New Phone on the Block - Google Android

Has the time come to bid adieu to old bulky computers and laptops? If not, then the scene is not too far-flung.
Say hello to Google's new Mobile operating system "Android".
Is it another Google's scion? The answer is “No!”

Android was a Mobile OS developed by a small company called as 'Android Inc'. Google acquired Android thereby adding another weapon to its arsenal to combat the mobile development world. All that Android needed was Google's brand name, and the world started following it!

Google Android is a platform built upon Linux kernel with a customized virtual machine called as Dalvik.
The Android SDK was released even before the first Android based phone was launched. Android SDK comes with a phone emulator and many features with which you can develop applications in Java using the APIs in the SDK. Though it may sound like just another SDK, trust me, it is FULLY LOADED! Moreover, it gives you the flexibility to add any jar file and continue the development for the phone applications.

There are many features the SDK provides like Google maps, Google APIs, Gmail etc. Developers can use on or many of these features to build applications on Android. E.g. the “Location Finder” app that was developed finds the location of your phone book contacts in Google Maps.

Another interesting application built on Android, which actually won the first prize in the Android Developer Challenge by Google is “Shop Savvy”. Shop Savvy, built by “Big in Japan Inc”, scans the bar-code of a product in a super market using the phone's built-in camera, finds its price and other details. It then comes up with the comparison of prices for the product in the nearby stores.

By giving the ability to parse and use any web service that is available online, SDK opens up enormous opportunities for developers to build applications to showcase the power and flexibility of Android.

Developers can download the SDK and other requirements from here and start developing your own applications. There are many tutorials and forums like
http://code.google.com/android/groups.html. All the tech-savvy people out there, this is something you should try out.
The stage is ready and the scene is set for the smaller species to take over their older and rather huge counterparts. And the spark has been ignited!!