Androids are ready or is that HTC?

Google actually hired Japanese Engineers to make their phone about two years ago. They really wanted to satisfy the customers, and it helped them by having the stuff in the phone that Apple iPhone doesn't have. For instance, copy & paste (which I'm sure the Apple will have in their next update) and a keyboard. One thing that Google won't have, is an iPod. Maybe they will have a Media player, but nothing tops an iPod because everyone has an iPod and it has been known to carry more music than ever. But hold the phone, is there another cell phone coming out that we don't know about? HTC is a new smart phone that Google hopes to be a success. They wanted to make it a headturning cellphone, which is pretty cliche considering Apple beat them to it (and did a pretty good job doing it!)

The Google phone, which has been called the HTC Dream and the T-Mobile G1, has a touch screen that slides out to expose a five-row keyboard. It offers easy access to Google’s services and to a range of third-party applications.

Many analysts and industry insiders say HTC has turned them into believers. “HTC has been pushing the innovation envelope for quite a long time,” said Jeffrey K. Belk, a former senior vice president for strategy at the cellphone chip maker Qualcomm. “It is only now that people are starting to get know to them better.”

Still, analysts say that HTC faces long odds in its quest to become a global consumer electronics powerhouse. It is competing against much larger rivals in a market where few niche players have been able to establish themselves.

The company began running ads in the United States this year, but a global marketing campaign could be expensive. And unlike some of its most successful competitors, like Apple and Research in Motion, HTC does not control the software that powers its phones.

“HTC is trying to compete on better hardware in a point in time when more and more of the differentiation of phones is going to be in the software,” said James Faucette, an analyst with Pacific Crest Securities.


Original Article