OSICT

Android - the Open Source operating system for mobile telecoms systems developed by Google - is beginning to be considered for use on other manufacturers' equipment.

Sony may be planning to relaunch its iconic Walkman player using the Android OS. The reason? To open their handset to the huge library of Open Source application software in the Android library.

Howard Stringer - Sony's CEO - is reported on CNET's "The Digital Home" blog - as saying: "Sony has begun the transition from a closed system to an open one ... if Sony had gone with open technology from the start, I think we probably would have beaten Apple".