Last week, bigmouthmedia reported that chip design firm ARM could be revealing its Android-enabled mobile prototype at MWC this week and the announcement puts an end to a lot of speculation surrounding the device.
The Android platform has been seen by many as Google's rival to Apple's iPhone. Since its launch last year, the iPhone has been lauded as an internet friendly phone, one that strives to meet the needs of increasingly mobile internet users. Android, on the other hand, is being developed by an alliance of over 30 different companies and is designed to provide a competitive surfing experience to users of other mobile brands.
A cunning marketing strategy indeed, if you assume the reasoning behind it is that the more people using the internet, the more potential online consumers there are. The Telegraph speculates that "the mobile advertising market could be worth more than £5.5 billion by 2011" - certainly a market that no self respecting internet giant can afford to ignore.
The Android operating system was launched in November 2007 and has been a subject of much debate in search communities since.
At MWC, the platform was exhibited on an unbranded prototype and featured a range of functions including an internet browser, map software, multimedia applications, text messaging, calendar functions and email as well as the obligatory phone capabilities. Unsurprisingly, Google branded services dominate these functions but, since the open platform means users will not be locked into using Google services, the choice will be up to the consumer.
The first Android-based mobile phones are anticipated to be released later this year, so we won't have too long to wait to find out how the platform functions in our own hands.
