Google to make Android more enterprise friendly

Google is aiming to make the Android platform more enterprise ready with plans to include enterprise features to its Android mobile-phone platform this year.

"Today we don't support many enterprise applications, but in the future I think enterprise will be a good focus for us," Andy Rubin, vice president of engineering with Google, said in an interview with Reuters. Rubin said that the added functionality for business users could come as soon as this year, but that the speed with which such phones hit the market will depend upon handset makers.

"The best I can do is release a platform with all the goodies inside in it and then the (manufacturers) do their job," he added. He wasn't specific about what sort of enterprise features the company could include in the platform down the road.

One of the major complaints of Google's Linux-based mobile OS, when it comes to the enterprise, was its lack of support for Microsoft Exchange email. Now some devices, such as the HTC Hero and the forthcoming myTouch 3G from T-Mobile USA, support Microsoft Exchange, but the platform lacks the many features, such as security, that are critical to the enterprise.

But it appears a race for the enterprise is on among OS makers, with Apple and Palm both beefing up enterprise features in their latest OS releases to target the BlackBerry juggernaut.

To date, less than five Android models are available commercially. In May, Google disclosed that by the end of 2009 there will be at least 18 phones on the market running its Android operating system. That number does not include handset makers using the basic version of Android that have not notified Google of their plans. The company said it plans to enable over-the-air Android updates that could add new services and features.  

For more:
- see this Reuters article
- check out this InformationWeek article

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