WSJ sources close to Motorola have been informed that the manufacturer will start focusing on the Google Android operating system, rather than on Symbian, and the move will mean that a great number of jobs will be lost.

Motorola refused to comment, but Sanjay Jha, the company’s co-CEO had told employees that Motorola will use Windows Mobile for its high-end phones, its proprietary operating system, and an unnamed platform, which is speculated to be Android.

Although the cut will imply that many jobs will be lost, the focus on Android should increase the Android workforce from 50 employees to 350.

[via Cellular-News]

Nokia users, myself included, have been up in arms with complaints of build quality issues and lacklustre high end device hardware.  All the while, Nokia’s competitors appear to be catching up, releasing devices with more multimedia features, more powerful hardware, and better, more intuitive, flashy user interfaces. The Finnish tech titan’s reputation has fallen in the minds of hardcore gadget enthusiasts, a demographic Nokia has long dominated. This is an unfavourable position to be in, especially with Nokia being a benefactor of the gadget enthusiast community’s word of mouth advertising.

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The most awaited phone of the last six months, or better, the most awaited mobile phone operating system of the last six months, Google Android has been launched in a mobile phone, which is the HTC Dream G1.

The 3.2″ touchscreen device with HVGA (320 X 480 pixels) resolution will have a full slide-out QWERTY keyboard, Google Search, Maps with Street View, GMail, Calendar, Talk, and YouTube applications enhanced by the web search leader, especially for its operating system. The device will be available from the 22nd of October in the US, and besides the exclusive Google tailored applications, there will be a 3.2 megapixel camera with autofocus, 3G and HSDPA, Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity, and a microSD memory card slot.

In technical terms, the G1 will be powered by a Qualcomm® MSM7201A™ processor with 528 MHz, have 256MB of ROM, and 192 of RAM. It will weigh a hefty 158g, and measure 117.7 mm x 55.7 mm x 17.1 mm. The Dream will also feature HSUPA at 2mbps besides the HSDPA at 7.2mbps, trackball navigation, and Mozilla browser with Apple WebKit. Special features include the GPS, accelerometer (motion sensor), and a compass. The battery has 1150mAh of capacity, which will give you talk time of up to 350 minutes for WCDMA, up to 406 minutes for GSM, and standby time of up to 402 hours for WCDMA and up to 319 hours for GSM.

Contrary to what people might think, the Dream G1 might not bring a great revolution in the market just because it is made by Google, or because it is Open Source. It won’t affect mobile network operators either. The range of applications and hardware features present on the phone is what will trigger competition, and in this case, it’s the variety of Google Applications, nothing else.

Press release and more pictures after the break.

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T-Mobile is holding a press conference in New York where it is releasing the HTC Dream G1, one of the most leaked mobile phones of the moment. The press release hasn’t been received by us, but Engadget has already got their hands-on, as pictured on the left.

Few press pictures were leaked earlier on, which is quite embarassing as it’s the event day, as well as few specifications, which were known to us. The disappointment is that there is no Stereo Bluetooth or video capture.

T-Mobile has launched their G1 website, but few features are closed for the moment, and will open only after the press conference. Earlier on, these were open, and few images were leaked. Now you can spot a video demonstrating the Dream G1.

A press release was issued for Amazon, which states that the company’s MP3 store will be loaded on the HTC Dream G1 with 6 million DRM-free songs, a strategy which comes close to Nokia’s Comes with Music, but the tracks itself won’t be free. Courtesy of Engadget.

There are also rumours that the G1 will come with free GMail access, with no need of a data plan from T-Mobile’s side, but all these will be clarified later when the press release is issued.

Press release from Amazon after the break.

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It seems that we are only talking about the HTC Dream G1 this phone, but that’s because it’s the first mobile phone powered by Google Android Operating System.

Neo has sent us few more images of a now black HTC Dream G1 phone. It looks much better than the white colour phone that was seen earlier on.

There are rumours that the black HTC Dream G1 will be called HTC Blackstone, but a leaked T-Mobile list shows that the HTC Dream G1 itself will be available in white, black, and brown.

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