Google on Monday (today) announced a new operating system platform for cell phones that the Internet search king promised will create cheaper phones with more dynamic experiences.

The news takes the wraps off Google's anticipated big move into mobile, which has been the focus of wild speculation for months. Google CEO Eric Schmidt said the much-rumored Google Phone may yet materialize but for now, the focus is on a platform that can power 1,000 phones, the first of which will appear in the second half of 2008.

A fresh approach to fostering innovation in the mobile industry will help shape a new computing environment that will change the way people access and share information in the future.

Today's announcement is more ambitious than any single 'Google Phone' that the press has been speculating about over the past few weeks. Our vision is that the powerful platform we're unveiling will power thousands of different phone models.

Google made its announcement as part of a new initiative, called the Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of 34 manufacturers, carriers and technology companies, which will support Google's vision of an open platform for mobile phones. By creating a Linux-based mobile phone operating system - dubbed Android - that is free for manufacturers and open to developers, Google said it can help spur quicker development of cheaper phones with HTML browsers that can offer a fuller Internet experience - akin to PCs.

Schmidt said the Android platform, named after a software company it acquired in 2005, will unlock a wide variety of applications like games, social networking, multiplayer activities, video and audio.

As a result of this platform, you'll be able to do amazing things on a mobile device that you've never thought of before, Schmidt said.

A full-fledged Gphone is still a possibility, said Andy Rubin, who heads up Google's mobile platforms, but only after Google establishes the Android platform first.

If you build Gphone, you would build the Gphone out of (Android). But we think there will be may many types of mobile devices very different from what we see today.

Android will be supported by manufacturers Motorola, Samsung, HTC and technology companies like Intel, Broadcom and Qualcomm. Carrier partners include Sprint-Nextel and T-Mobile.

Rubin said he hopes other companies, even rivals like Apple, Nokia or Microsoft, will join the alliance.

This isn't a closed alliance. It's a very fluid effort and very agile and it will be open to those who want to join and contribute, Rubin said.

Charles Golvin, an analyst with Forrester Research, said Android could be a big driver for innovation on mobile phones. Having an easy and dynamic target to shoot for may free up developers to create applications that they know can eventually reach a wide array of mainstream phones.

Currently, developers often create software for at least five major platforms. Applications created for the various platforms often need to be altered and optimized for individual handsets. Having an operating system like Android could make life easier for developers, provided it becomes a popular platform for handsets. A software development kit for developers will be made available next week.

Golvin said that Android's momentum will take a while to materialize and could be dependent on cellular operators, who apparently will still have the ability to lock or cripple some applications.

This is a big deal but it will take time to play out, Golvin said. A key issue is that anyone who builds these devices is free to make choices about what goes in. If the operators want to create artificial barriers to wide deployment of applications, they still can.

Operators historically have been leery of opening up their handsets to a wide array of applications because faulty or malicious software could create problems that their customer service departments would have to deal with.

But it appears that at least some are changing their tune, including Sprint-Nextel, the third largest carrier in the United States.

Sprint realizes that to grow the mobile marketplace and fully exploit the amazing potential of mobile communications, we have to empower rather than restrict wireless users," said John Garcia, Sprint's senior vice president of product development. "And the best way to do this is to create an environment that encourages the development of innovative products and services that customers can't live without. Android will be just such an environment, and Sprint is yet again at the forefront in mobile innovation.

At least one developer has expressed interest in writing for the Android platform. Keith Rabois, vice president for strategy and business development for Slide, a start-up that allows users to create online slideshows, said that Google's standards for Android likely will encourage his company to develop software for mobile phones in the next year or two. Prior to the announcement, his company would have had to negotiate with individual carriers and build different applications for each, which wasn't worth the bother because of the limited number of consumers each had.

I'm pretty confident that at some point, we will create some applications, Rabois said. But, he said, Unless there is a possibility of having an application supporting millions of people, we would not invest in it.

For Google, the development of the Android platform could be a key part of its overall advertising strategy. The Mountain View company previously announced its intent to take its advertising model to mobile phones, which number about 3 billion worldwide.

Having a platform that can power phones around the world and offer users in developing countries their first or primary Internet experience allows Google to continue its Internet advertising dominance. But because of Android's open nature, manufacturers and carriers may have the ability to not carry Google applications, undercutting its ability to make money off of advertising.