
Samsung Omnia hackers have managed to get Google’s Android OS to boot up on the normally Windows Mobile device. Maybe that Android-powered Omnia rumour could end up coming true, albeit via the back door.
The Samsung Omnia is a great phone but for many people it is just a bit too
Windows Mobiley. Not entirely its fault - it does after all run Windows Mobile - but the lack of support for Google’s Android operating system has irked a group of coders enough that an experimental port of the OS has been released for the Omnia i900.
So far, all that coders at the
MoDaCo Forums have managed is to get the phone to dual-boot with WinMo and Android. Lack of device drivers for the Samsung Omnia hardware means that only basic functionality like touchscreen access and the clock widget is possible at the moment - luxuries like actually making phone calls will have to wait a while.
Trying this out for yourself is a bit of a chore and will require a functioning Linux system to format the microSD card containing the OS correctly (the developers say you can just use an
Ubuntu Live CD if you don’t have a Linux box of your own) and is probably only worth it if you are really curious. Running Android won’t damage your phone, though, as nothing is actually installed onto the hardware itself.
We have no idea if this will go anywhere - or if Samsung may decide to crush it with a takedown notice - but judging by the MoDaCo forums at least, an Android-powered Omnia seems like a popular idea. Over to you, Samsung.
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