Open Handset Alliance Conference Call
Today the OHA started its newly formed alliance by having a conference call for the press. There were a lot of the members of the conference present, and they all had something to say. The best part however, was the Q&A.
The most important things to note are, they aren't announcing a Google Phone, now, if you heard the manner in which they stated this, several times due to the question coming up a lot, you got the hint that what they were really saying was, lets focus on Android and the OHA, we aren't (keyword) announcing, a Google Phone (keyword again) today. They also kept reiterating that if they were to make a single Google Phone, they would need an OS and platform to base it off of, and Android is perfect for that. So, they weren't giving up the details on a potential Google Phone, but chances are its still going to happen.
Furthermore, they noted that the Alliance is still open, just like the platform they are building, so if a company wants in, they are more or less welcome to join, so we may not have seen ATT, RIM, Apple, or Microsoft on the list of member companies right now, but nothing says they won't ever be on the list. If I had to guess, for a company to be a member, they just have to, to some extent, align their goals with those of the Alliance's.
Tech specs wise, I didn't hear much, they did say they will be announcing more of the tech specs over the next week leading up to the release of the SDK for Android on the 12th. Now the platform isn't quite complete yet, but they are letting people in early so that they can get help and input developing the even the platform before they make the whole thing official. What I did hear, is that it is indeed apparently Linux based, it is an amazing looking OS, it has a nearly complete HTML browser just like on your PC, and one of the few hardware requirements for running it will be a 200MHz ARM processor, which points towards a smart phone.
In addition, the platform is designed to work across several networks. So, sure, it points towards a Smart phone with a QWERTY keyboard and a large screen, but it can work without those things. Plus, due to the way the platform was designed, Handset manufacturers and cellular providers alike could remove components of the Android OS and lock down the handsets based on the platform, but, the thing that will keep them from doing so, is the fact that the main attractiveness of the platform isn't from the OS it will end in, its from the openness of it, and the plethora of software applications that will be released for the platform, so, removing parts of platform will decrease the number of applications that can work on a given handset, which is a bad idea.
So, you can expect more news on this manner over the course of the next week, and a lot more news come November the 12th when they release the SDK. There will of course be more news regarding this issue throughout today as we sift through the massive amounts of data unleashed upon us regarding both Android and the OHA, so stay tuned.
Picture Credit: The OHA Website