The HTC Dream has broken cover. Specs, screenshots and videos are whizzing around the web, alongside reports it’ll be the first Android mobile to go on sale through T-Mobile.

It’s enough to have the iPhone 3G worried, and justifiably so. Here’s why HTC has Apple quaking in its boots.

Apps a plenty
Like the iPhone, Android phones will have their own App store. Android Market will let users download apps wherever they are, but unlike Apple’s system you’ll also be able to shovel apps on-board without using the Market. That means more freedom, less regulation, and more chance of genuine innovation.

Hardware extras
The HTC Dream features a track ball, shortcut keys and a slide-out QWERTY keyboard. They’ll conspire to make the HTC phone easy to use, even while not looking at the screen. The QWERTY keyboard could also give Android an edge in the battle for e-mail hardened Enterprise customers.

Size matters
Leaked specs in an FCC filing for the HTC Dream show it’s smaller than the iPhone 3G, with a narrower and shorter shape. Sure, it might be a little thicker, but in terms of pocketability, it trumps Apple’s handset.

Google Map master
Sure, the iPhone can dish up directions using Google Maps, but Android phones will be able to go one step further, making use of Google’s Street View technology, and it’ll be ultra-useful on a phone, letting you get your bearings with proper eye-level views of your surroundings.

Killer camera
Rumours persist that the HTC Dream will feature a 3 megapixel camera. That puts it head and shoulders above the iPhone 3G. If HTC has crammed in autofocus as well, it’ll deliver a hammer blow to Apple’s imaging credentials.

TBC | £TBC | HTC