Patient TmoNews readers, may we present to you, the HTC Kila, errr we mean HTC Dream, or the G1, aka the first android handset ever! When we posted this rumor a couple days ago, we had our fingers crossed. Now with visual confirmations, this is all set in stone, give or take approval of the handset by the FCC. Keep in mind that the iPhone was approved 1 day before releasel. We have confirmed that the Android device will be available for current T-mobile customers online, for pre-sales, on September 17th. The Pre-sale will last for one week, with the device being delivered on October 13th, which happens to be the national public launch of the device. Get this, a “current” T-mobile customer only has to be a T-mobile customer for 24 hours to be eligible for the upgrade. This is where details get a little fuzzy; we cannot tell if the phone will sell for $149.99 to all customers, regardless of upgrade eligibility, or for $149.99 to those customers only eligible for a full upgrade (there is also the possibility it will sell for $99). Regardless, we do know that the HTC Kila will sell for $50 more then pre-sale price when it is released nationally on October 13th. You want more? Well the Kila will come with 2 data plan options: Unlimited data and 400 messages, or Unlimited data and unlimited messages. Prices will be in the $35 range, which seem more then fair to us, especially considering both plans will be free for the first week (pre-sale customers only). With multiple upcoming touchscreen phones, both with 3G AND Wifi, two 5 megapixal phones, the Kickstart, national 3G, and many more devices all being released by 2009, things have been definitely been looking up for the smallest national carrier in the U.S. (Quiet down Alltel, we said national ). Here are the specs on the HTC Kila:
· Touch Screen
· Full Qwerty keyboard
· 3G/ WiFi
· Full HTML internet capabilities
· Easy access to all Google applications (Gmail, Gtalk, search)
· Maps
· Street view
· YouTube
· Phone
· IM/Text
· Camera 3.0mp; no flash
· Video (playback only, no recording)
· Music player & 1GB memory card pre-loaded
· Applications, all available in Google marketplace (icon on the homescreen)