Wireless

Google's gift to staffers: the HTC Dream, or G1, smartphone.

(Credit: James Martin/CNET Networks)

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 Android phone, with the Agora from Kogan Technologies set to hit Australia on January 29.

Those wanting the HTC Dream will have to wait, however. There are still no official plans yet as to when the Dream will come Down Under, a representative for the handset manufacturer said Monday.

Suzanne Tindal of ZDNet Australia reported from Sydney.

(Credit: T-Mobile)

Ever since Apple's iPhone hit the market, some people have loved using a virtual keypad. Others have hated it.

Owners of Google's new G1 Android phones could soon have a choice to use either the existing slide-out QWERTY keyboard or a virtual keyboard like the iPhone's.

Google has added "soft keyboards" to its road map of future software releases. The new software hook is expected to be available for phone manufacturers as part of the source code in the first three months of 2009.

While there are many features to love about the G1, which is the first Android phone to hit the market, there are several items missing. A virtual keypad is one of them.

Without the touchscreen keypad, people have to slide out the QWERTY keypad to send text messages, IMs, and e-mail.

NEW YORK--Nearly a year after word of a "Google phone" started spreading, T-Mobile USA and the search giant are revealing the first mobile device to run on Google's Android operating system. Anticipated is a smartphone manufactured by Taiwanese electronics maker HTC called Dream. Below is CNET News' live coverage of the event here, which has concluded.

Click here for full coverage of Google Android.

10:15 a.m. ET: We're waiting for the event to start. As noted by my colleague Stephen Shankland, some photos of T-Mobile's G1 phone--also known as the HTC Dream--are emerging shortly before the official debut here.

10:30 a.m.: T-Mobile USA's chief technology and innovation officer, Cole Brodman, takes the stage and introduces everyone for the launch. Andy Rubin of Google takes the stage, as does the chief technology officer of Deutsche Telekom, Christopher Schläffer.

10:35 a.m.: Schläffer announced that Deutsche Telekom is also announcing the Android phone across the pond on T-Mobile by the end of the year. He is talking about how Deutsche Telekom has grown its data revenue by 43 percent. Traffic has grown 250 percent, and the company is ready to capitalize further.

A first official view of the G1 phone, aka the HTC Dream. Google's Android operating system, on which it runs, lets people view photos and add them as shortcuts to the phone's desktop.

(Credit: T-Mobile/CNET Networks)

10:40 a.m.: Andy Rubin takes the stage and introduces Peter Chou, CEO of HTC. He starts off by congratulating everyone, from Andy Rubin to the whole T-Mobile team. We're 15 minutes into the press conference, and we still haven't seen the phone. That said, Chou described the device and called it iconic.

10:45 a.m.: Brodman says the company is going to drive change by working with third parties. No more fuzzy pictures, and no more unsubstantiated blog posts. "Here is the G1." And he reveals it. They start to play a video on the big screen. Everyone in the crowd holds up their phones and cameras to get a picture of it.

The soon-to-be announced, first-ever Google Android phone will be priced at $200 with a two-year contract, according to a blog post on TechCrunch.

The tech blog said an "insider" had confirmed the $200 price tag, which is reasonable considering that AT&T is selling the iPhone 3G for the subsidized price of $199. That said, it's still about $50 more than what we had expected. Earlier reports were that the phone would cost $150 with a two-year contract and $399 without a contract.

The HTC Dream will be the first phone that uses Google's open-source operating system called Android. T-Mobile USA will be the first carrier to the offer the new phone, which is expected to be announced on Tuesday. Stay tuned for more rumors and details as the countdown to Android continues.

T-Mobile declined to comment.

Click here for full coverage of Google Android

Journalists and developers at the Google Developer Day event in London Tuesday were treated to an unexpected demonstration of the upcoming Android handset.

Mike Jennings from Google, who was giving the demonstration, covered up the phone's branding with tape, but it seemed pretty obvious that it's probably the HTC Dream. Not too much is revealed about the device itself, but we did get a sneak peek at what looks to be the final version of the Android OS. Consensus seems to be that it's a lot more polished than previous demonstrations, and though we can't tell too much from the blurry video, it looks to be true. It definitely got us ramped up again for the eventual release of the device. Check out this YouTube video someone captured of the demo, and see for yourself.

(Via Gizmodo and TechRadar)

The blog "Android Guys" has published an engineering drawing of T-Mobile's soon to be released Android phone codenamed the T-Mobile G1.

The images show more information about the device than any of the other mock-ups that have zipped around the blogosphere.

One of the more interesting tidbits from the drawing is a slight tilt of the bottom part of the phone where the trackball is located. The device has a full QWERTY keyboard with nicely spaced buttons. The Android Guys note this is reminiscent of recent Sidekick designs, and the site gives it a thumbs-up.

The blog "Android Community" has used the drawing to calculate the phone's dimensions and reports that the thickness of the G1, also known as the HTC Dream, is approximately 0.64-inches or 16.35mm. Apple's iPhone, which doesn't have a flip-out screen, is 12.3 mm thick. It also looks like the G1's screen size is comparable to the iPhone's 3.5-inch screen.

There is also a "menu" button on the G1, according to the drawing, which will likely be used to launch Google services.

The HTC phone, which is expected to be widely available on T-Mobile's network in October, is the first phone that will use Google's Android operating system. Rumors about the phone have been flying through cyberspace for months in anticipation of its launch.

The device is expected to be priced at about $399 full retail or about $150 with a two-year contract from T-Mobile. One blog reports that the device will go on sale October 13, 2008, with pre-orders for existing T-Mobile customers to begin September 17.

Some of the rumored specs for the device include: a full QWERTY keyboard; 3G/Wi-Fi; full HTML browser; easy access to Google apps, maps (with Street View); YouTube; IM and text; e-mail; 3-megapixel camera; video playback; a music player plus a memory card slot; and an application store.

Click here for full coverage of Google Android

T-Mobile USA could put the new HTC Android phone on sale for select customers as early as the middle of September, according to the blog TmoNews.

The news comes as other rumors circulate that Android phones could be delayed into 2009. But TmoNews says it has a reliable source that says the Android device made by smartphone manufacturer HTC will go on sale through T-Mobile USA on September 17.

The price tag will be $399 full retail or about $150 for a subsized phone with a two-year contract. The site also said that only existing T-Mobile customers will be able to buy the phone during the presale timeframe with other customers able to buy the phone a few weeks later in early October.

The new phone, which is being called the HTC Dream in blogs, will support 3G services. A recent video that is posted on YouTube shows that the phone has a touch screen, a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, and a 3-megapixel camera. Google software and services like Gmail will be tightly integrated into the device. And TmoNews reports that a Gmail account will be required to set up service for the new device.

T-Mobile will also likely require a more expensive 3G data plan to be used with the device, the blog reported. But details on the cost of the plan haven't been released.

T-Mobile declined to comment on the rumors of the device release, but the carrier has previously said it will offer an Android phone by the end of the year.

Even though the new Android phone is supposed to be 3G capable, subscribers may be disappointed in the 3G experience. T-Mobile is far behind its competitors in rolling out 3G service, with the faster-speed service available only in two markets, New York and Las Vegas. That said, T-Mobile is working to get the service up and running in at least 20 to 25 cities by the end of the year. And it will continue deploying it through 2009. But rolling out a new network is time consuming. So don't expect great coverage anytime soon.

Still, T-Mobile has some other innovative offerings that could appeal to customers. Its HotSpot @Home service allows subscribers to switch between its cell network and a Wi-Fi network for faster speeds and better coverage indoors. It also offers a $10-a-month voice over IP service for subscribers of this service, which is a nice bonus.

The wireless operator is also supposedly planning to launch an open development platform for all of its phone technologies. This platform will ditch T-Mobile's traditional deck, or menu of services, and replace it with one that is open to any developer. In a way, it's T-Mobile's answer to the Apple App store.

But even with the new Android phone and all these other cool services, T-Mobile has a long way to go in catching up to competitors. The company ended the second quarter of 2008 with 31.5 million customers, putting it in a distant fourth place. Meanwhile, AT&T had 72.9 million subscribers at the end of the second quarter. Verizon Wireless finished the quarter with a total of 68.7 million subscribers. And Sprint Nextel, which lost 901,000 subscribers, still has about 51.9 million subscribers.