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Thursday, May 19

Cheap Android Phones : Huawei Ideos - upcoming affordable Android smartphone with Froyo



Huawei hasn’t exactly impressed with their previous two Android phones but this one looks like a disruption for sure – Ideos - dubbed "the world’s first affordable smartphone" will be priced at less than Rs 10,000 ($100-$200) and comes loaded with Android 2.2. It should be a very interesting phone to watch out for when it launches in India, as most of the Androids (except for HTC Desire) here are running Android 2.1 or lower. Only 5% of Android devices presently have Froyo according to Google. Support for Android 2.2 Froyo means Wi-Fi and USB tethering, voice dialing, voice navigation, and the ability to run applications off the SD card, with speed enhancements all wrapped up in the latest stock UI - the Ideos should be able to hold its own against the UI customisations made by other brands with stock Android 2.2 running on a QVGA screen.  
Ideos has a smaller 2.8 inch QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) screen, which now seems to be the only differentiating factor that seperates high-end and low-end Android phones. Other specs of note: 528 MHz processor, a 3-megapixel camera, support for 3G, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0,and 32GB MicroSD cards. Engadget's recent hands-on with the phone notes generally improved responsiveness and touch sensitivity, so we have our hopes up. If you were holding out for an affordable Android phone, you might want to wait for this. From the video it seems like Ideos has been made in close collaboration with Google.

Update: Sources tell us that the IDEOS will be available in India by Diwali this year