Business Features Will Be Added To Android OS

Google’s Android operating system is getting ready for business, according to Vice President Andy Rubin.

In an interview late last week with the Reuters news service, Rubin said upcoming versions of the open-source OS will provide more support for business users. He admitted that, currently, Android doesn’t “support many enterprise applications, but in the future I think enterprise will be a good focus for us.”

‘All the Goodies Inside’

Those business-oriented features could start rolling out this year, he said, adding that it depends on how quickly manufacturers implement those additions to their products. As an open-source platform, Android is being customized by each phone maker for its own market.

Rubin said the best Google can do is to release a platform “with all the goodies inside,” and then phone makers can add their own customization.

The concerted effort to make Android more enterprise-friendly is expected to help Google target customers currently served by Research in Motion, maker of the BlackBerry, and Microsoft. Apple also has begun to make the iPhone friendlier to business.

A key requirement for Android is support for Microsoft Exchange, which the newest Google Android phone from T-Mobile USA, the myTouch 3G, has. With Exchange support, employees can read work e-mail on an Android phone. Android phones also have support for Google’s Gmail, calendar and other services from the search giant.

Only a handful of Android devices have been released so far, but, before the end of this year, products using the OS are expected to be released from Motorola, Samsung and LG, among others. Rubin has said he expects at least 18 Android handsets on the market by the beginning of 2010.

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