The Android Devices Blog

Pictures of the HTC Dream handset, complete with T-Mobile branding, have been posted on Slashgear. They show a full QWERTY keyboard that slides out under the display, as had been expected. What they also show is that this clearly isn’t an iPhone killer. The device is looking rather a bit cheap, to be honest with you. This is clearly not a high-end device, but rather one for a broader mass-market. It lacks the elegance of an iPhone or even some of the more advanced Windows Mobile devices. I guess we’ll have to wait until next year to see more elegantly designed devices make it to the market. But at least this is the first Android device and it might even be a good thing that it’s not a high-end device. Android clearly has some way to go to even be feature-complete and high-end buyers might be a lot less forgiving of some of the lacking features.

Alright, I’m still not quite up to the task of reporting things as they happen. Why is there always important news as soon as I go away for a few days…?

Anyway, the big news last week was of course the release of a new Android SDK version. It’s not quite a 1.0 release yet, but 0.9 should come close enough. Techcrunch has a few screenshots and details about what’s included and what isn’t. The new SDK is of course what the finalists of the Android Developer Challenge have been working with for months now. All other developers (the ones that didn’t abandon the platform for greener pastures) were stuck with an old preview that was last updated in February, so they should be quite relieved that finally they are getting something more current to work with.

HTC has gotten FTC approval for the Dream handset, which means that the rumors about T-Mobile launching that device pretty soon might actually be true. Of course the approval is for the hardware, it doesn’t mean that the software is finished. But it’s a step in the right direction. The rumor-mill continues to buzz (or whatever else a rumor-mill does) with variations of the actual release date and so far the only thing that seems to be set in stone is that it’s going to be a Q4 release, probably in October or possibly November.

The Android team have created a security FAQ and issued a challenge to security researchers to help harden the platform. That sounds like a good move, considering that various vulnerabilities were discovered in earlier versions of the SDK. And the very nature of these more and more powerful and connected devices demands greater attention to security details.

Lots of rumors are circulating about the HTC Dream, which is supposed to be the first Android phone to be released. Only a few days ago the conclusion seemed to be that it’s going to be delayed and may not meet the Q4 target that had previously been set by Google for the release of the first Android device. Both Google and HTC denied those rumors, stating that it was still on track for a Q4 release. A bit later a video was leaked that showed the device in action running a recent version of Android, with some of the more tricky features like the orientation sensor working properly.

And now TmoNews report that it may even be a bit early. Well, not exactly, but they claim that pre-ordering will start on September 17th for existing T-Mobile customers. This makes a lot of sense, considering that T-Mobile were previously reported to be offering an Android phone for their 3G launch in October.

Anyway, I guess we’ll have to wait a few more weeks to find out what’s really happening. Maybe we will see this device sooner than many of us thought – until then, it will remain a dream. Let’s hope it turns into a HTC Dream soon.

CNet has a good summary of various rumours that not only is T-Mobile set for an October 1st launch of the 3G network in the US, but also that one of the 3G phones they will be offering as part of this plan is going to be an Android-based phone.

Commenters in various blogs that report on the 3G launch seem to be confirming the launch date, but so far I have not seen confirmation of the Android rumours anywhere. The device is supposed to most likely be a HTC Dream. Of course, October 1st is in Q4 (just), so even with a Q4 delay of the first Android devices, this could well be true.

The guys over at HTC Source report that the folks at xda-developers managed to get Android to boot on a HTC Touch Cruise. It’s not fully functional and has a number of issues, but it’s Android running on a current device nonetheless…

Technorati : Android, HTC, mobile phones