I am sure everyone on the planet has become of aware of Google's new open mobile platform, Android, so I am not going to repeat the news, however I will tell you some tidbits I heard on a conference call I sat in on which included:

- Eric Schmidt, Chairman and CEO of Google Inc.
- Andy Rubin, Director of Mobile Platforms, Google Inc.
- René Obermann, CEO of Deutsche Telekom, parent company of T-Mobile Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corp.
- Paul Jacobs, CEO of Qualcomm
- Ed Zander, Chairman and CEO of Motorola, Inc.

This call also included members from press/news companies such as: Reuters, USA Today, PC Magazine, NY Times, Chicago Tribune, and many more. The SDK for Android will be available to developers next week and mobile carriers expect this to be enough time for developers to build applications on top of the Android platform for 2008. There were numerous questions surrounding the gPhone and Eric Schmidt made it clear that there is no news on the gPhone however Android would be the perfect platform for that type of phone.

Here are few of the questions that were posed to the CEOs:

- Are there a minimum set of requirements for carriers?
No, anyone has the ability to perform any type of customization. The Apache P2 License has not restrictions.

- What's the difference between Android and other platforms?
The difference is that Android is open to all 3rd party developers and the code is entirely open source. Eric Schmidt added that open source is the best method to drive volume and provides increased flexibility and adoption.

- Will there be any issues with existing Networks?
Android powered phones will run seamlessly on all existing networks

- How will Google leverage Android for its Ad Services
Ad services from Google are flexible enough to run on any platform, however initially there will be no ad driven models. When ads are released Google plans on creating a plan in which they share the profits with the mobile carriers.

- How does the timing of Android coincide with Open Social?
Eric says the timing was completely coincidental, but the applications built using Open Social will run well on Android. In fact, developers will be able to leverage Android to make their Open Social application mobile.

- What is the look and feel of the Interface like?
The interface is Top Notch and Google will be taking a lot of input from the community in order to enhance it. Google will be offering a hosted service for developers in order to publish and test their apps.

Other Android/Open Handset Alliance News:

• Google Blog: Where's my Gphone?
• Marketing Pilgrim: Now Confirmed: Google Finally Announcing Cell Phone Project Today
• SEO Space: Google Android: Open Handset Alliance
• Search Engine Land: Google's Android Arrives: Not Gphone But An Open Source Mobile Phone Platform
• Telecom Paper: Open Handset Alliance launches Android development platform
• EETimes: Alliance gives Google a chance to drive 'Android' phone

Labels: Android, Google