T-Mobile’s Second Android Phone Expected Soon

[SteveW]

T-Mobile’s Second Android Phone Expected Soon

June 16, 2009, 3:09 PM ET

By Amol Sharma
and Jessica E. Vascellaro
The Wall Street Journal | Blogs

T-Mobile USA is expected to announce details around a new phone powered by Google’s Android operating system next week, say people familiar with the matter.

The new Android-based phone is slated to be called myTouch 3G, those people say. Like its predecessor, known as the G1, the follow-on device uses Android and is made by HTC. It is expected to go on sale in the U.S. this summer, making it the second Android-based phone to hit the market from a major carrier in the U.S. Google executives have said that more such phones are on the way, forecasting that at least 18 Android phones from a variety of manufacturers will hit the market this year.

T-Mobile has talked about plans to offer a second Android device for a while and a spokesman for the wireless carrier said Tuesday that it would have more details to share soon. A Google spokeswoman declined to comment, except to say the company was “pleased to see more Android-powered devices coming to market.”

Judging by what we’ve seen floating around in the hands of early users at parties lately, the new phone is much slicker than the first. That’s good news for Google, which is trying to drive use of its Android platform and the applications and services being built for it to steal share from rivals and eventually sell more mobile ads.

The myTouch 3G is essentially the same design as the HTC Magic — an Android-based phone that carrier Vodafone sells in the UK. Like Apple’s iPhone, the new phone has a touchscreen but no physical keyboard. The myTouch 3G is also smaller than the iPhone and is slightly rounded on the back and comes with a glossy look.

Partly because it did away with a keyboard, the myTouch 3G is much thinner than the G1, which has a clunky swivel-out keyboard. The navigation buttons and trackball for the new phone are in the same place as the G1 — at the bottom of the phone — which curves up slightly so thumbs can easily rest on it.

The software will be familiar, though there are some enhancements. A voice-activated search function, for example, was able to process a search for a local restaurant from inside a crowded bar and deliver the correct result. The new phone records video as well.

It’s going to be quite a summer for smart phones. The myTouch 3G will have to compete with AT&T’s new iPhone model, Sprint’s Palm Pre, and a new model from BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion, which announced its new BlackBerry Tour smart phone Tuesday.



SW