The Android Dream / G1 phone is an internet enabled Smartphone with an OS (Operating System) designed by Google. Its hardware had been designed by HTC (High Technology Corporation) which is a Taiwan based company. It is important to note that the Dream/G1 phone was the first phone in the market ever to use Android device platform. The phone was first released onto the American market on 22 October 2008. It latter on spread to the UK market on the same month but was released on 30th. However, it was only available in Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic, and the European countries early 2009 with some countries such as Germany releasing it in February 2009. Other countries such as France had to see how it performed hence delaying its launch to March of 2009.
When the phone was first introduced to the American market, it was being sold at $ 129.99. This was only for those who bought the phone that had a two-year data and voice plan. As for those who opted to buy without the contract, they price was slightly higher with each unit being purchased at $ 399. The things is that you will not need a data plan in order to operate your phone, the data plan only comes in handy when you need additional applications in the phone. When purchasing a unit, you have the option of buying it in bronze, white, or black. In its first year in the market, one million units had already been sold. The G1 phone has got a 3.2-inch touch screen and 480×320 resolutions in pixels. The good thing with its touch screen is that you can use any standard stylus; it does not define a particular one. Hence, if you lose the original, then you can go to any mobile phone shop and purchase another one. It also gives you the option of using your finger to navigate through some of the features that accompany the phone.
The phone also comes with other in-built features such as GPU capabilities and 3G. It also has a Java hardware accelerator. However, this application does not affect those of Android. Usually, the main aim of this hardware is targeted at Dalvik VM. When it comes to the keyboard, it has a sliding keypad that comes with the full row of five QWERTY pads. It also has six buttons used to navigate. A number of buttons are located on the side of the phone used to control both the camera and slide of the phone. In most cases, they are separate buttons with that those of camera control being found on the right with the slide ones on the left. Instead of having an audio jack, the Dream has a small USB port. This port is made in such a way that, apart from carrying audio signals only, it also allows for USB related signals to pass through. The good thing about this type of port is that you can convert it so that it can be able to support a standard 3.5 mm set of headphones. It also has a 3.2 pixel camera and comes with its own built-in video recording facility.