October 2009
1 post
The New Wave of Android Phones
It seems like the devices that didn’t materialize last holiday season will be here for this one. Offerings from Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Dell are on the way.
Most sport physical keyboards and the Android 2.0 operating system. PC World has a comprehensive overview of the wave of phones, with highlights and pictures.
July 2009
2 posts
Acer launching Android phone by September
via Digitimes:
Acer plans to launch four smartphones, the A1, C1/E1, F1 and L1… The A1 is an Android-powered model, while the other three are based on Windows Mobile platform, the sources noted.
You can find more coverage and a photo of the A1 at Engadget. Acer joined the Open Handset Alliance early last month.
Google on the go? A (decent) guide to using an...
Google on the Go: Using an Android-powered Mobile Phone
I found it interesting that such a comprehensive, easy to read guide was out on the market, and prevalently advertised on the web. Definitely worth checking out for those of you interested in learning more about the benefits and usability of the Google Android.
Anyways, check it out if it tickles your fancy. More exciting updates to...
March 2009
1 post
Qigi i6 Goal Reseller Spotted
It looks like a company called Cellstar MobileNet is starting to sell the Qigi i6, the smartphone we learned about late last year that’s shipping in both Windows Mobile and Android variants. The Windows Mobile version is called the “win” and the Android version is called the “goal.” The price listed is 2380 yuan, or roughly USD $348. No word yet on European or US...
January 2009
2 posts
Kogan Agora Launch Delayed Indefinitely
From The Age:
The Melbourne consumer electronics maker who promised to release the first Google phone in Australia by the end of this month has delayed the launch indefinitely, citing “potential future interoperability issues”. “The Agora reached a very late stage of development, manufacturing had commenced and we were within days of shipping the product to customers. But it...
December 2008
9 posts
HKC Pearl - Clone of a Clone?
There are pictures on the Chinese engadget site of a new phone called the HKC Pearl. There’s also a pretty negative blog post about it, and a YouTube video of the phone in action.
Like the Qigi i6, the manufacturer claims the phone is capable of running both Android and Windows Mobile.
Preliminary specifications look like this:
2.8″ QVGA touchscreen display
trackball for navigation
...
Lenovo "oPhone" makes an appearance
The Lenovo oPhone has made an appearance over at the modmygphone.com forums.
I’m not sure of the source, but this was quoted in the forum post also:
“With its own operating system, China Mobile will be able to commission customized phones from handset makers and keep its hand strong in negotiations over profit sharing. There is even the possibility that China Mobile may move into...
Huawei Android Phone, Q3 2009
From CNET:
Huawei entered the Android open handset alliance earlier this week, announcing plans to launch smartphones running Google’s new mobile operating system next year.
Announcing the Clonedroidphone.com Forums!
I’m happy to announce the addition of a phpBB-powered forum to Clonedroidphone.com. I’ve set up a general forum, as well as forums relevant to the various manufacturers mentioned in my previous post. So, head over to the forum and join in the Android clone phone discussion!
Clonedroidphone.com Roundup
Here’s a list of manufacturers reportedly developing Android-powered handsets along with name of the phone, if known, and release dates:
Kogan Agora delayed indefinitely
Sciphone Dream G2 December 2008
Qigi i6-Goal Released, distributors unknown (do you know where to buy these?)
Lenovo Q1 2009
TechFaith Q1 2009
Wistron NeWeb Unveiled at CES 2008, release date...
Sciphone Dream G2 Release This Month
From JLM Pacific Epoch on December 2nd:
“Several Chinese handset distributors, including Shenzhen Qunphone Technology, have received trial versions of Android phone “Sciphone Dream G2,” reports 21st Century Business Herald. The dressed-down G1 is soliciting sales channels and may be released for RMB 1,200 (USD $174.59) or less within 10-15 days, said a Shenzhen Qunphone...
The Sciphone Dream G2
Here’s some news I missed: apparently Sciphone (read as: CECT) does indeed have an Android-based phone in production, dubbed the “Dream G2.” Engadget’s cursory review of the phone is less than favorable; the general concern is that with no QWERTY keyboard, and with no known on-screen keyboard input in Android, it’s impossible to type anything into the...
The Qigi i6: Android or Windows Mobile
From AndroidCommunity.com:
The new i6 smartphone will be coming in two versions, one that runs Google’s Android and the other that runs Windows Mobile 6.1. Both versions will be sporting a 2.8-inch 65k color LCD touchscreen and Marvell Monohans 624MHz processor. Other specifications include a 2-megapixel camera, Bluetooth, microSD card slot integrated GPS and Wi-Fi.
Here’s a Google...
Kogan Agora, Android 3g handset, on sale
Kogan Technologies, an Australian electronics retailer, released pictures and began offering pre-orders for its Agora 3G Android-driven handset.
The Agora will cost AU$299, and the Agora Pro will be AU$399. Both are on sale now and will ship to you on January 29th 2009.
This is the first handset release in a series we’ll see as we head into Q1 2009 - very exciting.
November 2008
5 posts
2009 - The Coming Android Explosion
With an Australian Android handset and several Chinese Android phones set for release towards the end of this year and into 2009, I think it’s safe to say we’re looking at an incredible increase in global Android market penetration, particularly in Asian markets.
The concurrent announcement from China Mobile that they will be opening a Chinese “app store” means that not...
Market Researcher: Google Phones Will Overtake...
A fascinating post from this past July, over at googleandblog.com:
“Bill Hughes, from the market research firm In-Stat, predicts in 2009 Google Android phones will have 17.1 million units sold which is almost twice the predicted amount of iPhones at 9.5 million - with the help of China.”
Frequent comparison of the iPhone and Android is a media favorite. Does the scale of...
Smuggled G1 Phones Flooding Beijing
Some interesting news via JLM Pacific Epoch:
“U.S.-ordered G1 handsets have been pouring into China illegally since October 26, and are currently selling for about RMB 3,999 (USD$585.04) in Beijing’s Zhongguancun”
Perhaps this kind of demand in China itself will kickstart third party manufacture of alternative Android platform handsets for the rest of us elsewhere?
China's TechFaith making an Android handset in...
By way of talkandroid.com, originally from Interfaxchina (subscription):
“The development of a prototype Android phone has basically been completed. However, the launch of commercial products is unlikely to happen before the end of this year,” Ji Changxi, a senior vice president of TechFaith, told Interfax.
TechFaith manufactures a wide variety of GSM and CDMA “dual-sim” and...
Android on Openmoko Phones
David J, a reader, points out today: An Openmoko project hacker named Benno seems to have Google Android running on a Neo 1973. The Neo 1973 was the first phone produced by the Openmoko project, an effort to produce a fully open source phone running Linux.
It ain’t exactly running fast yet, and not everything it working 100%, but I think most of the tricky bits are done.
There’s also an...
October 2008
15 posts
Wistron NeWeb's GW4
Earlier this year at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, a Chinese company called Wistron NeWeb debuted a smartphone with all the right features running MontaVista embedded Linux. From the PC Magazine article:
“But according to Wistron spokeswoman Molly Lin, the GW4 will be running Android by March, when Wistron will start selling it to more prominent firms for branding.”
...
Asustek to launch Android handset
From DigiTimes:
“Asustek Computer plans to launch its first Android-based Google phone in the first half of 2009, according to company sources.”
This past September, it was reported that Google invited Asustek into the Open Handset Alliance. Last year Asus released their first 3g Windows Mobile-based smartphone, the M530w, to the UK market.
Android Running on a CECT N96 Clone?
This forum post intimates that a CECT N96 is running a version of Android. I’m still investigating, but this may be the first documented Android-on-clone spotted in the wild.
Here’s the best demo video of the CECT N96 I could find on YouTube, from our Croatian friends over at Red GSM:
The MiPhone M88 - an Android platform?
With a 200Mhz ARM926T TI OMAP 850, the MiPhone M88 seems to meet Android’s minimum hardware requirements. It ships with Windows Mobile 6, costs $258.00 from DealExtreme, and looks like it has the right combination of smartphone essentials - Tri-band GSM 900/1800/1900, 802.11g/b, Bluetooth, 3.2” touch screen.
Though initial reviews are positive, the $258 price point is a bit...
Android Goes Open Source
Google has released the complete Android stack into the wild.
Everything from the C runtime to the kernel to the Dalvik virtual machine has been released as source.
This is a huge step towards implementing Android on 3rd party phone hardware - we’ll have to wait and see where this goes as developers, manufacturers, and enthusiasts get their hands on the source code and start hacking.
“People who own these phones like them a lot… they usually run Nucleus OS...”
– Unanswered clonephone related post from the Android developer group.
The State of Android on Clone Phones Today
Currently, there are several available Android alternative phones:
Android is working on the Neo 1973
Kogan Agora
Qigi i6
Sciphone Dream G2
The 'App store' Paradigm in the Developing World
Typically, the sales model for cell-phone minutes in the developing world is the purchase of minutes on cards. These cards, which are bought in bulk from the local service provider and resold locally, have scratch-off numbers that the user enters in the phone to purchase more minutes.
The iPhone ‘app store’ paradigm breaks down in an environment where credit card billing isn’t...
CECT/SciPhone/HiPhone/Daxian Comparsion →
This page is the best reference I’ve yet found, with a specification breakdown of most commonly available clone phones.
Clonedroid - Running Google Android on Chinese...
Google’s Android smartphone platform, a free, high quality operating system and SDK for cell phones, opens up a world of innovation to ARM-based Chinese iPhone clones. The latest of these phones, such as the Daxian T32, theoretically have the horsepower to compete with Nokia, HTC, and Motorola offerings. What clone phones universally lack is a decent operating system.
I think that the...