March 6th, 2008

Google’s Dan Morrill Talks Android

Speaking on behalf of the Open Handset Alliance at the ETech conference in San Diego yesterday, Google’s Dan Morrill gave a brief Q+A regarding on the Android platform along with a quick application demo.

Using a mock-up application called Google Grapes, Morrill managed to fetch the prices and ratings of several wines direct from a Google Doc spreadsheet. More impressively, he typed a new wine listing into the web-based spreadsheet, and almost instantaneously, the entry popped up onto the Android display.

So along with being a phone, he explained, this is kind of functionality Android will provide: web-like applications that fit in your hand, optimized to a mobile platform. “We want people to think of the web as someone that’s always with them,” he said.

Here’s some snippets from the Q+A:

Will Android be imported to the iPhone?

“We’re not paying any attention to existing devices,” Morrill answered, suggesting that’s it’s up to someone else to do that.

How does Google make money off Android?

Right now that’s not really a high priority, said Morrill. Instead, Android is strictly about getting an open platform out there.

What’s the maturity level of the SDK?

Very early load. “We’re not even calling it Alpha or Beta,” he said. They believe it’s more important to get developers working on it now.

What if carriers create locked-down versions of Android?

Morrill argued that there’s no incentive to make incompatible models. Regardless they plan to make as high a quality device as possible, which should hopefully eliminate incentive to create alternate versions, especially locked-down ones. Once the handset is available, he added, the Alliance will shift to being more like an open-source team setting a development road map.