Google and Sun may butt heads over Android

Google could be heading for a showdown with Sun over the way Android, Google’s new mobile phone software platform, handles Java.

Instead of using the standards-based Java Micro Edition (JME) as an engine to run Java applications, Google wrote its own virtual machine for Android, calling it Dalvik. There are technical advantages and disadvantages to using Dalvik, developers say, but technology may not have been the driver for Google.

Google most likely built Dalvik as a way to get around licensing issues with Sun that would have come with using JME, said Stefano Mazzocchi, a developer and board member at Apache Labs.

Phone makers that incorporate JME into their phones must license the technology from Sun if they intend to make any modifications to it, Mazzocchi said. A phone maker could freely use JME under an open source license if it shares innovations to the software with the community, but most large handset makers are reluctant to do that, he said.

Rather than require phone makers to license JME as part of Android, Mazzocchi said, Google built its own virtual machine. Dalvik converts Java bytecodes into Dalvik bytecodes.

"So Google can say Dalvik is not a Java platform," said Hari Gottipati, a mobile developer who also has been examining the issue.

Google declined to comment on Dalvik.

"I believe Sun didn’t see this coming," Mazzocchi said. "I think this was a very smart and clever move."

Still, Google could run into trouble. If Google used any of Sun’s intellectual property to build Dalvik, Sun could sue Google for patent infringement, Mazzocchi said. "I’d be very curious to see what Sun would do," he said. That’s because Sun is a staunch advocate for open source, so it would hardly appease the open source community to sue Google over an open source software stack.

However, Google’s move threatens Sun’s business strategy, Mazzocchi said. He believes that Sun sees a bright future in the mobile market and hopes to earn revenue off the use of the Java virtual machine by phone makers. Google’s plan diminishes that opportunity for Sun.

While Sun declined to comment directly for this story, it pointed to some public statements from company executives. Jonathan Schwartz, president and CEO of Sun, wrote a blog post congratulating Google on the day of Android’s launch. Notably, he refers to Android as a "Java/Linux" platform. By contrast, Google carefully appears to avoid calling Android a Java platform. Google describes the Android software development kit as a set of tools that lets developers create applications using Java.

Sun also shared statements that Rich Green, executive vice president of software at Sun, made during Oracle Open World this week about Android. "We’re reaching out to Google and are anticipating they will be reaching out to us to ensure the software and APIs will be compatible - so deployment on a wide variety of platforms will be possible," he said.

Green also said that Sun wants to work with Google to prevent creating a fractured mobile development environment.

That’s a concern for other mobile developers like Gottipati. The mobile environment is already fractured. Even with JME, he has to alter his applications for different phones. "But in that case as a developer I’m porting once and maybe tweaking for different phones," he said. "But with this you’ll need to develop a separate application that’s not standard. Unless Android becomes mainstream and kills JME ... why should I develop applications that are not standard which I’m not sure about because I haven’t seen any commercial handsets yet?"

Gottipati believes that the technical differences in Dalvik were the main driver for Google, not the licensing issue. The license fee that handset makers must pay for JME is very nominal, he said. He thinks that if Google asked, Sun would have included JME in Android and waived the licensing fee.

Android : Story begins,..

Android™ will deliver a complete set of software for mobile devices: an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications. On November 12, we will release an early look at the Android Software Development Kit (SDK) to allow developers to build rich mobile applications.

Open
Android was built from the ground-up to enable developers to create compelling mobile applications that take full advantage of all a handset has to offer. It is built to be truly open. For example, an application could call upon any of the phone's core functionality such as making calls, sending text messages, or using the camera, allowing developers to create richer and more cohesive experiences for users. Android is built on the open Linux Kernel. Furthermore, it utilizes a custom virtual machine that has been designed to optimize memory and hardware resources in a mobile environment. Android will be open source; it can be liberally extended to incorporate new cutting edge technologies as they emerge. The platform will continue to evolve as the developer community works together to build innovative mobile applications.

All applications are created equal
Android does not differentiate between the phone's core applications and third-party applications. They can all be built to have equal access to a phone's capabilities providing users with a broad spectrum of applications and services. With devices built on the Android Platform, users will be able to fully tailor the phone to their interests. They can swap out the phone's homescreen, the style of the dialer, or any of the applications. They can even instruct their phones to use their favorite photo viewing application to handle the viewing of all photos.

Breaking down application boundaries
Android breaks down the barriers to building new and innovative applications. For example, a developer can combine information from the web with data on an individual's mobile phone -- such as the user's contacts, calendar, or geographic location -- to provide a more relevant user experience. With Android, a developer could build an application that enables users to view the location of their friends and be alerted when they are in the vicinity giving them a chance to connect.

Fast & easy application development
Android provides access to a wide range of useful libraries and tools that can be used to build rich applications. For example, Android enables developers to obtain the location of the device, and allows devices to communicate with one another enabling rich peer-to-peer social applications. In addition, Android includes a full set of tools that have been built from the ground up alongside the platform providing developers with high productivity and deep insight into their applications.

The beginning of Gphone: Android

So, at last we the Google fans have something to celebrate as Google recently bought or rather launched Android: An open source cell phone platform, which will allow developers to build applications that can run on Android.

According to the official Google blog:

Despite all of the very interesting speculation over the last few months, we're not announcing a Gphone. However, we think what we are announcing -- the Open Handset Alliance and Android -- is more significant and ambitious than a single phone. In fact, through the joint efforts of the members of the Open Handset Alliance, we hope Android will be the foundation for many new phones and will create an entirely new mobile experience for users, with new applications and new capabilities we can’t imagine today. Android is the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices. It includes an operating system, user-interface and applications -- all of the software to run a mobile phone, but without the proprietary obstacles that have hindered mobile innovation. We have developed Android in cooperation with the Open Handset Alliance, which consists of more than 30 technology and mobile leaders including Motorola, Qualcomm, HTC and T-Mobile. Through deep partnerships with carriers, device manufacturers, developers, and others, we hope to enable an open ecosystem for the mobile world by creating a standard, open mobile software platform. We think the result will ultimately be a better and faster pace for innovation that will give mobile customers unforeseen applications and capabilities. We see Android as an important part of our strategy of furthering Google's goal of providing access to information to users wherever they are. We recognize that many among the multitude of mobile users around the world do not and may never have an Android-based phone. Our goals must be independent of device or even platform. For this reason, Android will complement, but not replace, our longstanding mobile strategy of developing useful and compelling mobile services and driving adoption of these products through partnerships with handset manufacturers and mobile operators around the world. It's important to recognize that the Open Handset Alliance and Android have the potential to be major changes from the status quo -- one which will take patience and much investment by the various players before you'll see the first benefits. But we feel the potential gains for mobile customers around the world are worth the effort. If you’re a developer and this approach sounds exciting, give us a week or so and we’ll have an SDK available. If you’re a mobile user, you’ll have to wait a little longer, but some of our partners are targeting the second half of 2008 to ship phones based on the Android platform. And if you already have a phone you know and love, check out mobile.google.com and make sure you have Google Maps for mobile, Gmail and our other great applications on your phone. We'll continue to make these services better and add plenty of exciting new features, applications and services, too.

Views from around the web after the jump.

Windows: Why is everyone paying so much attention to this dumb press release?
"Their efforts are just some words on paper right now, it's hard to do a very clear comparison [with Windows Mobile]" — Steve Balmer, CEO of Microsoft, to PC World

We'd like change, but aren't holding our breath
"In recent years there have been many grand alliances in the mobile-phone industry. These have often been formed in order to neutralize a market leader, but as often as not have failed to achieve anything… The heavyweights— Nokia, Vodafone, AT&T, Verizon Wireless, not to mention Apple and Microsoft— are conspicuous by their absence."— Editors, The Economist

Consortia and open alliances are for losers
"Whenever you see companies start talking about being "open," it means they're getting their ass kicked. You think Google will be forming an OpenSearch alliance any time soon, to help also-rans in search get a share of the spoils? Me neither." — Fake Steve Jobs (of Forbes),FSJ Blog

Google, this is crazy. Make your own damn phone
"People don't want FEATURES … what they actually want is ease-of-use… Ditch those other 33 companies, put 20 of your smartest people on it, and you stand a fighting chance."— Steven Frank on his eponymous blog

Android! Hooray!
"We're extremely excited for what Google intends to do for the mobile industry. From where we sit, assuming it can deliver (and really, when doesn't Google deliver?), everyone seems to benefit from openness and standards: handset manufacturers, carriers, component makers, developers, and most of all, consumers." — Ryan Block, Engadget

A word on naming
"Can you please tell me how Google could simultaneously use such a cute sci-fi OS name as Android and on the same day also roll out such a dorky and named-by-committee moniker as the Open Handset Alliance? Was this designed to establish some sort of equilibrium on the cool/uncool naming scale?"— Evan Schuman, eWeek

Could be better even than the iPhone
"I think Android could be what I initially thought Apple's iPhone might be— a product that slaps some sense into the cell-phone market by catering to the wishes of phone users, not wireless carriers." — Rob Pegoraro, The Washington Post