Google Phone

The deadline for phase one of Google’s Android Developer Challenge closed yesterday, and so the entrants are beginning to show off their wares. One of the more eye-catching is Enkin, an augmented reality app for Android which overlays GPS, motion information and other data over a live camera view of a user’s surroundings. As an idea it’s similar to designer Mac Funamizu’s encyclopedia frame concept, using real-time queries of online information to offer users pertinent information about their environment.

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Three US government representatives have alleged that Google wilfully manipulated the recent 700MHz spectrum auction, and as a result potentially dissuaded bids in excess of $10bn extra. Republicans Cliff Stearns and John Shimkus together with Democrat Eliot Engel used a hearing today to express their concerns that, in pledging to meet the $4.6bn reserve set for Block C and thus secure open-access, new potential bidders were deterred.

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The quest to get Android running on any hardware possible continues apace, with the gang over at the xda-developers forum working to fettle the OS for HTC hardware. They’ve managed it, too, albeit in a roundabout way; apparently the TyTN II is basically running Android as an emulation: an .EXE on top of the original Windows Mobile OS. That’s a new approach; previous hacks to get the software working - such as on the Nokia N810 Internet Tablet we saw earlier in the week - took advantage of Android’s compatibility with things like OMAP chipsets, which are relatively common among mobile devices, to force the OS to install.

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Vincent attended the AT&T Media lunch where Ralph de la Vega, president and CEO of AT&T discussed the company’s plans to collaborate with Google in producing handsets running the open-source Android OS. In discussing upcoming handsets, de la Vega revealed that, following demonstrations of Android prototypes and discussion with the Google team behind the platform, he was convinced to one day include cellphones based on it in AT&T’s range.

“What I’m saying is I like it a lot more than before … We’re now looking to see when it’s ready to be developed. Now I’m in the camp where I’m positive that it’s something I’d want in our portfolio” Ralph de la Vega today, president and CEO, AT&T

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