Android Mobility: Open Source Hits the Road

ven prior to Google's splashy announcement about Android late last year, rumors were swirling about the so-called "gPhone." Now that programmers have had several months to experiment with early releases of the SDK, a clearer vision of Android has emerged. Android offers a robust and modern Java-derived API, visual components that look great out of the box, and has a uniquely pluggable architecture that makes first-class citizens out of all your phone applications.

That said, Android does have its faults. Some of these are just growing pains: APIs that do not work as expected, unimplemented features, or outright bugs. Many developers also feel nervous about Android's future—if Android becomes just another platform to support, its new features will become a burden to already overwhelmed porting engineers.