Kyocera joins Android phone bandwagon
The Japanese electronics company is building a phone powered by Google's Android operating system, and Wind River is helping Kyocera out.
- Shankland covered the tech industry for more than 25 years and was a science writer for five years before that. He has deep expertise in microprocessors, digital photography, computer hardware and software, internet standards, web technology, and more.
Kyocera Wireless is building a mobile phone powered by Android , a move that expands the clout of Google's newly open-source operating system.
Wind River Systems, an embedded computing specialist that's increased its staff to help manufacturers support Android, said Tuesday it's providing engineering services to help incorporate the software from the 34-member Open Handset Alliance that has collectively built Android so far.
Several other phone manufacturers--HTC, Motorola, Samsung, and LG Electronics--already are alliance members, but Kyocera's Android endorsement shows the technology is expanding beyond that initial group of supporters.
Wind River provides its own "commercial-grade" version of Linux for Android and has partnerships with Texas Instruments, NEC Electronics, and STMicroelectronics to provide support for their hardware. It's not clear when Kyocera's Android-based products will be available, but Wind River's Android software is scheduled to become available in the first half of 2009.