First Android Phone to Launch Next Month?

According to the Wall Street Journal, an Android-powered phone known as the HTC Dream will debut on T-Mobile next month, with an announcement predicted next week.

After nearly a year of speculation, beta testing and rumors building around Google’s open-source Android mobile operating system, the first commercial phone to carry it as an operating system will soon see the light of day. According to an article in Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal, the phone will appear on T-Mobile next month.

As expected, the phone, which has now been dubbed the Dream, will be manufactured by HTC. According to the Journal’s “people familiar with the matter,”  the phone will copy the iPhone’s enormous touch screen, but also add a flip-out QWERTY keyboard and BlackBerry-style trackball navigation device, which will make it heavier than its Apple competitor.

The Journal predicts an announcement on Sept. 23, followed by the phone shipping as early as late October.