Google announced last week their hugely ambitious Linux based Android Open Handset Alliance project, along with a whole raft of partners - and with the notable exception of some key mobile players, like Sony Ericsson and Nokia.

Symbian is likely to be the main target, with a 72% share of the smartphone sector. Although I’m guessing Microsoft would like to see themselves as a competitor too - the reality is that they’re not really players, and certainly not outside the US, and have around half the market share of Linux phones today. No wonder that Mr Ballmer is so archly dismissive, as Android could be the death knell of Microsoft’s mobile aspirations, if it takes off.

And if you’re not in mobile, you’re going to play an increasingly irrelevant role in tomorrow’s digital world. Microsoft (I think) know this now, so expect a big battle ahead.

However, the success of Android is clearly going to be down to execution, not just having the idea in the first place. It could turn out to be anything from a bit of fluffy PR to a serious play for a slug of the mobile phone sector. And as we’ve seen countless times historically, herding a bunch of major players, with differing agendas, cultures and egos, towards a common goal like this, makes herding cats on your own, through a minefield, blindfolded and with your legs tied together, seem relatively achievable.

So let’s see how they get on.

But I do applaud their first initiative, which they announced yesterday, which is very smart thinking. Google announced a £$10 million ($20 million) prize fund for developers writing great applications for the new platform.

As we’ve noted on MobHappy many times, large companies find real innovation difficult, and in any case, no one has a monopoly of great ideas. So to embrace the developer community with the tangible opportunity to win cash is a very shrewd way of both getting the best and winning the attention - if not the hearts and minds - of the mobile developer community.

And as we know, it’s all about developers, developers, developers, thanks to the same Mr Ballmer referred to above.

Execution of the competition is well thought through too. Applicants don’t even need to build to enter, but can win $25,000 to go away and develop the idea. Once built, they can enter Phase 2 to win the big prizes of $275,000 a piece, not to mention the glory.

It’s very early days for Android and we’ll have to see how it all pans out. But the initial signs are encouraging and I’d certainly encourage anything that promotes open source and actively supports the mobile community.