Google and the Open handset Alliance have announced the availability of the Android platform source code for free, under the new Android Open Source Project, claiming that this represents the first truly open and fully featured mobile platform, which will enable people to create a mobile device without restrictions, build applications that run on Android-powered devices, and contribute to the core platform.
As an open source project, anyone can contribute to Android and influence its direction. That means that anyone can download, build, and run the code needed to create a complete mobile device. With an open source platform, developers, OEMs, carriers and code contributors are given the opportunity to build faster, cheaper and more innovative devices and services.
Android is an end-to-end software platform that can be adapted to work on any number of hardware configurations. Google and the Open handset Alliance say that having an open source mobile platform will dramatically reduce the time and resources required to bring mobile devices to market. Handset manufactures can access a complete, full featured mobile stack without any barriers and get a head-start on creating as contemporary a device that they want to build. Developers for the first time can contribute code, with a full set of APIs that allows the platform to host applications written by third-party developers and carriers can offer faster, cheaper and more innovative devices and services.
Open source allows everyone and anyone equal access to the ideas and innovation that can make good products great, says Andy Rubin, Senior Director of Mobile Platforms at  Google. An open sourced mobile platform, thats constantly being improved upon by the community and is available for everyone to use, speeds innovation, is an engine of economic opportunity and provides a better mobile experience for users.
The code can be found under the Android Open Source Project, the open source initiative for Android.