A Peek at Lenovo's iPhone-Like Android Phone

As we've noted before, the T-Mobile G1 or "Google phone," based on Android, is doing better than expected. In 2009, many Android phones are going to be appearing, and as applications and innovative designs proliferate, they could give the iPhone a run for its money. Today, photos are appearing of Lenovo's Ophone, which is an Android phone that it has slated for delivery in China. Does this thing look exactamundo like the iPhone or what?

You can take a gander at Lenovo's Android phone at modmyGphone. (The photo is apparently a leak.) As you can see there, it looks far less like the G1 than it looks like the iPhone. According to modmyGphone, "OPhone is a codename for phones that will be based on China Mobile's OMS(Open Mobile System) which is essentially Android + TD SCDMA (China's home-grown 3G standard)."

There aren't official specs for this phone yet, but we do know it will be a 3G Android-based phone and it sure looks like an iPhone touchscreen-like interface will be central to it. As noted by Electronista, Apple already tried to shimmy the iPhone into China, but China Mobile refused to share profits with a foreign company.

My guess is this phone could be very low-priced compared to the iPhone, with a very similar look, cool factor and interface. I wonder how long it will take for Lenovo, or a copycat, to deliver an Android phone like this in the U.S. I also wonder if this will be the first real test of the patents Apple has on the design of both the iPhone and its touchscreen interface.