I imagined that once the floodgates had opened with the first handset, the market would be flooded with competing handsets - why hasn't this happened in time for xmas?

Dan

The realities of bringing any handset to market are almost unimaginally complex - spectrum approval, carrier acceptance, interoperability soak tests etc. And thats before marketing, distribution pricing! With a new OS only someone with Googles backing could have done it. Basically they have paved theway by eating their own dogfood, and the torrent of other handsets will begin in earnest next year.

I'm looking forward to seeing all the form factor permutations. Think of things like a pure candybar Android handset with just a numeric keypad, or a super slim one, or a flip model like the RAZR, or even a super cheap one with no frills so they can be given away with cornflakes (or at least sold by the truckload in supermarket aisles!).

The G1 form factor is disappointing so I will wait - but for how long? Seems Australia will have another Android phone end of Jan but that's all I know and I need an upgrade a lot sooner. Despite all the techy advances with Android, the venture is still not proven until there is a critical mass of phones which 'normal' (not early adopters)consumers want.