Google has sent one of the most prolific independent developers for the Android phone a letter demanding he stop distributing software that greatly expands the capabilities of the fledgling smartphone operating system. Neither Google nor the developer, who goes by the handle Cyanogen, is saying much about the cease and desist letter.

Three months after Google released an "early look" at version 1.5 of its Android mobile operating system, a newer version has made its way into the eager hands of developers. Dubbed Donut, the new alpha version brings a raft of new features to 'Droiders.

Android developers looking forward to the inclusion of multi-touch support in the upcoming release of Google's open source mobile operating system, code named "Donut", will need to wait even longer. It was previously believed that Donut, which would see a final release as Android version 2.0, would include the much anticipated multi-touch gesture support.

«This guide explains how you can install the Google Android SDK 1.0 on an Ubuntu 8.04 desktop. With this stable release of the Android SDK, you can now develop applications for Android smartphones (like T-Mobile's G1) and offer them on the Android Market.

I do not issue any guarantee that this will work for you!»

Android is the name given to a mobile operating system using a customised version of the Linux kernel. It was first released in late 2008. The platform enables developers to write code in the Java language, controlling the device via Java libraries developed by Google.

Google will give $10 million to the developers who build the best applications for Android, the open source platform Google designed for building mobile phones. Google says it hopes to spark innovation with the so-called Android Developer Challenge, announced today concurrently with the release of Android. The software development kit is now available for download on the Android site.

And according to Google VP Andy Rubin, the more the search giant blankets the industry with competing Android-droid based mobile handsets, the more likely Google is to hit its expected value of market dominance over Apple's iPhone.

After the first unsuccessful try with Android (jk), Google strikes again on OS market with Chrome OS. Actually this is kinda Google’s first attempt on OS market, considering that Android is not a genuine Google product. Google acquired Android from Android Inc in 2005.

Google has defended its decision to allow unfettered Android tweaking, saying that although this may fragment the Googlephone market, it's what's best for developers.