Sharp Galapagos Tablet Could Have Android When It Hits USA This Summer

The Sharp Press Conference at CES 2011 was amazingly crowded and although the company didn’t overtly mention Android, they could have slipped in a gem. They focused mostly on televisions and displays along with 3D, color optimization, and efficiency, but an interesting couple of devices called the Sharp Galapagos Tablet may have a dose of hidden Android:

While the versions you see above and below are running on Linux, Sharp officials personally explained that versions launching in the United States this summer COULD be loaded with Android. And what a beautiful thing THAT would be. Below check out the actual announcement of the GALAPAGOS along with some pics:

Here is what Sharp had to say about their “E-Media Tablet and Cloud-Based E-Bookstore”:

Sharp is showcasing GALAPAGOS e-media tablet and cloud-based bookstore service now available in Japan. Sharp will initiate an e-media business including both tablet and content offerings in the US in 2011. The GALAPAGOS e-media tablet, with a 16:9 touchscreen LCD and rich graphic capabilities is a dynamic portal to an array of print and video content over WiFi service. The GALAPAGOS tablet and e-bookstore service will offer consumers wide access to e-books, movies, games, and music. Consumers will also be able to schedule automatic delivery of periodicals such as newspapers and magazines. This content will be available in Sharp’s proprietary XMDF format, which enhances viewing of digital content by allowing its layout to be adjusted for easy reading, as well as the popular ePub format. All downloaded content is stored on a MicroSD card, so users can enjoy reading e-books even outside of a WiFi environment.

We’ll have to wait until summer to see if Android will sneak itself into the GALAPAGOS shell, but we’ll hope it does until then.