It takes more than one or two eye-catching gadgets, and more than a loose alliance of companies, to create a pervasive technology platform.
So Sony Ericsson’s announcement today that it will make an Android handset is an important sign of momentum for the Google-led open source mobile software initiative.
HTC’s first Android phone from T-Mobile got the ball rolling (I’ve already eaten humble pie on that one – it was certainly better than I’d expected based on the lack of buzz in Silicon Valley.) Motorola has also said it is pushing ahead with devices based on the software.
Sony Ericsson’s commitment comes with the news that another 14 companies have joined the Open Handset Alliance (which oversees the Android project), among them Huawei and Vodafone.
Former Vodafone boss Arun Sarin bellyached earlier this year that there were already too many mobile operating systems and suggested the world might only need “three, four or five.” According to The Hollywood Reporter, he also complained at the time that Android would be a closed system used to promote Google services, and questioned whether Vodafone would support the software. It seems we now have the answer.
