The Google Android Market is now live. What’s the Android Market? It’s sort of like the App Store for the the iPhone. But for cellphones running the Android OS. Right now, that means the T-Mobile G1. Because the G1 isn’t locked down as tightly as the iPhone, you’re free to install applications that don’t come from the Android Market. Handango and MobiHand have already launched their own Android stores with free and commercial software.

But if you prefer to go through the official channel, the Android Market now has about 50 applications including WikiMobile for mobile access to Wikipedia, SplashPlay for learning to play the guitar, and iSkoot for making Skype VoIP calls on your Android phone. There’s also a weather map program called iMap and a mobile client for streaming music service iMeem.

There are still far more applications for iPhone, Symbian, Palm, or Windows Mobile devices than there are for Android phones. But considering today is day one, these are already some pretty impressive apps.

All of the apps available in the Android Market today are available as free downloads. Starting Monday, developers will be able to upload their own software after paying a $25 application fee. And next year Google will allow developers to sell commercial applications in the Android Market.

[From: DownloadSquad]

Kyocera wireless announced today that they have begun work on a new product platform that incorporates Google’s Android. The announcement states a collaboration with Wind River Systems, a key leader in Device Software Optimization.

Wind River Systems, an embedded computing specialist that’s increased its staff to help manufacturers support Android, said Tuesday it’s providing engineering services to help incorporate the software from the 34-member Open Handset Alliance that has collectively built Android so far.

It wouldn’t be too far-fetched to expect the first CDMA Android phone (Verizon or Sprint) to be built by Kyocera based on a quote by Kyocera’s Dave Carey, vice president and general manager of the Consumer Products Group, “We are committed to developing compelling consumer devices that leverage our robust technology portfolio. Our goal is to make Kyocera the leader in Android integration among CDMA device manufacturers in the markets we serve.”

Google has just released the source code for the Android software stack, timed perfectly with tomorrow’s release of the G1. Under the Apache license, anyone could conceivably utilize the entire software stack to create their own cell phone. Word comes from Google’s new open-source page for Android.

Google says that with the new open-source release, consumers can expect to see more advanced and integrated applications as well as cheaper and faster smart phones. We assume that Motorola has been waiting anxiously on this release to get started on their own social-networking phone.

It’s safe to say that Android is now poised to create some huge waves in the smartphone market, starting by creating downward pressure on smartphone market prices.

The source is a 2.1Gb, requiring 6Gb for a full build. It is available under both Mac OSX and Linux, but Google says you’ll Ubuntu Linux if you want guaranteed compatibility. Of course, it will work on other flavors of Linux with a bit of work, as well.

T-Mobile UK says reports that they will be making the G1 available to subscribers on October 30th. Unlike Apple’s delayed European iPhone release, T-Mobile is making the wise decision to get the phone out across the world as quickly as possible. Initially, the G1 wasn’t expected to hit Europe until well into November.

The two tariffs (price plans) available both offer the G1 for free and are significantly cheaper than the plans bundled with Apple’s iPhone. Both are priced at 40 and include a generous variety of talk time/text messaging combinations.

Jim Hyde, managing director of T-Mobile UK spoke about the release: “With so much excitement generated by the announcement last month, we’re thrilled to bring the T-Mobile G1 to the UK in time for Christmas. [...] It’s set to revolutionise the way we use the internet on our mobiles: it’s uniquely built for effortless online communication – whether you want to email, text or blog – and with access to some groundbreaking applications on Android market, the possibilities really are endless.”

Silverlight, Microsoft’s rich Internet application browser plugin, may soon be seen on Android handsets.  The news comes from Microsoft’s Scott Guthrie who told TechRadar.com “[The] Google phone is slightly different. It’s more of an open platform, that is something we’re going to continue to look at. Certainly as it’s gotten deployed and if sales are good we’ll definitely keep our eyes out and look at that in the future.”

Apple made a confusing and more-than-likely bad decision to keep Adobe’s comparable Flash plugin off of the iPhone for unknown reasons. This also kept Microsoft’s Silverlight from appearing on the iPhone as well. If Silverlight or Flash are seen on Android phones before the iPhone, it could possibly be a killer blow to iPhone sales.

Straight from the horse’s mouth comes word that Motorola will be using that new 350-member Android team to design a “new Android Social Networking SmartPhone”. Although this could just be an afterthough addition, it appears that social networking will be the core of the new phone.

The news sparks some interesting ideas about mixing and matching social networks through a mobile handset. Could we see in the near future a single, unified Android frontend to Myspace, Facebook, Digg and others? Let’s hope so. The full quote from Coroflot.com after the jump.

As a Senior Staff Interaction Designer, you will be responsible for leading and actively participating in the concept, design, documentation and development of user interfaces for our mobile products including our new Android Social Networking SmartPhone. You’ll lead brainstorming and work sessions, usability and innovation reviews and other forums of design development. In addition to your primary responsibility in the delivery of great design, you will also be expected to mentor other designers, bringing your personal strengths to the rest of the team.

Word has it that T-Mobile’s pre-sale count for the G1 has cracked the 1.5 million mark. These numbers are no small feat considering the Apple iPhone took nearly 75 days to sell one million handsets. T-Mobile quickly exhausted it’s 500,000 unit reserve within the first few days of allow pre-orders. HTC had incorrectly predicted no more than 700,000 units would be demanded before the end of 2008, but it wouldn’t be unlikely to see over 2 million units sold before the end of the year.

These numbers are a great indicator to developers and service providers that there is a massive market for open source, and embracing the technology will surely lead to large profit figures.

In the wake of the T-Mobile G1’s incredible success comes rumors of another Android phone on T-Mobile. The HTC Touch HD is a brilliant Windows Mobile handset due for release in Europe, but if what we hear is true, we may see it this side of the pond running our favorite mobile OS.

HTC and T-Mobile worked together on the G1, so to speculate that they will also work on a “G2″ followup isn’t much of a gamble. And when you look at the specs on the Touch HD, it’s hard to ask for more firepower to fully exploit the power of Android.

For now, it’s a waiting game until we hear more. But we wouldn’t set our hopes to high for any news in the near future. T-Mobile is still basking in the record sales of the G1, and it is doubtful they’ll be looking to release anything this side of ‘08.

Visa has begun developing an application for the Google Android platform that will allow users to pay for items using their cell phones, and receive updates on bank account information directly from their handsets.

This technology isn’t Android-specific, as it is currently being prepped for the Nokia 6212 coming out early next year. But Android offers the most promising platform for such technologies by far. The application will take advantage of Google’s built-in location based services and direct customers to the nearest Visa-enabled retailers.

Through this technology, Visa will be able to target users more specifically by storing purchasing data to customize reccomendations to that users’ tastes. Google will also find this profitable as it creates another unique, useful and functional selling point for the Android platform.

T-Mobile has released an online emulator of the G1 for all of you who either missed the pre-order or simply can’t decide if it’s for you. Give it a spin and tell us what you think.