Google's Android acquisition appears to bring mobile goodness

As Tom Krazit reports on the One More Thing blog Google is getting ready to unveil its Android phone software.

Google acquired Android in August of 2005 (most reports say it cost far less than $100m) and now two years later seems to have created what will become the dominant force in the handset operating system arena. Why? Because it's an open platform, which is exactly what consumers want and the carriers hate. Plus now that it's Google, the carriers will have no choice to all get in line once one of them (it looks like VZW first) jumps on the bandwagon.

The capper is that sources say Google will open-source the Android code. How else do you get people using it and innovating? Maybe VMware should take notes.

So what's the impact on the other dominant mobile operating systems?

• Windows Mobile--I like that Android will probably be taken as another personal affront to the MS monopoly. Plus, Windows Mobile has *never* been good.
• PalmOS--probably toast. The only way they can survive is to adopt Android...and considering how poorly the company and it's products have been doing, I wouldn't expect much regardless
• Symbian--probably the biggest disruption will relate to Symbian as they have the largest footprint and have an "open operating system"

I'm just glad that mobile is starting to look fun again. We all may as well get the Google chips implanted in our necks at this point anyway.

[BabyDriver]

Interesting that you say the Android approach will be seen as an affront to Microsoft, a sentiment echoed in the question I saw posed at http://www.androidvswindowsmobile.com/. Do you think this is going to turn into some sort of major battle between the two giants? Or will it all blow over?