HTC working on an Android netbook for T-Mobile?

Man, the Android netbook hype is just getting silly as we draw nearer to Computex: the whispers today are that HTC and T-Mobile are working on a 3G-capable machine running Google's OS. That vague bit of info is all we have at the moment, but it's not totally insane -- HTC and T-Mobile are bosom buddies in the Android game, after all. We'll keep an ear to the ground.

[TareX @ May 7th 2009 12:26AM]

At least their Android smartphone fugliness could be hidden in a pocket.

HTC, forget the Android-for-netbook gig, and concentrate on a successor for your super amazing Shift.

[msalivar @ May 7th 2009 12:27AM]

It'll be interesting to see how they get the chin on there.

[zelnuts @ May 7th 2009 12:50AM]

Hahaha, I'm thinkin about them making an HTC Shift with a chin.... hmmmm..... not a bad idea.

[Dafrety @ May 7th 2009 1:13AM]

They should just make the HTC Leno and be done with it.

[KEROLiUKAS @ May 7th 2009 12:34AM]

Android is meh for netbooks, stick with Ubuntu or Fedora, or infact any other distro.

[Michael Scrip @ May 7th 2009 1:00AM]

Or Windows XP... an OS that runs the same types of programs you've been used to for the last 15 years.

Or... run mobile phone software on a laptop.

Do you want a laptop that runs this fine software? http://www.android.com/market/

[jay jay @ May 7th 2009 1:03AM]

i agree i don't see why these computer manufactures and wasting so much resources on making android a viable os on netbooks. it was never design to be ran on netbooks only phones. If they want linux on a netbook there are a plethora of fully functioning Linux distros out there already that are perfect to run on netbooks such as puppy linux, damn small linux, ubuntu netbook remix, just to name a few.

[Theli @ May 7th 2009 3:27AM]

"it was never design to be ran on netbooks only phones."

In all fairness, Windows wasn't originally designed for laptops either. It was designed for desktop PC's.
Google has never said that Android was intended just for phones. From their official website:

"Android™ delivers a complete set of software for mobile devices: an operating system, middleware and key mobile applications."
"Mobile devices"... seems to cover netbooks.

Now, there are obviously changes that are needed for the operating system to be viable for netbooks (official WVGA support might be a start), but I wouldn't discount the possibility that it will end up there.

[barry99705 @ May 7th 2009 8:50AM]

@Michael Scrip

Uhh, I wouldn't know what you're talking about, I've not run that many windows xp apps in the last 15 years.

[Jorvay @ May 7th 2009 9:15AM]

My theory so far is that laptop makers are counting on the potential hype and exposure of Android to overcome the long-standing misconceptions about Linux. In other words, a Linux distro without the preconceived notions about Linux distros. But I guess we'll have to see what Android looks like in laptop form before we know for sure.

[Michael Scrip @ May 7th 2009 4:54PM]

@barry99705 "Uhh, I wouldn't know what you're talking about, I've not run that many windows xp apps in the last 15 years."

But many people have used Windows... they are used to it.

No one has used Android... except for T-Mobile G1 users.

[Neil @ May 7th 2009 12:44AM]

I wish they'd do a low cost HTC Shift with 3G radio built in. GSM would be my first option for the cell radio. As far as OS goes, I'd rather XP, just from the point of view of of there are near countless amounts of apps made for Windows.

[Dez @ May 7th 2009 12:55AM]

Seriously, I am so sick of this story being run over and over again.

A netbook with Android just isn't exciting. Why the hell do i care about a mobile OS running on a crippled laptop? As keroliukas mentioned, fedora or ubuntu are far superior.
Just say NO to android.

[msalivar @ May 7th 2009 1:13AM]

That's just it, full desktop operating systems just don't run all that well on a netbook. Using something like Moblin when it's ready might be a nice compromise, but Android's foundation is versatile enough that it can be adapted, and be exceptionally fast on that crippled hardware.

Of course, I'd rather see something using an ARM or Freescale PPC chip, so that we can get the benefit of battery life in exchange for Android probably going a bit too far in the frugality direction.

[Michael Scrip @ May 7th 2009 2:56AM]

>> "That's just it, full desktop operating systems just don't run all that well on a netbook."

Really? Every netbook I've seen with XP runs perfectly fine. You can run anything you need to run... except for maybe video editing software. But for browsing the web and running MS Office or ANY normal program you're used to running... it's fine.

Netbooks are getting faster every day. XP, however, is the same as it's always been. A brand new netbook is light years faster than the machines of 2001 when XP was introduced. You can put 2GB of RAM in a netbook today... you couldn't do that back then.

Lemme ask you this... what does Android bring to the table over an established OS and software for XP?

[Jorvay @ May 7th 2009 9:33AM]

@Michael
One could argue that Android has something to offer over XP on netbooks in the way of speed. Lets consider a first-gen Acer Aspire One as an example. The XP-loaded model acts just like any other XP-based computer with similar specs, which is good. My Linpus-loaded model provides nearly identical performance when running (maybe a bit faster, but not signifcantly), but has the benefit of booting in a clean 15 seconds. I really like that. In fact that boot time is so nice that I haven't bothered switching to Ubuntu or Fedora like I had originally planned when I bought this machine. In other words, I discovered that I value snappy response on my portable netbook moreso than I do on my PC, which runs regular old desktop Linux Mint (very similar to Ubuntu) at the moment.
So when I see YouTube clips of Android in action, popping up applications near-instantly and responding instantly to nearly every command, I start to think "wow, imagine how fast my much-more-powerful netbook would be with that running."

[Michael Scrip @ May 7th 2009 5:07PM]

@Jorvay > "So when I see YouTube clips of Android in action, popping up applications near-instantly and responding instantly to nearly every command, I start to think "wow, imagine how fast my much-more-powerful netbook would be with that running."

Yes... Android apps will load fast.

But I think the appeal of a small, light, ultraportable netbook running Windows is that it's a small small, light, ultraportable netbook running *WINDOWS*... an OS that people are used to with programs that people already use. Who cares if Android is *fast* if it doesn't run the the programs you want?

I'm not knocking Android... I'm sure Android is the next big thing. But when I look for a desktop, laptop or netbook... I want one that does the things I'm used to... running an OS I need. That's why I haven't left Windows. I'm sure I'm not the only one.

There are already Linux netbooks... but what happened? Netbook makers started putting Windows on them and that helped them sell like crazy.

Linux is the 3rd alternative OS... is Android the 4th?

[webon @ May 7th 2009 1:06AM]

just like the foleo, I don't think this could appeal to me

[Nomi @ May 7th 2009 1:14AM]

Well this is a stupid idea...

[Justin @ May 7th 2009 1:26AM]

Simply adding my comment to the queue, Android on a netbook is f'n stupid.

[gerrrg @ May 7th 2009 1:30AM]

You can't assume that the look of a netbook running Android will appear the same as a smart phone. For one, a netbook would probably require full-power Google Apps, and flash ported to Android - when is that going to happen, by the way???

I think the GUI of the app screen will need to be rethought, as I would suspect the moving screen would be annoying at 10", as opposed to 3.5".

[Billy THERE U R! @ May 7th 2009 3:42AM]

Wow its Really Effing R-TArded how IGNORANT and NEGative you Commenters ARE!!! Who do you all think you are and REALLY I know that you guys have absolutely NO skills in this Field you Amatures "CLAIM" to have when you leave a Comment. Your Sarcasm is really just OLD and PLAYed Out Much like your Comments.

Later Days Loser Playa's

[NickNick @ May 7th 2009 5:31AM]

You know, writing "normally" is simpler and easier to read.

[oliver hart @ May 7th 2009 4:51AM]

i think the point is to be able to have an up and coming OS that uses very little battery power and small overhead. 10hrs battery life, 3G support, and light OS's are basically what all netbooks should have.

[barry99705 @ May 7th 2009 8:53AM]

Battery power is more hardware related than the operating system.

[Christian @ May 7th 2009 1:03PM]

I'm actually interested in this, just as long as they show specs and that will help me really decide my interest with it.