In addition, the openness of the platform could turn out to be a weakness. "The question is, if it offers this much freedom, how do you prevent it from becoming fragmented?" Gartenberg said. For example, if different vendors alter Android for their own phones, applications may not run across all the different devices.

Google will have to do more than simply deliver an open platform, he said. "At the end of the day, it's going to be what Google can do to drive innovation beyond being open," he said.

The real test for Android will arrive in the coming months. "If it weren't exactly one year, but one year and three months, the question [of whether Android has lived up to expectations] would be easier to answer," Howe said.

That's because he expects at least six, and possibly a dozen, new Android phones to hit the market by the end of the year. Samsung, HTC and LG all could have introduced new phones by then.

Motorola's Cliq should also arrive by year's end. That could provide the first example of Android's true potential, because Motorola has customized the software with a new user interface that highlights social networking. "All of a sudden it looks like a different phone" compared to the existing Android devices, Howe said.