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Nov. 17, 2009

Google says it has finally made its source code available for the current 2.0 release of Android.

So far, Android 2.0 has only been released in the U.S. on the Motorola Droid from Verizon.

The open source operating system is available for download from Google's Android open source website.

Overall, the developer of the CyanogenMod builds of Android, who was recently in the news over a copyright dispute with Google, has already compiled the source code to allow the operating system to run on the first Android handset, T-Mobile's G1.

Some say that before Android version 1.6 was released a few months ago, the G1 phone wouldn't have enough memory for future versions of the operating system, and it was never confirmed that the G1 would be updatable to future releases.

According to the CyanogenMod developer, Android 2.0 works fast and smoothly on the G1, although the audio and video applications and their respective codecs don't work yet, he said.

The European version of the Droid, known as the Milestone, is expected to be released today in Germany but U.K. availability has yet to be announced.

All the other Android smartphones are running older versions of Google's Linux offshoot for mobile devices.

Whether the vendors of current Android smartphones will upgrade their devices to the current version remains to be seen.

But HTC has confirmed that it is working on an Android 2.0 update for its HTC Hero smartphone.

The Droid has been largely publicized as of late, and now Verizon Wireless is moving into what looks like phase two of its Droid marketing campaign.

In its advertising, Verizon touts the Droid as the best smartphone yet, seemingly admitting that previous attempts didn't meet Verizon's minimum standards. Verizon hasn't had a real strong contender in the smartphone category to answer the iPhone.

Now the anticipation is mounting fast. RIM (Research In Motion) has already launched its BlackBerry Storm2. The first Storm touch-screen device from RIM was a big disappointment, although the upcoming Storm 2 is expected to solve a lot of software and other problems.

The Droid "white noise" in commercials and online is giving Droid maker Motorola a much-needed boost. Visitors online who sign up for more information receive an e-mail saying: "You don't need a smartphone, you need a supergenius in your pocket. A phone that listens better than the person on the other end of the call."

There's actually a reference to the 10,000+ apps in the Android Marketplace: "Apps of every shape and size." The ad doesn't mention the 85,000 or so apps in Apple's popular App Store, though...

Historically, neither Verizon nor handset maker Motorola have specified a price or date for commercial availability.

The Droid site also touts the apps, the network, multitasking, hi-res, 5 megapixels, tunes, directions, speech recognition, video and the Android 2.0 OS among the features.

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Source: Google.