Android

A Seamless Experience between Phone and Computer

Imagine you’re somewhere in Europe. You take a picture with your mobile phone, which encodes your snapshot. Then, the GPS feature on your phone location-tags it. Since you’ve preconfigured it, your phone uploads the photo without your intervention to your Google account and, with your permission, your friends can “follow” your travels with Google Earth from either their mobile phones or desktop computers!

That scenario—a seamless and transparent experience between mobile devices and desktop computers—will soon be a reality thanks to Android, an open source-based, just-add-hardware application platform.

Android, which builds on Linux, was designed from the ground-up to empower application developers to create more innovative mobile applications and to relieve original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) of the need to mix and match diverse applications together.

“ In the instance of Google’s applications it will be the best way to move easily among applications like Gmail, search, Google Earth, YouTube videos, Picasa photo sharing, maps, Google Docs, Scholar, and other new end-to-end applications that have yet to be invented, whether on your phone or your desktop ”

- Sy Choudhury

Product Manager at Qualcomm CDMA Technologies

To ensure Android’s success, the Open Handset Alliance (OHA) was formed. The OHA is a multinational consortium of 33 technology leaders—including Qualcomm—specializing in areas such as semiconductors, software development, handset manufacturing, mobile networks, and more.

Openness: The Perfect Fit for Qualcomm

“For Qualcomm, joining the OHA was an easy decision. OHA’s fundamental principle—openness—fit perfectly with ours,” explains Sy Choudhury, product manager at Qualcomm CDMA Technologies, who is heading up the company’s involvement in the OHA. “For many years, Qualcomm’s strategy has been to spur innovation and enable more open application platforms on a greater number of our chipsets—that’s why Qualcomm created BREW® in 2001 and why we announced support for Windows Mobile in 2006. Our goal was to give handset OEMs and ODMs, wireless carriers and ultimately, consumers, more variety and choice.”

More Knowledge, More Input, More Innovation

Since Android is open source, many pundits expect it to be a launch pad for many killer apps.

“Developers can find and debug problems much easier and quicker because they can see the code and understand how it works. This in turn, opens the doors for more developers and thus a wider knowledge base,” says Choudhury. “There are a lot of smart people out there working for the companies that are part of the OHA, but there are a lot more—probably hundreds of thousands—that are not affiliated with these companies.

“How do you tap into their innovation, their ideas? By making Android open source, in the same way Linux is open source and very successful on PC servers, we will see innovation in mobile applications that drive mobile technology faster and further than ever before.”

Watch for Android

In the second half of 2008, the first Android-powered phones from leading handset manufacturers will be ready for service over the first carrier networks. Once these handsets have launched, the OHA will make the source code of the entire application platform available worldwide, at which time additional handset manufacturers can utilize it to develop a wide array of new handsets.

The OHA and Android represent a fantastic opportunity to seamlessly merge an end-user’s desktop and wireless experience. “In the instance of Google’s applications,” summarizes Choudhury, “it will be the best way to move easily among applications like Gmail, search, Google Earth, YouTube videos, Picasa photo sharing, maps, Google Docs, Scholar, and other new end-to-end applications that have yet to be invented, whether on your phone or your desktop. And, as more content and applications are developed based on Android, the opportunities will only multiply.”