Looks like Google is rounding up the troops for their latest venture into the mobile phone industry. The Open Handset Alliance currently has 34 members which include Nvidia, Intel, Motorola, Samsung, LG and HTC to name some, and one of their first joint projects and will be the core product of their group is Android, an open system for handset development which is built on Linux and will be made available via the Apache v2 license. Interestingly enough, mobile phone giants Nokia, Sony Ericsson, and Blackberry/RIM are not part of the group as well as Apple and Microsoft. November 12 is the set date for the release of the first version of the Android SDK. Handset availability from partner companies will be in the second half of 2008. That’s a mighty long wait if I may say so myself.

So for now, the gPhone is just an open-source platform until a handset model becomes available.
Insiders, however, are already hinting on a project headed by HTC code-named Dream as the first gPhone prototype that looks not-surprisingly enough like the iPhone. Of course, this is just another rumor for now until it’s officially unveiled during the 2^nd half of next year.