Besides developing the Android smartphone software and Chromebook Pixel laptops, Google has a ton of other projects and services in the works.

These products are being developed by Google’s secret skunkworks group, Google X.

Google X is tasked with building products and services that make the world a better place for everyone. Take for example, blimps that fly high in the sky and provide rural areas with wireless Internet, or the development of new drugs that help doctors to better diagnose patients.

And those are just the tip of the iceberg. Check out the other things Google is hard a work at through Google X and its various other product divisions.

A storefront in one of the busiest shopping districts in downtown Portland, Ore., is painted black, with “Droid Does” in large letters over the doors.

Orchestrated by carrier Verizon Wireless, aggressive promotions such as this one for Motorola’s (MOT) Droid smartphone, plus a blitz of direct mail, newspaper, and TV ads, and two-for-one deals on Android-powered handsets, lifted first-quarter sales of smartphones based on Google’s (GOOG) Android operating system above sales of Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone for the first time, market researcher NPD Group reported on May 10.

Android-powered phones accounted for 28 percent of all smartphones sold in the U.S., exceeding Apple’s 21 percent share during the quarter, NPD said. Research in Motion’s (RIMM) BlackBerry models led the category with a 36 percent share.

Leapfrogging Apple is an important milestone—and not just for Android, an open-source software developed by a consortium of companies led by Google. NPD’s report also shows how quickly Verizon Wireless has become a central player in the fast-growing market for the pocket computers known as smartphones. In the first quarter, Verizon customers bought 30 percent of all smartphones sold in the U.S., nearly equaling the 32 percent share of AT&T (T), which has an exclusive contract to sell the iPhone, according to the report. AT&T also sells an Android handset from Motorola and plans to carry an upcoming Android smartphone from Dell (DELL).

Verizon no longer seen as desperate

Until recently, Verizon was an also-ran in the smartphone market. It carried the BlackBerry, but didn’t have a breakthrough consumer-oriented smartphone to compete with the iPhone. Analysts were calling for Verizon to strike a deal with Apple to distribute the iPhone. Last December, Verizon said it had effected network upgrades that would enable its network to handle extra traffic should Apple decide to expand the number of carriers authorized to sell iPhones.

Last November’s launch of the Android-powered Droid improved Verizon’s fortunes in the smartphone market. The Droid, with its sleek design and ability to run many downloadable apps—and backed by a highly visible marketing campaign—is helping Verizon catch up. In the past several months, Verizon Wireless has proven that if it does get the iPhone, “it won’t be out of some pressing need,” says Tavis McCourt, an analyst at Morgan Keegan & Co. (RF), who has an “outperform” rating on Apple shares.

Rising shipments of Android phones could also spur developers to create additional apps for the platform. “Market share is a contributing factor to which operating system developers want to support,” says Ross Rubin, executive director of industry analysis at NPD. On Apr. 15, the Android Market app store carried 38,000 applications such as games, calendars, and e-books. Apple’s App Store has more than 200,000 apps, the company says.

Android taking share from most

The smartphone market is experiencing a flurry of activity. Apple is expected to introduce a new version of the iPhone this summer. Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) on Apr. 28 announced it would buy Palm (PALM) for $1.2 billion. And Microsoft (MSFT) is expected to release a new smartphone operating system called Windows Phone 7 in the second half of the year. NPD analyst Rubin says consumers aren’t likely to hold off on buying iPhones in anticipation of the new model. “We don’t tend to see a lot of purchase delay,” he says.

In the third quarter of 2009, Android phones claimed only 3 percent of the U.S. smartphone market. In the first quarter, Android phones have taken market share away from Apple, RIM, Microsoft, and Palm, according to NPD. RIM’s unit share of U.S. smartphone sales slipped a bit from 37 percent in the fourth quarter, when the Droid and several other Android phones went on sale, to 36 percent in the first quarter, according to NPD. Microsoft Windows’ share dropped from 13 percent in the fourth quarter, to 10 percent in the first quarter.

Verizon’s Android line up includes Motorola Droid and Devour phones, plus the new Droid Incredible from HTC. “There’s no question Apple’s done a great job with the iPhone,” Verizon Chief Financial Officer John Killian said during the company’s first-quarter call with investors on Apr. 22. “But look at our results.”

Resource:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2010/tc20100510_027179.htm

The Vodafone 845, the mobile phone operator’s first Android smartphone, could be a precursor of things to come as it is the first 360 smartphone to come out since Vodafone launched the Samsung H1 and M1.

There are currently only four other quasi obsolete Nokia phones that come preloaded with the full set of 360. The M1 and the H1 were based on the LiMo platform rather than any more common mobile environment.

Switching to Android platform makes more sense because it is much widely supported and benefits from regular updates and overwhelming support from thousands of developers worldwide.

Not surprisingly, there are more than 50,000 apps for Android significantly more than LiMo and second only to Apple’s iPhone. So what might have happened? Sales of the M1 and the H1 could have been disappointing.

Vodafone currently has five Android smartphones in its lineup and appears to be willing to embrace the platform by adopting it for its own brand phones.

The 845 is its most ambitious phone yet; the M1 and the H1 had Samsung’s name on them, not this one. Furthermore, with an initial launch in 12 Vodafone market, the 845 could quickly become a very popular model.

Resource:
http://www.itproportal.com/portal/news/article/2010/4/28/will-vodafone-radically-change-360-platform-android-smartphones/