Google Hands Out Free Android Phones To Developers; 4,900 Apps Are Now Available

imageToday, at Google I/O, the company’s annual developer event in San Francisco, the conversation revolved a lot around the Internet giant’s PC services, but there were a few nuggets about the company’s Android, the company’s mobile operating system, according to TechCrunch, which was there to cover the news live. To boot, as a party favor, everyone at the event received a new Android phone with unlimited 3G data connectivity.

New information on Android:

— Android support: In the span of seven months, there’s now support for Android by 10 carriers in 12 countries.
— Applications: There’s now 4,900 apps available on the Android Market (far from Apple’s more than 35,000).
— Users: Android users have downloaded 40-plus apps each.
— Browsing: Android is a distant No. 2 in web browsing behind iPhone.
— Next software update: code-name Donut.
— Search: The next update should provide more powerful search capabilities.
— New API: A new feature will allow text-to-speech.
— New Contest: A second Android Developer Challenge has been been launched with submissions due through August. Winners will be announced at the end of the fall. User will have a say in judging.

Photo Credit: Flickr/lisatozzi

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