By Some VERY exciting news has just leaked out via CellPhoneSignal and TMOtoday – both websites got their hands on an internal T-Mobile time-line that lists the 2009 launch timeframe for Android devices… including the previously unmentioned “Samsung Houdini”.
Something is extremely fishy though… this document lists two devices not yet released:
- G2 – Summer launch
- Samsung Houdini – Fall (before holidays)
The G2 is listed as the HTC Sapphire which Europeans have come to know as the HTC Magic but the latest rumors were that the phone will be called T-Mobile MyTouch 3G when it launches. Either somebody is flat out wrong here, T-Mobile is having internal confusion and not made up their minds, or they could just be running a misdirection play – who knows?
The Samsung Houdini, from what the rumor sources say at least, sound a lot like the Samsung i7500 so this could be the American branded name for that device… wouldn’t surprise us, either. Of course it would be funny coming from Samsung since HTC launched the “Magic” and Samsung would be piggybacking their name by using the world’s most well known magician of all-time. This just sounds hoax-ish to me, but if real, I kind of like the name.
There are two other important things to note:
- The G1 price drops to $149 and shows up with a EOL (End Of Life) during Back To School time
- Black boxes covering supposedly “exciting” stuff
This is what TMOtoday says about the black boxes:
Over the coming days, when deemed appropriate by us and our contacts, the black blocks will be lifted and some exciting information will be revealed.
Do you believe them? I can’t see T-Mobile discontinuing sales of the G1, launching the HTC Magic as the G2, and failing to fulfill the need for an Android Phone with a physical QWERTY keyboard. Perhaps they’ll stop MARKETING the G1 but stop selling it? Not gonna happen. Unless the G2 is something other than the Magic/Sapphire.
There are way too many inconsistencies for this to seem believable at the moment but crazier things have happened. I’d rather let you know the rumors with my own disclaimers added rather than leave you hanging/wondering.
Lots to talk about… LOTS to talk about. But I won’t speculate any further. Instead, I’ll wait patiently until tomorrow when they release the details of those black boxes and hopefully, in the meantime, I’ll get some answers to the mishap that has become the G2 naming conundrum.
UPDATE:
Folks at BGR have one of the black boxes revealed… it is the G1 version 2, AKA Bigfoot. This answers our doubts about the G1 facing EOL but to be honest… I like the looks of the current G1 more than what the pic reveals:
Oh and by the way, hey you – mister anonymous tipster… you know we have a “Tip Us” link as well so, you know… make yourself at home. I’ll bring milk and cookies.
I’m not sure I like the new G1. It looks like a Helio. :\
But I’m just happy to have an Android phone with a keyboard.
The bigfoot looks a lot like the open source Openmoko phone with a keyboard added. http://www.openmoko.org
hard to say if i like it til its in my hand(the g1v2). not sure about rounded ends though.
this could just be misdirection. only time will tell.
AHH finally some dates… even if they’re fake. Now I can decide if it’s worth the wait.
I bet the “Houdini” and the “Bigfoot” is fake…
Edit: “I bet the “Houdini” and the “Bigfoot” ARE fake…
I would almost guarantee that EOL just means they’ll stop marketing it, not stop making and selling them. Even with the Bigfoot supposedly coming out then, they can’t just stop making a product a year after they release it. I would hope not at least, it’s a rock solid phone. And I’d like to be able to buy insurance on it eventually (via t-mo, like if I had a sidekick or other expensive phone), and that won’t happen until they have a bunch of broken ones to refurbish, which won’t happen unless they keep making/selling/breaking them.
Did no one notice the pattern? Houdini was a master ILLUSIONIST and Bigfoot has never been proven, so it is nothing more than an ILLUSION itself. Sounds to me like misdirection, and a badly guised ploy at that.
I kinda like the sound of Bigfoot though. I wouldn’t care what it looked like, as long as it contained a flash player, cupcake improvements, and about 8 gig of internal memory, and left alone all the things I currently like on my G1…………..L8R !
“…but to be honest… I like the looks of the current G1 more than what the pic reveals:”
Yes, THANK YOU! I will be the first person to say that the G1 is not “sexy”. However, I LOVE the hard buttons, the trackball, and the fact that just the screen swivels up. I don’t like, and there is nothing *new*, about the entire keyboard, and just the keyboard, swiveling out like “big foot”. G1 brought something NEW to the table, different, unique.
Also want to note, I love the menu key placement…right on the edge. If HTC even gave the menu key a little border around it, even that would have made the phone significantly less functional.
You’ve heard it all day from G1 users, functionality > jailed sexiness. I concur. The G1 is one of the most functional phones out there
Just because it is the G1v2 does that mean that HTC has to make it? That thing looks a lot like a Sony Mylo…
Its sad to think that T-Mobile has already stated the End of Life for the G1 as soon as July next year. I find it funny as its really the only option right now.
Bigfoot is confirmed, as far as I know.