That’s what Tech Crunch is reporting. According to them Google employees have been given test versions and are tweeting about it. Supposedly the phone was to be ready by Christmas but didn’t make it and will be available early next year.
The phone will be an unlocked,GSM, Google-branded device and will be built by HTC with strong direction from Google. It will have a super-high resolution OLED touchscreen, be thinner than the iPhone, has no keyboard, and has two mikes – one to pick up and negate background noise.
The phone will be carrier agnostic. This is exciting news for a couple of reasons. First, one of the major problems with Android is that phone makers have been splintering the OS – that is customizing it for a particular phone. This means that applications have to be modified for each phone they run on. A sure prescription for failure. The Google phone will be “pure Android” and so developers will have no need to do anything special to make apps work with the phone. Second, Google has the resources to make this phone hang around for a while, not subject to the whims of the carriers, and so give Android a real shot at succeeding.
OK, now I’m in a real quandary. Sounds like I want an Apple iPad for handy internet use (large screen, numerous apps), but an Android phone for more open access (phone + wifi, increasing number of apps). My AT&T contract isn’t up until August, so the “good news” is that it gives me plenty of time to contemplate the options.
Perhaps by then, there’ll be an AndroPad that combines the best features of both.