Google has now officially launched its new Android-based mobile, an ‘iPhone killer’ or, certainly, a good enough debut to put some real 
excitement into the mobile phone sector.
Unlike the iPhone, Google’s Android is an open software platform that will be available to any hardware of application provider who wants to create products for it. The first phone comes from Taiwanese computer make HTC and, in its US and UK market launches, is tied to the T-Mobile cellphone network.
This review from the Industry Standard offers a good look at the phone and its features. While not quite an iPhone killer in its first incarnation, it looks like a pretty good debut with lots of potential for development and expansion through third party activity. Maybe the mobile world is about to see a repeat of the Windows vs Mac battle that’s been a feature of the PC world for decades – the Mac is the slickest, most beautiful implementation but Windows is ‘good enough’ and has a huge developer and hardware following.
As well as running on mobiles, Android will run on PCs, Macs and Linux, further extending the range of devices that are likely to appear with Android under the hood.
In the ebook space, no sign yet of the open source FBReaderfor Android. The project website is still showing the pre-release v 0.2 dated May 8 as the latest version.