Windows Phone Thoughts: No Gphone for You! Have an Android Instead

"Despite all of the very interesting speculation over the last few months, we're not announcing a Gphone. However, we think what we are announcing -- the Open Handset Alliance and Android -- is more significant and ambitious than a single phone. In fact, through the joint efforts of the members of the Open Handset Alliance, we hope Android will be the foundation for many new phones and will create an entirely new mobile experience for users, with new applications and new capabilities we can’t imagine today. Android is the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, user-interface and applications -- all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation. We have developed Android in cooperation with the Open Handset Alliance, which consists of more than 30 technology and mobile leaders including Motorola, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile. Through deep partnerships with carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and others, we hope to enable an open ecosystem for the mobile world by creating a standard, open mobile software platform. We think the result will ultimately be a better and faster pace for innovation that will give mobile customers unforeseen applications and capabilities."

[Yup, we're a bit late covering this, it's been a hectic week...]

My first impression is "So...that's it?". I had thought the announcement was going to be about a baked project, something coming to market soon...but this seems to be more about Google announcing their intentions to enter the market. It's hard to build a mobile OS. It's hard to get consensus amongst multiple partners. I think one reason the iPhone turned out pretty well is that it was one company working with one carrier on one vision. Windows Mobile has gotten to where it is through revision after revision, working with multiple carriers around the world. Will Google be able to do the same, only with a much bigger group of partners?

I'm also not convinced that Google can create an OS, or the applications needed to sit on top of the OS, and have it be as good as it needs to be. Google excels at Web-based services, but their applications (with the exception of perhaps the toolbar) tend to be much less impressive. I guess we'll see - one things for sure, Microsoft does best when they feel threatened, so I welcome Google's entry into this market for the way it will motivate Microsoft on one side, with Apple on the other.

More information can be found in the official press release. And perhaps the HTC Omni is the type of phone we'll see Android running on?