Apparently, there are other people who have a pre-release unit of T-Mobile’s G1 aside from that one person we saw holding it out in the open the other day. Rumor has it that someone also showed off his/her G1 at a bar in the SF Bay Area over the weekend, and there was supposedly an Amazon music and video store app running on it.
Such an app would be Google’s answer to Apple’s iTunes music store for the iPhone, although it’s still unclear how exactly the process of purchasing music and videos with it will work.
Amazon sells digital wares online through the AmazonMP3 online digital music store, and this could very well be the service which the app in question here integrates with in Android. We’ll know for sure by the upcoming T-Mobile announcement, or if not, then by Amazon when it makes an announcement regarding this itself.
We have waited quite a while for the first Android-driven phone. And, from the looks of it, the wait is finally going to get over. Spy caps of the HTC Dream, the first mobile running on Google’s famed open source mobile OS, have surfaced. Since there has been enough traction on this front over the last few months, we would just try refreshing your memory on some of its key specs. It has a full QWERTY keypad and the touchscreen is based on Haptic technology. The keypad is swivel-based as you can make out from the photos. We’re just hoping T-Mobile, the brand launching HTC’s Dream, won’t keep us twiddling our fingers for long.
Although HTC dream has been delayed a lot, still HTC seems to have been working constantly on it and finally the HTC Dream has been approved by the FCC.
The headset has been listed as ‘Dream’ with model number “DREA100″. It will include the Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR technology and the initial testing has been performed on GSM/GPRS/EDGE 850/1900 and WCDMA 1700 bands (where the last one is the T-Mobile’s preferred 3G frequency). It has also received the 802.11b/g WiFi Interoperability Certificate.
The HTC Dream has many times been referred as ‘the Google Phone’ and if the rumors are to be considered true then Google’s promise of their phone coming this yearcould be considered as true?
As mentioned before the HTC Dream will have many features which will distinguish it from other phones:
time-sensitive touch gestures: Hold down your finger longer, and the area you’re controlling expands
easy navigation with icons for e-mail, text documents and YouTube along the top of the screen
virtual machine for true multitasking. Applications can launch once during a session, then reside in the background
The N.Y.Times is reporting that T-Mobile will be the first carrier to carry a handset running Google’s Android platform. This phone is being developed and manufactured by HTC and will be coming out before Christmas - possibly even as early as October. The phone, which folks on the net have been calling the “Dream”, will have a touch-screen display and a full slide-out keyboard. A video of a supposed HTC dream handset appeared on YouTube recently - and sources to the NYTimes have confirmed this is indeed the phone coming out for T-Mobile.
Android based handsets (or smartphones) will directly compete against handsets such as the Apple iPhone, Windows Mobile handsets, and Research in Motion BlackBerry devices. Google is making the Android OS free to all companies part of the Open Handset Alliance as it hopes that Android will accelerate its penetration into the mobile market.
T-Mobile’s HTC phone is expected to be the only Android phone available in the U.S. this year. Sprint is also working closely with Google in developing an Android-based handset.
HTC Dream (if at all it is!) looks a little disappointing in the video but nevertheless, is an interesting product. However, one can’t really conclude anything from the low quality videos that we always get before new phones are released. The sidekick looks like a white version of the Imate Ultimate 9150 and not quite like an HTC. The QWERTY and the large touch screen are definitely a plus and the phone seems like an advanced version of the Android. Whatever the product is, we will get to hear about it very soon. Also, it could just be a rumor and that’s it, without a grain of truth in it. We would definitely be curious to hear about further developments and news about this interesting phone.
Ah there’s nothing like the good ol rumor mill to fill up the news stories on an otherwise boring Monday. This one isn’t exactly juicy per se.. but it’s interesting nevertheless - at least to T-Mobile users. A number of websites (probably all eventually citing the same source I bet) are reporting that T-Mobile will roll out their 3G service on October 1st in 20+ cities across the country. To make things even more interesting, some are speculating that the company will also announce their first Android based mobile phone that very same day. And what might that first Android phone be for T-Mobile? Rumors have it that it’s the HTC Dream.
Of course, all this is pure speculation at this point. There’s also speculation that the company will introduce three other phones at the 3G launch including the Sony Ericsson Z780, a Samsung handset, and the Motorola ZINE ZN5. Now what cities might get 3G support? They include Atlanta; Austin, Texas; Birmingham, Ala.; Chicago; Dallas; Denver; Detroit; Houston; Las Vegas; Los Angeles; Memphis,Tenn.; Miami; Minneapolis; Long Island, N.Y.; Orlando, Fla.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; Portland, Ore.; Sacramento, Calif.; San Diego; San Francisco; Seattle; Tampa, Fla.; and Washington, D.C.
3G rollout for T-Mobile would definitely be welcome news to the carrier - but how many people would actually care about an Android phone (aside from Google employees!)?
