Google releases Android SDK

As promised, Google has pushed out the preliminary software development kit for its mobile Linux-based software stack, Android.

On top of that, the company has told us something quite remarkable. One of the big issues with Android has been the fact that, because a big whack of it falls under the Apache licence rather than GPL, the code can be taken and made proprietary by the members of Google's Open Handset Alliance, with no onus on them to explain or return their version of the code to the broader OHA.

Well, guess what? Google made all the manufacturers sign a "non-fragmentation agreement" (I tried Googling the term and came up with one rather lonely hit). This doesn't affect anyone outside the alliance, of course, but it does commit Motorola, Samsung, HTC et al to making their various implementations of the Java-based code interoperate.

Which is, as I say, remarkable. If it turns out as planned.

Anyway, here's a YouTube video of Sergey Brin etc showing off Android on a couple of prototype handsets. Screenshots of the SDK can be found here and the SDK itself can be downloaded here. By the way, Google's holding a big-money competition to attract developers to make apps for Android. Details in our full SDK story, which should be going up within a matter of minutes.