The new "Open" Messiah

The open source revolution that began with Linus Trovalds and his hugely popular Linux OS has a new leader. And it is none other than Google. There were a couple of announcements in recent weeks about the far reaching impact this search giant could make in our lives.

Android is a Linux based software platform for mobile devices being developed from the ground up by Google. The list of partners Google managed to rope in for this initiative, titled " Open Handset Alliance" , is astounding considering that Google has little exposure to mobile devices. From telecom carriers like Sprint and T-Mobile to semiconductor shops like Intel,Qualcomm and TI and from phone makers like Samsung,Motorola and LG to software companies including itself(!) , the alliance has all the players lined up for the game. The biggest absentee is Finnish giant Nokia. I won't be surprised if Nokia starts a similar alliance with European partners.

OpenSocial is more than an API. It is Google's response to Facebook. Facebook has transformed itself from a college social network to something of a maverick platform for sotware applications targeting fun - games,movie quizzes etc. More importantly, it is adding 200,000 users every day! OpenSocial tries to go one up on FB by allowing developers to develop application for one API and use it on multiple social networks including Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING. I guess that list covers pretty much every SN other than FB.