ST Ericsson
S380

The device was a reference design phone for the ST Ericsson S380 / U380 platform. Reference design devices are built as a proof of concept for the engine powering a phone to allow for testing ahead of the technology being deployed in commercial products. We believe the S380 / U380 device was the last platform developed solely by Ericsson Mobile Platforms (EMP) before it transitioned to ST Ericsson. It was manufactured in August 2009 and branded as an ST Ericsson device. Apparently, this touchscreen-enabled platform was originally designed to work with Nokia’s Linux-based Maemo operating system. This proved to be a dead-end as Nokia pivoted to Windows Phone. However, we are told a group of engineers based in Luud started a skunkworks project to port Android onto this device and eventually it had a fully functioning Android boot loader with a rudimentary version of Android. It feels like a case of ‘what could have been’ if ST Ericsson had doubled down on Android earlier. We have few other details about this device and would welcome any information people can share.