Microsoft continues to down play the Open Handset Alliance that Google has setup saying that it is all just on paper. Well this week Google released the first look at their development software. Seems we have gone from paper to reality in just under a week. No bad Google.

On the Open Hanset Alliance site they state:

The SDK contains a rich set of tools for developers to build applications for the Android platform. Included are advanced development and debugging tools, a rich set of libraries, a true device emulator, in-depth documentation, sample projects, tutorials, FAQs, and more. For developers looking for a seamless development experience, an Eclipse plugin is included to integrate these tools with the Eclipse integrated development environment. The site hosting the kit will also feature a blog and discussion groups, to make it easier for everyone contributing to the platform to interact and share knowledge.

Also Google is offering up to $10 million in prize money for early developers who  develop applications for the Android platform with no strings attached. Up to 50 developers will each receive a $25,000 award to fund further development. Those selected will then be eligible for even greater recognition via 10 $275,000 awards and 10 $100,000 awards. See here for details.

Complete article is here.

Tags: google, android, mobile, developers, alliance