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Sharp has introduced an Android-powered mobile Internet device and the IS01 packs a few nice specs.
The device is technically a “smartbook” – a class that’s in between a smartphone and a laptop. It’s supposed to have the portability and long battery life of a phone but the comfortable keyboard and large screen size of a mobile computer. The Android device rocks a 5-inch capcative touch display at 960 by 480 resolution and there’s a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor inside. No definite word on pricing yet but we’ll update this once we get more information.
It looks like it will rock Android 1.6 during next month’s launch, as the developer version is available today and asks content creators to make programs with that flavor. There’s also a develop SDK that will give devs access to things like the LED flashlight, the data transfer via infrared and other goodies. It should also have access to the Android Market, although some of those apps may not be optimized for the IS01.
I’m not too excited about this device but I do like that Android is finding its way on to more devices than just phones. We may soon see that little green robot in TVs, cars and I can’t wait to see what Verizon and Google have up its sleeves with the tablet form factor.
[Via Pocketables]
About The Author
Marin Perez
Marin Perez has torture tested cell phones and smartphones for industry leaders like CNET and InformationWeek. He remembers when 4G was just a screen on PowerPoint presentations and is fascinated with the amount of innovation out there. Marin has spent a lot of time with BlackBerry and Android but he finally broke down a bought an iPhone to see what all the hype's about. He also has too many tablets.
