T-Mobile will be the first carrier to offer
a mobile phone powered by Google's Android software, according to people
briefed on the company's plans. The phone will be made by HTC and is expected to
go on sale in the United States before Christmas, perhaps as early as October.
The high-end phone is expected to match many of the capabilities of Apple's
iPhone and other so-called smartphones that run software from Palm, Research in
Motion, Microsoft and Nokia to access the Internet and perform computerlike
functions. The HTC phone, which many gadget sites
are calling the 'dream,' will have a touch screen, like the iPhone. But the
screen also slides out to expose a full five-row keyboard. A video of the phone
has been posted recently on YouTube. A person who has seen the HTC device said
it matched the one in the video.
