After 10 months of waiting, the first mobile phone to be powered by Google's pioneering open source mobile software, Android, is going to be unveiled. In what's expected to be a high profile press conference, network operator T-Mobile and handset maker HTC will officially announce the much anticipated HTC Dream smartphone in New York on Tuesday September 23.The announcement comes shortly after journalists were given a live demonstration of how an Android handset might work at the Google Developer Day event in London, although the actual brand name of the handset was taped over.
Despite the fact that T-Mobile is the smallest mobile network in the US, it expects to ship between 600,000 and 700,000 units of the HTC Dream before the end of the year. According to Wall Street Journal, industry analysts only expect the handset to ship 300,000 to 500,000 units.
As for specifications, the HTC Dream is expected to sport a large touch screen display, with a trackball navigator similar to that found in BlackBerry handsets and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Engadget Mobile has some revealing pictures of the smartphone.
First announced in November 2007, Android is an initiative of Google and the Open Handset Alliance, an organisation set up with the aim of developing open standards for mobile devices. Members of the Open Handset Alliance include Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, Samsung and LG, as well as T-Mobile and HTC.
Mobile phone manufacturers are not charged for using Android and, as a result, its launch could produce shockwaves through the industry. Earlier this year, Nokia acquired the remaining shares in market-leading smartphone operating system Symbian and made it free to manufacturers, in an effort to bolster its competitive edge before the release of the first Android-enabled phone. It also set up the Symbian Foundation, with the professed aim to "provide royalty-free open platform and accelerate innovation". Members of the Symbian Foundation include Nokia, Sony Ericsson, AT&T, NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone.
However, Nokia isn't the only mobile maker worried at the prospect of Android dominance. Both Research in Motion - makers of the mighty BlackBerry - and Apple, who scored a surefire hit with the release of their 3G iPhone in July, are certain to be threatened by the emergence of Android onto the mobile scene in the US.
Whether the Android-enabled HTC Dream will live up to the hype remains to be seen, but if it's got the three most popular smartphone makers are shaking in their shoes, it's definitely a development worth watching. And, with Google involved, one thing's for sure: anything could happen.
