f Google Android: upping cells' value in emergencies at Stephenson blogs on homeland security 2.0 et al.

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Google Android: upping cells’ value in emergencies

By WDavidStephenson | November 7, 2007

I’m a big fan of open source in general, especially as it applies to emergencies — we can’t afford to have incompatibility restricting communication of critical information.

That’s why I’m excited by Google’s Android platform for cellphones, and the 34-company Open Handset Alliance.

In particular, given my emphasis on cellphones (and especially cameraphones) as the way to empower the public in disasters and to use them to leverage social networks and provide location-based, real-time info to officials, this could be absolutely critical because it will break down barriers between platforms and make it easier to develop apps for it (in this case, for emergency info).

Their goal:

“Open
Android was built from the ground-up to enable developers to create compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of all a handset has to offer. It is built to be truly open. For example, an application could call upon any of the phone’s core functionality such as making calls, sending text messages, or using the camera, allowing developers to create richer and more cohesive experiences for users. Android is built on the open Linux Kernel. Furthermore, it utilizes a custom virtual machine that has been designed to optimize memory and hardware resources in a mobile environment. Android will be open source; it can be liberally extended to incorporate new cutting edge technologies as they emerge. The platform will continue to evolve as the developer community works together to build innovative mobile applications.

“All applications are created equal
Android does not differentiate between the phone’s core applications and third-party applications. They can all be built to have equal access to a phone’s capabilities providing users with a broad spectrum of applications and services. With devices built on the Android Platform, users will be able to fully tailor the phone to their interests. They can swap out the phone’s homescreen, the style of the dialer, or any of the applications. They can even instruct their phones to use their favorite photo viewing application to handle the viewing of all photos.

“Breaking down application boundaries
Android breaks down the barriers to building new and innovative applications. For example, a developer can combine information from the web with data on an individual’s mobile phone — such as the user’s contacts, calendar, or geographic location — to provide a more relevant user experience. With Android, a developer could build an application that enables users to view the location of their friends and be alerted when they are in the vicinity giving them a chance to connect.”

We’ll see, but as for now, it seems to me Android and the alliance are both noteworthy developments. Do no evil indeed…

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