Following the
grand reveal of the latest
Android build running on fresh HTC-sourced hardware at I/O today, Google took some questions that managed to pull a few extra gems from the rough. First and foremost, key specs of that lovely piece of kit were exposed: 3.6Mbps HSDPA is on board, as is a Qualcomm MSM7201A processor good for 528MHz, 128MB of RAM, 256MB of ROM, a capacitive touchscreen, and the key to our hearts. Despite that capacitive action, it was reiterated that Android is designed to work with a wide variety of form factors -- everything from touchscreens to QWERTY keypads to devices with no screen at all (!!) -- so fans of physical input methods definitely needn't fret in the least. New features demoed for the first time today include a configurable home screen launcher, accelerometer integration in Google Maps' Street View, Pacman (which we can only assume will become the Solitaire of Android), and a new unlock UI for touchscreen-based devices. Some of the stuff shown was coded at the
very last minute; they pointed out that the clock, for example, had just been thrown together yesterday, so they're definitely flying by the seat of their pants here -- a good thing for speeding up device availability, we figure.
posted May 28th 2008 5:59PM
Still no word on when this device is coming out and with what phone company?
You did read the article, about how this was coded together at the last minute for a demo, didn't you?
I think it's a little... no, a lot speculative to put a date on something like this. Yes, I'd love it tomorrow too, but unless you were being sarcastic, give me a break.
From the article:
"Q. Do you have a more specific release date for Android now?
A. [Android should launch in the] second half of this year. What you saw on stage looks pretty good, but we want to make sure it’s perfect and that people have a really good consumer experience with it."
Believable given the videos etc.
I wonder if HTC launches the Raphael as the CDMA device in late summer, then in mid to late fall they launch the Dream as the GSM device. The specs sound similar.