We moved a few steps closer to seeing the launch of the much anticipated 'gPhone' this week as Google today released an update to the Android OS and on Monday the Federal Communications Commission gave T-Mobile the green light to rollout the first Android handset for use in the United States.
There is still no official launch date for the Android OS-based phone. However we do know that Taiwanese handset maker HTC has decided it will name the Android-based handset 'Dream,' according to FCC filings. T-Mobile will be the exclusive U.S. provider of the device. T-Mobile says the Dream will become a reality to consumers before the year's end.
Can T-Mobile Deliver on the Dream?
Earlier today Google released its Android 0.9 SDK which developers and gadget junkies pounced on immediately and have been pouring over the emulator to get a basic idea of what the phone will look like. (Gizmodo, by the way, has a great video that shows the Android OS in action.) As it stands right now the SDK lacks email, IM, and calendar applications, and the Android Development team had to remove the Google Talk app and the Bluetooth API for security reasons.
While The New York Times figures the Dream device could hit stores as early as next month now that it has FCC approval. But I find it hard to believe that any company would allow a smartphone to be released without the nuts and bolts apps mentioned above.
If the Dream is released it would be a pretty bare bones device even by non-smartphone standards. It's possible with Google's cloud strategy that it will push people to use Web-based email and calendar, but considering the fact that both Gmail and Google Calendar already sync with other handsets this seems unlikely.
Android 0.9 should be the last release before we will see Android 1.0, the official and fully functional SDK for the mobile operating system. So we expect to see all the standard apps you'd expect in a smartphone with that release. Android 1.0 is expected between September and December, which means developers are going to have to scramble like crazy to get their apps out in time for a fall Android launch.
This all seems too close for comfort to me, with no standard smartphone programs and very little time for developers to work on 3rd party apps I would not be surprised if Android doesn't show up until 2009 after all.
