In 2008, the first Android smartphone was launched, known to the world as the HTC Dream and to those in the United States as the T-Mobile G1. The handset design was interesting, featuring a sliding keyboard that would swoop out to reveal a full QWERTY keyboard. There was even a physical trackball for precise navigation. Now, we get to take a glimpse of the handset design pre-iPhone launch, showing us a more bubbly look with an "electric" color scheme that featured neon green and black.

The render was provided by Rich Miner, who is the co-founder of Android. Miner tweeted the image while clarifying a story published by Business Insider. He explains that during the phone's design phase, there was more concern about Microsoft over Apple since it had built a relatively strong user base with its Windows Mobile platform. The team was working on two designs, one that was like a Blackberry and the Dream. After the announcement of the iPhone, he stated that the focus shifted to the Dream.

Although the render looks interesting, the underlying design of the device remains pretty true to the T-Mobile G1 and HTC Dream. It features a sliding keyboard, along with physical buttons for easy navigation. We can see that there is an aggressive groove near the bottom of the phone and a jog wheel that could have been imagined as an option for input navigation. Of course, the final product would end up looking much sleeker, with refined edges, simple buttons, and a trackball. Also, the colors were muted, being offered in only black and white options.

Now that we've come so far, it's hard to imagine using something like this in 2022, or would you? Let us know in the comments whether you owned an HTC Dream or T-Mobile G1 and whether you'd use an updated phone with this form factor in current times.


Source: Rich Miner (Twitter)

Via: 9to5Google