If China Mobile can have its special version of Android (OPhone), so can its fierce competitor – China Unicom. The carrier, which BTW is China’s second largest, is working toward developing what they call the “uPhone” platform that again sits on top of Google’s mobile OS. As you can see from the image above, devices running this “version” of Android will have a new UI which borrows elements from Apple’s iOS and Samsung’s TouchWIZ.
In addition to the new look and feel, China Unicom is also planning a special app store called Unistore that will be “compatible with the Android Market.”
First uPhones should hit the market at some point in the third or fourth quarter of the year. In the meantime, we’ll watching for any leaks that come from major OEMs, which I’m sure are working round the clock as we speak, even though the platform doesn’t seem complete at the moment.
Personally, I like uPhone’s look and feel but I do wonder whether it infringes on some of Apple or Samsung’s patents…
[Via: Unwired View]