All applications are created equal — is Android’s clarion call. Android promises to “not differentiate between the phone’s core applications and third-party applications”. With devices built on the Android platform, “users will be able to fully tailor the phone to their interests”.

Equally oustanding is Android’s breaking down of application boundaries. A developer can combine information from the web with data on an individual’s mobile phone to provide a more relevant user experience. A Google video shows how the ‘Apps without borders’ concept works. One engineer who has developed an open source library shows how he uses the camera to scan barcodes and then search products online. His application can also scan barcodes on business cards that automatically show contact name, number and email address, letting users save contacts without keying in the name.

Google and HTC spent three years developing the Android software and handset leading up to the launch last Tuesday. “Google makes software. They needed a hardware partner,” says HTC chief marketing officer John Wang. HTC believes working with Google gives it a “big advantage over other mobile phone makers”.

Handset makers Motorola, Samsung Electronics and LG Electronics are all, along with HTC, members of the Open Handset Alliance, a group of corporate supporters Google formed around Android. These companies are believed to be at work designing Android-based handsets, though none of them have announced anything yet.

Having taken the lead, HTC plans more such handsets. The Dream will be available in the US from October 22 for $179.

... contd.