Linux Foundation announces the Android Builders Summit


Everyone and their brother seems to be coming out with some kind of Android powered doohickey. This is generating a fair amount of fatigue in consumers, as well as developers, as they grapple with the differing features in each vendor’s Android product. The Linux Foundation hopes to help remedy some of this with their upcoming Android Builders Summit, April 13-14 in San Francisco. This isn’t some Android Users Group potluck, but rather “an intimate forum for collaboration at the systems level and discussion of core issues and opportunities when designing Android devices.”


I’m a big fan of the promise of Android, because it’s basically the same promise that Linux offers, and in the end the availability of options drives interesting developments. I share everyone else’s frustrations that OEMs continue to cripple the base system by forcing users to use crappy custom interfaces or branded apps. I don’t expect the Android Builders Summit to remedy these issues immediately, but I’m really glad to see that someone is making an effort to build teamwork and collaboration amongst Android developers.

The Android Builders Summit takes place at the same time as the Linux Foundation’s Embedded Linux Conference, so there’s sure to be some interesting overlap between the two camps.

The Linux Foundation Announces Android Builder Summit

New event brings together OEMs, device makers, systems builders and kernel community to collaborate on the Android platform

SAN FRANCISCO, February 16, 2011 — The Linux Foundation, the non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating the growth of Linux, today announced the first ever AndroidÔ Builder Summit taking place in San Francisco April 13-14, 2011.

The event was created at the request of The Linux Foundation’s members to facilitate collaboration at the systems level. It is co-located with the 2011 Embedded Linux Conference and is open to all.

The Android market is one of the fastest growing areas in all of technology today. The Linux-based operating system’s (OS) global market share on smart phones is surpassing that of Apple iOS, and the release of Android 3.0 (also known as “Honeycomb”) is poised to drive the same trend in the tablet market. The Android Builder Summit will help advance the technology that sits at the very core of each Android device while accelerating the adoption of Linux throughout the consumer devices market.

The Android Builders Summit is a technical summit for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), their device manufacturers, integrators, custom builders, and the growing Android and Linux Kernel developer communities. The Summit will provide an intimate forum for collaboration at the systems level and discussion of core issues and opportunities when designing Android devices.

Summit topics will include: custom builds, alternative middleware, network functionality extensions, Peer to Peer frameworks, USB device support, security, unification of power management, tools and hybrid Android devices among many other topics. To submit a proposal for the Summit, please visit: http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/android-builders-summit

“Linux is providing the foundation on which next-generation devices are being built, and Android is one of the most shining examples of how successful this model can be,” said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation. “We’re pleased to facilitate collaboration among the Android’s ecosystem participants and drive innovation at the systems level of the platform.”

To register for the Android Builder Summit, or to get more information about speaking or sponsorship opportunities, please visit: http://events.linuxfoundation.org/events/android-builders-summit

Android training classes offered by The Linux Foundation will be taking place directly after the Android Builder Summit. For more information, please visit: http://training.linuxfoundation.org/courses/android-training-for-developers. For ongoing training opportunities for Android developers, please visit: http://training.linuxfoundation.org/courses/android-developer.

The Linux Foundation fosters innovation by hosting events for the Linux technical and business communities. These events help solve pressing issues facing Linux and fuel collaboration and communication between all members of the Linux ecosystem: developers, users, industry, ISVs and distribution vendors. Other Linux Foundation events include a mix of industry and community conferences such as its annual Linux Foundation Collaboration Summit, LinuxCon (North America, Europe, Japan and Brazil) and the Kernel Summit, among others.