Android Started Off Being an OS For Cameras, Thankfully That Idea Didn’t Stick
Android has quite the documented history at this point, but Andy Rubin dropped a piece of information today that Android could have never seen a mobile phone. Talking shop today in Tokyo, Andy Rubin mentioned that originally, the plan was for Android to be a platform for cameras so they could share photos more easily. “The exact same platform, the exact same operating system we built for cameras, that became Android for cellphones,” Rubin said.
Showing off slides from the original pitch meeting, it appears that Android was meant as a center for cameras to connect to, through wires or wireless, to then share photos with computers. Rubin said that the Android team realized the market was fairly small for camera software so they switched their focus to smartphones in a matter of 5 months. At that point, Rubin wasn’t even worried about the iPhone – Microsoft and Symbian were the only targets on his radar at that point.
It was probably for the better that Andy went for smartphones rather than cameras, but the rest is history. Could you imagine smartphones today without the influence of Android?
Via: PC World
Android Started Off Being an OS For Cameras, Thankfully That Idea Didn’t Stick is a post from: Droid Life
Larry Page Says Google Glass Runs On Android
Google’s CEO Larry Page revealed something during today’s earnings call that his company doesn’t seem to have actually spelled out before: Google Glass runs on Android. In response to a question about how much people can expect to see engagement increment with new products like Glass, he said that “obviously, Glass runs on Android, so [Android] has been pretty transportable across devices, and I think that will continue.”
Many have speculated that Google Glass would run on an Android-based OS, but to date, Google hasn’t come right out and said so. Recent reports suggested that it would be ore of a proprietary system separate from Android, but Page’s statement today seems to indicate that in fact it will at least be a version of Android.
And Android-based Glass, even if it’s a modified version of the original OS, is good news for developers, since it means they share at least a common language. That should make integration, at least between Glass and Android-powered smartphone apps easier. The comment about portability also strongly suggests that Android has the potential to power a range of devices in the future, including the smart watch it reportedly has in development.
We’ve contacted Google to find out more about the Glass OS and how closely related it is to Android for smartphones, and will update if we hear more
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