It was only a matter of time - and a number of positive headlines proclaiming Android as “savour of the cellphone” - before competing firms stepped up and gave their opinions, and so far it’s been a mixture of the scathing, the subtle and the sidestep.  First up is Symbian, whose heated diatribe with the BBC leaves little room for confusion as to their stance on Google’s Linux-based platform:

“About every three months this year there has been a mobile Linux initiative of some sort launched.  It’s a bit like the common cold. It keeps coming round and then we go back to business” John Forsyth, Vice President of Strategy, Symbian

Forsyth goes on to criticise Google’s apparent confidence that they can translate their expertise in search technology into the cellular world, suggesting that they not only lack the support backbone to maintain Android but that third-party developers would be reluctant to shift focus to produce software compatible with the platform.

“It’s very clear what developers want - volume and a stable platform that doesn’t keep breaking. You have to have a lot of zeroes in your sales figures before a developer gets out of bed.  They are talking about having a phone by the end of next year. It’s not one that is going to ignite developers” John Forsyth

Meanwhile, Nokia have hedged their bets: after an initial denial that they were interested in Android, they’ve backpedalled and suggested that involvement is dependent on whether or not doing so would be useful to their product line.

“It’s not ruled out at all. If we would see this as beneficial we would think about taking part in it … We should never close any doors” Kari Tuutti, Nokia spokesperson

With Nokia a 48-percent shareholder in Symbian, the OS firm behind its Series 40 and Series 60 platforms that have formed the core of Nokia handsets for several years, it indicates the Finnish company may be taking a long-term development view from their experience building Linux-based Internet Tablets (such as the N800 and the recently announced N810).

The most obvious key industry player out of componentry manufacturers missing from the OHA member list is ARM, whose processors are found in 95-percent of smartphones.  They’re taking a saguine stance on Android, with CEO Warren East looking forward to the stimulation of smartphone market growth as a result of Google’s entry.  However he’s quick to dampen expectations of the new players:

“You’re not going to see hundreds of millions of Google phones anytime soon” Warren East, CEO, ARM

After global smartphone shipments doubled this year to 200 million, East has suggested that - spurred on by future iterations of the iPhone and newly appearing Android-based cellphones - this could again increase to 300 million.  But it’s obvious that he expects ARM, rather than any of the OHA members, to be still powering the bulk of those handsets:

“I think it’s inevitable if the iPhone continues to be as successful as it appears on launch that there will be iPhone IIs, iPhone IIIs, whatever. And if we do our job right then they will be based on future ARM processors” Warren East

Whether their reaction is defensive, grudgingly welcoming or otherwise, one thing is for sure: Android has got rivals talking.