Google showed us a little more about Android today. Sounds pretty cool!
‘Android’ comes with a compass, video game and Web bookmarks!
Google Inc. showed off its nearly completed mobile software system to about 3,000 computer programmers Wednesday, hoping to cultivate more services and advertising for people on the go.
Although brief, the demonstration at the Internet search leader’s annual developer conference in San Francisco represented the most extensive public look so far at “Android” — an open-source platform being designed for “smart” phones and other mobile devices that surf the Web. Android was first announced nearly seven months ago.
The bells and whistles unveiled Wednesday included: a way to unlock phones by drawing a specific shape on the touchscreen instead of entering a password; bookmarks for favorite Web sites on the device’s home page; a “compass” tool that automatically roams with the phone while a user looks at photographic images of a city map; a magnifying tool to zoom in on Web content; and a mobile version of the video game “Pac Man.
As shown on the Google Android Developers Blog, they just released a sample application called AndroidGlobalTime. They describe it as: “… a 3D world clock developed by an engineer at Google and may serve as an illustrative example of how to use the OpenGL ES APIs in your Android applications.”
I don’t know why I didn’t put this up sooner, but Sergey Brin and Steve Horowitz from Google actually made a nice looking demo video for Android. Looks pretty cool. Somewhat reminds me of the iPhone without the iPod music stuff. That could come later though, as developers are still trying to come up with programs for Android.
Google’s Android mobile system is making an impact on people already. More so on MIT students this time though. An MIT professor recently gave his students an assignment to design a cell phone program (or application I guess) using Google’s Android system.
This is going to totally change the mobile industry. Might be a little early to tell, but It almost sounds like having Linux on your phone. Check out these couple programs:
“One project named GeoLife gives users a way to set to-do lists and get reminders on their phones. Walk by the market, and the device might buzz with a message that you’re supposed to pick up milk. Another effort, named Flare, was designed to help small businesses like pizza shops cheaply track their drivers.
Then there was Locale, which lets users configure their phones to automatically adjust their settings when the devices detect themselves in certain zones. So you might set your phone to automatically go into vibrate mode in the office and silent mode at the movie theater, and ring everywhere else.”
I know I am a little late on this one, but this will give anyone more incentive to help jump onto the Android bandwagon. According to the official Google blog, Google is offering a $10 million reward for developers that create the best Android applications.
Just to clarify, the $10 million is the total amount that Google has allocated into this project, not like a lottery lump sum. This is the prize breakdown listed on the Android site:
In the Android Developer Challenge I, the 50 most promising entries received by April 14 will each receive a $25,000 award to fund further development. Those selected will then be eligible for even greater recognition via ten $275,000 awards and ten $100,000 awards.
The Android Developers Blog has the first round results already. That’s a lot of money if you ask me. Too bad I don’t know how to program…
The rumor is that HTC is developing an Android phone called the Dream right now. I also found another prototype phone that was reported on BBC video. Take a look at this:
Going back to the previous Android entry, T-Mobile has announced that they will be carrying Google Android cell phones by the end of 2008. It seems like Google’s dream is going to turn into reality soon.
What makes Android stand out is the fact that it’s open. For the longest time, the carriers, like AT&T and Verizon, have been reluctant to release that kind of information.
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