Google continues to take a bite out of the big Apple. After dethroning both RIM (BlackBerry) and the Apple iPhone in the middle of 2010, Google’s Android mobile operating system continues to increase its grip on the smartphone market with a growth of 7% since last November. With over 1/3 of the market share, the Android platform is really growing into the vision that Google and the Open Handset Alliance sought to develop, when they collaborated to create a modified version of the Linux kernel for mobile devices. The open-source software stack has a large community of developers, both paid and those who choose to develop on their own free time, who have combined to write over 150,000 apps for the Android Market, many of which are available for free. Google even introduced a live, online Android Market that can be accessed via computer, where Android smartphone users can download apps directly to their phone from the convenience of their computer.

One downside to Android’s continual growth is that the platform is still heavily fragmented, with multiple phone manufacturers running multiple different firmwares, leading to developers having issues streamlining apps and wondering whether their apps will even work on future versions of Android. In order to combat this fragmentation, Google has taken the initiative by gaining total control of the Android platform, even going as far as to create non-fragmentation clauses that would give Google final veto rights. What this means for developers and smartphone users in the future though is uncertain, after all, Google promised to keep Android open-source…but that didn’t last for long.

Photo by Dylan Love via BusinessInsider