Android

As it heads toward the release of a new operating system next month, Palm has launched a version of its online store to allow direct downloads and purchases from Palm's mobile devices.

Palm's Software Store offers a catalog in excess of 5,000 software titles, including games, which Palm users can buy and download on their mobile devices. In its previous incarnation, Palm owners needed to download an app or game to a computer, and then transfer the software from the computer to the mobile device.

Palm OS and Windows Mobile

The new Android-based G1 sold by T-Mobile is now out in an unlocked version -- for developers. Last week, Google announced on its Android blog the availability of the Android Dev Phone 1, a device that is unlocked for SIM cards and in the hardware.

Any SIM Card

The Dev Phone can use any GSM carrier's SIM card, and the unlocked bootloader will work with custom Android builds as developers try out new applications. Google noted that the bootloader in the Dev Phone is different from the retail G1, allowing a developer to access handset features with custom builds.

The Wall Street Journal reports Motorola Co-CEO Sanjay Jha has decided to adopt Google's Android mobile operating system as one of the company's three platforms for building next-generation cellular handsets and smartphones.

Jha, who left Qualcomm to join Motorola in early August, also reportedly intends to further trim the company's workforce. Citing people familiar with the matter, the newspaper said Jha will announce the company's next round of job cuts when Motorola reports its quarterly results on Thursday.

The much-anticipated Android-based T-Mobile G1 hit store shelves and became available for online purchase Wednesday, but T-Mobile's exclusive offering and partnership with Google may not be enough to boost the carrier.

Because T-Mobile's G1 is the first smartphone powered by Android, it has fueled interest by consumers.

T-Mobile and handset maker HTC are taking the cover off the first Android-based cell phone Tuesday at a press conference in New York. The Open Handset Alliance, a group that includes Google, T-Mobile, HTC, Qualcomm, Motorola and others, is billing Android as the first truly open and comprehensive platform for mobile devices.

What will a Google Android-based HTC look like? And how will it shake up the market? Here's what we can discern from leaked photos: It's a touchscreen device with a full, slide-out keyboard. Pricing rumors peg the device at $199, in line with Apple's iPhone 3G.

A famous science-fiction novel's title once asked if androids dream of electric sheep. Today, the answer might be that they dream of an Android phone called Dream.

According to a report in Tuesday's Wall Street Journal, T-Mobile USA will begin selling the first Android-based phone, called the HTC Dream, by the end of October. The article, which cites unnamed sources "familiar with the matter," said the phone will come out on schedule, despite some recent reports of problems with Android.

Up to 700,000 Units

T-Mobile will release this fall the first device using Google's Android software platform, according to a new report.

The New York Times said Thursday that the phone, being made by HTC, is expected to go on sale as early as October, in order to make the holiday season. It cited unnamed sources who had been briefed on T-Mobile's plans.

Touchscreen, Keyboard

The new device using the open-source Android software stack will reportedly have smartphone capabilities that compare with the Apple iPhone and devices from Research in Motion, Nokia and others.

According to a Web report, there may be some problems with integrating the Google-led open-source mobile platform Android into devices, delaying the release of an Android phone until early next year.

Despite ambitious goals, Google's Android mobile platform won't find its way into handsets until the fourth quarter this year, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Last November, Google, along with a 30 partners, announced Android with big promises for a suite of mobile software. Google initially planned to have the new phones available to consumers by the second half of this year.

Now Google is pushing back its plans. According to the Journal, some cellular carriers and makers of programs that work with Android are struggling to meet the fourth-quarter schedule.