Japanese cellular operator Willcom has successfully demonstrated the Google-backed Android mobile OS running on a reference board (a circuit board mimicking handset functionality).  Willcom's demo shows Android's multi-tasking functionality by receiving a call while browsing Google Maps, and gives hungry geeks just a bit more to drool over while pondering the future impact of Google's Open Handset Alliance and the Android platform.

For the rest of us, photos of a phone interface running on a bare circuit board outfitted with a Freescale CPU aren't really very exciting.  But it is cool to see progress on the Android front so soon after it's having been unleashed upon the world.  And seeing multitasking in action should hopefully inspire lots of would-be developers to create all kinds of cool apps for folks to multi-task with.

And if you don't mind translating or ignoring some Japanese, you can see lots of pics from here.