A Flood of Android Phones to Emerge

Andy Rubin, senior director for Mobile Platforms for Google and head of the Android operating system, has declared that there will be at least 18 Android phones on the market by the end of this year. This means that there is soon to be a stream of Android phones, considering the fact that the only Android-centric phones on the market as of now are T-Mobile’s G1 and the HTC Magic. He says that to accomplish this goal, the phones will be released from 8 or 9 different manufacturers.

Rubin has also stated that there will be three different types of Androids. There will be the obligation-free option that allows you to download a free version of Android without Google applications and will permit the manufacturer to have access to Android applications. The second choice will have some strings attached. It will be the same as the Google-free version except for the fact that the manufacturers will sign a distribution contract that will require the phone to have Google applications on it. The last and final type will be as Google so nicely puts it, “The Google Experience.” These will feature the Google logo, all Google applications, and unhampered access to the Android market.

These phones could be next big thing. It is said that these new developments should differentiate Android from the iPhone, Palm Pre, and Blackberry. We’ll just have to see as these phones begin to emerge as the year progresses.