August 28th, 2008
First images of Google-powered HTC Dream
It was rumored that the HTC G1 (Dream) would be the first Google powered phone on the market, and if everything pans out, those rumors will end up being true with a launch date sooner than later. Android Guys have the first mock-up drawings of the Dream, and it’s clearly Google powered — the back of the phone says “with Google”.
[image from Android Guys]
The image shows a fairly basic looking phone that has a sliding screen that reveals a full qwerty keyboard. It’s also got some pretty decent specs:
- 528Mhz Qualcomm 7201 processor
- Data kit for USB connectivity in the box
- 64MB Internal RAM
- 128MB Internal ROM
- 1GB MicroSD card
- 5 Row QWERTY keypad
- Trackball
- Dedicated camera button
- 3.1MP camera (no flash) 2048 x 1536
- Video playback files - H.264, streaming, 3GPP, MPEG4, and Codec 3GP
- Dedicated YouTube Player
- Audio playback files - MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA, MPEG4, WAV, MIDI, REAL AUDIO, OGG
- Wallpaper supports JPG, BMP, PNG, and GIF
- Speakerphone (mono, natch)
- Ringtones (MP3, AAC, AAC+, WMA)
- HTTP, WAP Push, xHTML
- Bluetooth (class 1)
- Picture Caller ID
- SMS and MMS support (Take that Apple!)
- POP, IMAP, and SMTP, AOL, and GMAIL email
- AIM, MSN, YAHOO, and GTALK messaging
- Quad Band (850, 900, 1800, 1900)
- 3G
- 802.11b & 802.11g
- UMTS (1,4), HSDPA, SUPL
- 1150mAh battery
- Screen size is 3.17″ with HVGA (480 x 320)
- Handset 117 x 55 x 16mm
- 5.6 oz weight
- Sync capable with Google Calendar
- Downloadable content via Android Marketplace
- Google Streetview with built-in compass
We can probably subtract GTalk messaging from the list of features though — that has been officially scrapped for security reasons. There’s no word on when this API will be re-introduced, but certainly they will do their best to make it available to developers sooner than later.
Bluetooth functionality will be limited to things like headsets in the first version of the Android SDK. That means developers will not be able to create their own Bluetooth enabled applications any longer. The reason? Mostly because the API was incomplete, and would have shipped broken if it was included in version 1.0. Google has every intention of re-including this, but they are going to make sure they have it right before it’s added.
Still no official word on when the HTC G1 (Dream) will be launched — but it shouldn’t be long now. Will you get it?
Garett Rogers is employed as a programmer for iQmetrix, which specializes in retail management software for the wireless industry. See his full profile and disclosure of his industry affiliations.
