Today Google finally confirmed what everyone has been speculating about for so many months – that they are entering the mobile arena in a BIG way.  Here’s a brief rundown of what they’ve announced today:

Android – the first complete, open, and free mobile platform.  A video announcing Android can be seen HERE.  The video is short and pretty interesting – it really hammers the Open point a lot – telling us that Android got started because an open platform was seen as ‘the missing link’ in the mobile space, and showing various team members talking about how a cellphone should ‘do whatever the heck you want it to’.

Based on Linux – Android is Linux-based and will be made available as open source via the Apache v2 License – so it’s free to handset manufacturers.

The Open Handset Alliance – a group of more than 30 technology and mobile companies who have come together to accelerate innovation in mobile and offer consumers a richer, less expensive, and better mobile experience. Members of the alliance inlcude HTC, Sprint Nextel, NVIDIA, Intel, Texas Instruments, Synaptics (haptics!), Marvell, Qualcomm (chips), Motorola, Samsung, TMO, LG, KDDI and DOCOMO from Japan and China Mobile Comm. Corp

Some Timing Milestones – the ‘early look’ SDK for Android will be out next Monday, November 12th.  Since they’ve already got that tied up, maybe they could lend Apple a helping hand with getting the iPhone SDK out a little sooner than February?  The first handsets based on the new platform are expected 2nd half of 2008.

Who’s Left Out? – Notable for their absence from the alliance are: Microsoft, Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Blackberry/RIM, Apple, Verizon, and AT&T.

As expected, this is pretty huge news, and news that will ultimately impact just about everyone in the mobile arena – from developers to device manufacturers, to Palm and MS and Apple and all the rest.

Hopefully, this will be a good thing for all of us as consumers, since it should bring lower-priced devices and should force everyone in the industry to step up their game a little.

If you want more details, the Open Handset Alliance already has a web site up, with all the details on alliance members, videos, FAQs, and more, at:

http://www.openhandsetalliance.com