David Flynn04 February 2009, 5:00 PM
This Thursday sees the Australian launch of the Android-powered HTC Dream, with Optus first off the blocks to sell the handset.
Eager to get your hands on an
Android phone? The wait might be shorter than you expect, with HTC set to launch its Dream handset this Thursday morning at an invitation-only media event in Sydney.
The Dream is HTC’s own-branded version of T-Mobile’s
G1, and the local launch will make Australia only the second country in the world where the much-touted open source mobile is sold.
HTC built the original 'Google phone' for T-Mobile, but this week
it'll be launched as the company's own HTC DreamAPC can confirm that Optus is a launch partner for the HTC Dream, although it’s not known if other carriers will offer the device. However, it’s not unusual for HTC or indeed any mobile phone company to sign a short-lived exclusivity deal with a single carrier. This typically runs for three months, after which other carriers can join the party.
While the Dream will run on Optus’ 2100MHz 3G network, it’s uncertain if it will also support the 900MHz 3G band which Optus is using to extend its mobile broadband service into regional areas.
The Statue of Liberty beckons all those who seek the freedom of an open-source phone OSThe local release of the Dream will gazump the
much-trumpeted but now
postponed plans by Melbourne’s Kogan Technologies to launch its own
Agora handset as the world’s second Android phone.
HTC is expected to use this month’s Mobile World Congress phonefest at Barcelona to announce the Dream’s launch into several European countries and may also reveal its roadmap for an expected wave of second-gen Android devices.