Google Inc. announced that it helped form the Open Handset Alliance, which counts 34 members including Google from the mobile industry and seeks to establish an open platform for mobile handsets. This revolutionary platform, dubbed Android, is developed by Google and is based on Linux. The software development kit, along with software tools for building applications, is slated to be released to alliance members in a few weeks.

"Today's announcement is more ambitious than any single "Google Phone" that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks," said Eric Schmidt, the company's chief executive officer.

The advantages of such an open platform are obvious. Now, there are several operating systems running on handsets, and applications aren't even compatible within the same operating system running on different hardware. The Open Handset Alliance is made up of both handset hardware manufacturers such as Motorola Inc., Samsung Electronics Co., Qualcomm Inc., and mobile carriers, such as Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA.

"We want there to be thousands of types of phones, not just a Google phone," says Andy Rubin, who has run the Android project since its inception and is Google's director of mobile platforms. "The idea is to build a common phone platform that nobody owns--it's never been done before--and let people build on it from there."

It's quite interesting that market leaders are missing from the Open Handset Alliance. That's because Google thought out this organization especially for those companies threatened by monopoly from industry giants. Google says that as phones become more complex, it gets more expensive to design basic features. By developing an open, shared platform, companies will be able to lower production costs and specialize in what they do best.

Rubin was previously with an eight-person start-up called Android, which Google bought in August 2005.

However, Google's traditional ally Apple is missing from the alliance. So is market leader Nokia and carrier Verizon. Only four handset makers are in: HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung.

"This partnership will help unleash the potential of mobile technology for billions of users around the world," Eric Schmidt, Google's chief executive and chairman, said in a statement.

Check out the Open Handset Alliance member list