Prototypes of Google’s Android

Prototypes of mobile phones using Google’s Android platform are on display at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona this week; they’re built by companies such as Texas Instruments, ARM, and Qualcomm. A short video clip of one of the phones in action is here.

A few months ago, the Web was ecstatic with rumors of a “GPhone”–a piece of hardware made by Google that would compete with Apple’s iPhone. Instead, in November Google announced Android, an open-source mobile operating system that could allow developers to build better Web applications for mobile devices. (See “Google Announces Mobile Plans.”) Android has an impressive group of companies backing it, but so far, the project is in very early stages, and there’s no way to say how the platform will fare in the competitive mobile market.