It sounds unbelievable, but it’s been 14 years since the HTC Dream hit the market. It was the first mobile phone to be sold with the Android operating system pre-installed, setting a path of innovation that continues today.
[El prototipo del primer Android sale a la venta en eBay]
It’s easy to say that Android was born in response to Apple’s iPhone, since the HTC Dream arrived more than a year after the first iPhone, but that would be wrong. Not only was Android already a work in progress at that time, before being acquired by Google, but the development of the first mobile phones with the system had already been underway for some time.
The HTC Dream proves that at the time, it was unclear what the future of the “smartphone” would look like or smartphone. For example, one of its most amazing features today is the full keyboard, accessible by swiping the touchscreen. But that wasn’t the only design that came up.
It could have been the Google G1
Rich Miner, co-founder of Android, revealed this in a Twitter thread in which he responds to various misinformation published about the development of Android, including that it was created by Google (when it started in as an independent project) or that it was born in response to the iPhone.
In reality, Android was born in response to Microsoft, which at the time had launched its Windows Mobile platform. With the huge success of Windows computers, it was only logical that the big fear was that Microsoft would dominate the new market. Android’s original proposal was presented as a way to prevent history from repeating itself, offering an alternative.
The Sooner prototype elevated Android as a version of Blackberry
But the question was what that alternative would look like. It is well known that originally two different mobiles were raised. Dream was touchscreen-based, while Sooner followed Blackberry design lines, giving priority to the keyboard; they finally settled on the first concept for the Google G1 (hence the name HTC Dream) but the design changed over the months.
All along we were working on 2 phones, earlier more blackberry and Dream type, touch screen based. After the iPhone launch, we canceled Sooner to focus on Dream (eventually the Google G1) but its design changed little from this render made 5 months before the iPhone launch. pic.twitter.com/lC8m0WolgE
– Rich Miner (@richminer) October 31, 2022
Miner released rendered images of the Google G1 design as it looked five months before the iPhone was launched to show that Apple wasn’t the first to think about making the touchscreen more important. Although the basic concept is retained (with a sliding screen that reveals a full keyboard), the design is completely different, much more “young” based on the lime color.
Other details have completely changed, such as a ring on the right side that could have served as an additional control method or to perform text selection. We also see large buttons dedicated to picking up and hanging up the phone, a “Home” button and a “Back” button. On the screen, possibly two buttons dedicated to messaging functions, and at the top, the Google logo.
The final version of the HTC Dream was more “serious” and suitable for business
The final version of the Google G1, manufactured by HTC, opted for a more “serious” design suitable for use by businesses and professionals. Would things have changed if the project had opted for the more daring design?
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