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Android, Google’s open source mobile operating system is expected to be much talked about this week at Mobile World Congress.
There is anticipation of new handsets supporting the OS, but early signs such that heavyweight offerings from the likes of Samsung and Motorola will not appear this week.
Still silicon support for Android continues with early announcements from Broadcom and Texas Instruments.
Broadcom is showing its first mobile phone reference design platform based on the Android Open Source Project in Barcelona this week.
The chip firm has highlighted features such as a 720p high-definition (HD) camcorder, a video player with HDMI output to HDTVs, and up to 12 megapixel digital still cameras with advanced face tracking, smile and blink detection.
According to Mark Casey, v-p & general manager of Broadcom's mobile multimedia line of business: “The VideoCore III mobile multimedia architecture enables users to capture, play and upload high definition video, shoot high quality photos up to 12 megapixels, and play advanced 3D games, providing a fully immersive wireless web 2.0 experience.”
Texas Instruments is demonstrating Android running on its announced OMAP 3 mobile development platform.
TI like Broadcom is working with the Open Handset Alliance to address the need to support high definition multimedia, enhanced imaging, and 2D/3D hardware-accelerated graphics for Android-based devices.
TI has launched online resources to help OMAP developers further innovate and collaborate on the Android platform.