Google Android Operating System
I’ve been using Google’s Android operating system on real hardware since October, 2008, when the source was released. I ported it to an XScale development platform I had sitting on my desk and had it running in a couple of days. At that point, I knew Android would become widely adopted, and not just for phones. If a functional free mobile operating system can be so easily ported to hardware for which it was never intended, and with only slight modification, what OEM could pass it up?
I then set about porting Android to the TI OMAP-based BeagleBoard in hopes of using the HDMI port on the Beagle to make an Android set-top-box. I got Android 1.0 and 1.5 working fine on it, but could never get it to work with my TV. I might try again with Android 1.6 (Donut) now that it has been released.
Since Donut was released a couple weeks ago, I’ve been using it exclusively instead of my iPhone. I’ll write more about how that is going…