T-Mobile has announced it will open more 3G networks ahead of the launch of its ‘Dream’ phone.
The HTC Dream phone handset, which will be announced in New York next week, uses the Google/Android operating system. However, the phone will not be available right away, and reports suggest October 17 is the likely retail launch date.
Meanwhile T-Mobile has said it will expand the 3G networks by “mid-October.”
T-Mobile currently has high-speed data networks across 13 metropolitan markets, and has announced plans to expand even further in 2008.
“With the faster data speeds delivered by our 3G network, T-Mobile looks forward to offering mobile products and services that place the full power of the Web in our customers’ hands,” said T-Mobile USA’s Chief Development Officer Cole Brodman.
Currently T-Mobile customers can use broadband in Austin, Baltimore, Boston, Dallas, Houston, Las Vegas, Miami, Minneapolis, New York, Phoenix, Portland, San Antonio, and San Diego. By mid-October, it should expand into Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, Orlando, Philadelphia, Sacramento, San Francisco, and Seattle.
The Dream phone, expected to cost US$199, is hoped to be a rival to other ‘must have’ phones such as Apple’s recent iPhone. The handset is made by HTC and works on an operating system designed by Android/Google, and will have hardwired links to the leading search engine.
Joel Espelien, Vice President of Strategy at PacketVideo, the corporation which provides Android with its media software, said the phone won’t support any new form of ads or be covered in Google branding. He said the handset will load web pages much faster because it's built on a "clean slate."
It is thought that eventually Android cellphones will be capable of acting like remote controls, using PacketVideo’s ‘PVConnect’ software to send content between computers, games consoles and computers.