RSSGlass: Android for office phones
By Tim Conneally | Published August 19, 2009, 9:12 PM
Earlier this year, we took a look at a desktop phone running Android built by California startup Touch Revolution. While that device provided a look into the potential application of the OS in fixed telephony, the devices we saw were running a version of Android almost indistinguishable from the publicly available build.
Today, Cloud Telecomputers has debuted a completely unique build of Android as a part of its Glass "telecomputer" platform. The company's reference design has the Android environment running on a TI OMAP processor, and all telephony (VoIP and DSP, SIP Stack and Voice Codecs) being handled by a separate Audiocodes processor.
"Our approach allows us to focus on innovation, continually increasing the functionality of the Glass platform, while our partners concentrate their resources on branding, selling and tailoring applications for vertical markets." said Ravin Suri, Cloud Telecomputers CTO.
With Android running the front end, Cloud Telecomputers is leaving the door open for third-party or in-house application development. Naturally, the platform comes with its own unique suite of apps (screen sharing, visual voicemail, voice to text and salesforce.com integration), but the value is in Android's extensibility.
"By basing Glass on Google's Android, we have provided users with access to the entire world of Android apps. Instead of asking users to conform to proprietary standards, we feel that the value of Glass is maximized by working with applications that are already available. New Android applications are being created every day, and Android's user-supported development community is constantly growing," the company said.
Furthermore, because the Glass platform offers an open API, licensees can actually develop and build their own apps and sell them to other Glass users, or go a step further and create their own desktop app store specifically for Glass.
Certainly interesting. I'd rather see development of smart deskphones along a completely open standard, but this is pretty close. And it sure beats having WindowsMobile on them.
Despite my desire for open systems, the key for any office phone will be compatibility with MS Exchange and Outlook and the CRM system. Many advanced companies have basically made the phone a 'dumb' peripheral with the controls running on the user's computer and totally integrated into their address book, email and CRM systems.
If that is the way companies go, there is no need for a separate system on the phone. Home phones are less likely to have a computer next to them and on, though. Build in a video chat camera and you could have an interesting consumer product.
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|wow. that is pretty cool. Kicks the crap out of the Cisco phones we have here.
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