The Mobile World Congress 2008 (formerly known as 3GSM) has just kicked off in Barcelona, and the first bit of news to come from the event is a revealing interview with Google’s Rich Miner who talks about the new Google Android platform.

In an interview with Rory Cellan-Jones of the BBC, Miner confirms that there will be prototype Android phones and services on display at MWC, and that the phones themselves will be ready in the second quarter of 2008. He also explained Google’s business model behind Android: provide a free open platform to a new market, and pretty soon the ads will follow. If Google develops that platform, then naturally it will be Google delivering (and profiting from) the ads.

We all knew this, of course, but it’s good to hear it from the horse’s mouth.

We’ll give you pics and details of the new Google Android prototypes as we get them.

[Source: BBC News]