iPhone 3G gets an Android port to call its own (video)

You'll recall, studious little gremlins that you are, that we recently saw the venerable first-gen iPhone prancing about with an unusual little green droid providing it with operational commands. Well, the coder behind that project, David Wang, has now stepped his game up to the iPhone 3G, which has been outfitted with an almost complete implementation of Android. Audio support is the last missing piece of the puzzle, but the groundwork has been laid and it too should be ready for some unholy Apple plus Google action within the next few days. Downloadable binaries are currently being prepared, so we thought we'd help you fill the time with a video demo of the port, which may be found just past the break.

[Thanks, Andrew]

[ananworks Posted May 7th 2010 8:41AM]

now jobs will probably find some stupid reason and say that da iphone crashes only when it runs on andriod!!!

and this clearly shows that android can run on virtually n e phone but the iphone OS cant...

now this shows who keeps their software closed!!!

[Zpeed7 Posted May 7th 2010 9:19AM]

Will it play Flash? Now THAT would be awesome! ;-)

[bassdog65 Posted May 7th 2010 9:21AM]

I feel like this would be impossible to use as android is built with back and menu and home buttons, and the iPhone fails with only one button. Sure, the menu function is solved by swiping up the tray, and one could assign back to the one button on the iPhone, but navigating would still be a nightmare. Android is written for more buttons than this.

[SHaDiGi Posted May 7th 2010 9:24AM]

Yes i have an Iphone and I can't wait to do this. I'm stuck on att with lact of android devices this might be my only solution.

My only hope is HTC Legend will come this way. but that still would not have the hardware of other android devices floating on Sprint/Vz. Even Tmo have better android phones than att.

So since im stuck with Iphone i might as well make it run the BEST OS.

[SHaDiGi Posted May 7th 2010 9:27AM]

@ananworks This goes back to the concept of installing M$ windows on Macs but Cant install any apple OS on any non Apple machines

[jediknight999 Posted May 7th 2010 9:51AM]

If you really want to kick Steve Jobs in the balls, do the opposite and port iPhone OS into a 1Ghz Nexus one.

He'll cry so loud, people in the neighboring Galaxies would hear him.

[jediknight999 Posted May 7th 2010 10:03AM]

Steve Jobs is actually HAPPY - this can only get more buyers for the iPhone...... the only device that can run both iPhone OS as well as Android. It has something for everyone.

he wont loose on the App store as it doesn't generate any significant income anyways.

[Verythrax Posted May 7th 2010 10:33AM]

I don't think it means any new sales for Apple. People will use it on their "old" 3G/3GSes, what means less 4G sales.

[plenaghan88 Posted May 7th 2010 10:45AM]

@Wesscoast

"Just one problem... Android and Palm don't have 100Million install base (iPod t + iPhone)... so uh... why would developers waste time doing a port... many have and many haven't."

http://gizmodo.com/5504622/how-the-iphone-could-end-up-in-second-place

http://gizmodo.com/5490299/android-surges-while-the-iphone-stalls-out

http://techcrunch.com/2010/04/05/comscore-android-market-share-continues-to-gain-on-the-iphone/

you really need to check the numbers before you troll... android's market-share is rising rapidly and iPhone is beginning to stagnate. And more and more developers are jumping on board too, there has been an exponential growth in new apps being developed, a trend which isn't likely to stop soon.

[TheOtherJames Posted May 7th 2010 10:54AM]

Please tell me this will work on the iPod Touch. I would love to have an upgrade path to give me all the features the Almighty Jobs has deemed my first-gen Touch unworthy of receiving.

[The Dead Marxist Trio Posted May 7th 2010 12:19PM]

@TheOtherJames
this port came out a little while ago for iPhone 2g, which has most of the same hardware as the ipt1g. You could give that a shot, but I'd try asking the dev first, or at the very least google your head off until you feel comfortable. Dont come whining if you jump in blindly tho.

[Inspector Gadget80 Posted May 7th 2010 10:55AM]

It's pretty nice. The bad thing I have to say is. He's using Motorola version of the ANDROID not GOOGLE'S ANDROID. Other bad thing he says theirs no sound but uses head phones, I know it's a first phase. But I still say it's useless to do that to a iPhone when it have limited capabilities and you can't make calls on ANDROID ported to iPhone.

[joebob Posted May 7th 2010 11:09AM]

So if this could run flash el Jobso has no legs to stand on right?

[deepen03 Posted May 7th 2010 11:17AM]

thats cool. dual boot of Android and iPhone OS.. now thats what im talking about.

[Bosco Posted May 7th 2010 11:23AM]

This is very cool, but David, pull up a chair, son. Self-gloss is not cool. It's not cool at the basketball run, it's not cool at the beach, it's not cool at school, definitely not cool at work, and it's not cool on the Internet. Just be David Wang. You're a legend now. Don't screw your brand by self-glossing.

[sakz Posted May 7th 2010 11:30AM]

Now we can all coexist in harmony....

[rmcray08 Posted May 7th 2010 2:59PM]

@sakz
Not until Apple is 6 feet under and Google regulates how much air we breathe.

[fiduce Posted May 7th 2010 12:07PM]

Now give us the reverse : jailbroken IPhone apps running over Androïd (in a task).

[ihtfw Posted May 7th 2010 12:57PM]

114 comments here and just 31 on linux on iphone blog? watdafuk?

[Wesscoast Posted May 7th 2010 12:57PM]

@plenaghan88

You want to come back in mid June with the update?

100 million. Pal. I seem to remember the Nexus One selling... oh...80,000 units was it? Good job.

As for the exponential growth of Apps, you know iPhone has about 200 thousand apps, and, as you point out, exponentially growing right? Wow, sounds like Android will NEVER catch up.

[ounkeo Posted May 7th 2010 1:01PM]

This guy gets much respect. No easy task to do this I am guessing.

[G building Posted May 7th 2010 1:26PM]

Not for nothing but stuff like this can only extend the life of use of the phone since as in time further updates from apple wont be ported to the device.

[Anatidae Posted May 7th 2010 1:38PM]

There are a lot of nice Android phones, but this is still great work. I am stuck in my AT&T contract and until they carry a good replacement for the iPhone, I'll stick with it.

However, I would love to run a solid Android on it when it becomes available.

Also, my company had to get an iPad for development. And although our client is happy with our work, we all think the iPad is a cute toy. We do think it could be a potentially interesting production device if it allowed for a more open freedom of extensibility.

So on that note, bring on the Android for iPad too! Maybe we can put this thing to work instead of it laying around and just offering mild distractions.

[4ndr3W Posted May 7th 2010 2:08PM]

You can forget about HTC's UI with the iphones 128MB of RAM..

[muzzymate Posted May 7th 2010 2:49PM]

Finally! I can get porn on my iPhone!

[Aaronneyer Posted May 7th 2010 3:54PM]

Does this work on an iPod Touch? If so, that might finally convince me to buy one.

[plenaghan88 Posted May 7th 2010 9:20PM]

@Wesscoast
wait, so the nexus one is the only android phone available is it?
and yeh, of course there will be a bump in iphone sales mid-june when the 4G is released, but for the rest of the year, android as a platform will continue to gain as more and more android phones get released.

your original point was why would developers go to android? and the answer is simple, it is gaining market-share rapidly and has a far more open platform (with no approval process) and the numbers back up what im saying

[Lessthantito Posted May 7th 2010 11:17PM]

when can I get this on my iPad?

[jamesclayton Posted May 10th 2010 8:05AM]

the best thing about Android is that, it is compatible with a wide range of hardware's, while that's not the case with iPhone. this is what makes me Android phone fanatic.

www.cellphoneshopper.net

[thecreative Posted May 10th 2010 8:08PM]

This is the equivalent of someone putting a Honda engine in the body of a Ferrari.

Pointless.

[jtkirk86 Posted May 26th 2010 7:28PM]

So I got android os installed ok on my 3g. used v.2-3g it loads up fine, but after it loads up, i can press home(menu) to unlock and then it seems to be ok but the touch screen doesnt respond, i can tap all day and nothing happens. any ideas? works fine when i go back to iphone os so i know its not the actual screen.

[Dillon Posted May 28th 2010 4:47PM]

He recorded it with an iPhone