Alcatel's Android Phone with a Vertical Sliding QWERTY

The offering of handsets available on the market at the moment with Google's Android operating system on board is diversified for sure, but it seems that this is still not enough for some of the mobile phone makers out there. Alcatel, for example, also aims at entering the Android segment of the market, and it intends to do so with a phone that looks very much like the already available Palm Pre smartphone that runs under the webOS platform.

What does the Android-based Alcatel OT-980 sport in this regard includes a sliding form factor, only that it is a vertical portrait sized QWERTY keyboard that will emerge from under the touchscreen display, and not the side-sliding keypads we are already accustomed with from phones like T-Mobile G1 or Motorola DROID, and which are side-sliding.

The specifications list of the new mobile phone is said to include a 600 MHz processor coupled with 192MB of RAM, a resistive QVGA (240 x 320 pixel) touchscreen display, a 2-megapixel photo snapper, microUSB, Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity options on board, built-in GPS receiver with A-GPS, compass and accelerometer, as well as a microSD memory card slot for additional storage space. The handset is powered by a 1150 mAh battery and should run under Google's Android 1.6 platform.

Support for Android applications from the Android Market will also be there, yet users will only be able to access those software solutions that can run on handsets with QVGA displays, that's for sure. According to the guys over at FrAndroid, the new Android mobile phone from Alcatel is expected to become available for purchase via Orange during the first half of the ongoing year. Considering its specifications, the device should emerge as an entry-level Android phone, and it seems that Alcatel aims at having it priced bellow the HTC Tattoo.

Until more details on this mobile phone from Alcatel emerge into the wild, you might want to check on the video below to see the phone in action.