MARKET BUZZ Android phones

Android phones buzzing the market

Top 5 Android phones buzzing the market
By Benny Thomas
After its launch couple of years back, smartphones featuring Google’s Android operating system are today becoming a preferred choice for mobile users across the globe. According to NPD Group, the unit sales for Android smartphones ranked second among all smartphone OS handsets sold in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2010. BlackBerry OS and the iPhone OS ranked first and third respectively. So, which are the top five phones powered by Google’s Android that are creating a buzz in the smartphone market?

Motorola Droid
This is one phone that many believe can give the toughest competition to Apple’s iPhone. The phone is distributed exclusively by Verizon Wireless in U.S., which promoted the Droid as an iPhone-alternative. The phone features 3.7-inch 854×480 touchscreen display with a 5-megapixel low light capable digital camera and a full QWERTY physical keyboard. The Motorola Droid runs Android version 2.1 and comes with a 16GB microSD memory card.

Droid is powered by ARM Cortex A8 CPU clocked at 600Mhz, the same processor that powers the iPhone 3GS and the Omnia HD. Motorola has christened the phone as Milestone in India, which is expected to be launched soon with a speculative price tag of around Rs.34,000.

HTC Legend
The Legend is touted to be the successor to the HTC Hero, which was on the top five smartphones list from 2009. The HTC Legend comes with several improvements, which include an optical trackball, aluminum unibody enclosure, a slightly faster processor and more RAM. Most importantly, it runs on Android OS 2.1 (Eclair), while the Hero was launched with Android OS, v1.5 (Cupcake).

The 3.2-inch AMOLED screen is slightly smaller than that of an iPhone, but supports the same resolution of 320×480 pixels. HTC Legend was launched in India in April this year at a price of Rs. 25,990, while the Hero was launched at Rs. 31,990.

Nexus One
The much awaited phone developed by Google is codenamed ‘HTC Passion’, it is manufactured by HTC and hit the market early this year. Google currently offers Nexus One on the T-Mobile and AT&T networks in the U.S. Nexus One has a 3.7 inch AMOLED screen with PenTile matrix pixel arrangement. The phone features a 5-megapixel auto-focus camera with LED flash and digital zoom, GPS receiver, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR, and 802.11b/g WiFi capabilities.

The Snapdragon processor in the phone allows for advanced capabilities including 720p video playback. Though Google has officially not launched the phone in India, those interested to buy it can do so by taking the online route for around Rs. 34,000.

Acer Stream
Though Acer is a relatively new entrant in the smartphone arena, with just three phones under its belt, its large presence in the PC market can help the company to compete with the top smartphone players. Acer’s third Android phone comes with several improvements over its predecessors Acer Liquid, and the Liquid E. It features a 3.7 inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, capable of 480 x 800 pixels and it runs Android OS, 2.1 (Eclair).

The phone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 1GHz processor and is capable of recording 720p videos with its 5-megapixel camera. The Acer Stream comes with 2GB memory built-in, with a free 8GB memory card in the box and it supports microSD cards up to 32GB. The phone’s launch date in India is yet to be announced.

Samsung Galaxy S
This is the first Samsung phone that comes with the Android operating system. It features a 4-inch AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, which is capable of displaying 16 million colours. The phone is powered by 1GHz ARM Cortex A8 processor and also features 5-megapixel autofocus camera, capable of recording 720p video footage at 30fps.

The Samsung I9000 Galaxy S will come in two versions, with 8GB and 16GB of internal memory respectively and they will both have a microSD card slot. Launched just few days back with a price tag of Rs.28,000, the phone has the potential to take on the big guys in the space.