A new Android-based phone from HTC for T-Mobile is creating a buzz, thanks to details leaking like a glacier on a warming planet. The phone, called the Glacier, has performance levels three times the HTC EVO 4G, 67 percent faster than the Motorola Droid X, and 41 percent faster than Apple’s iPhone 4.
A key piece of evidence was found among the test results posted on GLBenchmark.com, which enables CPU-testing speeds for Android-based devices. According to AlienBabeltech.com and other sites, the benchmarks for the Glacier were posted by Mike Bibik, a Seattle-based employee at T-Mobile. Some observers have noted that all his postings, under the user name of mbibik, were for T-Mobile devices, including the Nexus One and myTouch Slide.
Part of Project Emerald?
The testing results have been taken down. In addition to speed, they noted a 800×480-pixel screen. There’s also speculation on the web that the Glacier’s impressive specs make it a likely candidate to be part of T-Mobile’s rumored Project Emerald to deliver a device with a dual-core CPU running Google’s open-source Android operating system.
Some industry observers speculate that the new device’s CPU will be a 1.2- to 1.5-GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, the first of its kind. One of the few competitors to the Glacier’s blazing test results is Samsung’s Galaxy S, which is also known as the T-Mobile Vibrant. Motorola has already announced it will release a two-GHz Android phone by the holiday season this year, although that device maker’s CPUs for the higher end tend to be Texas Instruments ARM processors.
There is speculation that the Glacier could be a new name for the HTC Vanguard, which has also been known as the G1 Blaze and Vision.
Android’s presence has been growing by leaps and bounds. Audience tracker Nielsen, for instance, has said the open-source operating system has a…