We finally got a sneak peak at what has been going on at Google over the past year with Android. It's not quite ready yet, but it will be here soon. And after seeing the demos, many people can hardly wait.
This could be either revolutionary, or a dud. It is tricky to predict the market. One of the biggest positives of Android over traditional cell phone operating systems is the cost savings at both the manufacturer's and provider's ends.
At a time when companies are trying to slash costs, this would offer a great alternative and provide a means to cut costs. This looks like it could become very popular, but the first thing Google will need to have is adoption by the masses. Apple got it with the iPod and iPhone, and Google needs to do this too.
If Google can get interested users on board, programmers will start developing applications. Microsoft gets this kind of activity for its Windows operating system. Once Google gets to a certain level of adoption, the success will keep building and the operating system will spread like a wild fire -- leading more programmers to write for it, and so on. But if they can't get programs out there, this will flop.
Google has spent a lot of time developing Android. The manufacturers seem to have embraced it and are developing devices that will hit the stores later this year. I can't wait to see how well this does in the market.