New info and pricing emerges for T-Mobile’s Android phone, September launch?
Rumors are always swirling around the launch of the first Android phone. It’s rather certain that T-Mobile will get the honors, and it may be coming to market sooner than everyone thought.
TmoNews is reporting that it got word from a “reliable” source that a presale launch of the device might happen sometime in September. Better yet, pricing information was leaked that points to a non-subsidized price of $399 and a subsidized price of only $150. Interestingly enough, T-Mobile is referring to the device as the ‘G1″ though the device is likely the anticipated HTC Dream.
This news might make the latest “leaked” video on YouTube, showing a working device that looks a lot like the HTC Dream, a bit more believable. It was noted, though, that the pre-sale launch will not be available to new customers as of yet. A national “public” launch of the device is likely due in mid-October. That is if you believe the latest hype, thought it should always be taken with a grain of salt.
Apparently, the device will be available in white, black, and even brown, and will require a more expensive data plan from T-Mobile- much like AT&T’s plan required for the iPhone. Something I didn’t see coming, was the mention that users will be required to have a Google account for the phone to function properly. The correlation between Google and the Android platform will obviously make itself known, but requiring users to sign up for services they may or may not need is a bit to much in my opinion. Given, almost everyone already has a Google account, and it’s needed to access many of Google’s services, but still.
While specs are still widely unknown, it’s expected to include things like 3G, a 5″ long by 3″ wide touch screen, a slide out QWERTY keypad, and the aforementioned color choices. There was no mention as to whether there’ll be Wi-Fi or UMA support though.
Details of the pre-sale are also rather limited, but it’s expected to last one week, as well as not be available to even T-Mobile employees until the public launch sometime in October. T-Mobile’s latest push for 3G service in major cities has obviously been in preparation for the upcoming launch, but the network as a whole is still very lacking. With such a huge launch, and the fact that it’s the first ever Android device, you would have thought T-Mobile would have rolled out much more of its high-speed network before bringing the device to market. Hopefully, after it’s launched 3G will be rolling out at a break-neck pace.
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August 14th, 2008
Justin, just to clarify, T-MoNews said that a Google account would be necessary as part of the pre-order process for existing customers. Those not interested in participating in the pre-order process won’t be required to have a Gmail account.