Google confirms mobile operating system

Google has announced its long-anticipated mobile play: a mobile-phone software stack called Android.

According to a statement released by Google on Monday, Android incorporates an "operating system, middleware [the software that sits between the operating system and applications], user-friendly interface and applications".

The mobile stack is based on open-source software. Phones based on Android are expected to be made available in the second half of 2008.

A new mobile Linux group, the Open Handset Alliance, has been created by Google to develop Android, and it boasts 34 members. The consortium includes operators such as T-Mobile -- both its US and European operations -- as well as manufacturers such as HTC, Qualcomm and Motorola. Nvidia, eBay and Texas Instruments are also involved, but some major manufacturers such as Nokia are not.

Google's share price has crept up over the past week as rumours on Google's mobility strategy hit fever pitch.

"This partnership will help unleash the potential of mobile technology for billions of users around the world," said Google's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, on Monday. "A fresh approach to fostering innovation in the mobile industry will help shape a new computing environment that will change the way people access and share information in the future."

"Today's announcement is more ambitious than any single 'Google Phone' that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks," Schmidt added. "Our vision is that the powerful platform we're unveiling will power thousands of different phone models."

Google bought the mobile-software company Android in 2005, but nothing about its ongoing work had been fully apparent until now.

The Java-over-Linux platform at the base of Android -- a new implementation of Java for mobile -- is apparently much faster than existing implementations of that technology. A full software development kit will be made available to Java developers from next week, allowing the community to create a variety of third-party applications.

According to Google: "The Android platform will be made available under one of the most progressive, developer-friendly open-source licences, which gives mobile operators and device manufacturers significant freedom and flexibility to design products."