Android ideas get cash from Google

Posted on September 8th, 2008 by sherrilynne
Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...Image via CrunchBase, source unknown

It was last November when I first wrote about Google Android. At that time the company had just announced the launch of an open source mobile phone platform that would put it into direct competition with both Microsoft and Symbian.

But what set them apart was that they issued it under an open source licence.  Android stacks software as a Java-over-Linux platform, and when it was launched many industry pundits said it would form the basis for a whole new generation of mobile devices.

At about the same time Google announced its $10 million Android challenge to reward developers who built great applications for Android.

Click here to see the big money winners.

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Filed under: Tech Talk

4 Responses to “Android ideas get cash from Google”

  1. Nathan Pledger , on September 8th, 2008 at 9:58 pm Said:

    As always, I dedicate myself to raining on Google’s parade and trying to help people see through the gloss.

    Android is not fully open source, portions of the lower-levels of the software are proprietary.

    Also, the ol’ IP gotcha is in evidence here as much as t is in Google Docs and (until recently) Google Chrome:

    “3.2 You agree that Google (or Google’s licensors) own all legal right, title and interest in and to the SDK, including any intellectual property rights which subsist in the SDK. Use, reproduction and distribution of components of the SDK licensed under an open source software license are governed solely by the terms of that open source software license and not by this License Agreement. Until the SDK is released under an open source license, you may not extract the source code or create a derivative work of the SDK.”

    Finally, while it is billed as Java, it is in name only. Even a minimal Java implementation is not supported, reducing the whole platform portability that Java is designed for.

    http://robilad.livejournal.com/22312.html

  2. Sherrilynne Starkie , on September 9th, 2008 at 6:51 am Said:

    Nathan, I’ve never been one for fine print. Thanks for setting the record straight.

  3. Nathan Pledger , on September 9th, 2008 at 7:21 am Said:

    No problem, Sherrilynne. I’m not pointing out errors, I’m just pointing out the aspects of Google that aren’t as visible. They are as much a corporation as Microsoft, so are naturally inclined to eeevvviillll!!!

  4. Sometimes you just need hard copy | Strive Notes , on September 9th, 2008 at 7:46 am Said:

    [...] Android ideas get cash from Google [...]

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