Android may be a freely available open-source operating system, but Google hasn't shied away from the idea of profiting by subsidising its development. With Google's first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1, built by HTC, soon to arrive, it's becoming clearer exactly how.
Google executives have spoken about Android's indirect benefits: the company wants to use it to accelerate the use and sophistication of mobile internet browsing. "If the internet is widely available, that's good for us," Google co-founder Sergey Brin has said.
However, it appears that Google wants a more direct benefit, too: more users of the company's online services. Although there's nothing stopping a G1 owner from using online services from Google rivals such as Microsoft and Yahoo, Google technology is built deeply into the G1 and featured prominently as well.
Search ads are Google's bread and butter. Android's web browser can use others' search engines, but a secondary part of the G1's home screen features a prominent Google search box. There's no option to change the search box to use search from Microsoft or Yahoo.
The hooks get a little deeper when things get more personal. The Android phone asks you for your Google account information when you first start it up and, if you have an account, it immediately imports your contacts, calendar appointments and Gmail messages. At this stage of Android development at least, Yahoo and Microsoft don't get that kind of treatment.
The tie-in to these personal services is telling. Google has trounced its competition when it comes to search, a relatively anonymous act, but it hasn't made as much headway when it comes to more deeply personal uses of its services, such as email, photo sharing and social networking. With Android, Google apparently hopes to establish more of this direct contact with internet users.
Email comes in two tiers on the G1. The upper tier is given to Gmail, which gets its own application; others get relegated to the generic email application. There are no problems connecting to Yahoo Mail but, lacking a Plus account for free POP access, I couldn't try Microsoft Live email.
The two-tier approach may make sense because Gmail fans can get accustomed to features not commonly available in ordinary email client software, such as conversation view, the ability to archive and star messages and sophisticated search abilities. Other email services don't need their own applications.
Google also gets a direct link to its online map service. Here again, however, Google has slightly more to offer than its rivals when it comes to online services. As with search, mapping use is a fairly generic activity at this stage, but geographic information can be very personally useful, especially while on the road, and I wouldn't be surprised if Google Maps became much more tightly tuned to each user's needs and account settings.
With instant messaging, Android is neutral. The software can handle Yahoo, AOL's AIM, MSN Messenger and Google Talk with equal aplomb.
There are, of course, other possible places that Google could create direct Android ties to personal services. Orkut, iGoogle, Google Reader and Picasa Web Albums spring to mind.
However, it's still early days for Android. Google or others could write applications that dovetail with these services. By the same token, given Android's free software-development kit and unfettered Android Market for offering new applications, I'd expect mobile applications from Google rivals, too.
Whether they'll get prime real estate on future Android phones, though, is another matter entirely.
