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Powered by an updated version of Google's Android phone operating system, the Droid has already been called one of the premier challengers to Apple's iPhone and Research In Motion's BlackBerry in the smart-phone market because of the remarkable utility of its feature set.
The Droid can run multiple third-party applications at once (the iPhone cannot), is a fully functioning Global Positioning System unit with voice navigation and even has a handy function that allows users to search the entire phone verbally for files or applications.
The best part is that all of these features are included in an operating system that is completely free and is likely to continue developing as more experimentation
Even more exciting than open source's future with cell phones, however, is the potential that it has to make an impact on other forms
Everything from ticket kiosks to washing machines could be a platform for an open-source operating system like Android because it offers a much simpler and more stable foundation for the basic programs that run on those devices.
Sehat Sutardja, the chief executive of the Marvell Technology Group, explained the example of the washing machine by pointing out that manufacturers have begun using graphical interfaces to make their devices more intuitive
To do so, however, devices need operating systems to run on, and it is hard to justify spending hundreds of dollars per device to equip each one with Microsoft Windows or Apple OS X. Open-source software like Android is not only a cheaper alternative, but is also one that is not as likely to crash since there is a lot less going on behind the scenes than there is in a full-fledged operating system like Windows.
In addition to making its way into traditional consumer devices like washing machines, open-source software is allowing entrepreneurs to think outside the box in creating brand new, even more advanced pieces of technology.
One such item is a $99 computer the size of a wall plug that is being manufactured by Sutardja's company. Although the device isn't yet very practical, some users have found that it can serve quite functionally as a network server by plugging an Ethernet cable and a flash drive into it and sharing files with other network computers.
If it weren't for a cheap and easy open-source operating system, such experiments in futuristic technology would not be economically feasible--with those operating systems available, however, there is a much greater likelihood that companies will take risks with products like the one that the Marvell Technology Group has developed.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Pranav Mistry is developing an even more impressive creation. Mistry has created what he calls the SixthSense, a device that when worn around the neck will project a computing interface onto a nearby surface. Users can then interact with the interface by making hand gestures that are captured by a camera included in the same device. The SixthSense costs only $350 to make and will run on an open-source platform developed by Mistry, himself.
It's not just techies like Mistry and Sutardja who are catching onto the open-source craze, either. Just a couple weeks ago, white house.gov completed a redesigned site that is constructed on the open-source Drupal code. This platform is used on the Web sites of a number of other prominent groups--including Nike and Warner Bros.--and represents a major shift in the way that Web design is being done.
Drupal has made a major push to advertise itself and to offer better support to users who may be confounded by its complexity, and its labor appears to be paying off as it has found customers in the U.S. government as well as major corporations.
It is still too early to tell, but open source may be the next great shift to occur in the technology market as consumers and producers alike find it to be more straightforward and economical than traditional platforms.
Matt Cameron is a first-year student at the University of Virginia.