INQ confirms Android move

INQ late Thursday confirmed through a speech at the Mobilize conference that the company's next wave of phones would use Android. Company chief Frank Meehan provided few details but said INQ would have "pretty cool things" in store for these devices. As current INQ phones use proprietary but conventionally limited operating systems, though, the move would have INQ enter into smartphones for the first time and give it access to full third-party apps as well as Google's full feature set.

The British company's cellphones usually focus heavily on social networking, such as Facebook and Twitter, and often include mini apps for other modern online features, like Last.fm music streaming. The Chat 3G has so far been its most advanced phone through its GPS and QWERTY keyboard but is considered a messaging phone rather than a true smartphone.

The adoption not only pushes the cellphone market further towards control by smartphones but consolidates it more towards Android, which is increasingly complementing general platforms like Symbian or Windows Mobile and is in some cases replacing platforms outright. The Google-made OS is typically less expensive to license than the older platforms and is also efficient enough to run smoothly on lower-end hardware.

By Electronista Staff

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industry, Google, Symbian, Windows Mobile, Android, Facebook, Last.fm, mobile phones, Twitter, INQ