As promised, the Google fronted Open Handset Alliance lifted the curtain on the Android platform on Monday, with the release of its Software Development Kit (SDK).

Android is a complete mobile platform built on the Linux 2.6 kernel, with an application model that claims to make it easy for developers to extend, replace, and reuse existing software components to create rich mobile services.

The platform also includes the Dalvik virtual machine, which Google said will maximise application performance, portability, and security. The entire platform will be made available under the Apache v2 open source license in 2008.

Google has put together a video showing off the features of Android on devices that the platform developers have been playing with for six months already. We at telecoms.com can’t help but notice that it looks like a cross between the Java-based SavaJe operating system and a slightly less polished iPhone feature set. Naturally, there’s a good deal of similarity with other mobile Linux initiatives, such as OpenMoko, to be seen.

The SDK can be downloaded on the Open Handset Alliance site, here.

Google has also announced the Android Developer Challenge, which aims to reward the development of applications for Android with $10m in prizes.