A word of caution to owners of the T-Mobile G1: don't install just any application that pops up on the Android Marketplace on your G1. One application in particular, MemoryUp Personal, which is the "lite" version of MemoryUp Professional, an application designed to free up system memory and resources on your Android-based device to keep it running smoothly, is getting multiple one star ratings on the Android Marketplace for reportedly erasing data from users' phones. The application has reportedly deleted all the contacts from the device's internal memory, as well as all data on SD cards on the device.

Unlike the closed development platform run by Apple for its iPod touch, iPhone, and iPhone 3G, Google has built an entirely Open Source platform and application store in the Android Marketplace. This move has been touted as a good move by Google and has been one of the reasons there has been so much interest in the Google Android platform. The open nature of the platform should mean more variety and more interesting features being developed than in a closed system like Apple's, which has been criticized in the past for preventing certain applications from being distributed via their App Store.

The downside of Google Android's openness, obviously, is that there is not as much control over the code that is being developed and offered on the platform. If you own a T-Mobile G1, there's no reason to panic about this news. Rather just take it as a cautionary tale. You shouldn't be afraid of open source software or of the applications available for the T-Mobile G1, but you should make sure you're reviewing what other users have to say about an application on the Android Marketplace before you install it on your phone.

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