Google To Rival Blackberry Smartphones In Enterprise Segment

Google seems all set to take on rival Research in Motion (RIM) to snare some significant share in the lucrative enterprise market with its spruced up Android mobile operating system, according to Andy Rubin, the mobile director for Google.

As of now, Google’s Linux-based operating system has its presence only on a couple of handsets, including T-Mobile G1 and myTouch 3G, and has been intended for casual customers. But, according to Rubin, the OS will be upgraded with host of enterprise-oriented features by the end of this year.

In an interview with Reuters, Rubin said: “Today we don't support many enterprise applications but in the future I think enterprise will be a good focus for us”. He further went on to say that by the end of this year there would be at least 18 handsets on the market running on Android operating system.

Google’s announcement to venture into enterprise domains comes as a further indication of the search engine giant’s high expectations from the mobile platform.

Though some Android-powered handsets, such as, myTouch 3G from T-Mobile USA, boast of support for Microsoft Exchange email, the platform hasn’t explicitly been touted as business-friendly so far.

Incidentally, the announcement comes after Google revealed plans for its “Go Google” ad campaign, which aims at wooing business users away from using Microsoft Office and switch on to Google Apps suite.