Is Android half human or half baked?

The first mobile phone powered by Google's much anticipated Android open source operating system has has finally landed in Australia. But many are wondering if that landing been a smooth touch down or a full on crash landing.

Mobile telephone carrier Optus has lifted the lid off the new player in their stable, the Taiwanese manufactured HTC Dream, also know as the G1. The Dream features a touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard, and comes preloaded with a number of Google applications.

OPTUS HTC Android G1 Dream

HTC G1 Dream Screen size: 80mm (3.2 in) Resolution: 320 x 480 pixels Weight: 158g Camera: 3.2MP Standby Time: 402 hours Speaker: Built-in Memory: 192MB GPS: Yes WiFi: Yes Bluetooth: Yes Touchscreen: Single-touch Applications: Google Search, YouTube, Gmail, Google Talk, Google Calendar.

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The Apple iPhone 3G

Apple iPhone 3G Screen size: 89mm (3.5 in) Resolution: 480 x 320 pixels Weight: 133g Camera: 2.0MP Standby Time: 300 hours Speaker: Built-in Memory: 8GB or 16GB GPS: Yes WiFi: Yes Bluetooth: Yes Touchscreen: Multi-touch Applications: Mail, Google Maps, Calendar, YouTube.

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HTC make good phones, but the Dream is chunky and clunk and just not as cool at the sleek and sexy Apple iPhone. Just to rob salt into the wounds of Optus and consumers, Internet reports indicate that an updated Android powered phone, rumoured to the called the G2 (imaginative bunch at HTC!) could be released in the US as soon as March and in Australia by the end of the year. Very little incentive for savvy buyers to embrace the G1!

On paper, the Dream boasts some excellent and exciting features, but at the end of the day it's no match for the iPhone. The open source engine will see the development of plenty of apps for use on the Dream, but this will mean little to your average Joe Blow. The Dream works well as an organiser, but the iPhone is a portable entertainment system like no other.

Once again, the verdict is clearly pretender and not contender.