Android News
Rumor Mill: Google Phone heading to T-Mobile under code name “Passion”
December 5, 2009 | by Evan Selleck
Android, Android Devices, Android OS, Android Phones, Carriers, HTC, Rumors, T-Mobile
Yeah, you read that right. But just to be clear, let me reiterate right from the get-go that this is strictly classified as a rumor. The rumor mill is churning this out, and that’s it for right now. But if this turns out to be true, and for some reason I believe it may be, this is, well, huge. Not just for T-Mobile USA either, even though they’re definitely taking up the majority of goodness out of this deal, if it comes to fruition. Truth be told, for the company who began the Android run here in the States, they deserve this device.
Over at “Tmo News”, David got a drop from one of his trusted ninja about what was being planned for T-Mobile. It looks like the carrier has landed the “Google Phone”. Yes, at this point in time the Google Phone is still a #digitalunicorn, and hasn’t even come close to an official announcement from anyone, let alone Google, but there’s a slight addition to this that makes it all the more plausible. As code names go, Passion is one of the titles that’s pretty high up in the rumor mill within the Android community, and let’s face it, everyone wants this phone. The Google Phone that T-Mobile is supposedly getting has been hidden under the guise of “Passion”. It’s an entire project devoted to this device, and even better, it’s apparently being launched within the first two weeks of January. That isn’t too far off.
However, the fact that the Google Phone has been reeking of VoIP services leaves one to question: why T-Mobile? Has Google worked out a deal with them to sell the phone, and have T-Mobile USA support it on its network? That seems a bit strange if it’s true, but I guess stranger things have happened. And before I forget, let me just go over the quick nitty-gritty about the supposed HTC Passion (or Dragon, if you still want to call it that) so you can be just as excited all over again: a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor; 4.3-inch capacitive multi-touch touchscreen; 5MP camera with LED flash; Android 2.x; 3.5mm headset jack; and 512 MB ROM/ 256 MB RAM. And let me end this by saying that David over at Tmo News is a great guy, and he knows what he’s talking about. He’s also not one to just make stuff up, either. So, while we hope you take this with a grain of salt, we might see a big change coming here very, very soon. All those Verizon Wireless customers out there, what do you think of the fact that the Passion might not be coming to your network at all anymore?
[via Tmo News]
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As a Droid owner, I think its fair that Tmo would get the Google phone… but I don’t think it’s fair for Google to make a phone anyway. If that’s what they wanted to do they should have done that in the first place. All of these companies went out on a limb for Google in the beginning, risking their money to jumpstart Android. Google would undoubtedly have an advantage over any other company in designing a new phone. It isn’t right for Google to swoop in when the hype is highest. /2cents
I can see where you're coming from. Though, it was mainly T-Mobile USA that jumped on the Android platform, while the other companies all denied Google's presence within the mobile industry. Sprint's CEO Dan Hesse even went as far as saying that Android wasn't ready for Sprint, when it first came out (even six months later, he was still saying Sprint was too good for Android). So, yes, I agree that T-Mobile does indeed deserve this device, just for the fact they need a "good" Android device. (Please, no hate from the CLIQ users out there.)
pity it won't have a keyboard – we need a good device with a keyboard that can be used international – which is why i don't go with sprint or verizon (coz of CDMA issues overseas) let us wait and see… SAMMY
Tmobile is a horrible phone company. Their service is terrible. I have a tmobie g1 and I intermittently get 3G coverage (NJ). Verizon and sprint has much better 3G coverages then Tmo. Forget the 3G coverage, Verizon & Sprint have better regular cell phone signal then Tmo. So HTC passion should go to Verizon or Sprint.
Extremely upset by this. I wished it would have went to sprint or Verizon. Was looking to escape the poor service given to me by Tmo.