Android may be a freely available open-source operating system, but Google hasn't shied away from the idea that it hopes to profit by subsidizing its development. And with Google's first Android phone, the T-Mobile G1 built by HTC, nigh upon us, 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," co-founder Sergey Brin said.
But judging from my testing of a G1 phone, it appears Google wants a more direct benefit, too: more users of Google'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.
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 e-mail, photo sharing, and social networking. With Android, Google apparently hopes to establish more of this direct contact with Internet users.
E-mail 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 e-mail application. I could connect fine to Yahoo Mail, but lacking a Plus account for free POP access, I couldn't try Microsoft Live e-mail.
Personally, I think the two-tier approach makes sense because Gmail fans (I'm among them) can get accustomed to features not commonly available in ordinary e-mail client software, such as conversation view, the ability to archive and star messages, and sophisticated search abilities. Other e-mail services don't need their own applications.
