With No Plans to Hit the US Market

Another Android Mod for China
Just announced at The 2010 CES: The Lenovo LePhone A Mash-up of Android, Palm & iPhone, to hit the Chinese market.

Just like many of the phones we have seen go off to China, the Lenovo LePhone is based on the Android 2.1 OS. It will, however, be a modified version in order have the ability to offer up the 3G and WiFi services on the Chinese WCDMA band. Any phones wishing to offer these advanced services must allow the modifications to the OS so it is compatible with the Chinese network because of a long standing ban on the services.

Unfortunately, allowing the modifications means one huge Android based service will not be present when the LePhone is finally released… The Android Market. As a matter of fact, the LePhone is restricted greatly in this area as the phone is not compatible at all for applications of any kind.

What LePhone DOES Have
Well, like I mentioned, it is a watered down adapted version of the Android 2.1 OS, made compatible for use with the WCDMA network in China. Because LePhone follows the Chinese rules, it will offer 3G and WiFi services. It is also compatible with on-screen widgets instead of applications.

On the inside it will have the much talked about Qualcomm 1Gb Snapdragon Processor along with all the rest of the usual smartphone offerings such as Bluetooth, GPS, Camera, and more. In fact, this phone sports two cameras, one on the front for Video and one on the back for still shots. The Photo cam is a 3 megapixel with LED flash. This dual cam setup is nothing new to China, as it is seen on all the knock-offs that come out of the country. Maybe other countries will catch on…

The Physical aspects of the phone : It is only 12 mm thick and 60mm wide, making it for one of the thinnest phones around. It also has a 3.5mm jack and no buttons at all. Not even touch sensitive keys but instead relies on a Palm WebOS like touch sensitive interface. And it also has a Palm inspired card view task manager and an iPhone inspired on-screen menu. The display size is 3.7″ and is an AMOLED display with am impressive 800×480 resolution, great for the Video and the Camera.

And the Verdict Is?
I think some of the best phones make it to China. It’s a shame, though, the Android and any other OS must be modified just to run certain modern and much used services. This modification limits greatly what a pone can do on the Chinese network. Oh well, did we really think a communist country would allow all the great things we have without making it their own? Of course they are going to limit what the products they offer can do, they don’t want their people knowing there is a better world out here…

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