14 DAY TRIAL // According to the latest news on the Web, the interest in Google's Android operating system for mobile phones seems to have extended to more companies in the IT industry. We already learned that some of the largest phone makers in the world intend to come to the market with Android based mobile phones this year, and it seems that the trend has been adopted by computer makers as well.
According to an article recently published by The Wall Street Journal, PC makers already showed their interest in the Android platform and started to test it on netbooks, low-power, affordable laptops that saw a great adoption during the last several months both from computer vendors and users alike.
The move towards Android is reported to be based on the fact that the OS is open source, unlike Microsoft's Windows platform, which is currently used on the aforementioned devices. At the same time, the OS has seen growing market share in the smartphone area as well lately, and it is estimated to leverage it even more this year and in the years to come.
Among the companies that are reported to have plans to bring netbooks powered by Google's Android OS to the market we can count HP, Asustek Computer Inc., Dell, and Acer, the latter being known to also intend to come up with an Android-based smartphone this year. The platform accounts at the moment only for around 20 percent of the Linux-based mobile phones available on the market, but we might see the tables turning in its favor in the not so distant future, as it struggles to turn into one of the most popular mobile platforms available today.
According to WSJ, a Google spokeswoman also stated that the OS should work just fine on low-power PCs like mini-laptops. “We look forward to seeing what contributions are made and how an open platform spurs innovation,” she seems to have said. Satjiv Chahil, a vice president of HP's PC division, seems to have stated that the company was interested in the capabilities Android could offer to the computer and communications industries.
In case computer makers indeed have plans to turn to Android for their netbooks, the OS is expected to expand its popularity a lot, taking a lot of market share from the Windows platform. Hopefully, we'll learn in the near future that these Android-based netbooks are a go, and we'll be able to enjoy the mobile OS on other devices besides mobile phones.