Had you ever imagined applications meant for the Android OS running on your notebook loaded with Ubuntu OS ? If not, then you can and you should imagine it now. Because, developers at Cannonical successfully ported some Android apps onto Ubuntu. This was unveiled at the Ubuntu Developer Summit in Barcelona on Tuesday.

Here’s a pic of a desktop PC running some Android apps :

Google’s Android is based on Linux platform. But, its built on Google’s custom Java runtime. So, that makes it more convenient for use in mobile phones and tablet PCs and not in desktops.

But, this development would surely pave the way for future development of Android to make it more user-friendly and to be used in deskptop PCs. Even in the past, we have had news about Android notebooks and netbooks in the making (by companies like Skytone, HP and T-Mobile).

So, lets hope that Android soon makes its way into the notebook arena and we get a taste of the Open-Source environment in our notebooks.

[via androidarena]

About a month back, we had got some speculation that Acer is planning to launch an Android powered phone by the year end. Today, Acer confirmed the news.

As per reports, the company plans to sell 10 models of smartphones this year, with all BUT ONE using Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software. Acer’s Aymar de Lencquesaing said at the Global Technology Summit in Paris, “Late 2009, we’re releasing a smartphone… full touch, at the price of feature phones today”.

There are many other companies, like HP, Samsung, Motorola, etc. who are planning to launch Android powered devices. So, the competition in the Android market seems to be quite happening. But, it still remains to be seen, who wins the race.

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Yes, you read that right. According to a research by the Strategy Analytics, the sale of Android smartphones is expected to grow by 900% in the year 2009.

According to Tom Kang, Senior Analyst at Strategy Analytics, “We forecast global Android smartphone shipments to grow an impressive 900 percent annually during 2009. The Android mobile operating system from Google gained early traction in the United States in the second half of 2008 and it is gradually spreading its presence into Europe and Asia during 2009. Android is expanding from a low base and it is consequently outgrowing the iPhone OS from Apple, which we estimate will grow at a relatively lower 79 percent annually in 2009.”

If this report is to be believed, then the growth of Android Smartphones would lead much ahead of Apple I-Phone and Windows Mobile Smartphones, the other two biggies in the smartphone market. Because, the sale of Apple I-phone is expected to grow at a rate of about 80% (according to a report by Strategy Analytics) and that of Windows Mobile by about 50%(as told to channel web by Eddie Wu, Managing Director of OEM, Microsoft).

This figure does not seem quite difficult to achieve, when compared to the hype and craze surrounding the Android platform. We have got news about almost every major player in the mobile phone arena planning to launch an Android device. Also, we can expect some Android powered notebooks and netbooks very soon, from companies like T-Mobile and HP.

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We have got news of HEWLETT-PACKARD Co. (aka HP), “studying” the Google Android OS and the market, probably to be used in their netbooks.

Marlene Somsak, spokeswoman for Palo Alto, California-based HP, was heard saying “We are interested in understanding all the various operating system (OS) choices in the marketplace that could be used by our competitors. With respect to Google Android, we’re studying the OS in general and looking at its computing and communications capabilities.”

However, Hewlett-Packard refused to comment on any Android product in the making.

We can definitely see a surge in the growth of netbooks sale in the past couple of years. This growth has mainly been due to the low pricing of the devices, as compared to the notebooks, and also its compact size.

If Goldman Sachs Group Inc.’s report is to be believed, the sales of netbooks is expected to double this year, whereas, the notebooks industry is expected to grow by just 1.2%.

Everyday, we are experiencing something new happening in the Android market. Till date, the PC, notebook and the netbook OS market was dominated by companies like Windows, Apple and Linux. But, the rate of growth of the Android market forces me to believe that this market is going to be dominated by Android very soon. The main reason for this would be the fact that Android comes for free. So, this would reduce the prices of the devices to a large extent. Also, it is an open source initiative. So, this gives the developer a larger horizon to explore.

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