Google Phone

On Monday we showed you the video of Texas Instruments’ non-touchscreen Android prototype at the Mobile World Congress; today we’ve got their touchscreen version demonstrated live on video. Two aspects of this demo stand out for me, firstly the hardware itself - TI have put together what they claim is a sub-$1,000 reference platform targeted predominantly at the open-source community - and secondly as this is a great, working example of the “building blocks” menu GUI we saw in the latest Android release.

Check out the TI touchscreen reference platform after the cut

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The LiMo Foundation - who were working on a mobile Linux OS before Google entered the market, remember - have finally launched their LiMo Platform, with APIs available for developers now, and the first full release expected in March.  Of course, while discussing his own offering, LiMo executive director Morgan Gillis still found time to give the Android team a little advice but first, predictably perhaps, a discrete slight:

“The first release of the LiMo Platform combines technologies already extensively market proven within an array of leading handsets. This will enable initial LiMo handsets to register in the marketplace far more rapidly than handsets based on unproven technology” Morgan Gillis, executive director, LiMo Foundation

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Recently Google held three developer workshops - in London, Munich and Tel Aviv - to publicise accurate Android facts and demonstrate how to code on the platform; another such event will be held on the 23rd in Boston.  Lance Davis of RegDeveloper was invited, along with other software coders, to visit Google’s London office and get some basic understanding of how the company has put together the Android embedded OS. 

For the non-coders among us, or those new to mobile development, Lance neatly illustrates the challenge Google has faced - and perhaps set for programmers already working in the field - by comparing computer versus phone architecture:

“Computer people coming to mobile have a very different view of phone architecture to phone people adding features. Phone people see the phone functions - the GSM chipset, Bluetooth, DVB-H, for example, as a foundation, with drivers on top. Then there’s an abstraction layer, an operating system, a user interface framework and the applications on top. Computer people look at the system as a processor with a BIOS on top, then an OS, framework and applications. The bits that mobile phone people see as a foundation, the computer people see as an adjunct connected by drivers. Voice is just another application. And this approach was reflected yesterday” Lance Davis, RegDeveloper

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After three rounds of stability just under the $4.6bn reserve threshold yesterday, round 17 of bidding in the 700MHz spectrum auction saw a figure of $4,713,823,000 bid and, as a result, the open-access provisos which Google pushed for will now definitely be included in the contract of whoever wins the so-called “beachfront” band.

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Rumors are circulating that Dell and Google will use the Android platform to launch a new, Dell-branded cellphone at the 3GSM conference in Barcelona next month.  The handset, which would mark Dell’s return to the mobile device market after they ceased creating PDAs, would leverage Google’s online application suite in what would likely be a cost-effective device.

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Following feedback from developers, Google has made “significant updates” to the Android SDK that will be released in several weeks time.  Although the full list of changes is yet to be announced, both UI and API have been enhanced.  As a result, Google has put back the deadline to submit entries to the Android Developer Challenge part I to the 14th April, both to give time to take advantage of the new functionality and to satisfy coders who have requested an extension during which they could build and polish their entries.

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If Sun seemed vaguely anxious about Android before now - fearing its non-standard implementation of Java might fragment the language - then now they’re coming across as borderline belligerent.  Speaking at the Java Mobile & Embedded Developer Days conference last week, Sun vice-president James Gosling declined to cite his company’s position on Android, claiming Google was yet to define the platform’s business model.

“It’s impossible to have a position, right, because there is no data.  Over the last couple of years, Google’s been showing their phone at telecom conferences all over the world and with different business models, all of which really scared the carriers and handset makers. And then with Android, they put out a bag of code with no business model.  Unless the day comes when they say what they’re going to do with it, it’s just a bag of code sitting out there” James Gosling, VP, Sun

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Last year we suggested that, rather than Microsoft or Apple, Nokia was Android’s main competitor; since then, the Finnish company has announced Q4 2007 sales of €15,7bn ($23bn), an increase of 34-percent over the same quarter the previous year, and strong performance in all regions bar the US.  Today, however, comes the next step in Nokia’s plans to rival the Open Handset Alliance: they’ve made a €104m ($153) bid for Trolltech, a multi-platform Linux developer responsible for the software currently found running Google Earth, Skype, and a variety of mobile devices including Sony’s Mylo messenger.

“The technology landscape evolves and, for Nokia, software plays a major role in our growth strategy for devices, PCs and the integration with the Internet. We continue to focus on areas where we can differentiate and add more value. Common cross-platform layers on top of our software platforms attract innovation and enable Web 2.0 technologies in the mobile space.  Trolltech’s deep understanding of open source software and its strong technology assets will enable both Nokia and others to innovate on our device platforms while reducing time-to-market. This acquisition will also further increase the competitiveness of S60 and Series 40″ Kai Öistämö, Executive Vice President, Devices, Nokia

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As we reported was in the pipeline in late December last year, Google and Japanese carrier NTT DoCoMo have reached an agreement whereby Google-powered searches will be the default through the operator’s i-mode portal, keyword based AdWords advertising will be included on search results pages, and handsets will have improved access to Google’s online application suite.  Initially, Google Maps will be preloaded on all handsets and, for those devices with full browsers, Google will be the preset homepage; subsequently Gmail, YouTube and Picasa will all be integrated into the i-mode system.

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The long-awaited (and once delayed) FCC auction for the so-called “beach-front” 700MHz wireless band begins today, with the shortlist (that, at 214 members, isn’t all that short) of potential bidders each hoping to take away one of the five blocks of prime spectrum.  Block C is the most hotly contested, due to its breadth (22MHz) and clustered regions, with big-name players including Google, Verizon Wireless and AT&T all tipped to be interested.

Three rounds of bidding will take place each business day, with information about the highest bid - though not the bidder who has placed it - distributed among participants; there is no set end-date, and the auction ends when no further bids are placed.  Each block has a reserve price: block A at $1.81bn; block B at $1.37bn; block C at $4.64bn; block D at $1.33bn; and block E at $904m, and if those figures fail to be met then a second auction will be scheduled with new reserve prices.

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