Android Phones Showing More Signs of Promise
by Sam Dean - Nov. 25, 2008Comments (2)- Related Blog Posts
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When the T-Mobile G1 Android-based phone shipped last month, there was a lot of speculation about how it would fare, especially given the market mania over Apple's iPhone. Now, some of the numbers are coming in, and it looks like "the Google phone" is doing quite well. HTC, which makes the G1 handsets, is raising its shipment forecasts, and expects one million units to ship by the end of this year. That's well above the initial 600,000-unit estimate.
HTC CEO Peter Chou has also confirmed that the company plans to acquire a handset design company in the U.S. Design is the precise area where handset makers focused on Android should be innovating.
The success of the iPhone is due to many factors--a better browsing experience than on most previous phones, and a healthy ecosystem of applications--but design is a major reason why the iPhone does so well. Apple has always put extreme focus on injecting a cool factor into its designs.
I've made the point before that the early Android phones are not likely to be the state-of-the-art models. The platform is version 1.0 technology, the ecosystem of applications is in its infancy, and we are sure to see many innovative designs for phones based on Android.
Meanwhile, Gizmodo and Chrunchgear have interesting reports on what's being billed as the second Android phone: The ZzzPhone. It has a full QWERTY keyboard and snap-on accessories, apparently including a projector. Gizmodo pegs its price at only $119, cheaper than both the G1 and iPhone, and reports that it could be available in 10 days. Stay tuned for more on this.
