Android phone could come in November

IDG News Service - The U.S. Federal Communications Commission released documents today suggesting that the first Android phone will hit the U.S. market in November.

The documents show that the FCC has approved the sale of HTC's Dream phone. It is widely rumored that the device will be the first to run Google Inc.'s Linux-based Android software.

HTC asked the FCC to keep some of the details of its filings, including photographs and the user manual, confidential until Nov. 10. That could mean that the phone will come out around that date.

Neither HTC nor Google has confirmed that the phone will run Android, and the available FCC documents do not reveal the software that will be included on the handset. But blogs have been abuzz for months with rumors that the Dream will run Android, including videos and photos purporting to be of the device.

The FCC documents include information about how the Dream fared in technical tests measuring radio frequency emissions but reveal only minor details that might be of interest to hopeful users. The phone will include Wi-Fi, a camera and Bluetooth wireless technology and will run on 3G wireless networks. It will also have a "jog ball," a small trackball-like device for navigating and selecting phone features.

The filings also refer to a "slider," which could indicate that the phone will have a keyboard that slides out, a common feature on HTC smart phones.

Mobile enthusiasts are eagerly awaiting the first Android phone, in part out of curiosity over how the phone will compare with Apple Inc.'s iPhone, which was first released more than a year ago. Apple and Google are rare new entrants in the mobile phone market, long dominated by companies like Nokia Corp. that have been making cell phones and phone software for years.

Despite rumors of delays with Android, Google says the software is on track and that the first phones running it should appear this year.

Sprint Nextel Corp. and T-Mobile are members of an Android industry group, and some industry observers expect T-Mobile to be the first operator to offer Android phones. Both carriers sell HTC phones.