T-Mobile is expected to be the first carrier with a Google Android-based cell phone, with an announcement Sept. 23. And HTC says it will be the first handset maker to use the open-source mobile-phone operating system.
T-Mobile promised to unveil details of the first mobile phone based on Android at a Sept. 23 press conference in New York, according to The New York Times. T-Mobile could not immediately be reached for comment.
The Times reported the HTC phone probably won't be available until October, which is in line with Google's forecast that devices running Android will be on the market by the fourth quarter. Pricing details are not yet available.
Still, there may not be the diversity of Android-powered mobile devices this year that observers expected. China Mobile had planned a third-quarter Android phone launch, but that will be stymied until at least the end of the year. Sprint Nextel may also miss the end-of-year deadline.
Making Good on the Promise
The Open Handset Alliance, a group that includes Google, T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm, Motorola and others, is billing Android as the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices.
Android is expected to allow handset manufacturers and wireless carriers to customize the platform. That could include new services, rich Internet applications, and user-friendly interfaces. With Android, Google aims to be smack-dab in the middle of the mix of mobile handsets.
Indeed, Google appears to be pushing into Apple's newly found mobile territory. Apple is set to sell 10 million iPhones this year. Some analysts predict Apple could sell as many as 20 million. Android is also competing against Symbian and Research in Motion's Blackberry in the growing smartphone market.
According to the NPD Group, U.S. sales of smartphones reached nine million from January through July. That's a year-over-year increase of 84 percent, totaling $1.7 billion...

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