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Canadians to get Android phones in June

Updated at 7:21 a.m. PDT with comment from Rogers.

Dominant Canadian carrier Rogers Wireless announced plans to release two phones in June built by Taiwanese manufacturer HTC and powered by Google's Android open-source operating system.

The HTC Dream, sold in the United States as the T-Mobile G1, was the first Android phone to go on sale last year, but now the newer HTC Magic, which lacks the G1's flip-out keyboard and uses a touch-screen software keyboard instead, has begun arriving in parts of the world. Rogers will sell both in June, the company said Thursday.

"Both devices offer outstanding wireless Internet search capabilities and a full suite of applications that run two times faster on Canada's fastest mobile network," John Boynton, Rogers Wireless' chief marketing officer, boasted in a statement Thursday.

The Rogers Wireless Android phone Web site said the debut date is June 2, but the company offered no information about prices or subscription plans.

"Regarding pricing, it will be released soon, but in the meantime, I can confirm that customers who activate or upgrade to a HTC Dream or HTC Magic smartphone will be able to take advantage of Rogers Wireless' in-market pricing," spokeswoman Elizabeth Hamilton said. "And I can also confirm that customers can choose from contract or no-contract pricing."

Rogers' 3.5G network reaches 75 percent of Canada's population, she added. … Read more

Pacific Coast Dream Machine:
Build it and they will come

Many car shows feature production vehicles of past and present. But at the Pacific Coast Dream Machine event in Half Moon Bay, Calif., the sky's the limit when it comes to determining which cars will be on display.

From custom cars to tricked-out trucks, and races involving little more than an engine on wheels, the event is a hit for any automotive enthusiast who subscribes to the "build it and they will come" business model. The 19th annual show took place on April 26.

Sizing up new high-end machines from HP, Apple

Last week, I attended a press event in Los Angeles hosted by Hewlett-Packard's workstation business unit. Hewlett-Packard was preparing for this week's announcement of three new Z-series workstation models: the Z400, Z600, and Z800.

HP briefed the reporters and analysts with all the key details of the products (the speeds and feeds, as we say), took us to visit a couple of HP's key customers in the area, and hosted presentations by software partners and more customers.

The workstations are very nice, especially the Z600 and Z800: high-quality dual-processor systems based on Intel's newest Xeon 5500… Read more

Sony Dream Machine for cheap, humble dreams

With so many of us dreaming on a budget these days, it makes sense that Sony's latest Dream Machine clock radio (the ICF-C414) retails for a measly $20.

Granted, there aren't a lot of bells and whistles to inflate the price--no iPod dock, no CD player, no integrated sounds of pastoral splendor to rouse you from restful slumber. Nope, instead Sony's keeping this one lean and mean with an AM/FM radio, buzzer, automatic time set, daylight-saving time adjustment, snooze button, battery backup, and 1.4-inch LED clock.

The Sony Dream Machine ICF-C414 may be short on … Read more

Google stuffs staffers' stockings with the G1

Google Australia employees--and those in many other countries--received an HTC Dream Android phone as a holiday gift.

"We've never developed anything like the Android software before, so this represented a unique opportunity to celebrate that achievement," a Google representative told ZDNet Australia on Monday.

Apart from spreading holiday cheer, having all the employees using the phone would help make Android better, the representative added. "Giving the Dream phone to Googlers also allows us to once again dog-food a product and make it even better."

Other Australians won't have to wait long for their own … Read more

Assessing Android's potential in 2009

Perhaps one of the most exciting developments in the cell phone industry this year was the final release of the T-Mobile G1 (also known as the HTC Dream), and with it, the first commercial version of the Android operating system.

Even though we thought the G1 itself left much to be desired, we were impressed overall at the potential of the Android OS, and encouraged that Google's Open Handset Alliance might finally move the open-source platform forward. But, of course, Google faces great challenges ahead just in terms of market share--Symbian and Windows Mobile have a huge stake in … Read more

The 404 251: Where we're innocent when we dream

What better way to close out 2008 than with Steve Guttenberg in the studio? Steve joins Wilson, Caroline, and I to reflect back on a year of mostly upsetting news. We dive deep into Steve's twisted banana-pilfering dreams and try and figure out the man behind The Audiophiliac.

2008 may have been a terrible year for planet Earth, but it was a great one for The 404. We want to thank all of our dedicated listeners, fans, chatroom buddies, and anyone who has ever called or wrote in to the show. The 404 is nothing without you and we … Read more

Classic winter screensaver

The animations may look a little antiquated in this digitized screensaver, but the effects are nevertheless satisfying. Snow-covered hills and a lakeside cabin are two of the twelve backgrounds you can choose in the settings drop-down menu. You'll also have control over the speeds and backgrounds in this trial, and the randomizer that builds each scene slightly differently at each cycle is appreciated.

Falling snow, flying birds, and in some cases, chimney smoke, emerge after the initial layering, perhaps a bit too energetically for some tastes. The musical track is overdue for some refinement, but we love that registered … Read more

White T-Mobile G1 on sale now

On Monday, T-Mobile set free the white version of the T-Mobile G1, joining the previously released black and bronze models. The white G1 will cost the same as the others at $179.99 with a two-year contract and is available online and in stores.

According to Silicon Alley Insider and DigiTimes, HTC, the manufacturer of the first Google Android smartphone, expects to ship 1 million G1s by the end of 2008, which is 67 percent more than its original estimate of 600,000. It's unclear how the sales break down in terms of region and demographics, but it's … Read more