Google Android: All Dressed Up, Nowhere to Run

Updated from 9:40 a.m. EDT Google (GOOG) has been in heavy training for the match of its life.

The reigning king of online search in the desktop arena, the gold-medal champ of Internet advertising -- Google, through its Android software arm, is now a contender in a do-or-die battle for a big spot in the mobile market.

Heavyweights in the field include Nokia (NOK) and its Symbian operating system, BlackBerry maker Research In Motion (RIMM), upstart Apple (AAPL) and a staggering Microsoft (MSFT) with its Windows Mobile system.

Each bring a special approach to the fight. Nokia has the unmatched size and reach, holding 40% of the smartphone market. RIM's knockout punch is email. Apple's iPhone is a showboat that dazzles crowds with media prowess. And Microsoft is fighting to carry an enormous Windows franchise to smartphones.

Former champ, Palm (PALM) is in the wings with its own touchscreen Pre phone and new operating system.

Google, of course, brings search and is eager to repeat its desktop success in the broader wireless domain.

To date, Google forced federal regulators to adopt open standards for holders of new wireless spectrum licenses. That opened the door for a new generation of devices for future networks.

Google funded Android, a smartphone operating system that HTC fashioned into a touchscreen phone called G1 sold exclusively by Deutsche Telekom's (DT) T-Mobile. And while other phone makers, notably Motorola (MOT), have selected Android as its software partner, a new crop of G-phones has yet to arrive.

And that is the technical knockout Google's facing. Android's fortunes ride on the talents and willingness of phone manufacturers and telcos required to underwrite the sale of the phone.