Code Retard

google_g1_phone

Tech companies are getting sued for patent infringement regularly, but this recent case of patent litigation might mean serious trouble for HTC, at least in Germany. Munich-based IPCom, which is not your usual insignificant patent troll, says the Taiwanese company is infringing its patents (IPCom doesn’t have a website).

This was the figure estimated by research firm iSuppli, which concluded that every T-Mobile G1 phone being sold should at least pay for itself in components and materials, selling for retail at $179 with a $144 bill-of-materials. Not counting the humans costs like software development, R&D or machine costs like manufacturing and packaging, each Google G1 phone generates a $35 profit. This is a modest profit compared to the iPhone, whose initial bill-of-materials estimate worked out to be $173, more than the G1 except that the iPhone, when it first came out, was selling for profit upwards of $500.

The estimate from iSuppli did not include physically dissecting the phone so a full parts teardown that was similarly done on the iPhone is not available, but they did note that the G1 has at least two processors designed by ARM, whose chips also appear in the Apple iPhone.

More demo videos of the T-Mobile G1 released. T-Mobile CEO said they will unlock these phones for you 90 days after activation, and will let you tether your phone to a computer as long as its not a major network issue. Another thing is, when you sign the contract, you will be limited to 1gb of data per month before they throttle your d/l spee to 50kbs….not to happy about that…

Those of you that cant wait to see what Google Android has in store for us will be happy to read about the new specs.

What’s known so far:

In-store, immediate sales only available in stores within 5 miles of a 3G covered area. If a store is beyond that range, representatives will walk customers through a T-mobile.com purchase
One touch access to: Search, Maps, Gmail, Youtube, Calendar, and Google Talk
Gmail account and data plan required
GPS
3.1 mp camera, no video recording
No stereo bluetooth (A2DP)
Dimensions: 4.6 x 2.16 x 0.63 in
Weighs 5.6 ounces
480×320 65K color screen
5 hour talk time, 130 hour talk time
Expandable up to 8GB

More to come as more news comes in…

Preview of Google Android, rumored to be released September 23rd.

Though the first Google Android cell phone is going to be coming in a little bit late to the smartphone game, it’s pricing is certainly “aggressively priced” to match the current champ to beat – the $199 Apple iPhone 3G. Android is Google’s mobile platform and answer to the iPhone SDK which they have been promoting wildly with cash-fueled developer competitions to spread adoption and awareness. HTC of Taiwan, makers of the Excalibur smartphone, is the manufacturing company that will provide the Google Android-enabled phone for T-Mobile to market in the US. Look for further details to be released at an event in New York in about a week. T-Mobile has long been eyeing the success rival AT&T has been enjoying with the exclusive rights to the iPhone, so T-Mobile, Google, and HTC all have a lot of hope riding on the new smartphone. Let’s hope they don’t let us down.

Android Developer Challenge winners, Android Market is up and Accessories Store goes live

It’s been busy in the world of Android. In fact, so much has happened in the past week, we just had give you a little recap. Plus, there’s a few new things worth mentioning all you Android diehards are sure to appreciate. For starters, the winners of the Android Developer Challenge I were announced last week. Ten teams won $275,000 each and ten won $100,000 each for their interesting and useful application submissions. Just a few apps worth mentioning are cab4me, which helps you find a cab wherever you are GoCart, which allows you to scan product barcodes and compare product prices at local stores. There are many more, so be sure to check out the winners for yourself.

More Information

The rumor mill has been a buzz with news about a new Google phone to be released as early as September 17th, and as late as mid-October.

The phone is to be bases of the HTC Dream as pictured above. For early adopters, sources are reporting the phone will see for around $150, for existing T-Mobile customers only. Everyone will will have to wait until October and pay around 400 bucks.