First Google Android phone on its way
Prototype rumoured for next week.
By Brad Reed, Network World | Published: 08:26, 08 February 2008
The first mobile phone to incorporate Google's Android platform is set to be revealed next week, a source close to British chipmaker ARM Holdings has told Reuters.
According to the source, ARM, a UK-based company that makes processors for mobile devices, is to introduce a prototype for a telephone that uses Android as its operating platform as soon as next Monday.
Google and its partners in the Open Handset Alliance announced their open source Android platform last November with the goal of spurring third-party developers to create new and innovative applications for mobile devices.
The ARM phone would be notable because the company is not a member of the Open Handset Alliance, the 34-member multinational group that's dedicated to promoting Android. Other OHA members, such as T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel, have already announced that they plan on releasing Android-based handsets later this year.
Although neither Google nor ARM would comment on the rumoured Android phone, ARM did post an announcement on its website saying it planned to "showcase visually stunning mobile Internet devices" at the Mobile World Congress next week that will deliver a "full web in your pocket" experience. The company also says it will be giving demonstrations of other ARM-powered phones such as the LG-KS20 and the Samsung BlackJack II.
