If you’re going to pull in 30+ companies and unite them under your OHA banner, you need a swish demo handset to first wow them; according to Forbes, the device that did all that coercing is called the Dream and it’s a custom design from HTC for Google’s demo stable.  Rumor has it, though, that HTC are considering a commercial version of the cellphone for release in the second half of 2008, with CEO Peter Chou (somewhat narcissistically) calling the concept “the best one we’ve seen.”

Similar in appearance to the iPhone, while no images of the Dream exist outside of Google and HTC’s corridors it’s apparently a side-swivelling, thin device approximately 3-inches wide and 5-inches long with a rectangular touchscreen.  Screen orientation flips from portrait to horizontal when you open the full QWERTY keyboard out, and they’ve added interesting time-sensitive functionality to the UI so that when you hold your finger down the area you’re selecting expands.  That could open up a palette of context-sensitive tools, or simply make navigation with a blunt fingertip more precise.

Unlike the iPhone the HTC Dream apparently has physical navigation controls near the base of the device, where the casing is bevelled so as to fit comfortably in the hand.  Google has so-far remained tight lipped about the visual aspects of the Android OS, but it’s believed - in this concept, anyway - to comprise a home screen with a row of most-used icons along the top; that way, e-mail, messaging, YouTube and documents are all close to hand.  Apparently each application runs as a virtual machine, so that videos and other media, for instance, can continue downloading in the background while you continue to use the rest of the handsets functionality.

Of course, the very nature of Android is that multiple handsets can be built using the same, open-source platform, and should the Dream ever make it to market it will only be one of many options for Google fans.  However, considering the high expectations the HTC Touch stoked - which were primarily let down once you moved out of the finger-friendly TouchFLO interface and into boring old Windows Mobile - it’s possible that HTC have finally found the OS that can live up to the promises of its hardware.

[via Android Community]