Facts on About Google, Android OS, And Revenue Model against Microsoft, Nokia Market Strategies

Android OS:
If you thought Android was the brainchild of Google, think again. It was devised way back in 2003 by Andy Rubin and Rich Miner only to sell it to Google for $50 million. Google put the concept in cold storage until 2007 when it announced plans to launch the Android mobile platform. Today Rubin is the director of mobile platforms and Miner the group manager, both at Google.

Android is based on Linux, the open source operating system and Windows challenger. And if anything challenges Microsoft it interests Google. Apart from this keeping Android source code open means many developers will be attracted to the development environment and will also help to keep the costs down and
revenues high.

Most people are with the notion that Android is an open operating system and you are allowed to do all sorts of things with Android unlike iPhone which is tightly controlled by Apple. But Android rooting is not easy. HTC has unlocked the boot loader in its Android devices only recently. Also due to DRM issues Google Music and Google Movie Rental service won’t work on a rooted device.

While the iPhone can only run one app at a time the Android is a proper multi-tasking mobile OS that can run multiple apps like the Google Maps, media player, browser at the same time without any hiccups. Seems like iPhone has some catching up to do at least in one department.

Will Android be completely open as previously thought? It seems not and a good reason for saying this is the fact that the complete Android code hasn't been disclosed to the developer community and it is likely that Google will not disclose the crux of the Android code for reasons best known to it. Be ready for less than full Android development then.
 
You must be wondering hoe does Google benefit from keeping the Android platform open source especially when it doesn't take a dime from the application distributed through the online Android Market. Well Google the old hat wants to dominate the mobile advertising space just like it has dominated the PC web space. So don't be surprised if you see a pop up every now and then while browsing on your Android phone, after all Google doesn't collect the huge chunk of your personal browsing data for nothing, does it?

Android Revenue Model
Google invests a lot in Android, but has made it open source. It expects the device manufacturers to make Google as the default search provider in the Android devices. It is the revenue source for Google. In addition to it Google maintains a strong grip on the Android app market. But anybody can come up with App
stores (e.g. Amazon) and the device manufacturers are free to fork the open source repository and make a competitor as the default search provider. Google is perhaps feeling the risk on its investments and that is why it is delaying opening up latest enhancements to the Android code base.

The one of the most active contributor to Android code base is Nokia, Nokia is very confused about its smart phone strategies. It has its own operating system targeted to mobile platforms e.g. MeeGo and Symbian. It has also recently teamed up with Microsoft to develop phones with Windows Mobile operating
system. But as the article points out, it is one of the most active contributors to the Android code base. Microsoft earns more from Android than from Windows Mobile As pointed by this article, Microsoft is charging 5 USD per license of Android from HTC as it claims Linux infringes its IP. And as estimated
in this article, Microsoft has earned more from the sale of Android than from Windows Mobile. Even Bill Gates, an astute business man will not be happy with the current state of Microsoft.