Google Hands Out Free Android Phones To Developers; 4,900 Apps Are Now Available

Today, at Google I/O, the company’s annual developer event in San Francisco, the conversation revolved a lot around the Internet giant’s PC services, but there were a few nuggets about the company’s Android, the company’s mobile operating system, according to TechCrunch, which was there to cover the news live. To boot, as a party favor, everyone at the event received a new Android phone with unlimited 3G data connectivity.

New information on Android:

– Android support: In the span of seven months, there’s now support for Android by 10 carriers in 12 countries.
– Applications: There’s now 4,900 apps available on the Android Market (far from Apple’s more than 35,000).
– Users: Android users have downloaded 40-plus apps each.
– Browsing: Android is a distant No. 2 in web browsing behind iPhone.
– Next software update: code-name Donut.
– Search: The next update should provide more powerful search capabilities.
– New API: A new feature will allow text-to-speech.
– New Contest: A second Android Developer Challenge has been been launched with submissions due through August. Winners will be announced at the end of the fall. User will have a say in judging.

Photo Credit: Flickr/lisatozzi