At Google's I/O developer conference in California yesterday, the first legitimate preview of the search giant's mobile operating system was unleashed for the masses - and promptly posted on YouTube for non-attendees worldwide. In just one day various full length and edited highlights have amassed well over 300,000 views.Throughout the display the Mountain View based company showed off standard features including email, contact and calendar integration on a customisable homepage. Then they unleashed visuals of full Google Maps and 3G web browsing integration, along with the inclusion of timeless classic Pac-Man. Topping off the feature list of this open source competitor to Windows Mobile, Apple's iPhone OSX and Symbian was a built in compass that auto-orientates maps and Google's StreetView to the user's position as they move around with the phone.
Andy Rubin, head of the Android project, did not specify a release date but offered that the first phones powered by the Google built operating system would be in the wild during the second half of this year. During the preview at the San Francisco conference there were also hints that an application store for 3rd party developers to distribute their own products based on the open source system might be in the pipelines. A homepage icon labelled 'market' was a slight give-away, followed by Rubin commenting on the benefits to be had by offering a suite for the safe and secure download of extra content. The possibility that developers could profit from their creations will only inspire research and development in Android, which in turn can only benefit the Google Empire.
