By With all the news, rumors and leaks regarding the Motorola Sholes/Tao, you may have missed an important note regarding HTC and Verizon Wireless. The HTC Desire, HTC Passion and HTC Predator are all Android Phones poised to launch on Big Red this holiday season. Little to nothing is known about them but that will all change very soon and right now we’re getting our first doses of disclosure – the HTC Desire just passed the FCC and got its Wi-Fi certification (PDF)!
None of the documents are particularly revealing, but they do provide reassurance to Verizon customers eagerly awaiting Android that they’ll have some options. HTC wrapped up confidentiality on External Photos, Internal Photos, Test Setup Photos and User Manual that last through December 31st, 2009 ensuring that we’re left with very little to nibble on. Check out how hilariously unrevealing the FCC label on the battery is:
Don’t let the document confuse you… the HTC Desire is not just a series of 2D rectangles and it IS an actual phone – we promise. And the little label on the battery might look a little something like this:
Meanwhile the Wi-Fi certification is equally as informing… pretty much only revealing that the phone has Wi-Fi:
The Verizon Wireless Android scene is really starting to pick up steam as the Motorola Sholes aka Motorola Tao also got FCC approval today. Now we’re awaiting leaks/rumors, an official announcement and of course more info on the Passion and Predator! Keep pumping out the good stuff VZW!
[Thanks Jason!]
very exciting. i still cant see vzw not crippling these androids. gotta wait and see though.
on another note, anybody got news on the cyanogen c&d saga? i see a lot of personal boycotts going down, but nothing more than that
@Pieter: From what I understand the Google v. Cyanogen is more or less a non-issue, that was blown way out of proportion by idiot blog/forum readers.
Here’s some details…
http://www.androidguys.com/2009/09/27/the-way-forward-cyanogate-09/
In short, Cyanogen needs to ship his roms without Google apps that we will need to backup/restore after flashing his rom onto our phones. Is that process done and working? No, but it seems like it will be possible someday.
Finally, oh my God, please…. let the Android wave of goodness hit VZW. I was beginning to think all was lost and go over to T-mobile, who has less than desirable service coverage in my area.
thanks backinaction.
i kinda thought it was something along those lines. a lot of google hate been flying around lately. sad…
No Specs yet? I thought FCC docs typically state virtually all the specs. I would comb the documents myself, but i’m behind in work.
Crossing my fingers for a 3.5″ or + display
& 600MHz or + processor
& 1500 battery
I hope there new Verizon Android phones don’t require you to get a data plan with them to get the 2 year contract price. Any know if they will?
@Jkasten
That’s being awfully hopeful, the Sholes/Tao will be a media heavy phone, mores than any Blackberry could hope to be. You are only obligated to get a 2 year contract if you want the lowest up-front price, but a data plan will most certainly be pushed. Whats the point in getting an Android smart phone if you’re not going to utilize all of the networking possibilities it comes with?
agree w/ SThomas, why on earth would you even think of getting an Android phone with no data? The point is being able to integrate all Google love over the internet with your phone… otherwise, save the cost of the data plan and get and LG enV3!
@SThomas
Your probably right about it requiring a 2 year data plan and voice plan to get the cheaper price. I was browsing though Verizon’s site and they don’t have any smart phones that don’t require a data plan to get the cheaper price. WiFi is good enough for me for a connection I don’t need an always on data connection. I mostly want a Android phone to have the ability to put extra programs on it. My current windows mobile phone is to unstable and want to move to Linux.
Yeah.. I don’t really see the point of an Android phone without data, it will probably be a requirement to buy these phones. I was recently in Germany with my US G1 and I turned off Data Roaming to avoid unknown (and probably expensive) data usage while I was there. On that trip I realized how data dependant my G1 is. Almost all the cool stuff I wanted to show to people was useless without data access. NESoid and SNESoid usually impress people.. but that’s about all I could do.
There is a huge demand for a phone that functions as a PDA/phone that does not require a data plan. There is no phone on the market that allows a phone to sync with a PC calendar without data service (except BB Pearl at T-mobile). So many people carry a PDA in one pocket and a cell phone in the other. Why not give them the ability to combine them into one device without having to fork over the big bucks for a data plan? This is an option that should be available to the consumer without the extra cost!