World being taken over by robots?

So while my wife and I were welcoming our son into the world, people were talking about Android. Android is what the Google Phone rumours were all about, it seems. It isn’t an actual device like the iPhone, but rather the platform for future mobile devices which could surpass the iPhone.

Looking at the Open Handset Alliance’s site (this is where you can find information about Android) it is clear that Android is Google’s attempt to build something along the lines of Symbian (unless I have missed the point). Symbian is an industry association with members like Nokia that produces the software that runs on Nokia devices. The plan, it seems, is to produce a highly configurable alternative to Symbian and Windows Mobile.

It actually seems a bit like an OpenSocial for mobile phones. Google provides a platform for its partners to build on and enable them to design the phones they are going to sell. If anything this is going to make the mobile space pretty interesting although I’d want to see a device running on Android before I get too excited.

Does anyone think that Google is starting to look a little like Microsoft lately? It is building its own platforms and infrastructures as alternatives to existing structures (OpenSocial as opposed to Facebook, Android as opposed to Symbian/Windows Mobile). It isn’t necessarily a bad thing if Google can produce something better that really is open. We will have to see what happens as this platform is developed further and devices begin to emerge.

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