Google's Android mascot, flanked by phones running the popular platform. Photo by Jon Snyder/Wired.com
Google's Android mobile platform is a force to be reckoned with. In the three years since the operating system first landed on a phone, Google booted top phone manufacturers RIM, Apple and Nokia from their resting places as market leaders. Two of every five phones sold in 2011 will be Android devices, according to estimates by IDC research.
Among other things, Android's explosive growth is due to its enthusiastic community of developers. In part, they're the ones who fuel platform growth by expanding the application ecosystem.
They inject apps like Angry Birds or Fruit Ninja into the Android Market, games which have superseded their place in the tech world and made their way into mainstream pop culture. Developers create the content we want, fueling the sales of new devices and furthering Google's mobile platform.
And Google wants to take care of its own.
Google's fourth annual developer conference, Google I/O, kicks off on Tuesday in downtown San Francisco. In its biggest I/O yet, the conference will feature 110 individual developer sessions with more than 250 speakers spanning two days. More than 5,500 developers are expected to attend.
Basically, it's a coding geek's Mardi Gras.
It's also where we often get the first look at Google's huge new product releases. At the first I/O in 2008, Google engineers demo'd a walk-through of the first smartphone ever powered by Google's Android platform. Shortly thereafter, the G1 was released on T-Mobile.
According to Google's blog post published Monday, this year's keynotes will focus on two big areas of development for the company: the Android mobile platform, and the company's Chrome browser.
This year's hotly speculated Android announcement: "Ice Cream Sandwich," the next generation of the software.
In February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt dropped hints of what was to come for the platform. Schmidt said that in the next release of the Android software, Google will combine features from the phone-based Gingerbread version and the tablet-optimized Honeycomb version.
Ever since Schmidt dropped the news that Ice Cream Sandwich would bring the two versions together, developers have eagerly awaited news of the latest iteration of the platform.
"I don't necessarily expect a release of Ice Cream Sandwich," software developer Chris Soyars told Wired.com, "but probably a time frame of what's to be expected over the next few months." Soyars is one of the top team members of CyanogenMod, a highly popular Android-modification software build.
Anticipation of the release has only been amplified by Google's refusal to release the source code for its Honeycomb software. Google's decision has been relatively unpopular in the developer community, which espouses "open" principles in regards to software source code.
But some think Google's decision to hold Honeycomb was a good idea. "If you open up Honeycomb, it gives everyone the freedom to take it and make bad versions of it on phones," Gartner analyst Ken Dulaney told Wired.com. "They're doing the right thing by telling people to wait for Ice Cream [Sandwich]," Dulaney said.
Developers like Soyars are hoping that Google sticks to its tentative Android-software release cycle of 6 months between each major version, which would slot an Ice Cream Sandwich debut for sometime in August. Honeycomb, the most recent Android software distribution, first debuted on the Motorola Xoom in February.
Not all of Google's big announcements have been successful ones. Google Wave was supposed to be the next big thing after its 2009 I/O debut, only to be killed by the company 15 months after its release.
Google TV was the star of last year's I/O, but has gained only a lackluster following because of a lack of integration with Google apps, as well as problems with television networks blocking Google TV devices from delivering their content.
After its mediocre year on the market, Google may update us on its plans for Google TV at this year's conference. "If there is an announcement related to Google TV," said Soyars, "it is likely it would be to announce some type of refresh, including the market," including possibly integrating the Android Market for phones into the Google TV platform. "I know it's something they've been working on," Soyars said.
Last year the company introduced a cloud-based music system, which would allow you to access your tracks from your phone, laptop or other web-connected device. If Google were able to launch this, it could put the company in a great position to take on Apple's iTunes, which still requires you to physically connect your device for music syncing. But it's been a year since Google demoed the product, and we haven't heard much in the interim.
Also possible are updates on Google's social initiatives, though reports suggest that we won't be hearing much on this front. According to sources speaking to AllThingsDigital, all we may see is a bit of info on Google's "+1″ button, a feature similar to the Facebook "Like" button. Google has been criticized in the past for being behind in developing social applications, losing out to competitor Facebook.
Tickets to the conference went on sale in early February at $450 a pop. Despite the high entrance fee, the conference sold out in 59 minutes. Aftermarket prices on eBay have reached upward of a grand.
Those who missed out on tickets and don't want to pay the eBay premium can watch a live stream at Google's I/O Live web site.
Soyars won't be in attendance: On the day tickets were released, he got shut out. "I'm hoping to go next year," Soyers said. "There's just so many workshops and talks that are great for developers like me."
Google I/O takes place Tuesday, May 10, and Wednesday, May 11, at Moscone West in San Francisco. Watch for coverage on Webmonkey, here on Gadget Lab and across Wired.com.
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