Google plans expansion into cell-phone systems

Google Inc. plans to create a mobile-phone operating system and work with 33 companies to build applications that could change how consumers find stores and download files from the Web on the go.

Google, owner of the world's most popular Internet search engine, started the Open Handset Alliance to make free software and allow any programmer to develop features for wireless devices sold by service providers including Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile USA Inc.

By offering code anyone can use, Google is seeking to expand beyond Web searches on computers and to break the hold big phone companies have over what applications work on which device.

"This creates the foundation for anything you can imagine," said John Jackson, an analyst at the Yankee Group in Boston. "If it works in practice, and we really don't know that it will yet, it should be a catalyst for innovation."

Google's operating system, code-named Android, is based on open-source Linux software, allowing it to work for an array of manufacturers and service providers.

Software developers can build applications to run with Mountain View, California-based Google's program, enabling partners to customize phones and services for their subscribers.

Android phones will be available by the second half of next year, Google said.