T-Mobile confirm April launch for Android 'Cupcake'
T-Mobile has confirmed that the Cupcake update for the Android OS will be launched for the G1 "sometime in April".
The timing of this is perhaps unsurprising. Cupcake promises a raft of new improvements to Android, and chief among these is the inclusion of a virtual QWERTY keyboard. The HTC Magic - aka 'the second Google phone' - due out in April, of course does not come with a physical keyboard attached, unlike its G1 predecessor.
In a piece published yesterday on Pocket-lint however, a T-Mobile spokesperson denied any connection between the launch dates of the update and the new handset: "We can't say whether this will be connected with the launch of the HTC Magic as we aren't aware of what alterations if any they are making to the operating system."
Whether this means that the HTC Magic will come with a fully Cupcaked version of Android installed or not remains to be seen, but we can't imagine that Google and the rest of the Open Handset Alliance would be very keen on releasing the phone, with all of its pre-installed web-based features and services (Gmail, Google Maps, Google Talk, YouTube, and of course, Google Search) without an integrated typing solution present and correct.
As well as imbuing Android-based devices with a virtual keyboard, Cupcake also promises a number of other improvements, such as support for stereo Bluetooth, which will literally be music to the ears of those fed up with having to use the proprietary headphones.
As well as this, the update will allow users to save MMS attachments, make voice and video recordings, and includes a number of behind-the-scenes tweaks which will generally improve the performance of handsets running on Android.
