CompuLab has just introduced the exeda Android-powered handset. This mobile device has a very high usability and an abundance of both wired and wireless connectivity. Designed as an enterprise digital assistant (EDA), the exeda has guaranteed long-term availability and can be custom configured when ordered in volume.
exeda offers an open source u-boot bootloader, full BSP’s, 10/100Base-T Ethernet port, JTAG interface, RS-232 and an unlocked SIM. It is easy to see what is going on with the 3.5-inch VGA sun-readable touchscreen display. At the bottom there is a five-row full QWERTY keyboard with a unique capacitive touchpad acting as a mouse. Connectivity includes quad band GSM/GPRS, CDMA or 3G UMTS, 802.11g WLAN, Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR, 2 USB ports and a RS-232 port. CompuLab also provides extensions with a 100Base-T Ethernet through RJ45 connector, SDIO socket and JTAG header.
Other connectivity devices for exeda will be provided by 3rd parties and will include a Marvell PXA270 520MB CPU, 128MB RAM, 2 banks of internal FLASH that are 512MB each, 2-megapixel camera with flash, GPS with built-in and external antennas, microSD socket with SDHC support, built-in microphone and speaker + 3.5mm stereo jack and a high capacity 3000mAh battery. This device will be available running Android, Windows Mobile 6.1, Windows CE 6 and Angstrom Linux. Availability is set for March of 2009 with pricing to come soon.
The thing may be ugly, but if they manage to fit all this into a "phone" that is only 0.6" thick, I'll be impressed. This isn't designed to be an everyday consumer phone. Given all the ports and possible extensions, it seems like it is designed mainly for tech-related users who want something that can easily interface with various devices (tech support jobs, for example). It can be customized in bulk orders too, which brings up a lot of possiblities.
It may not be for everyone, but if they manage to actually bring this to market I'll be quite impressed.