The Android Developer Challenge

Prior to the official release of Android, Google held the Android developers challenge, a contest for developing cool apps that surprise and delight mobile users. Prize money - $10 mil.
There is gonna be another one when the first handsets built on the platform become available.
Anyways the first one is over and with excellent results (the apps). The 50 teams that qualified for the second and final round of the ADC each received a $25,000 award. The second round had ten $275,000 prizes ten $100,000 prizes. The applications of the winners have set me drooling for the first handset with the platform (HTC Dream) which will be released tomorrow i.e 23 September.

Android Market

The place where the user will download the apps made by people with the
Android SDK will be called the Android Market. Talk about competition!
Only time will tell how it fares up against Apple's App Store. Google chose to call it a "market" instead of store was because they want to make available a free environment like a marketplace without any obstructions unlike Apple where the developer has to go through a gauntlet of restrictions while pertaining to its terms of agreement. No doubt this will end up in a lot of trash at the market but as long as they aren't forcing you to install anything, there isn't a problem eh? Infact some of the apps created by beta developers for the Android Developers Challenge are uber-cool!
Also according to Google, uploading an app for distribution will be extremely simple, like a YouTube upload, you register and upload and publish your content.

Google Android

Google Android..... is not a scary AI freak coming straight out of DBZ or Terminator.
sorry..
So, Google Android is a software platform and operating system for mobile phones based mostly on the Linux OS. Yes, it is the same thing as Mac OS for the iPhone, Windows Mobile and Symbian. Only its more open source, more flexible to developers who can create apps using java. According to Google it will be 100% open source, "Android does not differentiate between the phone's basic and third-party applications - even the dialer or home screen can be replaced." - GOOGLE
Unlike Apple, though Google won't be launching its phone alongwith its own handset, we won't have a gPhone around. The first mobile carrier to launch it will be T-Mobile and the first handset is HTC Dream. It will be priced at around $200 with contract and $4oo at retail. This price band is contagious!! Android is set to give the iPhone some competition. While the Android would have been a real knockout if it had come before the iPhone, the glory will now be somewhat dimmed as many of the apps will have similar counterparts in the mac os.
Google unveild Android on 5th November 2007 along with Open Handset Allinace, a business alliance of Google, HTC, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, Samsung, LG, T-Mobile, Nvidia and Wind River Systems to develop open standards of mobile devices.

I hope we have another kinda dev team to unlock the phone so that it can work with other carriers as well.