And in addition to the confirmation of a device called “Dream,” of HTC origin, being the introductory piece, T-Mobile will unveil the G-1 September 23. This not only means that Android will have the final months of the year in the public’s hands, right alongside its similarly well-hyped competitor, the Apple iPhone. Android Market, a wireless application storefront which will arrive in tandem with the Dream, will too have its day against Apple’s own App Store.
The last few months have brought both announcements and intimations about a three-player application store shootout: between first-comer Apple, the imminent Android, and a suspected venue from Microsoft’s Windows Mobile division called Skymarket. Yet, while it it unclear when, or even if the hazy project that is Skymarket will debut anytime soon, iPhone and Android will spend the holiday season sparring for sales and critical praise.
The first of two objectives will likely bring Apple top honors, as both its device output and that of its applications is superb, if not stellar. Android-equipped HTC Dream handsets, meanwhile, are expected to number 600,000 to 700,000 total by year’s end, a figure far short of Apple’s own proven performance this half of 2008. The momentum held by the iPhone will most certainly carry well into the the next quarter, if not increase nearer January 1.
As for media-driven hype and ground-level interest, Android is only so far guaranteed to be supplied with the Android Market service with access to free downloads. Google is said to be planning an upgrade post-launch to provide for financial transactions, but it’s unclear what sort of time period that amounts to. Therefore, the traffic Android Market receives presumably will not match or rate as highly, proportionally speaking or otherwise. Which in turn makes critical reviews bound to carry some measure of reservation, as if Android will simply play the eager but rough-cut underdog to the App Store’s sure-thing status, and do so for several quarters to come. People will want Android to shine brightly, but the App Store is hardly a staid old player.