Google attacks: Android at Mobile World Congress

Seeing as Mobile World Congress is all about the cellular experience, we weren't too surprised to bump into some Android goodness while here. Texas Instruments had the handset you see above -- from an unknown vendor -- to demo the OS running on an OMAP 3430 at 500 MHz. The interface is dead quick and rather glorious, and while we had no internet connectivity on it, we still were able to have a peek at various applications -- check the gallery for more photos. NEC / Wind River were also showing off an Android prototype platform running on a Medity2 testbed -- also at 500 MHz -- though it's a pretty early implementation and was pretty wonky. Interestingly, neither of them had functional input in the browser, so while the NEC version was online, we couldn't point it anywhere useful. Radio types in the devices were GSM but we expect they'll likely have HSDPA once they finally land in our hands. In a few words, we like what we see.

Update: There seems to be a minor issue with how the gallery is displaying -- if you want to see all 46 gorgeous pics, just click on one of the photos.

Gallery: Google attacks: Android at Mobile World Congress

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[DSeaver @ Feb 11th 2008 9:16AM]

Seeing that they have it running on an omap, here's hope that at some point that it will be available to run on my ATT 8125 (HTC Wizard)

[Sheldon @ Feb 11th 2008 9:29AM]

Er, you do realise that the OMAP chip running on your phone is two generations in cpus down from the OMAP 3430 (you have a lowly ARM926ejs where as this is the almighty ARM Cortex-A8).
Given that it's still the same instruction set, it should run, but might be dog slow.

[JLTate @ Feb 11th 2008 10:18AM]

OH MY GOD! That NEC phone is the first to be made with superior blend-proof technology!!

[daedalus @ Feb 11th 2008 9:19AM]

worst model number ever

[Nick @ Feb 11th 2008 9:27AM]

ugliest phone ever

[Grizz @ Feb 11th 2008 11:01AM]

It actually looks quite pleasing to operate with large qwerty keypad. Ill take mine in speckled gray please.

[FuzzyCat @ Feb 11th 2008 12:46PM]

No idea why you're lowest ranked...

someone's been beating that phone for days with the 'ugly stick'...

[trevor @ Feb 11th 2008 2:30PM]

Nothing about the phone strikes you as a pre-production demonstration of an OS? The color, the lack of features, the emblazoned model number... nothing?

It's a tech show. I'm sure this was porn for some people, regardless of how desirable the final product may be.

[Xzavier @ Feb 11th 2008 9:31AM]

"The interface is dead quick and rather glorious"

Really??? So where is the video to SHOW this?

[Raghu @ Feb 11th 2008 11:19AM]

... and man landed on the moon. But where is the video, I mean the time-stamped, live, DRMd, can be proven not in an Arizona studio video :)

[Nick @ Feb 11th 2008 4:23PM]

http://gizmodo.com/354849/android-hands+on-video-its-fast-its-still-not-there

[AdamY @ Feb 11th 2008 9:40AM]

Awesome, sounds like it already runs better than Windows Mobile!

[Angus Hedger @ Feb 11th 2008 9:45AM]

Give WM a 500mhz cpu and you should see if fly as well, Everyone saying WM is slow, are people running it on phones with pathetic 200mhz cpus.

I really think MS should put a min cpu speed and amount of ram, but all off topic.

Im quite excited about android, I have an old HTC Blueangel, Im hoeping that someone on XDA developers will get it ported across.

Theres still not much out there that can match this little beauty, 400mhz and 128meg of ram, bliss.

[solos25 @ Feb 11th 2008 9:47AM]

That phone's hardware looks a LOT like a Palm. Do they have more sense than their letting on?!

[Ryan Trevisol @ Feb 11th 2008 10:01AM]

I'm guessing Google did that intentionally to get their attention.

[JLTate @ Feb 11th 2008 10:25AM]

I just want Intel's Silverthorne to start trickling down into phones and other CE devices so we can put an end to this 400MHz-is-good-enough-for-everyone crap. Doesn't anybody else have a problem with the fact that the very upper end of processing horsepower for phones has been a 612MHz ARM for the better part of 5 years now?

[kochikuma @ Feb 11th 2008 1:27PM]

iPhone has a 700MHz ARM 11, and 3430 was demoed last year at 3GSM at 1GHz, running Access Linux Platform. So there you go... Dont need to wait for Silverthorne...

[webon @ Feb 11th 2008 9:47AM]

I hope that hideouosity of a phone is just to show the interface.

this looks like my non scientific calculator

[OneLove @ Feb 11th 2008 11:07AM]

hideouosity?

[WebOn @ Feb 11th 2008 9:06PM]

Its just a U cmon gimme a break

[Phineas J. Whoopie @ Feb 11th 2008 9:47AM]

The hardware style of that phone is the Gen 1 Android prototype. You can see it here at 5:30 on this early Android SDK demo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFP_13AFz70

The current SDK release uses a touch-screen prototype.

From the early reports it seems like ARM and others have hardware functionality, but no one is really showing new handsets yet...

[ToniCipriani @ Feb 11th 2008 9:49AM]

Does anybody notice that the button and key layout of the mockup device looks a lot like the Treo's?

[Grizz @ Feb 11th 2008 11:03AM]

Palm Centro shares a lot of similarities, but side by side, i like the android keys better.

[bcav @ Feb 11th 2008 9:53AM]

Check out the specs for the Medity2 Chipset here NEC Electronics : http://www.necel.com/medity/en/chipset2.html

It has H.264 ENC/DEC at D1 res: 720 x 480.
8.0M pixel Camera I/F
Support of 3GPP Release6 (06/2005 version)
Support of all mandatory items of 3GPP specifications
Internal core: Up to 3.6 Mbps (Category6)
External core: Up to 7.2 Mbps (Category8)
Support of GSM/GPRS/EGPRS

[Akshay @ Feb 11th 2008 9:55AM]

You guyz actually took 46 individual pics instead of a video? A video would have been SO MUCH better.
Android looks strong and holds a lot of potential, even to completely revolutionize the complete format. With GUI replacements, thousands of apps and immense extensibility, it has the ability to make a difference.

[Organic_Shadow @ Feb 11th 2008 10:08AM]

Even with the lack of touch screen I was getting hot for this phone from the gallery..... all up until the proprietary plug on the bottom end was revealed. :(

[mikey @ Feb 11th 2008 10:18AM]

wait... am i crazy for thinking palm should just get with android and cut a year off the expected time to put out the new treos? i dont see palm as an android partner, but...

[Grizz @ Feb 11th 2008 11:04AM]

Palm Centro A series? ;-)

[Ugh @ Feb 11th 2008 10:25AM]

I know it has potential and I'm very hopeful, but right now it looks like the ugly, forgotten, stepchild of Series60 and iPhone. What's with all the excess unused space on most screens? The icons look 90's in quality, the touchscreen is resistive - though hardware is independent. I'm still very hopeful and cheering it on, but not overly impressed at this stage.

[Eckofish @ Feb 11th 2008 10:28AM]

I hope I'm not the only one to think that the model they have on show is hella fugly.

Looks like a nice enough Mobile OS but they need to realize that packaging is half the deal why you showcase something new and mystical.

[Blaktornado @ Feb 11th 2008 10:29AM]

Nice looking GUI but that phone looks HORRIBLE.

[Calvin Cheung @ Feb 11th 2008 12:16PM]

It's a prototype.

[Andrew Pollack @ Feb 11th 2008 10:37AM]

What part of "Prototyping" do you people not get? Sure its ugly - but did you see the apps? That form factor would work very well for me if the screen was high enough res to give me, say, 40+ columns in an ssh session. That UI sitting in a touch form factor like Apple's Jesus (Pronounced Hey-Soos) Phone would be fantastic.

[Grizz @ Feb 11th 2008 10:59AM]

Thanks for the update. Heres to a successful launch for us early android adopters.

[john @ Feb 11th 2008 11:09AM]

I don't like that TI handset. Sure, it looks like the image they've been showing for a few months now, but I don't like having to compromise both the keyboard size and the screen size by having them both on the face.

1) move the keyboard to a side-slidout
2) move the button bar to the bottom of the face
3) give the screen all of the rest of the resulting face real-estate.

It wouldn't be a sexy phone at that point, but it would make for a nice, basic, functional linux phone that neither compromises screen size, nor keyboard comfort.

Then give me an SSH client, VNC client, PIMs, an IM (not just SMS). Maybe ssh & vnc server too (so I can display it on my desktop when I'm at the office; doesn't have to directly be ssh and vnc, but an encrypted way to do a "remote desktop" like function is what I mean). Add a MicroSDHC slot, and a megapixel camera with flash ... and last, but not least, LOTS OF BATTERY TIME. That would be a wonderful base device.

[David Lilienfeld @ Feb 11th 2008 11:15AM]

I can't wait until I can get my hands on this. It looks awesome.

[Meridimus @ Feb 11th 2008 11:18AM]

We all know this is most likely not how the phone will look, I honestly dislike the look of the phone. But! The OS looks really smooth, I do love google. Oh yeah.

[Steve @ Feb 11th 2008 11:20AM]

I quite like that TI handset, I'd use it to give Android a test anyway...

[PS3guy @ Feb 11th 2008 11:20AM]

It's no iphone.

[john @ Feb 11th 2008 12:17PM]

Thank God!

[Mike @ Feb 11th 2008 11:35AM]

Looks like the love child of Palm hardware and Mac OS.

[kentsin @ Feb 11th 2008 11:40AM]

Just waiting an iphone port!

[Nick @ Feb 11th 2008 1:29PM]

I think I'm the only one here who actually likes the current hardware... it's a really nice clean white, and the button layout actually looks quite comfortable. Remins me of the Samsung i-series Smartphones.
I want one, that's all I know.

[Guzzie @ Feb 11th 2008 6:41PM]

I agree, I like it alot actually. Lovin' the symmetry of the buttons and everything.

[lxa @ Feb 11th 2008 1:33PM]

Looks like this device was created by HTC. As you can see on the photos it's got not a miniUSB but ExtUSB connector.

[Max R @ Feb 11th 2008 3:51PM]

I like the NEC board -- that display is seriously HUGE. I hope they manage to still cram some hardware buttons on it, tho, since going all-touchscreen means that you'll always have to be looking at your phone to operate it.

But really, that kinda screen... *drool*

[JaeDot @ Feb 12th 2008 1:10AM]

The phone was beaten with the ugly stick, but the OS is FIRE!! One question though, will there be a productivity suite, i.e. OpenOffice Mobile?

[Matthew @ Feb 12th 2008 9:12AM]

The phone is ugly even for 2002, but Google is my master, so I'll buy one when they get around to making a half-way decent looking device.

[JJ @ Feb 12th 2008 3:27PM]

Yesterday I was at MWC and I can confirm that the white phone demo device of the photos has a microprocessor of 200-300 Mhz, not 500 Mhz. (confirmed by the Texas Instruments guy).

Also the device maker is HTC :)

http://www.pdaexpertos.com/Analisis/Hardware/Google_Android_demo.shtml

Regards,
JJ

[koz @ Feb 12th 2008 4:13PM]

You realize that prototype phone is just a T-Mobile Dash with a different skin?