Hands0n
2nd April 2009, 09:01 PM
One would have to had been living in a cave for all of 2008 and 2009 to not know that HTC via T-Mobile gave to us the G1 Android handset, and very nice it is too. Not everyone's cup of tea, mind. But a very decent outing for the first Android handset to hit the market.
Since that time there has been, well if truth be told, nothing very much at all. The whole Android thing has gone very quiet in terms of delivery of handsets. There has been a lot of bluster, a lot of promise, a few launches even. But try and get your hands on a non-G1 Android handset and you'll fail miserably at this time. And so my mind turned to thinking what is actually going to hit the streets this year.
It should come as no surprise that HTC are leading the way with their Vodafone-released Magic that is due this month (April 2009). Very nice, it is a leverage of the G1 being fully touchscreen and no swing-out handset.
HTC have planned three Android handsets (http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2238683/htc-plans-three-android) for 2009, the Magic being one of these.
Next up is Huawei (http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-10164908-78.html) who have said [at February's GSMA] that they planned to start selling Android handsets "later this year"
Not to be outdone Samsung (http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/17/samsung-at-least-three-android-phones-and-a-limo-handset-in-200/) have also said that they will have [more than] three Android handsets out in 2009. What is it about the number three?
Even NVidia (http://www.slashgear.com/99-nvidia-tegra-mids-in-development-android-ported-to-tegra-1734880/) have thrown their hat into the ring. Thats right, you read it correctly, NVidia , with their Tegra.
No doubt the list will increase as the months go by. But really, where are these devices? We are already out of the first quarter of 2009 and all but one of these is still just talk. Only HTC are actually releasing devices that you can actually purchase.
Android has a lot of promise and if the G1 is anything to go by it lives up to the hype really well. It is also an Apple iPhone destabiliser, which is good for everyone.
I keenly await the new batch of Android arrivals :)
Since that time there has been, well if truth be told, nothing very much at all. The whole Android thing has gone very quiet in terms of delivery of handsets. There has been a lot of bluster, a lot of promise, a few launches even. But try and get your hands on a non-G1 Android handset and you'll fail miserably at this time. And so my mind turned to thinking what is actually going to hit the streets this year.
It should come as no surprise that HTC are leading the way with their Vodafone-released Magic that is due this month (April 2009). Very nice, it is a leverage of the G1 being fully touchscreen and no swing-out handset.
HTC have planned three Android handsets (http://www.vnunet.com/vnunet/news/2238683/htc-plans-three-android) for 2009, the Magic being one of these.
Next up is Huawei (http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13970_7-10164908-78.html) who have said [at February's GSMA] that they planned to start selling Android handsets "later this year"
Not to be outdone Samsung (http://www.engadget.com/2009/02/17/samsung-at-least-three-android-phones-and-a-limo-handset-in-200/) have also said that they will have [more than] three Android handsets out in 2009. What is it about the number three?
Even NVidia (http://www.slashgear.com/99-nvidia-tegra-mids-in-development-android-ported-to-tegra-1734880/) have thrown their hat into the ring. Thats right, you read it correctly, NVidia , with their Tegra.
No doubt the list will increase as the months go by. But really, where are these devices? We are already out of the first quarter of 2009 and all but one of these is still just talk. Only HTC are actually releasing devices that you can actually purchase.
Android has a lot of promise and if the G1 is anything to go by it lives up to the hype really well. It is also an Apple iPhone destabiliser, which is good for everyone.
I keenly await the new batch of Android arrivals :)