Android is taking over the mobile world!

Hi everyone! Today I’ll tell you about the Android platform from Google.

Android is a fork of the GNU/Linux OS (kernel v2.6) for mobile phones, developed by the OHA (Open Handset Alliance). Applications for Android can be developed in Java (Java v1.5) using the Eclipse plugin “Android Development Tools” (Eclipse 3.3).

The SDK is available for Mac OS X (Intel), Windows and Linux.

The following libraries are currently available in the SDK:
libc (en), SSL, Media Framework (PacketVideo OpenCORE™, MPEG4, H.264, MP3, AAC, AMR, JPG, PNG), Surface Manager, LibWebCore (based on WebKit), 2D SGL, 3D libraries (based on OpenGL), FreeType, SQLite.

Watch the video in which Sergey Brin and Steve Horowitz discuss the Android SDK and encourage people to take part in the Android Developer Challenge.

Android Developer Challenge
Google has announced the “Android Developer Challenge” competition, with a prize pool of 10 million dollars.

The task for participants is to create their favorite application for mobile phones. Programs of any type are accepted, but innovation and, of course, usefulness are encouraged in the applications being developed. Suggested areas in which to start developing applications for the Android competition include social networks, working with various types of information (such as photos), email/IM/calendar, games, news, and rethinking traditional user interfaces.

Participant registration will run from January 2 to March 3, 2008, at code.google.com

I recommend reading: The Android’s Route