Found: Original vision of the Android phone

Here`s an interesting revelation that surfaced during the Oracle Google trial. Two years before the release of Android, Google shopped a device to carriers that contained a “basic phone user interface.” The company approached T-Mobile and called the device a win-win when combined with the carrier’s unlimited data plan. The original designs surfaced during Google’s trial against Oracle over the use of Java in Android. Additional documents revealed that Google was looking to offer unlimited data for $9.99 a month. To subsidize the reduced cost, the Internet giant would have agreed to not take the commission it might earn from the carrier when it referred Android buyers to its online store. Google’s original plan never became a reality and the first commercial Android phone, the T-Mobile G1 was released with $25 and $35 data plans. Correct me if I`m wrong but doesn`t this thing look like a Blackberry? I wonder what gave them the idea to add a touch screen interface and dump the keyboard? Hmmm. Things will get interesting over the next couple of months as this trial progresses.

The Verge has more, more