There have been rumors flying around about a Google Phone for the longest time and many people are saying that the actual handset will be produced not by the search engine giant, but by a third party manufacturer already known for creating some rebadged wonders. And now, there's even more fodder to substantiate that rumor.
A UBS analyst is reporting that HTC is set to ship "about 50,000" cell phones running on a Google-developed mobile operating system. And the shipment will happen before Santa makes his rounds at the end of this year. As you recall, the HTC-produced google Phone will be running a mobile variant of Linux, hopped up with a bunch of Google software. Between 3 and 5 HTC devices have been seen running Google's mobile OS.
Interestingly, this first batch of GooglePhones will not be destined for the marketplace. Instead, the 50,000 units "are going to be available for developers only to understand how the software works." A commercial unit may be ready sometime in 2008.
Hopefully, more information will be revealed at Google's analyst event on October 24th.
