T-Mobile Pulse Mini Brings Cheap, Prepaid Android To Europe [Pulse Mini Will Offer Android 2.1 For $155, Contract-Free]

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While the Android OS is reserved for pricey smart phones with hefty data plans in the US, T-Mobile is now offering Android 2.1 in a prepaid mobile phone in Europe.  The T-Mobile Pulse Mini will sell for £99.99 (about $155 USD after conversion) on a prepaid service plan without a contract.

The T-Mobile Pulse Mini android phone is produced by Huawei, a Chinese telecom device producer, designed for European use including the Euro HSDPA 3G-style data network.  It features a touch-enabled 2.8-inch QVGA display, a Qualcomm MSM 7225 processor and a 3.2 megapixel autofocus camera with flash.  It supports microSD memory cards, allowing up to 16GB of storage beyond the standard 300MB within the unit.

To recap, that’s a contract-free Android 2.1 smartphone with bells and whistles that match many of the higher end smart phones in the US.  Why can’t we get one of these stateside?  You’d have to assume that such open access to the Android platform would increase the size of the app market and provide greater investment into the OS by Google.  Android is growing fast as it is, but an offer like this could make the consumers and developers of Android technology better off.