Australia Blog
News and notes from Google Down Under
First Android-powered phone released in Australia
Thursday, February 5, 2009
We Australians love getting our hands on new technology, and we especially love it when we're among the first countries in the world to see new products. We were one of the first countries to get open Gmail signups, and to see
Street View
imagery on Google Maps. Today, I'm delighted that the
HTC
Dream is being launched in Australia by
Optus
, making us the first country in Asia to get an Android-powered mobile device.
Mobile phones outsell PCs three to one, yet most mobile operating systems were developed before the web existed.
Android
is the first Internet-generation, fully open and free mobile platform, which means you can enjoy the familiarity and breadth of your desktop Internet experience on your mobile. You can fully customise your phone and easily find and download applications from the open
Android Market
or other websites. You'll find everything from games to location-based services, social networking, productivity tools and on-the-go shopping.
The HTC Dream is not only powered by Android, but also comes preinstalled with a suite of Google applications and a fully integrated Google experience: one-touch access to Google search, Google Maps for mobile, Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, and YouTube.
It's a milestone for the
Open Handset Alliance
, a group of more than 40 technology and mobile industry leaders who are behind the Android platform and have committed to fostering innovation on mobile phones to offer a better consumer experience.
And it's also a milestone for Google Australia, and one that we hope will be embraced by both mobile users and mobile developers. By opening up mobile devices to developers we believe we can drive greater innovation, and faster innovation, for the benefit of mobile users everywhere. Our hope is that the next big application - the future YouTube or Facebook - will actually be built for mobiles, maybe even here in Australia.
Keep checking back on this blog over the next few months as we offer tips and tricks for getting the most out of your HTC Dream, and profile some of the innovative applications available in the Android Market.
Posted by Karim Temsamani, General Manager, Google Australia and New Zealand
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