How Google can knock the iPhone from its perch.

I've long sung the praises of Android, Google's open-source mobile operating system. It gives you everything you'd want in a smartphone—a stylish, intuitive interface plus great programs for e-mail, the Web, and keeping your life organized. Indeed, on paper, Android looks like the best mobile OS you can buy. It packs more features and is more flexible than the BlackBerry or Windows Mobile, and because it works on lots of different phones (and even some computers), it promises to be more widely available than the Palm Pre. And how does Android stack up against Apple's iPhone? In theory, very well. The iPhone is packed with restrictions and complexities—Apple and AT&T make developers run through unnecessary hoops to get their software on the phone. Android, meanwhile, offers a wide-open platform for developers to create add-on programs, a system that you'd expect would lead to a vast, unmatched library of apps for Android phones. How Google can knock the iPhone from its perch. By Farhad Manjoo on technology