While we did have an inkling of this in advance, we are still a bit awed by the news that Olive Telecom has announced the launch of an Android Gingerbread phone in India, one that apparently is just 9.9 mm thick, and sports HSPA (14.4 Mbps) connectivity – the OliveSmart V-S300. Olive is calling the device the first HSPA smartphone in the country, though we’re more excited about it featuring the latest Android phone-specific operating system – one that was just introduced with the platform lead device, the Google Nexus S.
On paper the OliveSmart is certainly well endowed, with the “ultra-slim” bodied phone boasting of a 4.1-inch capacitive multi-touch screen with a 800×480 pixel resolution, a 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon MSM8255 processor along with the Adreno 205 graphics engine, 512MB RAM and 2GB ROM, a 5MP rear camera (with flash and auto-focus) and front facing VGA camera for video-calling, along with a 1400 mAh battery.
[RELATED_ARTICLE]Other features include a dual microphone arrangement for active “Fluence” noise cancellation, 720p HD video recording and playback, 3.5 mm audio jack and HDMI-D port, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth v2.1 connectivity along with DLNA, as well as GPS/accelerometer/ambient light/digital compass sensors, and 2GB onboard storage along with microSD expandability up to 32GB. Add-on features include Live TV (Zenga), document editor, push-email and an e-book reader.
As for availability, the OliveSmart should hit streets in about a month, a couple of weeks after MWC. The early previews of the product revealed it currently runs Froyo, and will get a 2.3 upgrade soon after launch. It will be priced at roughly Rs. 20,000.