Next week’s GSMA Mobile World Congress in Barcelona is expected to unveil prototype phones based on Google’s Android operating system, a source said on Friday. It will definitely not be the final form that will ultimately reach the consumers, but as a Google spokesman said, it could be a presentation of prototype devices that have been used for testing the platform.

Rumors also have it that Barcelona will the place to offer a sneak preview at its very own device, the “Ghone”, but Google declined to comment, saying however that they have been working with several developers to create handset prototypes.

Google is looking forward to the future possibilities they have to offer to their consumers: “We’re very excited about the momentum behind the platform as demonstrated by the number of companies that are supporting it with their technology,” a spokesman for the company said, as quoted by CNN.com.

ARM was the first to announce a demonstration of prototype phones based on their own processors and Google’s Android operating system, and what better place to do that than at the Mobile World Congress. What was a bit strange was that when Google announced the list of companies to join the Open Handset Alliance, ARM was not among them.

Android is based on the Linux operating system and was first announced on 5 November 2007, and is the result of the collaboration between Google and companies like HTC, Intel, Motorola, T-Mobile, NVIDIA and Qualcomm, all working on developing open standards for mobile devices.

The Mobile World Congress is the number one exhibition for mobile industry in the world, and over 50,000 people are expected to attend this year. Although highly expected, the names of the companies that are planning a demonstration of the Android prototypes on next week’s convention remain uncertain.