Source: Channel News Asia (by Rachel Kelly)
SINGAPORE: The much-anticipated HTC Dream mobile phone has hit Singapore shores.
It is the first phone in Asia to run on internet search provider Google’s Android operating system, which allows the phone to offer a host of Google-related applications such as Gmail and Google Maps.
SingTel is selling the phone to Singapore consumers from Saturday at prices starting from S$38, depending on the contract.
The phone integrates Google’s open operating platform with HTC mobile phone technology.
SingTel has been an aggressive player in the smartphone segment.
Last year, it brought the iPhone to the city state, and there are plans to market other models as smart phone technology grows.
CEO of Singtel Mobile, Yuen Kuan Moon, said: “We think that the Dream phone serves a different market. If you look at the details of the Dream phone, you will find that it has a full QWERTY keyboard.
“We believe that there is a segment out there in the market who will be more comfortable having a full QWERTY keyboard as opposed to going full touch immediately, so this is a very important segment of the market that we do not want to ignore. And this is the reason why we want to bring in the Dream phone.”
The HTC Dream will also offer applications designed specifically for consumers in Singapore, such as SG Savvy Shoppers, which allows consumers to scan items and compare prices.
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The HTC Dream (also marketed as T-Mobile G1, Era G1 in Poland) is the first phone to the market that uses the Android platform. The phone is part of an open standards effort of the Open Handset Alliance. It was released in the US on October 22, 2008, in the UK on October 30, 2008, in the Netherlands on January 31, 2009, and will be available in other countries including Singapore, Australia, Germany, Poland and the Czech Republic in early 2009.
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http://developer.android.com/index.html (Android Developer Site)
http://code.google.com/android/what-is-android.html (What is Android)
Android is a software platform and operating system for mobile devices, based on the Linux kernel, developed by Google and later the Open Handset Alliance.
~ His ramblings