Graphics developer Nvidia and chipmaker Freescale have both announced support for Google’s open source Android platform, moves which may significantly expand the ecosystem of Android-powered devices and services in the future. Although Android development so far has focussed on mobile phones, the platform was always intended to scale to many types of Internet-enabled mobile devices.
First up, Freescale has announced its has expanded its i.MX515 processor and netbook reference design to include support for Android, as operating systems from Phoenix Technologies (HyperSpace) and Xandros’ customized Linux distributions. Freescale also collaborated with Wavecom and Option to add 3G connectivity options.
