Expecting Google’s Android Launch...

T-Mobile is expected to be the first carrier offering a phone based on Google's Android platform, set to be announced next Tuesday. Android, which will become open source around the time the first Android handset comes out, is intended as an easier platform for developers to work with.

The device is developed and manufactured by HTC, and called the Dream.

A press event will take place on Tuesday, September 23, at which the first smartphone running Google's Android operating system will be announced. However, the invite doesn't promise that this product will be released next week. T-Mobile USA is now in beta testing, which is designed to slash the time and effort required to get an application on the fourth-largest U.S. mobile operator's phones.

Android represents the basis of the new device which also comes with a new Linux-based operating system for smartphones being developed by Google and a group of partners. This will be strongly tied to Google online services, and may even by advertiser supported.

Rumor has it that the Dream will be priced at $199 if bought with a two-year service contract. Among the Dream's features will be a large touch-screen, a track-ball for navigation and a swivel-out full keyboard, the Journal said. It will also run several Google applications, such as Maps, and feature an online market place that has the same properties as Apple's Store.

"We expect Android will eventually offer a compelling range of mobile applications emphasizing Google's online assets, such as advertising, mapping and search," Neil Mawston, director at Strategy Analytics, wrote in a report released Friday.