New SDK from Liquidware Offers New Hardware Possibilities!

Amidst the talk of dishwashers, soap dispensers, tongue depressors, and who knows what else running Android, there seems to be a genuine ignorance for the Android Portable Media Player. We’ve seen a few, like the Samsung Galaxy Player, and the smaller Archos 3.2, but nothing that really struck me as the “for the kids” PMP. It seems that if someone were to focus on an easy to use, inexpensive device like that, it would really sell. Maybe the reason it doesn’t exist is development cost. After all, Samsung and Archos just took their existing work and made a less advanced device. Perhaps its just the beginning expense. The guys at Liquidware seen to think so, because they have released a new Open Sourced Hardware SDK specifically to help with these kinds of problems.

The Android Modular Gadget Platform is the first commercially available modular development kit based entirely on open source software and hardware reference designs, and is specifically designed for rapid prototyping Android based systems. The SDK focuses on 5 interconnectable modules, OLED touchscreen, ARM board, extended capacity lithium ion battery, USB hub, and wifi (G only it seems). This seems very much like the kind of package I would expect to see in a small handheld device that offered basic multimedia functions, or even a low end phone.

Obviously there are more possibilities with an SDK like this than just a PMP, that’s just a recent gripe of mine as we get closer to christmas (I have a secret agenda to replace my families iCrap with Androids… got everyone but the kids). With the creative minds out there, an SDK like this could turn out some really cool things, and I am looking forward to seeing what they are.

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