Android Reaching Out From Its Mobile NicheAndroid Reaching Out From Its Mobile Niche

Google has had its eyes fixated on loosening Microsofts dominant desktop position. Rather than try to take the Behemoth head on, Google has been pecking away at the periphery, targeting areas where the company is a significant but not a dominant player. One of its carrier partners may help in that regard as it plans to push Android devices from cell phones to tablet computers and home phones.T-Mobile, which was the first to US carrier to market with an Android-based mobile phone, plans to expand the operating systems reach. Reports surfaced that the company plans to develop a home phone running the OS early next year and follow that debut with a tablet computer. The moves could impact small and medium businesses in a couple of ways.

Many mobile executives are using smartphones to stay in touch with the home office. Once that meant using a BlackBerry, but now, they have many more options. Google is one in a bevy of suppliers trying to carve out a leading market position, and the additional functionality may make its operating system more appealing to businesses. Also T-Mobile, which is the nations fourth largest wireless carrier, has tried to differentiate its service offerings by jumping on the Android bandwagon. The new forays could help the company deliver new cell services that competitors, such as AT&T and Verizon, may be hard pressed to match.

More significantly, the changes illustrate that Android is more of a general purpose operating system rather than something geared only to cell phones. In addition to T-Mobile, other vendors, such as Asuteck and HP, are thinking of using Android in their PCs and notebooks. Such work is in a nascent stage but could be foreboding for Microsoft. The company has dominated the operating system market for more than a decade, but Google has demonstrated its business savvy and could eventually present the company with a very formidable, head on competitor.