Archive notice: This article was originally published on December 30, 2008. Links and embedded videos are preserved as part of the historical record.
Although German users will probably have to wait until CeBIT in March 2009 to hold Google’s G1 smartphone in their hands, rumors about its successor are already circulating online. According to the high-tech website Boy Genius Report, the T-Mobile G2—the precise name of the phone running the open-source Android operating system—could ship as early as January 26 next year. More conservative estimates nevertheless expect a market launch by April 2009 at the latest, the report says. Unlike the G1, the G2 would no longer be available exclusively from T-Mobile, but also from “another globally operating mobile carrier.”
Alongside the release date, Boy Genius Report claims detailed knowledge of the new Google phone’s technical specifications. Citing insider sources, it identifies the removal of the full keyboard as the most significant change from the previous model. Instead, the G2 is expected to use a large touchscreen and the familiar trackball at the bottom of the device. The new smartphone is also said to feature a five-megapixel camera with autofocus, a VGA camera for video calls and Wi-Fi connectivity. Alongside a slot supporting up to 16 gigabytes of storage, voice dialing and dedicated interfaces to corporate networks are expected to improve usability.
The fact that rumors about the G1’s successor are emerging before its official German launch clearly reflects the hype that developed around the Google phone during the previous year. Consumer interest is driven above all by Android, the operating system developed by the Open Handset Alliance. Designed as an open platform for mobile devices, the system received a substantial update only a few days ago. In addition to bug fixes, the update introduced improvements to camera and Bluetooth support and the music player. It also added rudimentary x86 architecture support, meaning the software can in principle run not only on smartphones with ARM processors but also on PCs.
