Andy Rubin, one of the masterminds behind Danger and its Hiptop platform, set out to create the consummate open mobile operating system with his Android startup -- and when Android was eventually acquired by Google, rumors of a "Googlephone" were all but inevitable. Android was ultimately unleashed in late 2007 with the first production handset -- HTC's G1 for T-Mobile -- offering but a glimpse of what the ever-expanding (and arguably over-fragmented) mobile platform would become. With version 2.2 "Froyo" just around the corner seeking and serving as the company's milestone for maturity, we're itching to see how it continues to evolve.
