Waiting for the Google phone is like waiting for the birth of a child. In fact, the most recent rumors have it arriving about the same time as my daughter, as early as September 17, as late as mid-October. My daughter, currently in private beta, will likely be more exciting, to me at least.
For early adopters of the open Android-based handset from HTC—the rumor mill settled last November on the HTC Dream as the device of choice—sources are reporting the phone will sell for as little as $150 at a Sept. pre-sale for existing T-Mobile customers only. Everybody else will not only have to wait until October, they’ll have to pay $399 for it and sign up for a reportedly budget-busting data plan from T-Mobile.
But hey, chances are, since this is an Open Handset Alliance thing, there won’t be the equivalent of an Apple kill-switch for undesirable software. However, according to one report, customers will be required to have a Gmail account to activate the phone, which seems kind of nasty on Google’s part. Then again, it’s only a rumor.
The expected (rumored) launch is in line with previous statements from Google and HTC, which confirmed availability sometime in the fourth quarter of this year. That’s right around the corner and pretty smart in terms of holiday season timing. Luckily my daughter won’t be demanding one quite so early in her life—there are things like car seats and high chairs to consider however. I hear these “babies” are fairly high maintenance.
