T-Mobile G2 officially announced

As rumors go, this is one that has been around for a very, very long time. Since as early as March 2009, websites were claiming that a device called the G2 would launch on T-Mobile. As it turned out, that device turned out to be the MyTouch 3G, but even still the rumors of something named G2 persisted. The HTC Hero was released in some parts of Europe under the name G2 Touch, but nothing by that name ever showed up in the States. Until now.

Rumors of something big coming to T-Mobile have also persisted recently under secret project code names. Whether today's announcement has anything to do with those rumors remains to be seen. But at least one thing is no longer a rumor: T-Mobile's first HSPA+ device (first mentioned in late July) will be the G2. They spread the word on their Twitter account this morning:

It's Official: T-Mobile G2 with Google will be the first smartphone designed for our HSPA+ network! http://ow.ly/2r9rW #AndroidWed Aug 18 12:00:07 via HootSuiteT-Mobile USA
TMobile_USA

As a refresher, HSPA+ is basically a souped-up 3G standard. It's not officially considered 4G, but it's just as fast (and in some cases faster) than Sprint's existing 4G network. It's sort of comically called 3.5G 3.9G, meaning it's much faster than 3G, but not quite 4G. Existing phones on T-Mobile's network are able to see slight speed improvements in HSPA+ areas (which are already widely deployed), but the G2 will be the first phone designed to take full advantage of the speed.

Details and specs of the G2 are unknown. It's been rumored to be built by HTC, have a keyboard, 1GHz processor, and a 3.7" screen, but even those details are relatively unknown at this point. Another rumor is that this will run stock Android, no 3rd party skin. It's not part of T-Mobile's MyTouch line, and it's called G2 with Google, which is also what the G1 was called.

So, there are still more unknows about this device than anything. But we know it's coming, we know it's HSPA+, and we know it's a true successor to the G1. That alone makes me happy.

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So if you just read Ryan's portion of the post and your eyes glazed over a little, don't feel bad (mine did too a little). Here's what you need to know:

This is the first phone available to run on the HSPA+ (that means really fast) network. That is big news by itself because right now the only phones running on similar speeds are on Sprint's 4G network. Basically, there have been a lot of Android phones introduced into the market, but this is the first true G1 successor. From my understanding, it's going to be the modernized and updated version of the G1.

I love a lot of things about my G1 that haven't been replicated by any other Android phones. Some of the things I'm most excited about is that it will have a physical keyboard, stock Android (no weird custom skins), and be running Froyo (the latest and greatest version of Android). At least, we hope all of those things. No one knows much of anything yet, but all the signs are pointing that direction.

This could be the phone I've been waiting for the last two years--a worthy replacement for my beloved G1. :-)