Android: A Preview of Things to Come

So you may have noticed a slight change to the site. The iPhone section has become m”Mobile.” This is something I had asked Patrick to do.

Why, you ask? Because iPhone is not the only smart phone out there with games and apps that have helped make it so much more than it is coming out of the box. As a matter of fact, there is one platform that is starting to take the cell phone market by storm. It’s called Android, and it is the platform behind my smart phone, the G1.

What is Android?

At this point many of you may be asking just what exactly is Android. While I could go into  long technical definition about it being an open source program running on a Linux Kernal for mobile phones and other devices, it would probably be better to just explain why Android came about.

Android was originally a small company making software for mobile phones. Not much was known about them when Google purchased the company back in 2005, but when Google buys anything, it gets noticed. Speculation began to surface that Google was looking to get into the mobile phone industry, but the company denied that, saying instead that it was the platform it was interested in.

In late 2007, the Open Handset Alliance was formed. The alliance, comprising of several cell phone makers and carriers including  HTC, LG,  Motorola, Nvidia, Samsung Electronics, Sprint Nextel, T-Mobile and of course Google, has been working on developing an open standard for mobile devices. Their first product was Android, an open source platform for mobile phones.

The G1 was the first Android Phone on the market. It is the one I own.

So what exactly does all of this mean? Since the debut of Android, more and more carries have started releasing Android phones; there are 18 different phones running the platform due out by the end of the year. Being open source, anyone can download the developer software and write applications or games for Android. In other words, anyone with programing knowledge can develop software that can be used by multiple phones on multiple networks, making Android a rapidly growing market. While no one phone may be able to compete with the iPhone in terms of popularity, the Android Platform as a whole may have a chance of actually competing, and as we have mentioned before in the console battle, competition is a good thing.

Why are we focusing on Android?

Now you may be asking why we are focusing on Android? Well, the obvious answer is I want to talk about my phone, but there is more to it than that. No, seriously, there is. I promise.

As I mentioned earlier, Android is starting to be adopted by several different cell phone makers and carriers. T-Mobile has 2 Android phones on the market, and if you have been watching sports recently, you have probably seen commercials for Motorolla’s upcoming Droid. Android is a growing platform, and just as we were among the first to really embrace reviewing iPhone Gaming, Everyday Gamers wants to be among the early sites to be discussing Android apps and games.

Besides, it gives me a chance to share why I really like the G1 and why you as a reader may want to consider purchasing an Android phone (okay, yes, there is a little bit of the selfish reason in there).

So be on the lookout for discussions on Android in general and the G1 in particular. I’ll be sharing some of my insights on the phone and the platform as well as reviewing some of the Apps and Games available on the Android Market and other areas. My hope is to share some of my growing knowledge of the platform and what it can do and hopefully get some input from others who have Android phones as well.

With all the phones and other devices (Acer is about to release a laptop that dual boots into XP and Adnroid), Android is definitely here to stay. While I do not claim to be an expert on the platform or the apps, I hope I can share what I have learned and help other Android users get the most out of their phones.