“A number of chip manufacturers are showing Google’s Android software platform for mobile phones running on prototype or proof-of-concept phones at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona…”
Barcelona, Spain — The first mobile phones fitted with Google’s “Android” software platform made their debut at an industry trade show on Monday, at the annual Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, a milestone for the Internet giant as it looks to dominate the wireless world.
“Android phones are finally reality, with Texas Instruments and others showing prototype handsets at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, Spain.”
Besides Texas Instruments, ARM, Qualcomm, NEC Electronics, Marvell and ST Microelectronics are among the companies with mobile phones based on Google’s Android platform. Android uses open-source Linux.
“The phone, tipped to rival Apple’s iPhone, runs on Android, a mobile phone operating system launched by Google last November.”
Most of them expect to see Android phones based on their chips on the market in the second half of this year.
Google launched Android last year, hoping to establish its software as the standard operating system for mobile phones and to improve the quality of web-browsing for handset users.
“It is definitely very promising,” an analyst for technology research firm Gartner, Carolina Milanesi, said in a statement. “This means that we should be on track to see commercial devices in the second half of 2008.”
The hardware ranged from bulky development boards with daughter cards sticking out at unlikely angles to more compact devices small enough to slip into your pocket. All were built around chips containing processor cores designed by Arm, a British semiconductor company.
One of the most polished prototypes is on the Texas Instruments stand — although TI representatives insisted that it is just an example of how a finished product could look, as the company only makes chips, leaving the development of phones to its customers. “We do not do plastic,” one said.
TI actually had Android running on two different devices. One was based on its OMAP850, a single-chip device containing an application processor for Android and a baseband processor for controlling the phone’s radio interface. The other contained TI’s OMAP3430 multimedia application processor, capable of decoding high-definition television signals at a resolution of 720p.
TI said its phone will have single-button access to such applications as Web browsing, e-mail and video, and will enable a user to readily integrate applications.
The idea is that Android will lead to radically improved functionality, notably for web browsing, meaning more people will use their mobile phones for Internet surfing and other applications.
Internet use on mobile phones can currently be a frustrating experience, with clunky software and slow download speeds.
“There are few phones that provide a compelling web experience,” explained a spokesman for Google, Barry Schnitt. “As people use the web more, they will use Google more and we will be able to sell more relevant advertising.”
The operating system is backed by an alliance of more than 30 mobile phone operators, handset makers, software firms and component manufacturers and is based on open-source code, meaning programmers are able to build compatible applications for free.
“The future ability of Android is exciting because it is open-source so it allows developers to come up with the next killer application,” said a spokesman for US chip maker Texas Instruments, which demonstrated Android software in a prototype phone.
Other demonstrations are being reported from the Barcelona show from firms such as — Deutsche Telecom’s T-Mobile, HTC, and others have said they expect to sell Android-based phones this year.
Developing software for a new phone typically takes 14 to 18 months, said Ramesh Iyer, mobile Internet device product manager at TI. “Android cuts that dramatically. It is a disruptor,” he said.
Google is shaking the market in other ways, Iyer said. “Android is a single stack. You do not have to go looking for third-party solutions. Suddenly, they have defragmented the whole Linux ecosystem into one building block,” he said.
The Apple iPhone, for example, runs on Apple software and uses Apple applications, while an Android-enabled phone would incorporate applications from any number of developers.
But Google software faces fierce competition from the world’s biggest mobile phone maker, Nokia, and its Symbian system.
“US software giant Microsoft also has a Windows system for mobiles and a separate consortium is working on an open-source Linux solution.”
Google announced the “Open Handset Alliance” in November last year to develop Android, including China Mobile, HTC, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, T-Mobile, Telefonica, LG and eBay.
Gartner’s Milanesi stressed that “the road between a prototype and commercial handset is a long one” and said the ultimate test of Android’s success would be how easily applications could be used.
“It should have everything that we see on the PC, not just shrunk down to work on a mobile phone, but really being optimized for a mobile phone,” she said.
There had been much speculation last year that Google would release a so-called “G-phone,” but Android could bring a variety of phones from many manufacturers.
It provides an open-source operating system, middleware and a few initial applications, and is an effort to jump-start innovation and compatibility across mobile devices.
Companies hope that by developing phones that are easy to use as well as beautiful to look at, they will be able to hold off the challenge from Apple, which has sold more than four million iPhone handsets since it launched last July.
The devices not only demonstrate Android, noted IDC analyst Chris Hazelton, but they also demonstrate that various OHA members are committed to the platform. Android is clearly not vaporware, he said, but applications and developers are not yet out, so it is too early to tell if the platform will offer capabilities and uses different from what is already available.
Hazelton said another missing piece is a “content-delivery ecosystem” so that content and applications can get to the devices. He compared that ecosystem to the Apple iPhone’s iTunes, Sony Ericsson’s music services, and other delivery mechanisms.
Android is entering an already crowded market for mobile phone software: To see how crowded, you only had to look at the NEC stand, where four prototypes containing its Medity2 processor were packed onto a narrow table. One was running Symbian OS, one Windows Mobile, one Android on top of Wind River Linux — and the last was running the same Wind River Linux, but with a different application layer based on software from Trolltech and Esmertec.
NEC staff expressed surprise at the level of interest in Android, saying they expected more attention for the completed phones based on the Medity2 at the next table.
“But, Android is not the only open platform for mobile devices to show up at the Mobile World Congress.”
A group of companies led by the LiMo Foundation and including Motorola, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, Matsushita, Samsung and Vodafone is also developing a common, open platform. Motorola, NTT DoCoMo and Samsung are members of both LiMo and OHA.
Avi Greengart of Current Analysis, who is at the Barcelona show, noted there is at least one key difference. “LiMo is backed by a bunch of different companies,” he said, “and each one’s implementation is incompatible with the other.” But, he noted, Android is backed by Google and works across devices.
Despite the Android project being at a relatively early stage, the first Android-based mobile phones are expected to go on sale later this year.
Strategy Analytics, a research firm, has estimated that Android will be installed on two per cent of smartphones by December.
“It is estimated the mobile advertising market could be worth more than £5.5 billion by 2011.”
“The Mobile World Congress runs through Thursday at the Fira de Barcelona showground.”