Android Dominating the News

Everywhere you look, Google’s Android is a hot topic these days, and rightly so. The news is tough to keep up with it seems so fast and furious and at the Google I/O conference last week, Google unleashed a flurry of announcements that was dizzying. Android has been the big thing for quite some time and the competition that Google is spurring with its development is more than welcome. Gizmodo interviewed Android honcho Andy Rubin and in that interview Rubin said the next 6 months will “blow your mind.”  Om Malik says that Android is moving so quickly and deeply into our conscious that Google’ other OS, Chrome, might as well get comfortable in the back seat.

We are all certainly capable of wanting our “minds blown” and we love the competition that is going on, but there are issues around the margins that the Rubin interview points to that are worth noting. Android’s fragmentation (many devices subject to carrier’s whims and legacy hardware issues) has been troubling for some, especially those who remember the heyday of Windows Mobile fragmentation. Rubin says the quick pace of change might change and become more regular.

Also of note is a post linked to in Om Malik’s post is a thought by Kevin Tofel regarding Chrome OS. Kevin thinks news about Chrome OS development, initially tied to Netbooks, may be slow in coming as Google wrestles with the potential news about moving to Tablets instead of Netbooks in the wake of the iPad’s success. I think Kevin is spot on.