Omnipresent in Isaac Asimov’s robot stories is a corporation called US Robots and Mechanical Men. Google may not yet have managed to develop a humanoid automaton, but the launch of its Android platform for mobile phones shows it has a similar determination to dominate the internet, in any form it may take. Its effort to do so via open source software is welcome.

Android – which will include an operating system, user interface and applications when it is released next week – is a Linux-based, free-of-charge software package that handset-makers can build into mobile phones. It is part of Google’s response to the increased sophistication of mobiles and the growth in their use for handling data.