google, ale ojcem sukcesu Androida nie będą chyba jego twórcy.

Jak może mało, kto pamięta w sierpniu 2005 roku internetowy gigant kupił kalifornijską firmę o nazwie Android, za którą stała legenda krzemowej doliny – Andy Rubin. Ten koleżka z Palo Alto już wówczas na swoim koncie miał kilka całkiem udanych pomysłów. Właściwie same sukcesy. WebTV, które kupił Microsoft, a potem Danger Inc., który stworzył w 2002 olbrzymi sukces urządzenia HipTop znanego publice, jako T-Mobile Sidekick. W wolnych chwilach bawił się hackowaniem kluczyków do Segway’a. To całkiem dobrze wróży Androidowi. Ale czym on ma być?

Zgodnie z zapowiedzią już niedługo ujrzy światło dzienne cała dotycząca go dokumentacja, oraz środowisko programistyczne (SDK). Ma być zarazem otwartym systemem operacyjnym, bazującym na kernelu Linuxa, ale i środowiskiem pisania aplikacji, aż do poziomu interfejsu włącznie. Co ciekawe wszystko to ma być ogólnodostępne dla zainteresowanych programistów. Co będą mieli z tego klienci?

Z pewnością ciekawe aplikacje i nie będzie to powtórka z Phone’a, który jak dotąd jest na programy zewnętrzne zamknięty. Na urządzenia z Androidem w środku napisane zostaną z pewnością aplikacje znane dziś z komórkowej Javy i Symbiana. A co jeszcze? Większa kompatybilność aplikacji pomiędzy urządzeniami różnych producentów? Czekajmy więc na nadejście Androida.