Android moves to home phone

A COMPANY THAT we had never heard of before had one of the most interesting toys at CES, an Android based home phone. Actually, it is a lot more than that, almost a full PC in a small box, the Nimble by Touch Revolution.

Nimble Android phone

It even looks like a little Nettop/PDA/widget, but the primary purpose is a home VoIP phone. You are looking at the 7-inch model, there are also much less sleek 4.3-inch and 10-inch variants, with the 7-incher being by far the most advanced and polished. The others were basically prototype boxes with all the goodness in the software and screen.

This is OK since Touch Revolution is an ODM. They make the design and sell them to companies who brand, market and co-market them. The devices will be tailored to the individual company that sells to the end user, so it very well may change a lot before you ever see one.

VoIP is just the beginning though, the 'phones' sport capacitive touch screens like the iPhone, and are fully multitouch. They are powered by a Marvell PXA 310 or 320 depending on the version, and have Wi-Fi a/b/g for connectivity.

Since it is Android on ARM, you won't find any lack of apps for it, but you may have to do a little hunting at first. That said, the initial MSRP for the 7-inch version is a mere $300 without any type of contract. Once marketeers get their hands on it, they very well might be nearly free with a net or VoIP service subscription. This could be one hot product. µ