Initiative Android and the Google Nexus One

Initiative #2: Android and the Google Nexus One

The Android operating system and the Nexus One smartphone are both part of Google's vision of having wireless devices that aren't tied down to any particular network. In other words, Google wants users to eventually be able to take their favorite devices with them from one carrier to another without having to buy a whole new device Microsoft MCTS Training.

The first part of implementing this vision came in 2007, when Google unveiled its long-awaited Android open-source mobile operating system. At the time of the platform's release, Google said it wanted Android to be a starting point for spurring innovation in developing mobile applications that would give users the same experience surfing the Web on their phone as they currently have on their desktop computers. In the two-plus years since its debut, Android has landed on several high-profile devices, including the Motorola Droid, the HTC myTouch 3G and the Samsung Moment. Now that the Motorola Backflip has debuted on AT&T's network, all four major carriers in the United States now support Android-based devices.

But while Android phones clearly generated a lot of market hype over the past two years, they have also largely been tied to exclusivity agreements that make their use dependent on individual carriers. With this in mind, Google late last year launched its own Nexus One smartphone, which will run on both the T-Mobile and Verizon networks. The Nexus One doesn't, however, mark any intention by Google to get heavily involved in the handset market. Rather, the company is using the Nexus One as a showcase for the Android platform's potential when running on a device that has the most cutting-edge hardware and software available on the market.

Results: By all accounts, Android has been a big hit so far. The number of Android-based devices grew at a rapid clip during the fourth quarter of 2009 and Android phones now account for just over 7% of all smartphones sold in the United States.
As for the Nexus One, we aren't likely to see its full impact until it makes its debut on the Verizon network sometime this spring. However, just because both T-Mobile and Verizon will be supporting the Nexus One, don't think that you can merely cancel your subscription to one of the carriers and bring your device onto another network. Since Verizon uses the CDMA-based EV-DO Rev. A 3G technology and T-Mobile uses the GSM-based HSPA 4G technology, Google has had to design two different Nexus One devices that will be compatible with each network. So basically, don't set your sights on carrier-hopping until Google comes out with a 4G phone that can run on LTE, the GSM-based 4G technology that has been adopted by T-Mobile, AT&T and Verizon Microsoft MCITP Certification.

Initiative #3: The experimental broadband network

This could be Google's most audacious project to date, as the company announced last month on its blog that is constructing an experimental fiber network that it says will "deliver Internet speeds more than 100 times faster than what most Americans have access to today with 1 gigabit per second, fiber-to-the-home connections."