Android Home Runs

You may recall that earlier this month, Google (GOOG) CEO Eric Schmidt mysteriously predicted that the Android operating system was poised to have a very good year but refused to go into details. In the last 24 hours, those details have begun to emerge, and it looks like Schmidt knew what he was talking about.

First, the Chinese netbook manufacturer Guangzhou Skytone announced plans to use Android as the operating system in its new round of laptops. It's a small company with a cheap product, but according to ComputerWorld, that's exactly what has industry watchers so excited. The model's ARM processor is perhaps the cheapest and most energy-efficient chip on the market, and analysts see the potential for a new generation of inexpensive netbooks.

Second, the Korean company Samsung announced that it was rolling out the I7500 smartphone, which will run on Android software. The phone will be released in Europe this June but will operate in the United States on the T-Mobile 3G network; no price information is yet available.

Finally, the Taiwanese phone-service provider Far EasTone announced it was building a new line of Google smartphones, making the company perhaps the first to crack the Asian market with an Android phone. The Asian, and particularly the Chinese, market represents an enormous possible customer base for Google; if it gets a beachhead here, the Android phone could make a serious stab at challenging the iPhone and the Blackberry for supremacy.

Eric Schmidt, you coy fella. You knew this was coming all along.