ARM demoing Android prototype at Mobile World Congress?

According to Reuters, chipmaker ARM has plans to show off an Android-based "Google Phone" prototype at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The news agency is citing a "source" for this information, and both Google and ARM declined to comment, as if reading from some sort of industry script, though we're seeing and hearing a lot of buzz from MWC on new tech, so this would come as no surprise. Come on guys, we don't mind if the OS is still a little buggy... show us some hardware.

[Todd @ Feb 7th 2008 12:28PM]

OH YES! Actual hardware. Now we're gettin' somewhere. Please do NOT let it retail for $400.00+ for god's sake. How about a $199 Engineering Version that we can monkey, like soon, the end of this month?

[Thomas @ Feb 7th 2008 12:29PM]

I just have a feeling that Android is not going to take off.

[mike @ Feb 7th 2008 12:31PM]

Yeah me too. The iPhone is going to control the kid market, and the BlackBerry/Treo/HTC for the mobile business end.

[Phineas J. Whoopie @ Feb 7th 2008 12:35PM]

Yeah, who needs an open-source unifying operating system for mobile phones that integrates 3G/WiFi/GPS/the Web/text messaging and other things not yet imagined in a free and useful fashion?

I'd rather pay for Picture Mail to get photos off my bluetooth-crippled phone.

Or pay iTunes to download their MP3 ringers.

[Brodie @ Feb 7th 2008 12:41PM]

No useful comment, but Phineas J. Whoopie may be the best name I've seen on Engadget yet.

[xbit @ Feb 7th 2008 1:36PM]

@Phineas J. Whoopie

But what are you going to do when all of the carriers refuse to stock it and you're left paying $600+ for an unsubsidised phone?

[Don Park @ Feb 7th 2008 2:01PM]

@xbit

What are you going to do when your windows-based ISP refuses to talk to your Mac?

Thats why open, standard protocols are so important. Thats why I use an unlocked GSM phone. The android phones, like the FIC FreeRunner phone, will be sold unlocked (on the grey market at least), and you can use it with any GSM provider.

[pimpzilla @ Feb 7th 2008 2:39PM]

You're a tool that doesn't understand mobile technology. In 2 years Android will be the smartphone OS of choice for anyone that's technologically literate.

[Phineas J. Whoopie @ Feb 7th 2008 2:44PM]

@xbit

I agree to a point. I expect AT&T and Verizon to be the last adopters, because they're the two market leaders with the most "fake" revenue to lose.

Fake revenue = charging people for made-up proprietary services that exist only because there are no interoperability standards and/or they've purposely crippled phone hardware features.

But, Sprint and TMobile are already part of the Open Handset Alliance. And unlocked GSM phones will hit the market running Android. AT&T will join once it slams their bottom line.

Android has the potential to absolutely revolutionize the mobile phone (and mobile device) market. Nokia, Motorola, LG, Samsung et al...will just become hardware vendors, differentiating their devices based solely on feature-set, form factor and cost.

Applications will run cross-device. You'll be able to transfer pictures or files with either Bluetooth or WiFi to your friend's cell phone. Your custom apps will run on this phone and your next phone.

A year from now it's all anyone will be talking about. It's long overdue, and I can't wait.

[vcx @ Feb 7th 2008 4:40PM]

@Phineas - I totally agree with you. I am waiting for the day I can write my own apps for my phone the same way I do on my pc (NOTE: without bringing down the AT&T dsl network).
But some how all the people I speak to are convinced that the iphone is going to be better than any of the android phones. And none of them have even looked at any of the google videos.
The iphone has a hidden app.. and its called iBrainwash!!

[jordan @ Feb 7th 2008 12:54PM]

If you want to play with android, download their SDK and emulator from code.google.com. From playing around with it, I think it has potential to capture the low-budget smartphone market. Businesses might like it because it's linux, not mac.. So they could possibly have equal integration with their windows users..

All speculation, but the android platform is like what windows mobile SHOULD be.. It isn't extremely innovative, but it's more or less stable, the UI is half decent, and it's CHEAP.

[Jon Shipman @ Feb 7th 2008 1:14PM]

Hate to break it to you, businesses like Macs more than Linux. At least Macs have a port of Office

[Andir3.0 @ Feb 7th 2008 3:56PM]

Hate to break it to you, but OO opens everything from office and has 99% of the functionality with a fairly XP like interface (ie: no new ribbon crap to confuse the hell out of your employees [aka: lost productivity trying to figure out where all the buttons went].)

[o_rita @ Feb 7th 2008 1:15PM]

Another phone, another operating system, why? we don't have enough of them already. It seems like after iPhone and everybody wants their own phone and system.

[Corazu @ Feb 7th 2008 1:48PM]

Android is meant to be *the* OS. iPhone is a bunch of proprietary crap, Android is going to be open source and free, ideally available for any phone (phone modders will likely get it working on any phone they want anyway - I plan to try with my Razr v9)

The problem with most phone OSs is that they are made with all the apps usually included within the firmware/software, with Android you have a main kernel and your basic applications (which can be overridden by custom apps) and then you add your own choice of third party (Google will likely produce some too) apps to customize your phone. Thus, with some work, you can have an Android music phone, or a business phone or something else. Some of this will also depend on the hardware of the phone, but this should, ideally, bring about a more global OS than most phones have. Remember, the whole point of this is to allow for applications to work across a large number of phones, so developers don't have to port a game for the iPhone, the Razr, the ericsson, etc.

This is why Google has the Developers challenge, they want a bunch of good apps and games ready for use when Android is released, and then more coming out as Android is in the early stage (phase 2 of the challenge). By offering rewards, they get more apps, by having more apps they attract more people which also attracts phone companies outside of the OHA to join and use the Android platform (hopefully) and then Google gains a predominant market share for mobile platforms, which creates somewhat of a standard - which is, for all intensive purposes, a good thing..assuming Google doesn't pull a Microsoft on us.

[Jeff @ Feb 7th 2008 2:37PM]

we DO already have a bunch of mobile OS's, and for the most part, they either totally suck, or are locked to a single device and only available for a single provider. (legitimately)

1 good OS is worth more than 50,000 shitty ones. I say people shoul keep trying until someone gets it close to right, which maybe Google can do.

[Jeff @ Feb 7th 2008 2:32PM]

To be honest, i couldn't care in the least about the hardware. (i take that back, i want nice hardware, but it's certainly not the MOST important aspect.)

What i'm looking for is solid information about USABILITY. how do you INTERACT with this OS?

Seems like a lot of people STILL don't understand that it's all about the interface.

[pimpzilla @ Feb 7th 2008 2:41PM]

Apparently the reply system isn't working. My comment above was supposed to be a reply to the naysayers.

[Chris @ Feb 7th 2008 3:25PM]

About dam time! I really want a new phone but I don't even have a prototype to look forward to. If there isn't a real phone for sale by May, I'm getting an iphone.

[RoscoV3 @ Feb 7th 2008 4:11PM]

To me this is a good thing in a big way. I'm hoping that the Android OS and some of the new phones on the horizon will cause Apple and other providers to grow there products faster and better. For example I hope that the Garmin Nuvifone helps the iphone and other smartphones to have a true GPS feature in the near future.

As we all know Apple is releasing the SDK for the iphone by the end of the month. Which is great and will be able to compete with the Android platform (when it releases). The Android platform has tons of potential just in the idea that you don't have a team of people programming for it. You have the world! Well at least until the SDK for the iphone comes out that is.

I just want more choices. I want to see the iphone, the Nuzifone, and maybe some other iphone like device with Android on it so I can see which is a better product for me.

[jweave33 @ Feb 7th 2008 5:56PM]

Why does everyone always try to rip off ideas from Steve Jobs. It's none sense and nothing will ever be as good as Apple products.

[Guzzie @ Feb 7th 2008 6:05PM]

This is neither accurate or relevant.

[iofthestorm @ Feb 7th 2008 8:48PM]

Why do Apple fanboys always try to bring Apple into every discussion. It's none sense and only proves the point of everyone else who hates Apple fanboys.

[paul-engadget @ Feb 7th 2008 6:58PM]

you can already buy hardware for running android:
http://www.linuxdevices.com/news/NS4262102607.html

the cheapest sharp zaurus SL-C1000 won't set you back too much money - a direct import from Japan is most effective. add on a compact flash wifi card, bluetooth or GSM/GPRS adaptor and you're all set.

I have a C3100, and have tried Android, and so far I have to say I see nothing special, however, I also see nothing bad. For a system based on a virtual machine (dalvik which is a bit like java) it is pretty fast.