Android-based HTC Dream may become a small nightmare
By Gareth Powell
The Android-based HTC Dream may turn out to be an expensive purchase in Australia and other places away from the United States.
First there was a bit of a nightmare in Australia on the launch of the original ‘Agora’ Android handset which did not happen. Now comes the ITC which should be in Australia, say, by next month. But, sadly, we may be getting an Android-based HTC Dream which will soon be very dated,
This machine will start being sold by wireless provider SingTel to subscribers in Singapore. In Australia you can take it that it will be Real Soon Now or possibly before the end of next month or even the beginning. In Australia the phone will be sold by Optus, which is a carrier owned by SingTel.
There is a bit of a snag as to the model that is to be offered.
This machine is is identical to the T-Mobile G1 currently available in North America and therefore represents the G1’s first official launch in a market other than the US and UK. At a guess China would be next, but that is a guess.
It has its strengths. What this writer, and many others, love about it is the QWERTY keyboard interface. If you use the Apple iPhone or IPod Touch you need some dexterity and some discipline to use the keyboard. It is a wonder of design and fail safe short cuts it is not a REAL keyboard within the meaning of the act. Could you learn to touch-type? You would need damn narrow fingers.
This new Android mobile has a 3.2-inch touchscreen which is the same as the G1 but there will be different service and prices offered by SingTel and Optus.
In Australia, the Dream handset will be priced at between AUS$3 (about $US2) and AUS$15 (about $10) per month depending on the kind of data plan users opt for during a two-year minimum contract period. Data plans range from the equivalent of about $38 (500MB) to $84 (3GB).
So all is sunshine and light is it, matey? We sun-tanned Aussies down under are happy even though no one will say what it really costs. If you are a maths wrangler you would guess at something around US$800 but plainly it is easy to get this very wrong.
But disaster awaits.
The Dream, sold overseas as the G1, could be rendered obsolete before it even arrives.
A US telco executive, who may have been suffering from a slight foot-in-mouth moment, has said a successor would be launched overseas ‘in the coming weeks and months’. Not encouraging words if you are being urged to layout money for a two year period by which time the phone will be well out of day.
It also, but of course, faces tough competition from Apple’s iPhone.
The 3G touch-screen device has a slide-out QWERTY keyboard, 3.2-megapixel camera and the ability to synchronize email, calendar, contacts and documents stored on Google’s suite of online applications in real-time. It is very, very likable.
The phone, based on the Google Android operating system, will initially only be available in Australia on plans from Optus starting on February 16. One pities Opus sales people having to allow the phone will be superseded in a matter of weeks, maximum months.
Meanwhile you will be locked into two year contracts starting at $59 (Australian dollars) a month, while monthly data allowances will range from 500MB to 3GB. Which, for a rapidly aging phone, sounds like less than a bargain. Cell phones do not age gracefully.
The Dream, sold in the US and Britain since October last year, is the only Android phone on the market today. The Australian launch will be the first time an Android device has been sold in the Asia-Pacific region.
Gartner analyst Carolina Milanesi said she believed ‘demand for the G1 will be much lower than for the iPhone’ and she is right there but she thinks it has enough unique selling features — she used ’sleek’ and ‘iconic; she should get round more.
In fact, Carolina, if I may so bold, we are not happy. Not happy at all. Because this is old stock. That which we would expect to buy at a substantial discount.
T-Mobile’s senior VP of engineering and operations, Neville Ray, said in a recent interview with Fierce Wireless that more G-series Google phones would be launched ‘in the coming weeks and months’. He said that the carrier is planning to release more 3G-capable smartphones and Google Android devices in 2009.
He said, ‘As the year progresses there will be a significant number of HSPA-capable smartphones. We will be launching more G series phones and other products.’ He also added that T-Mobile would be a launching a ‘data card’ product in the coming weeks and months. Perhaps Carolina could persuade him he ‘mis-spoke.’ It worked for Hilary Clinton.
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February 7th, 2009
So what you’re saying, Australia is getting old, out-of-date stock that can’t sold elsewhere. What’s new?