Google Inc. is offering $10 million in prizes for people who build the best software for the company's upcoming cell phone operating system. The Mountain View-based company is developing a free cell phone software package that it says will make it easier to surf the Web over mobile devices. It also will give Google more opportunities to sell ads and services.

The system will be based on computer code that can be openly distributed among programmers, which Google hopes will encourage developers to create new software and improvements that could spawn new uses for smart phones. As part of the Android Developer Challenge, a panel of judges will pick 50 winners from entries received from Jan. 2 through March 3, 2008. Those winners will each get $25,000 and be eligible for ten awards of $100,000 and another ten $275,000 awards.

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