Android on iPhone!

Apple's ultimate defense on the iPhone has been shattered.

Planetbeing from the iPhone Dev Team (the group that brings you jailbreaking and unlocking tools such as PwnageTool and the many sn0ws) unveiled several days ago that Google's Android platform is capable of running on the iPhone 2G.

Here's the guide. Install it at your own risk.

What does this mean to the general public?

Like jailbreaking, it provides users more choice. Much like how the Wii, PSP, and computers have been presented with homebrew and open source alternatives, getting Android up and running unleashes a new field of possibilities for the iPhone. Flash, for one, will run on the iPhone under Android and we'll finally learn whether or not it hinders performance.

With such an announcement, it also sends a strong message to Apple that some users clearly do not want to be forced to play by Apple's rules and its restrictions. After all, since we paid for the device, shouldn't we be able to do whatever we want with it?

Android hopefully will not be the only alternative OS supplied to the iPhone, since it doesn't seem to provide the perfect interface given the iPhone's lack of buttons. With iPhone OS 4 and the new iPhone in June indicates, older iPhone models will no longer be supported officially from Apple. However, these older, last generatation iPhones are still perfectly fine and get the job done. If the community has the motivation and willpower to create and develop an alternative OS to the iPhone, older iPhone models could potentially have new features Apple wouldn't think of or would never implement, extending their lifespan by a couple more years.

Of course, I could also be overestimating the amount of interest an alternative OS provides. The user interface for the iPhone OS is already robust and done incredibly well, leaving not enough demand to create an arguably better interface for the iPhone. The average iPhone user generally does not care what OS is running or whether Apple has complete control: they want a phone that simply works and provides entertainment and reliability when needed. The news about Android on the iPhone could simply interest the typical iPhone user momentarily before losing interest.

Then again, time will only tell. For now, we can only speculate the possibilities (or lack thereof) this brings. What do you think? Does it provide an unlimited amount of possibilites for the iPhone? Or will it become a nifty feature that only those well versed in hacking will use?