T-Mobile G1 Blaze rumors begin to swirl

When you look at the high-end Android phones available today, you might notice that there are relatively few devices with sliding QWERTY keyboards.

Aside from the forthcoming Droid 2 and Samsung Epic 4G, there are no other devices with a 1GHz processor and a physical keyboard. However, there are rumors that HTC and T-Mobile will also have a device to add to the bunch.

The phone, according to rumors, is expected to arrive with a 1GHz processor, a 3.7-inch WVGA screen, and HTC Sense user interface. According to the rumors, it will also be HSPA+ capable, which means it will support T-Mobile's fastest 3G technology. Adding fuel to the fire, the carrier recently wrote to its Twitter account to tell its followers that it will unveil its first HSPA+ smartphone later this summer.

According to an Engadget source, the phone could carry the name of G1 Blaze when it debuts, but it's also been called the HTC Vision. To add to the confusion, a recently leaked T-Mobile road map shows a device the carrier calls the HTC Vanguard that it expects to launch in September, so I expect these to be one in the same. The fall launch would come right around the two-year anniversary of the original T-Mobile G1, so the G1 Blaze name also makes sense.

The rest of the phone's hardware is unknown at this point, but I imagine we're looking at it running Android version 2.1 or 2.2 with an 8-megapixel camera, a microSD card expansion, and the requisite support for Wi-Fi, GPS, and Bluetooth. With T-Mobile busy building out its superfast data network, I'd love to see this phone show up with a front-facing camera.