Mountain View (CA) - Riding on the G1 launch headlines and platform openness philosophy, Google and the Open Handset Alliance today released the entire source code of the Android operating system under the open-source Apache 2.0 license. This move enables anyone with silicon to tailor the platform around hardware, modify its code and deploy it in various mobile devices. A smart strategy and some luck may actually elevate Android to become the de facto standard for mobile devices.

Although developers have had access to the Android SDK since September, the source code of the operating system was not available to the general public until now. Described as "one of the largest open-source efforts ever in the history of open source," the release is a key milestone in the development of Android and quite possibly a game-changer.

The released source code includes the complete Android stack and previously unavailable network and telephony layers. It contains core components such as the bootloader, graphics and speech-recognition libraries and media codecs as well as applications and can be adapted to work on any number of hardware configurations. Device vendors and carriers can now take the Android source code, modify it, make it their own and deploy it easily across various devices.


DIY Android

"You can literally take that entire source code, put it on a piece of hardware, and you'd have a working phone," Google Android Product Manager Erick Tseng told eWeek yesterday. "You could not have done that before with just the SDK. Whether you're a carrier, an OEM or even just an application provider, you can partner up with a hardware manufacturer and make a phone."

"All of the work that we've poured into the mobile platform is now officially available, for free, as the Android Open Source Project," wrote Dave Bort in the Android Open Source Project blog post. "Have a great idea for a new feature? Add it! As an open source project, the best part is that anyone can contribute to Android and influence its direction," he wrote.

However, too much openness can lead to incompatibilities between various Android-flavored devices and may even lead to platform fragmentation. "If the various vendors take the code and modify the OS too much, they will become incompatible with apps," Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates told TG Daily in an email interview. "So yes, open source has benefits in that many creative people and companies can 'improve' the base code. But if it gets too diverse, app providers will face the same fragmentation in the marketplace as they do today with the various OSes," the analyst said.


It's up to the software

Now that both the SDK and the Android source code are in the wild, all eyes are on device vendors and developers. A number of Android-powered handsets are slated for a mid- or late-2009 release and cheaper as well as faster handsets are likely to follow - especially as more vendors jump on the Android bandwagon and existing ones gain more experience in building Android handsets. Even Motorola is rumored to be developing its own Android-powered cellphone with an emphasis on social networking features.

As always, success of the platform will be determined by the software, which has become the benchmark by which consumers evaluate handsets. Android's application store “Android Market” features an interesting, but limited lineup of free Android-compatible applications mostly made for T-Mobile's G1 such as location-based travel applications and social-network-based tools like Imeem music. The number of applications will progressively increase with the expansion of the installed base of Android handsets. The key to the success of the software is Android's unique openness.

Google's decision not to impose restrictions on the application development or approve them for sale on the Android Market invites creativity and might result in stunning applications. The policy allowed one developer to create an application that syncs contacts at the Exchange Server 2007 with the G1 address book, partly addressing G1's lack of out-of-the-box Exchange compatibility.


Too much openness is the same as light restrictions

However, Android's openness might open the floodgate for problematic applications. Leaving the market to sort out misbehaving applications from the good ones will inevitably hurt the consumer sooner or later. "It is also likely that at least some portion of the apps published will be less than robust," Gold noted. "How will they get sorted out in the application store? Bad apps could easily take down a phone, which could be deadly in such a personal form factor."

Although Android's openness is a double-edged sword, it is an insurance policy for developers that guarantees their time and money will not go down the drain. Even light restrictions can dampen the enthusiasm and passion for this new opportunity, as demonstrated by Apple's App Store policy.

The Cupertino-based iPhone maker prohibited sales of tethered modem software for the iPhone due to an agreement with AT&T and rejected a podcasting application since it competes with the iTunes. Needless to say, the move angered even the most loyal fans.


Time is on Android's side

Being currently the only Android-powered device on the market, the G1 generated lots of interest and countless headlines. "We expect that Android will be a force in the market," Gold said. "However, it is still too early to tell how big a force. The next 1-2 years will tell." Indeed, when - and if - Android reaches a critical mass, it may have a shot at becoming the de facto standard in the mobile space. "If the platform becomes as ubiquitous as I hope it will, you may end up influencing the future of mobile devices as a whole," Google's David Bort believes.

Estimates put G1 preorders into the 1.5 million range, but T-Mobile refused to reveal any exact figure so far. Apple sold 1 million iPhone units in 74 days, but it took the company only three days to sell 1 million iPhone 3Gs this summer.