HTC Lancaster Coming To AT&T In August
Take the general exterior look and feel of the HTC Magic, add a slide-out keyboard in the same vein as the HTC Touch Pro and what do you have? The HTC Lancaster – AT&T’s first Android Phone scheduled to launch on August 3rd.
Yup, AT&T… (just in case you thought that was a typo). In February AT&T’s CEO still seemed guarded, revealing very little about AT&T’s approach to Android except to say that it looks interesting, isn’t open enough yet and they were concerned about malware. I assume those concerns were alleviated. Move over iPhone, you’ve got company!
The above slide is an internal AT&T document leaked by Engadget. It reveals pretty much all we could ask for out of a leak of this size… and this IS a huge leak ladies and gents. Especially for AT&T service wielding folks with a bitter dislike of the iPhone, whom for one reason or another, there are plenty of. But back to the main show – specs of the HTC Lancaster:
- 3MP Camera (digital zoom)
- Bluetooth 2.0
- USB 2.0
- 2.8″ QVGA screen
- 240 x 320 pixel
- 1,350 mAh Battery
- Tri-band EDGE
- 850/1900 MHz HSPA
- AGPS
A few other noteworthy items are a “unique HTC Social Messaging User Interface” and a notice that “Initial Lab Entry dates were based on Google Mobile Services (GMS) UI. AT&T standard UI has been requested, which puts schedule in question.” So August 3rd could be considered a best case scenario with a delay of some sort more than likely. I’m not too sure I’m very excited for an AT&T UI on Android, whatever that might mean, but I’ll try to remain open minded.
The specs themselves aren’t too stellar and AT&T would most likely position the HTC Lancaster as the perfect phone for people who want the capabilities of the iPhone without the price. That might work out pretty darn well when you think about. So think about it… and let us know what you think!