Chicago (IL) – The HTC Dream, the first Google Android smartphone, will go head to head against Apple’s iPhone – in size, features and price: According to the Wall Street Journal, you will be able to buy the Dream for $199, if you agree to a 2-year service agreement.

There is no official confirmation for this information yet, but if we believe the usually well-informed Wall Street Journal, then the HTC Dream will be priced at $199 with a service plan. It is unclear which service plans will be offered alongside the Dream, but if T-Mobile will tie the device to plans similar to what the company offers for its Blackberrys, then the overall cost of the HTC Dream over a 2-year period would be comparable to an Apple iPhone on AT&T’s network.

T-Mobile currently offers voice only plans starting at $30 per month for 300 minutes and voice/data plans starting at $60, including 1000 voice minutes and unlimited data. Of course, these prices do not apply to 3G services, which are promised by T-Mobile to be available in 27 U.S. markets by the beginning of October. Add a 3G premium to the $60 per month pricing and you are right in AT&T territory, even if AT&T is offering less voice minutes for the money.

If the $199 price tag is correct, then the strategy of pricing the phone right next to the iPhone could be considered as very confident on Google’s and HTC’s part. According to early reports, the Dream will be a HTC Touch-like device with a 3” screen, integrated Wi-Fi, 3G and GPS. However, it seems that the device will not include a motion sensor chip that can switch the screen layout between portrait and landscape modes, there will be no multi-touch capability and Google’s first version of Android will not support Bluetooth wireless connectivity. In direct comparison, the lack of those features could be considered as a significant disadvantage for the Dream, especially if the device costs the same as the iPhone and other smartphones are available for less than $100.

Nevertheless, HTC apparently expects huge demand for the device. The company believes it can sell between 600,000 to 700,000 devices until the end of the year, according to a report published by the Wall Street Journal. Sales may be supported by the fact that the Google logo will appear on the phone. But we do not know if the Google name will be enough to move those handsets.  

T-Mobile is expected to announce the Dream on September 23.
 

Go Android!

Sep 17, 2008 23:29     

Actually The Device has an motion sensor but it only can me use in Google Maps.
Jay report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +1

Hooray...

Sep 17, 2008 23:30     

Can't wait to get my Google phone. Love to see more new phone vs. iPhone. Let see if I drop my iPhone to move to Google phone (gPhone? lol)
vietdrive report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

No Bluetooth...?

Sep 17, 2008 23:37     

They lost me right there.
Carol report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

It has Bluetooth

Sep 18, 2008 07:42     

I keep reading on many sites about how the Dream does not have Bluetooth. However, on androidcommunity.com they had a story about the "missing" Bluetooth and this is what they said: "Despite the rumors, Android will support the usual array of Bluetooth headsets and dongles. You’ll be able to use it with your hands-free or tether it to your laptop (carrier T&Cs permitting). What won’t be there is the API that exposes Bluetooth functionality to developers:" That article is a month old, so perhaps they finally did have to completely omit Bluetooth. Here is a link to the article: http://androidcommunity.com/google-explains-advanced-bluetooth-gtalk-api-omissions-20080825/

Eric report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +4

Of course it has bluetooth!

Sep 18, 2008 18:17     

What self-respecting phone doesn't. That would be a silly decision to leave it out. Google is pretty smart and I don't thing they would be so unsmart as to leave such a highly used feature off of the worlds "newest" coolest phone!
Elijah report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0

More carriers....

Sep 18, 2008 21:22     

Not for the iphone and not for the Dream will I choose only one carrier. If there's one thing wrong with cell phone companies is not enough direct competition. I'll look at it in the store and read the news articles. And it'll probably sound neatorama. But until there is some real, honest competition in the cell phone market, I'm only going to use the bottom of the barrel phone and cheapest plan possible.

one stop shop report abuse vote down vote up Votes: +0