Buzz Watch: Sergey Brin Presents Android, Google's New Mobile Platform

Authored by Jay Baage on November 12, 2007 - 1:34pm.

Last week Google (NSDQ: GOOG) announced Android, an open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. In this video made available on YouTube today, featuring Google co-founder Sergey Brin to underline the strategic importance Android to Google, you can get a glimpse of how the platform works.

Google also announced the Android Developer Challenge - a USD$10 million challenge sponsored by Google to support and recognize developers who build great applications for the Android platform. With cash awards ranging from $25,000 to $275,000, Google hopes that the challenge will kick-start Android and fill the platform with useful applications much like the Facebook platform.

It is an interesting strategy. Rather than coming up with a G-Phone to challenge the iPhone, Google hopes that the Android platform will result in thousands of G-Phones.

Think of it as an attack on Microsoft's (NSDQ: MSFT) Windows Mobile and the Symbian mobile OS; Google is not just fighting to control a single product, but the whole converged computer and communication-device market.

It will certainly be interesting to see how this one plays out.

Joakim Baage