As Android gets closer to launch, details about the first device using the open-source mobile platform are coming into focus. A new report indicates that the first Android phone, to be released in October by T-Mobile, will be priced at $199. The price was reported earlier this week in the online edition of The Wall Street Journal.
In preparation for the launch, T-Mobile is getting its house in order. On Thursday, it announced it was expanding its 3G network from 13 markets in the United States to 21 by the middle of next month, growing to 27 markets by the end of 2008.
‘Absolutely Not Coincidental’
The Android handset will be officially announced on September 23 and available next month. The HTC Dream, aka G1, will be the first device using the new open Android platform, whose development has been spearheaded by Google.
Avi Greengart, an analyst with industry research firm Current Analysis, said that T-Mobile’s expansion of its 3G network just as it is about to roll out the first Android-based device “is absolutely not coincidental.”
He added that T-Mobile has been planning to expand its 3G network “for a long, long time,” but that it ran into problems with spectrum it had purchased being vacated. T-Mobile spent more than $4 billion in 2006 to acquire licenses to that spectrum.
This launch is “very significant” for the company, Greengart said, since T-Mobile has not released any iPhone-like or higher-end multimedia phones, with the possible exception of the Shadow.
“But,” he said, “if you’re going to launch an Android device, based on Google technology and with an emphasis on Web browsing, you’re going to want to expand your 3G network.”
Up to 700,000 Units at Launch
Earlier this week, news reports indicated that T-Mobile will ship as many as 600,000 to 700,000 units at launch, which is…