2 + 8 = Glass: Android Desktop Phone Seeking Market Entry

The California startup Cloud Telecomputers has transplanted the Android GUI with its touchscreen onto an 8" diagonal business phone display. Apart from the 800 x 600 pixel resolution, the company hasn't made too many of its hardware specifications public. Only that the device has a USB connection to a computer, provides another USB port for peripherals and includes a handset and speakerphone for analog or Fast Ethernet with a maximum 100-MByte transfer rate. Two ports have Ethernet so that you can connect the phone to the LAN and the computer to the phone. Power over Ethernet (PoE) also precludes the need for a power chord.

On the inside, the phone has dual system-on-chip (SoC) configuration. The SoC with the OMAP processor from Texas Instruments is the Android carrier that handles the display and touchscreen. The other SoC is the VoIP, SIP and audio processor. Both are connected by an internal IP network. The VoIP system runs a telephony server over an API to Android and the Android side has a corresponding telephony client.

The San Francisco company's announcement appeals to OEMs and resellers. The former can obtain CAD diagrams, schematics and material lists for the device. Included are the Android-based operating system and APIs, a development environment, client software for Windows and MAC, and update and support services. Resellers can obtain the hardware and software from Cloud Telecomputers and can apply their own logo to the SIP phones. Bluetooth integration even allows pairing with your mobile phone. The desktop phone should also work seamlessly with the Salesforce customer relationship manager and Outlook, when it comes to the calendar.