Android gadgets invade CES

 

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By Stuart Turton in Las Vegas

Posted on 9 Jan 2009 at 01:25

The promise of Google's Android mobile operating system looks like it will be fully realised in 2009, with a host of manufacturers taking the OS beyond the smartphone.

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Most promising of all the gadgets on display is the Movit Mini tablet, which the manufacturer GiiNii is targeting directly at the iPod touch audience. The device is not expected to ship until mid next year, but our brief hands on reveals it's already incredibly slick.

Weighing around 0.3kg, it fits easily in the pocket, is Wi-Fi enabled, and features a 4.3in, 480 x 272 touchscreen. The software keyboard works perfectly, allowing you to easily type emails and web addresses, and there's built in Skype support for phonecalls. There's also a webcam, speaker and Bluetooth support.

One downside could be the limited 256MB of onboard memory, though there's a microSD slot allowing expansion. Pricing has yet to be confirmed but will be cheaper than the iPod touch apparently.

Qualcomm was also getting in on the act, displaying Android on its Snapdragon platform. Unlike the Movit Mini there wasn't actually a device to play with, so much as a messy testing rig attached to a screen. However the Snapdragon features a dual-core 1.5Ghz processor and is intended to power netbooks, giving a hint of what Qualcomm thinks it can do with Android.

However, the most ambitious demonstration came from Touch Revolution's Nimble. The Nimble was being demonstrated in tablet form, but the company plans to incorporate the design into dozens of other form factors. Powered by an ARM 600MHz processor, the unit features 128MB of RAM, 512MB of flash memory and either 4.3in, 7in or 10in touchscreen. There's also a two megapixel camera.

Touch Revolution says it is already working with manufacturers to place the Nimble in bedside clocks and landline phones.

Asked to explain the popularity of Android at the show a Touch Revolution spokesperson told us, "we've basically got a developer [Google] that's just done $100m worth of work for us, for free. Touch is supported out of the box, meaning we've got that head start. We're not doing anything clever with the software, we don't have to."